ono okinawa

PABLO Cheese tarts

PABLO is a popular Japanese chain store that sells cheese tarts; I think they have even opened some overseas locations. There is a location on Kokusai-dori in Naha, Okinawa.

So, the big question is, are they worth the hype?

My verdict: Yes! Very delicious and creamy, they are dangerously tasty. Plus, the price is reasonable for Japan in my opinion. So I would say worth it, very much so. I had read about them online and wasn’t expecting it to be anything more than average, but I ordered the mini Okinawa limited edition Beniimo (Okinawan purple sweet potato) cheese tart and it was sooooo good. I can’t speak for the other flavors, but the beniimo paired so nicely together with the cheese tart. You can eat in their cafe space, or take out.

Kokusai-dori location by Mega DonQ: https://goo.gl/maps/Xp5uyuNX1pT2

Restaurants

Trattoria Shobu トラットリアショーブー

Today’s lunch brought me near to Camp Foster, a little Italian joint called Trattoria Shobu トラットリアショーブー. It is a nice place, and all lunch sets were 1000yen. They also serve dinner (so the prices change up a bit).

You could choose from many types of pizza and pasta, I am pretty sure there was something for everyone. The sets come with salad, soup, and soft drink. I got the pepperocino pasta, so it also came with bread. For an additional 200yen you can add dessert, but I am trying to be good so I decided to pass for today. They had tiramisu which was really tempting.

Inside was a little quirky, but comfy. There are some tables as well as bar seating. The menu comes in both Japanese and English, probably since it is so close to the military base. Parking was a little tight (lucky I have a kei car), but they have 5 parking spaces for the restaurant.

Anyway, the food was really pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised with my experience; I would definitely recommend trying this gem if you happen to be in the area. As a bonus, they also do takeout pizzas (both tomato base and cream base), all only 980yen.

Japanese sweets, Local Foods, Shops

Gusuku Manjuu: 城まんじゅう

Manjuu 饅頭, or まんじゅう, is a popular Japanese wagashi, specifically a rice cake, often with a sweet red bean paste filling.

*also sometimes romanized as manju.

城まんじゅう Gusuku manjuu is a manjuu shop located in Kitanakagusuku village. Of course, I love manjuu but this place is a little special. First, there are 3 types of handmade manjuu sold here: aasa (アーサ, a type of Okinawan seaweed), sesame (ごま), and azuki bean (小豆). Second, the manjuu here are steamed in fragrant shell ginger leaves (called サンニン sannin in Okinawan language), similar to famous “No” manjuu in Shuri and muuchii. Since the leaves of ginger shell have bactericidal effect, in the old days Okinawan people would often wrap rice balls and muuchii with the leaves.

My friends bought some of these manjuu the other day and gave me some… they were very delicious. The delicate smell and taste of the shell ginger leaves infused into sweets has grown on me since living here.

The shop sells both individual and packages of manjuu; good for omiyage or tomb offerings, particularly for shiimii.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/d34HAGF2Tx82

Japanese foods, Japanese sweets, Travel: Japan

Kusatsu onsen: Food

While on a trip to Kusatsu onsen, I encountered quite a few tasty foods, so here is a look below at a few of the things I ate, in no particular order.

ぬれおかき nureokaki: The best way to describe this is a grilled rice cracker skewer, with some seasonings/toppings. My husband got the spicy one and I got one with black pepper and mayo. They were really good, but the spicy one was way too spicy. My husband likes spicy food but even he said the spice was too overpowering.

饅頭 manjuu: like any good onsen town, there is a ton of manjuu around. I enjoyed the karintou manjuu (crunchy manjuu) the best, but there are a few types to try out here. The outside of the manjuu is a little crispy and the inside is smooth bean paste.

揚げまんじゅう age-manjuu: so this is manjuu… deep-fried. Oh my. The taste was good, but definitely felt a bit unhealthy! I would limit how many of these you eat, but definitely try at least one.

温泉卵 onsen tamago: eggs soft-boiled in onsen water. When you crack it open into a bowl, the are soft and creamy, cooked to perfection. Usually they have a little shoyu or sauce to add to it, and you just eat it with a spoon. My husband is addicted to these.

温泉卵ソフト onsen egg soft-serve ice cream: okay, so this sounds kinda gross… egg flavored ice cream? But it really means like a creamy egg-y custard-pudding flavor, not boiled eggs flavor. It was really tasty, and I was really surprised at how good it was. I was initially a little apprehensive of the flavor name.

蕎麦 soba: When in mainland Japan, I pretty much always eat soba. Especially whenever I am in mountainous or onsen areas. Soba here was pretty good, so I was not disappointed. We specifically ate at Mikuni-ya 三國家, which had a long line, but it was worth it. So if you want to eat here during the busy season, be sure to arrive early! They had a special plate of soba for 2-3 servings, then you can order your dipping soup and tempura separately. This is probably good for families or very hungry couples, but we each ended up ordering our own individual servings since we knew we would not be able to finish that much food. Plus for 2 people it is probably a bit cheaper to just order individually anyway.

舞茸天ぷら maitake tenpura: maitake is a type of mushroom, the name actual means “dancing mushroom” and is supposed to be pretty healthy for you. Made into tempura it is delicious (but probably not as healthy). I ate it with my soba.

せんべい senbei: some fancy rice crackers were sold; this one was shoyu-negi flavor (soy sauce and green onion). It was a large cracker with a rather sweet chewy outside.

甘納豆 Amanatto: a kind of sweetened beans, which does not bear fruit below 700 meters above sea level. First the beans are dried, then put into water and finally they are cooked in sugar.

Let’s not forget the beer and drinks.

Cider, two types: 湯けむりサイダー Yu-kemuri (not pictured) and 大滝乃湯サイダー Otaki-no-yu (pictured): Awful. Also remember cider in Japan refers to soda pop, not apples or alcohol. I do not recommend unless you really like sweet sugary drinks. It is made with natural water form the onsen area or something.

軽井沢ビール Karuizawa beer: Turns out this area is close to Kusatsu, so many of the beers were available. I have seen 1 or 2 of these in Okinawa, but here I saw so many different types.

草津温泉物語 Kusatsu onsen monogatari beer: We saw 3 different types with this label. We tried them all and enjoyed each one. The price for them was also not too unreasonable, ~500yen.

Special mention: While in Ueno, I could not resist getting a donut from Shiretoko donuts. It is a “wasshoi” festival panda. “Wasshoi” ワッショイ is chant used in Japanese festivals.

Culture, Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Kusatsu Onsen 草津温泉

Kusatsu onsen 草津温泉 in Gunma prefecture 群馬県 is one of the three famous ancient hot springs in Japan (called 三名泉 “sanmeisen,” in addition to Arima Onsen in Hyogo and Gero onsen in Gifu). These hot springs are renown for healing properties, supposedly to cure a wide array of ailments.

Because I am an onsen junkie, I decided to head to Kusatsu onsen for the long weekend (Mountain Day public holiday, 山の日). In retrospect, this was not the most brilliant idea as: a) Japanese schools are on summer vacation, b) Japanese holiday weekend, and c) Obon in parts of the mainland began the same weekend. So… travel was busy. Very, very busy. I don’t really recommend traveling in Japan during this time if you can avoid it.

Anyway I did make it to my destination with almost no issues, and ended up having a fantastic time even though it was a little crowded everywhere.

We flew from Okinawa into Haneda airport on Friday afternoon; we stayed the night in Hamamatsu-cho 浜松町 with plans to leave for Kusatsu early the next morning. In Hamamatsu-cho, we returned to the restaurant we discovered last time, DevilCraft (this time with reservations!) and enjoyed Chicago-style pizza with craft brews.

There are a few ways to make your way to Kusatsu onsen; we chose to take the limited express from Ueno Station to Naganohara- kusatsuguchi station (~2.5 hours) followed by the JR bus to Kusatsu onsen (~20 minutes). Since we also got a reserved seat on the green car (it has more room), the total travel cost was about 6500yen one-way, from Hamamatsu-cho all the way to Kusatsu onsen. If you are willing to forgo the green car, your costs will probably be about 4500yen one-way.

On Saturday morning we hustled from the hotel to the train station for the 9am train. We arrived early enough to get tickets and breakfast, as well as some snacks and drinks for the train. The train ride itself was rather uneventful, and passed peacefully enough. Arriving at Naganohara-kusatsuguchi station, though, was a bit crazy. Luckily JR had prepared extra buses for the crowd this weekend. The bus went direct to Kusatsu onsen bus terminal so overall the trip out there was very easy.

It was only noon, so though it was too early for check-in, the hotel held our luggage for us so we could go explore the area. Our hotel for Saturday night was right outside the famous Yubatake 湯畑 (steamy hot water fields, provides the main source of hot spring water for the town), called Yubatake Souan 湯畑草菴. We wandered the touristy streets and shops, while enjoying the foot baths and the scenery. Not only this, but the weather was quite pleasant and not too hot or muggy since it is located in the mountains. Some people may complain about the smell of these hot spring towns, but personally I don’t mind it.

As it neared dinner time, we went to the hotel and soaked in the hotel onsen for a bit before changing into yukata for a night-time stroll around the town. The hotel provided basic bathing yukata but I had decided to bring my own (cuter) yukata for strolling. As a note, if you do not own a yukata, you can either use the hotel bathing yukata for walking around or you can even rent a cute yukata at one of the shops in town. One of the reasons I chose this onsen was because it was listed as one of the top onsen towns to walk around in while wearing yukata. I have been to many onsen towns before, and sometimes you may see people strolling wearing yukata in the town, but it is not always very common. Kusatsu is a well-known for being a beautiful location (especially at night) to relax and enjoy wearing yukata.

Anyway, so as we strolled around at night, the Yubatake was lit up and the steaming field created quite a nice atmosphere. We walked around in our yukata, ate some snacks and drank some local beers (Karuizawa 軽井沢 is nearby, as well as some other beer branded for Kusatsu onsen). There was some sort of candle light up near the Kosenji (temple) 光泉寺 and a live music show. Overall, the evenings in Kusatsu were pretty magical!

The next morning, we woke up fairly early, this time changing into our bathing yukata provided by the hotel to walk around the town in. Surprisingly, many people were up and about, even though it was about 6am or so. My husband and I went to the 7-11 to get iced cafe lattes to enjoy while using the foot bath. Since the hotel breakfast was not until 8am (so late!), we decided to wander around for a bit. **As a side note: surprisingly, the Souan hotel provided yukata that was actually big enough for my husband (194cm)!

First, I tried out the Shirahata onsen 白旗の湯, which is one of the FREE public onsen that the town keeps up. Warning: it is hot! But I was able to tolerate it for a short time anyway, so I think it is very much worth a visit. Also I should note, at many of the free bath houses in town, you do not use soap to rinse off because the water is so acidic! Simply undress, splash some water on you using the bucket or ladle and rinse all over your body, then enter the bath. Just look around you when you enter– if there is no shower station, then don’t worry about soap just rinse with the onsen water, but if there are shower stations with soap then be sure to clean your body well before entering the bath.

Next we wandered down to Jizo-no-yu onsen 地蔵の湯, another free public onsen, though it was not open for the day yet; but there is a foot bath there that is always open. What was interesting was that we heard them performing the traditional singing and paddling to cool the water inside! So while we did not get to watch, we got to hear it.

Finally, it was time for the yumomi show 湯もみ at Netsu-no-yu 熱乃湯, one of the things Kusatsu is famous for. Yumomi is the traditional way of cooling down water with large wooden paddles; the town character, named Yumomi-chan, is bathhouse lady dressed in yukata with one of the large wooden paddles. The water needs to be cooled down since it comes out between 50-70 degrees Celsius, much too hot to bathe in.

I got in line to get tickets for the earliest show; it is 600 yen, but discounted to 550yen if you just show the coupon on your phone or print it out from the webpage. We sat in the front row on the side. There is a second level which may have some better photo-ops, it depends on what you prefer. It started with some dance, then the emcee and ladies with paddles came out to perform. Partway through you can try experience for yourself; it is surprisingly difficult to maneuver those paddles. Then they finish the show with a final dance and lots of impressive splashes. It was quite fun.

From here, I made my way to Sainokawara onsen 西の河原 in the park. Again, I received discount ticket, this time from the lady in the visitors center, so stop by there first! This onsen is a large outdoor bath. It was very relaxing… bathing in nature is the best.

While I was finishing my bath at the park, my husband got in line at a popular soba restaurant, Mikuni-ya 三國家. It opens at 10:30 for lunch. Luckily, we were seated around 11:15. I ordered the Maitake (mushroom) tenpura soba 舞茸天蕎麦 and my husband ordered the regular tenpura soba 天ぷら蕎麦. It was indeed very delicious and worth the wait.

After lunch we got on a bus for Mt Shirane 白根山 (active volcano) and Yugama lake 湯釜. We took the bus straight to the trail area and visitor center; to see the beautiful emerald lake in the crater you will need to walk up a rather steep path of about 800m. Also, it is chilly up here, so you may want a long-sleeve even in summer. To return to Kusatsu, we decided to walk down to the top of the ropeway, ride the gondola down to the bottom station, and catch the bus. This was not a fantastic idea. Why? Well, first the pathway down to the ropeway is not really great for walking, though it is only 800m. Not only this, the buses do not frequent the ropeway station… we ended up missing the bus by 2 minutes and then waiting an hour for the next one. Which might not have been too bad, but there is really NOTHING at the ropeway station. It looked like the restaurant may be open for ski season but not during summer, so we couldn’t sit and enjoy a coffee or anything. We spent a rather boring hour waiting around for the bus to arrive. By the time we reached town again, we decided to head to the hotel, relax, and change.

Due to not booking early enough for the crazy holiday weekend, we ended up staying at a different hotel on Sunday night. Futabaya was not quite as nice or close as Souan, but it was a fine room and we did not really have any complaints.

After changing into my own yukata, it was time to hit the town again for some evening strolling. First we tried Jizo-no-yu onsen (where we heard the paddling and singing in the morning) as it was free… it was truly scalding hot! Be careful. I did not last long. Next we went to Goza-no-yu onsen 御座之湯, which had an entry fee. It was a much more reasonable temperature, so I took my time and enjoyed it.

Finally refreshed, we walked around town, just taking in the atmosphere. Again, we had beer and snacks until we decided to crash for the evening. Kusatsu really is a romantic and relaxing place.

On the last day, we checked out and stored all of our luggage in a locker at the bus station (500yen), then walked through the zoo, which had a baby capybara (it was so adorable) and then tried out the Otaki-no-yu 大滝乃湯, famous for its increasingly hot bathing. Otaki-no-yu has a fee, which I found a little steep (900yen) but since it is quite well-known I wanted to try. Now, if I was smarter, I would have purchased the discount pass for 1600yen that included all 3 of the famous onsen (Sainokawara, Goza-no-yu, and Otaki-noyu) instead of paying the individual fees (600yen/600yen/900yen, though with other discount tickets you can get 50 or 100yen off). I guess I didn’t know if I was going to go to all 3, so I didn’t want to buy the ticket in case it went to waste, especially since there were quite a few free ones maintained by the community. My husband only went to 2 of the 3, so he wouldn’t have saved any money. So my advice… plan wisely!

Otaki-no-yu was very nice: there were some indoor baths, a waterfall bath, an outside bath, and then on course, the 4-tiers (5-tiers on the men’s side) of increasing temperature baths called 合わせ湯. Challenge time! I started at the bottom, a mild 41 degrees C; the lady came in to measure and record temps on the white board while I was there. Next I moved up a tier to 42.5 degrees C; again, not too bad. Tier 3 was 45 degrees C… this was hot. I cold tolerate it, but it was very, very hot. I started to dread what the 4th tier, 47 degrees C, would be like. I watched as 2 or 3 other ladies tried the water and immediately jumped out. I carefully tested the water with my hand, then foot. Holy s***. Well, time to buck up. So I reluctantly lowered all the way in… only to jump right back out. I think I lasted about 2 seconds. Out of everyone, I only saw one lady who seemed to be capable of challenging this 4th tier bath. So I guess I did pretty well. After my challenging bath, I drank a cold coffee milk from a glass bottle, and it felt so refreshing.

Finally it was time to purchase omiyage before heading to the bus station. The bus to the train station left at 12pm, and the train back to Tokyo was scheduled for 1pm, with our return flight to Okinawa scheduled at 5:20pm. Just as a word of warning: both the bus station in Kusatsu and the train station in Naganohara-kusatsuguchi had almost nothing for snacks and bento… I definitely recommend getting something at one of the shops in town or even just from 7-11 before walking up the hill to the station to catch the bus! If you don’t happen to stock up before leaving town, there is a snack/drink trolley on the train, though. After all, I think it is almost impossible to go on a long train ride without snacks, bento, or even a beer.

Overall, Kusatsu onsen is a great destination to hit up while in Japan, with good food, beer, hot spring baths, culture, and atmosphere. Pictures coming soon!

I will make a separate post specific to the food of Kusatsu onsen next!

Japanese foods, Local Foods

Shark?! サメ in Okinawa

Recently, my hula kumu (sensei/teacher) brought in shark meat and skins from a fishing tour she took here in the southern part of Okinawa main island. Now, admittedly, I paled a bit… killing/eating sharks can be a bit taboo in Hawaiian culture (since some people believe it may be a god or guardian spirit or ancestor), so this was a bit of a shock to me. Now, it depends, as some people do catch and eat shark in Hawaii (only the cutting and eating of fins is illegal), but I would say overall it is somewhat uncommon.

Now, I have seen shark (サメ pronounced sah-meh) for sale in some of the Okinawa grocery stores with fancier fresh fish sections before, so I knew it was not unusual for Japanese people, per se. But it was still a shock, and not just to me but some of my Okinawan hula friends as well since it is not a commonly eaten food.

Anyway, it was certainly unique to hear and see video/pictures of the experience, as well as see the meat and skins in person. We helped clean the skins (皮 kawa) to be used to make drums later. My kumu gave away the meat to anyone who was willing; I am sorry to announce I simply was not up to the challenge so I cannot give any personal story here. My kumu recommended frying in butter and garlic; some of my friends made like a bread-crumb crusted bake as well. Most claimed “oishii,” though some of my friends like myself declined the shark meat challenge. After all, it was not the most pleasant of odors… though maybe I missed out on something delicious. I am still uncertain about how I feel regarding shark meat.

So, if you are in Okinawa, and would like to experience eating shark, it is very possible to do. I am not sure I comfortably recommend it, but it is definitely possible. I don’t know that I have ever seen it on a restaurant menu though so you may need to buy it from the grocery store and prepare it yourself. Perhaps I need to add this to the bizarre foods of Okinawa post I made earlier…

Local Foods, Shops

Farmers Markets in Okinawa

I decided I would post some of my favorite fruit and vegetable markets here in Okinawa. Most of these are near to RyuDai (University of the Ryukyus), not necessarily the American bases. I prefer the markets with less foreigners (since most of the ones that cater to Americans import a lot of their produce to satisfy demand) and more domestic/local produce, rather than imported goods. It is always import to check/read the labels to see where your produce comes from– just because it is sold locally does not mean it is grown locally. That being said, some products simply are either not grown locally, or very expensive compared to imported versions, so sometimes you have to pick your battles.

A good example of this is garlic: Chinese garlic is incredibly cheap, and a lot of the garlic sold in Okinawa comes from China. Garlic from Aomori prefecture is pretty expensive, and while it may be higher quality and tastier, it can be hard to justify the price especially when you are on a budget. Locally grown Okinawan garlic is seasonal, so it is important to buy it while it is cheap during Spring time! Of course, it only lasts so long.

Anyway, first check out the key terms for locating a farmers market in GoogleMaps, then I list some of my favorites. If you are in Okinawa looking for fresh local fruit and vegetables, these are some of the best places to look in the South-Central area of the island. Perhaps later I will add some of the Northern area markets in… (like Onna-no-eki, a great place to check out if you go up there!). There are also plenty of supermarkets around, but often times you will find better deals at the farm markets, so it is worth checking them out.

Key terms:

青果 seika: fruit and vegetables

青果店 seikaten: fruit and veg shop

青果市場 seika ichiba: fruit and veg market

八百屋 yaoya: greengrocer, or produce market

ファーマーズマーケット: farmers market, written in katakana

野菜 or やさい yasai: vegetables

果物 kudamono: fruit

List of recommended markets (I will update with some more as I have time):

Nakagusuku Farm Minami 中城ファーム南 (Nakagusuku): This place usually has a lot of stuff cheap. It is my “go to market” whenever I need something. https://goo.gl/maps/AQjmqmgEXDD2

HappyMore ハッピーモア市場 (Ginowan): Sometimes cheap, sometimes not so cheap, it depends on the item… but it has a lot of chemical/pesticide-free and “organic” items, as well as a curry cafe with smoothies. It is a really nice market overall. Sometimes I can find interesting things. https://goo.gl/maps/Z8kbW8tFeho

Kariyushi 軽便駅かりゆし市 (Nanjo): Tons of locally-grown stuff, and usually the cheapest prices around. It is a bit further from me, so I don’t go there as much as I would like. I only ever see locals in here, never foreigners. Also this place has a lot of fresh cut flowers for cheap, as well as potted plants. https://goo.gl/maps/djLtDsgPBs42

JA Agarihama あがりはま市場 (Yonabaru): One of the Japan Ag (JA) stores. Usually not too crowded (unlike the JA stores near the bases). Sometimes a bit more expensive than the other farmers markets, but cheaper than produce at the supermarkets/grocery stores. https://goo.gl/maps/cqA1wfFXvJo

JA Kugani くがに市場 (Haebaru): Also one of the JA stores, this one is brand new. It has a lot of variety and things I have not seen in the other JA markets. There is also a gelato stand outside here… dangerous! https://goo.gl/maps/BhYwQHaWB8K2

Agri-house Kochinda アグリハウスこちんだ (Yaese): Lots of cheap, local produce, as well as eggs (there is an egg farm next door). You can buy eggs in bulk here. https://goo.gl/maps/RU5kid6kcjH2

Need help with names of vegetables in Japanese? Look here: Vegetables Names

Or here for some Food Vocabulary.

And here for Japanese Phrases for Food Shopping

Local Foods

Vegetable Stand: University of the Ryukyus

野菜, or also seen as やさい (pronounced yasai) means vegetables.

At RyuDai 琉大 (short for Ryukyu Daigaku 琉球大学, the University of the Ryukyus), there is an occasional vegetable stand by the “Welcome Plaza” at the Nishihara/South gate (西原口, also labelled 南口). It is run by the agricultural department field studies. The vegetables are grown in the fields at the school and are mostly local types of vegetables like goya, okra, ensai, carrots, and such.

I am not sure if there are any actual set open times, but I know it is open when I see the flags with “野菜” out at the Welcome Plaza. The only times I have noticed it open is around lunch times. Last time I bought a bag of okra and some enormous goya; the prices are pretty cheap for what you get. I should remember to try to stop by there more often, but I usually forget about it since I usually use the East gate (東口) or the North gate (北口) instead.

Culture, Japanese foods, Local Events

Summer Festival Food: 夏祭りの屋台

夏祭り natsu matsuri means summer festival (I wrote a little about this before).

Of course, no summer matsuri is complete without the food tents, called 屋台 yatai. Most popular are probably the fried and grilled foods; some of the more “traditional” ones that I have seen in Okinawa are listed below. Just be careful not to stain your yukata…

**I will try and add some more pictures of all the foods as I have time.

Yakisoba 焼きそば : fried noodles. Usually at summer matsuri, I see Japanese sauce yakisoba rather than Okinawan salt yakisoba, but it depends on the festival.

Takoyaki たこ焼き: fried octopus balls. Round dough balls with bits of octopus mixed in and fried, then topped with sauce and usually katsuobushi.

Okonomiyaki お好み焼き: cabbage “pancakes,” topped with sauce, as well as usually mayo, nori, and katsuobushi.

Pote ポテ: potato fries.

Yakitori 焼き鳥: grilled chicken skewers.

Ika yaki イカ焼き: literally, squid grilled on a skewer. Squid-on-a-stick.

Jaga bataa じゃがバター: baked potato with butter.

(Yaki) toumorokoshi (焼き)とうもろこし: corn; in this case it will be grilled and slathered with butter.

Recently we went to a matsuri in Nago and split a mega-combo メガコンボ, which came with a mix of potato fries, yakisoba, takoyaki, and yakitori. It was a popular food tent, and everything was cooked piping hot on the spot. It was nice because it came with a small(ish) serving of a bunch of different foods for variety, and a good compromise for my husband and I to split.

Some food tents are starting to offer some more western choices, like “meat pies” which I think are kinda like empanadas. Often you also see アメリカンドッグ “American dog,” which just means a corn dog.

You might also see some “local specialties,” which in Okinawa typically means soba. Each festival has its own wide array of foods to try, and we enjoy trying as many as possible. On the mainland I have seen way more variety of matsuri food, and some really interesting looking ones. So keep in mind since this list is mostly applicable to Okinawa, I have only included the ones most common in Okinawa.

And of course, there is more than just savory foods… plenty of sweets as well.

Wataame わたあめ: cotton candy.

Choco banana チョコバナナ: chocolate covered banana on a stick.

Taiyaki たい焼き: fish-shaped bean pastry.

Dorayaki どら焼き: round pancake-like bean pastry.

Sata andagi サーターアンダギー: Okinawan fried “donuts.”

Kaki-gouri かき氷: Shave ice!

In Okinawa, the drink selection is typically some canned soft drinks (though don’t expect much variety beyond water, green tea, and coke), draft Orion beer, and of course, the local booze, awamori.

Japanese foods, Restaurants

Miyama Shabu-shabu: 美山しゃぶしゃぶ

My husband wanted to try a shabu-shabu place for lunch. It is a chain from the mainland called Miyama Shabu-shabu. There is only 1 in Okinawa, located in the Haebaru Aeon Mall (southern part of the island).

They offer a cheap lunch course for 1000-something yen, though the menu has various combinations with varying degrees of price (things like beef, or all-you-can-eat meat). The cheap lunch course though, comes with 2 trays of (imported) pork, thinly sliced with 8 slices per tray; since I don’t eat pork this means my husband will get 4 trays. The lunch course comes with all-you-eat eat vegetables, noodles, rice, pickles, etc. For one half of the pot you also choose 1 of the 4 types of soup for cooking (the other half you get a default basic water with konbu in it); we went with the Korean-style “spicy” which was not really that spicy at all. For an additional 250yen you can also get the soft drink bar. As a fair warning, the menu is all in Japanese but there are some pictures which might help.

Anyway, we got seated and ordered without any difficulty. Luckily we were seated in a back corner so no one could stare at my husband while he ate all the meat and I just stuck the veggies. At the table were ponzu ポン酢 (shoyu+citrus) and goma-dare ごまだれ (sesame dipping sauce). We were also given extra peppers and spicy sauce since we ordered the Korean-style broth. The veggies, noodle, rice, salad, etc. were all self-serve. It was all quite good, and I enjoyed a variety of noodles and veggies with my shabu-shabu. There were Okinawa soba noodles, udon noodles, cellophane (bean thread) noodles, and somen.

Even just eating veggies, noodles, salad, rice, and pickles I felt I got a decent deal. My husband said that 3 boxes would have been perfect and 4 was a little too many, but he ate (and enjoyed) it all anyway. So we both left happy, even though one of us doesn’t eat meat.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/VahHmS42mbC2

Culture, Shops

Okinawa Pottery: やちむん

yachimun やちむん (焼き物): ceramics/pottery in Okinawa language. In Japanese, this would be read as “yakimono.”

There are many pottery areas in Okinawa; in Naha, is a district called Tsuboya 壺屋 which has a street lined with ceramics shops. There is also Nanjo (south), Yomitan (north-central), and many other smaller areas scattered about.

Tsuboya yachimun street is a lovely walk on a nice day, and you can see many examples of Okinawa pottery and visit various artists, as well as a museum. Especially featured are the Okinawa shisa dog statues. You can also find ishigantou in addition to plates, cups, bowls, and more. If you get tired of looking and shopping, there are some cafes to have lunch or bukubuku-cha.

Over the years, I have collected quite a few pieces: mostly mugs, plates, and shisa. Every year, areas like Yomitan, Nanjo, and Tsuboya hold yachimun a “festival” where you can find a lot of discount pieces from artists.

Restaurants

Maitoparta

The other day I tried out yet another cute cafe in Okinawa, this one located in Tomigusuku (south part of the island). It is called Maitoparta, and specializes in waffles, as well as having some gourmet coffees.

Technically, this is a “dessert cafe” not a breakfast cafe. Well, whatever, I ate brunch here anyway. You can get a savory waffle set, but I wanted one of the sweet ones. I went with a honey/nuts/vanilla ice cream waffle and a soy latte. You can also choose between 2 types of waffles, or get a “mix.” There are also a bunch of different flavored waffles to choose from, toppings, etc. It was actually pretty affordable compared to other pancake and waffle type places I have been– 830yen for the waffle and drink set I ordered.

There are a decent number of parking spaces outside, but it filled up fast. The cafe was very clean and cutely decorated inside… it was full of young to middled aged ladies. The wait for my food was fairly quick, too… overall it was a very nice experience, and I can see why it has gained popularity. Of course, this is calorie rich, so only a special occasion treat.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/AoBV6r5cey12

Local Foods

Okinawa limes: Shikwasa シークヮーサー

To explain this one is a little tricky. You will see various spellings in both Japanese and English!

シークヮーサー or シークァーサー or シークワーサー all mean “Citrus depressa,” a type of lime grown here in the Ryukyu islands. It is romanized as shikwasa (most common), shikuwasa, or shiquasa. In Japanese, it is also known as ヒラミレモン hirami lemon.

The name comes from 2 parts: 「シー」shii which means sour (酸い suppai in Japanese) and 「クワス」kuwasu meaning eating/to eat (食わし kuwashi).

It is small and similar to a lime: a sour, citrusy flavor. When I first saw them I thought maybe they were calamansi (which I adore), but the taste is a little different than that. Since the taste is so sour, most people add sugar to the juice to balance it. I prefer less sugar since I really like sour flavors.

You can buy shiqwasa in grocery stores and farmers markets (when they are in season*, or the 100% juice year-round. There is a shiqwasa “park” (tourist attraction) up north in Nago where you can try fresh juice.

*Shikwasa are generally in season from August through February, though they are most sour early in the season. Towards January and February they get less sour and can be eaten just as is.

You can buy just bottled PET bottle drinks of shikwasa drink which is diluted with water and tons of sugar added. It is a popular flavor for various sweet desserts/snacks and ice cream. There is even Okinawa limited potato chips with shikwasa flavor (kind of like salt and vinegar but a citrus-y acid!). Oh, and even Orion makes a shikwasa beer… it is not that great, but it is basically Orion beer with a tiny bit of shikwasa juice (and I think part of the citrus peel) added.

Experiences, Folklore, Travel: Outer Islands

Okinawa Star Sand: 星砂

星砂 Hoshizuna: star sand

There is also a second type called 太陽の砂 taiyou no suna: sun sand

These 2 types of sands are similar but are actually two different microorganism skeletons. Many people just call both of them star sand, not realizing there is a difference. Some people show photos that say, “I found star sand!” but in actuality it is sun sand.

Where can you find star and sun sand? While you may be able to find it various locations, it is not very common to find it on the Okinawa main island (not impossible… just not so common). Below are some places where star and sun sand is easily found! I will add a few more when I have time.

**Special Note: Some of the more famous beaches request that people do not take star sand from the beach! So please be respectful of this.

You can usually buy star sand at various tourist shops all over Okinawa (for instance, try Kokusai-dori if you are looking to purchase some). I have a necklace and earrings with star sand. It is a little cheesy, but I thought it was cute.

Places you can see star sand first hand:

Kudaka-jima 久高島, Upaama beachウパーマ浜: You can take a short ferry ride here.
https://goo.gl/maps/zMNkBfA8s8L2

Tokashiki-jima 渡嘉敷島, Ura beach 浦ビーチ and Aharen 阿波連ビーチ: You can reach this island via a 1-hour ferry ride.
Ura beach: https://goo.gl/maps/31UNNdx6UmB2
Aharen beach: https://goo.gl/maps/Yq28JsHBKp12

Hateruma-jima 波照間島, Peh beach ペー浜: You can reach this island by flying to Ishigaki-jima, then taking a ferry ride. It is not convenient for a day trip, so you will need to stay overnight.
https://goo.gl/maps/dLzF1Lydkg22

Taketomi-jima 竹富島, all over: You can reach this island by flying to Ishigaki-jima, then taking a ferry ride. This is an easy day trip from Ishigaki. This is the location of the famous “Star Sand Beach” 星砂の浜.
https://goo.gl/maps/G3X7N75Rvx32

Iriomote-jima 西表島, all over: You can reach this island by flying to Ishigaki-jima, then taking a ferry ride. This is an easy day trip from Ishigaki.

Hatoma-jima 鳩間島, all over: Ferries run here infrequently from Ishigaki-jima, so you will need to plan this one well if you want to visit. This place is rather remote and quiet.

Yoron 与論島, Yurigahama 百合ヶ浜: Actually, this is technically part of Kagoshima, however, you can reach Yoron fairly easily from Okinawa. It is about a 4 hour ferry, or you can fly there from the Naha airport (much shorter). Yurigahama is a sand bar, located off of Ooganeku Beach 大金久海岸.
https://goo.gl/maps/rqQzLDijQ9M2

Star Sand Folktale:

There is a folk tale from Taketomi-jima about the “sandy beach of stars.” It is a story of when the Yaeyama islands were still being created.

The sky star goddess (the Southern Cross) conceived children with Polaris (North Star). When birthing the star children, she asked the heavenly god where she should give birth. He responded that there was an island with beautiful coral and white sand and so she should give birth just off the shore of this island, the current location of Taketomi-jima. The star goddess bore her star babies into the sea. However, the god of the sea was angry that she birthed them into his ocean without asking permission. The furious sea god called upon a sea serpent to swallow up all the star children and not leave any remains. The sea snake swallowed all the star children of the star as commanded by the sea god. Later, only the small white star-shaped bones of the star children were left, washed ashore on the island and mixed in with the sand. The god of the heavens collected the bones, put them in a censer, and burned them with incense to send the souls of the stars children to heaven to be with their mother (in some stories, it is instead a sacred priestess not the god of heavens that performs this ritual). So, it is said that the souls of the star children became stars themselves, brilliantly surrounding the star goddess up in the heavens.

Difference between star sand and sun sand can be seen easily: https://www.shimadzu-techno.co.jp/technical/sand_pore_sem.html

(pictures coming soon).

Culture

Kochi Gusuku: 幸地グスク

Kochi gusuku is another small castle ruins site that I came across, like Tanabaru gusuku, also located in Nishihara. Again, not really interesting enough to make it onto the original post about the gusuku ruins in Okinawa, but a nice hidden location on top of a hill with a view. Mostly just another attempt at me escaping the ennui of lab work and trying to get some fresh air this summer.

Kochi gusuku also located off a back road, which you may suspect is not actually a road, but I promise you it is indeed the road to reach this castle ruins. It is narrow, and turns a little bumpy. When you reach the top, it is mostly just an open looking field.

There are some remains of stones, and if you walk up to the highest point, you will see w place of worship. Walking around the paths you can also see some gaa ガー (wells). Many places were overgrown, but it was clear enough to see the view at least. There was even a placard in both English and Japanese describing some of the history here (photo below where you can read the interesting “tidbits”).

I didn’t get the same eerie sense as I did at Tanabaru gusuku ruins, thankfully. But oddly enough, at this lookout on an off-beaten path seemingly in the middle of nowhere there were some ojiisans hanging out in their cars…

address: https://goo.gl/maps/4Tg5SKBRMbT2

Culture

Tanabaru Gusuku: 棚原グスク

グスク gusuku: in Japanese, it is actually 城 (shiro), meaning “castle.” Though I have recently learned that the entomology of the word “gusuku” is controversial, and could have come about several ways. Anyway, if you see the word “gusuku” in Okinawa, it typically refers to a stone castle or fortress type structure (in ruins these days), surrounded by stone walls. The famous ones remain somewhat intact whereas these smaller ones rarely have anything but traces of stones and foundations.

In Okinawa, most of these gusuku are just the ruins. I previously made a post about some of the more common gusuku ruins sites. Tanabaru gusuku, however, is not well known and quite hidden away in Nishihara. Thought to be honest, there is not much to see.

On a whim, I decided to follow the map to where these supposed ruins were near to the university. So I got in my car and followed the directions… I started to doubt that the GPS was taking me to the right location. The last road I turned onto was not really much of a road, even for Okinawa. I started to feel a bit concerned.

But then… ! I seemingly reached a fielded area and a sign post! Some success already. Apparently, GoogleMaps was correct after all. As to where to park… well… it is an empty field, so just pull over I suppose is fine.

The were only very few trace remains of the gusuku itself, and following the path I was able to find a place of worship. The location was high on top of a hill, but was fairly overgrown, so the view was a little bit difficult to see. To be honest though… this place had a strange feel, and I am not normally superstitious. There were a few tombs around, but that is common in Okinawa… it had sort of an abandoned feel to it I guess (despite the signpost proudly proclaiming the site name looking new). I think there may be rumor of a ghost story in this location, but I am not sure yet. I will update if I find it.

It seems that some excavations of the ruins (finding items like pottery, etc.) have been done in the past according to the Nishihara town website. It originally was built by the brother of one of the lords, as a fortification. During and after the war, many of the stones were removed for quarry to be reused elsewhere, so there is very little remaining of walls and foundations that can be observed. If I have time, I may come back and do some more exploring of the area. I read on a Japanese site that there is some sort of trail nearby.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/XYc5pQrPcay

Restaurants

Bagel’s Mee 3: ベーグル屋ミスり

ベーグル beh-gu-ru: bagel

While recently in the Nago area (North part of the island), I finally stopped by this small bagel shop called Bagel’s Mee 3. I had passed it before a few times, but I think it was always closed for some reason or another, or maybe previously I just couldn’t tell it was open.

It is a small shop, with maybe room for 2 cars to park out front. Both the inside and outside are a brightly colored, with sort of a hippie-ish vibe. There are soooo many flavors of bagels to choose from, made fresh every day with natural ingredients and no preservatives. You can order a bagel plain or with cream cheese, or as one of the sandwiches. I ended up choosing a goya-cheese bagel with cream cheese… I couldn’t resist the unusual combination! It was delicious. Since there are not a whole lot of bagel options on island (and one of them closed), it was a nice treat. My husband got a pastrami bagel sandwich and seemed to enjoy it. We got our bagels to go, but there was a small seating area if you chose to eat them in the shop.

The price was comparable to other bagel prices in Japan I think, a little less than 1100 total for the bagel sandwich and the bagel with cream cheese. Not cheap compared to a state-side bagel, and obviously not as delicious as a New York bagel, but here in Okinawa we gotta take what we can get. Overall, I look forward to stopping at this small shop again when I am in Nago.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/2GcvGfFjAGr

Japanese foods, Restaurants

Beer Gardens in Okinawa: ビアガーデン

ビアガーデン bia gaaden: beer garden

Summer in Japan would not be complete with beer gardens. In Okinawa, there are a few around this time of year. They typically have nomihoudai 飲み放題 and tabehoudai 食べ放題 (all-you-can-drink/eat) plans. Some of these beer gardens are very popular, so it is important to get a reservation.

This year, my husband and I decided to go to the beer garden held by ANA Harborview Hotel in Naha for our wedding anniversary. The bonus to this beer garden: wear yukata or jinbei and receive a significant discount! We also booked a room for the night, so we could just crash after our 2.5 hours of drinking and eating.

So, of course, I dressed myself and my husband in summer yukata to save money and to make it a special experience. It was my husband’s first time wearing yukata in public; he received many high-5s and “kakkoii.” It is somewhat rare to see a foreign male wearing yukata unless he has a Japanese girlfriend or wife (so some people were surprised to learn that, yes, I dressed us both by myself). A few people even took our picture; we were the only ones dressed in yukata that evening as most the others were there for after-work gatherings.

Anyway, when we arrived at the outdoor beer garden at our allotted time, it was decorated with string lights. It was a little warm out, but as the sun was going down, the temperature was dropping a bit. The food was set up buffet style (it is themed for every month, this month was “Spanish”), and even the drinks were self-serve. They had 3 beers on tap: Asahi super dry, Asahi black, and Orion. Additionally wine and highballs were available. Probably awamori and whiskey, too, but I did not much notice.

The food and drinks were pretty good, and we had a really nice time. Part way through the evening, the staff came out with a special cake dessert and sparkling peach wine for us since I had mentioned it was our wedding anniversary in the reservation. The service was really above and beyond, so it was a great way to spend a special occasion. Since we got a discounted price, I thought it was a good value… if I paid full price, I may not have felt quite the same. Full price was 4500yen, discounted price for wearing yukata… 3000yen.

Experiences

Loisir Hotel Onsen (Miegusuku Onsen)

In a continuation of a series of posts about onsen in Okinawa, this describes my experience at the onsen on the premises of the Loisir Hotel in Naha, Miegusuku onsen 三重城温泉.

Since today was a public holiday, I decided to relax a bit by visiting one of the few onsen you can find in Okinawa. Now, I had been putting off visiting the Loisir hotel onsen due to its very high entrance fee, and being in Naha near the Tomari port, it is not exactly close to me either. So, since I had time to spare today, why not check it out?

Okay, well first, remember this is in Naha. So parking is not free. I parked at one of the fee parking lots just a few meters from the hotel (don’t park at the hotel, I think it is 1500yen). I walked through the front doors; on the first floor is the regular hotel reception, walk by this and go up the escalator to the second floor.

From here, you have a decision to make: the cheaper priced onsen (2500yen for visitors) or the more expensive onsen (3500yen for visitors). The cheaper onsen is straight ahead when you arrive on the second floor, easy to find. The more expensive one, you need to turn and head towards the Spa Tower hotel check-in (but do not go to these counters), looking for the corridor that leads to the Spa Tower where the onsen is located.

The cheaper onsen is called the Shimanchu-no-yu 島人の湯 (Islander’s bath); it appeared to have more baths, like jacuzzi and waterfall, in addition to the outdoor and indoor bath. I did not visit this one, so I can’t really speak for the details. It appeared to be “less fancy.” In retrospect, I probably should have just gone to this one.

However, I went to the more “luxury” of the two, the Uminchu-no-yu 海人の湯 (Fisherman’s bath). I followed the narrow corridor down to where there was a split; I was now on the 3rd floor of the Spa Tower. To get to the onsen, descend the stairs to the 2nd level of the Spa Tower and there is the spa treatment area and the onsen. I paid the fee, which is 3x what I would normally pay here in Okinawa (normal onsen entrance fees in Okinawa are between 1000-1600 yen).

Anyway, I was given a locker key and towels, then entered the ladies onsen. I left my shoes in the shoe locker at the entrance of the ladies onsen. Inside was the standard set-up with rows of clothing lockers, a water jug, and counter area for getting ready afterwards.

While the onsen was nicely decorated, I did not feel like it was much better than any of the others I have visited in Okinawa. Since the fee was higher than the other bath, it was much quieter, only 2 other people while I was there. There were 3 baths: indoor, cold water, and outdoor. The outdoor bath did not have a great view since it was covered with privacy shades (probably because we were in the city). There was also a steam/mist sauna.

After bathing, they had the usual amenities (lotion, etc), but nothing particularly special. Some places have really nice products (that they also sell at the front desks), but here was just standard Kose brand. I didn’t book any of the spa treatments since I went to a different one recently for my birthday. So I cannot really comment on these, but they looked more expensive than the other places I have gone to in Okinawa.

Overall, it was nice… but not worth the pricey entrance fee. So unless you are staying at this hotel (which gives you a discounted entrance fee), I probably would not recommend to come here over the other places I have been. And even then, I would recommend trying out the cheaper one since it looked like it had a few more baths anyway. As far as I could tell, the only bonus to the Uminchu-no-yu over the Shimanchu-no-yu was 1) more privacy/quieter and 2) fancier decor/atmosphere. Otherwise the Shimanchu-no-yu was 1) cheaper (but still expensive at 2500yen for visitors) and 2) more variety in baths.

If you want to try an onsen in Naha, Okinawa, I would say try the Ryukyu Onsen on Senaga-jima (just south of the airport); it is luxurious, has beautiful ocean views you can enjoy from the outdoor baths, and the entrance fee is a half the cost. Plus you are by the trendy Umikaji Terrace where you can enjoy a variety of good cafes.

Sorry, but no pictures inside the onsen.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/e6xvqHoS1S22

Japanese only, link for ChuraSpa treatment menu (same floor as the Uminchu-no-yu): https://www.spatower.com

Culture, Experiences, Local Foods, Shops

Kin Kannonji (temple) & Awamori Cave

In Kin town 金武町 (Northern part of Okinawa), there is a temple and limestone cave where a shrine is located as well as bottles of awamori 泡盛 are stored for aging.

The first thing you need to know is that there are 2 entrances to the cave: the one at the temple is FREE, but is blocked off from the awamori storage. You will still be able to see pretty stalactite and stalagmite formations and descend into a portion of the cave BUT you will not see the area where the awamori and tofuyo 豆腐よう are aged. The temple itself is not very grand, but it is one of the typical old temples in Okinawa (of which there are very few).

If you want to see where the awamori is stored, you will need to pay the fee for the tour (adults are 400yen, the tour is only offered 3x per day). To do this, head to Tatsu no kura 龍の蔵, awamori and tofuyo store (you can also try yummy samples here) which is located just across the street from the temple. Tatsu 龍 means “dragon,” another reference to the importance of the dragon god in the Ryukyu kingdom. The shop is named this since the cave is known as the auspicious birthplace of the dragon god faith. We bought tickets for the tour, which started at 1:30 that day. I would post a schedule for the tours, but honestly it seems to change randomly and the tour times available when we arrived were completely different from what it said on their website, so I would call ahead unless you randomly are lucky like we were.

The cave is a chilly 18 degrees Celsius and the tour is offered in Japanese. But you can still join and enjoy the scenery if you do not understand Japanese. Bottle storage services are offered for 5, 12 and 20 years; many customers store bottles here to commemorate a wedding or birth of a child. A lot of the bottles are decorated with messages.

Normally aged for just 3 months, the tofuyo here is aged for a year or more! It is pricy here, but really delicious… I recommend sampling it all. We bought some to take home. I have previously visited their branch store in Naha and ate their tofuyo, but it was the first time for my husband. It was interesting being able to see the cave where everything is aged and stored.

check out some pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/qJET5

address:

Kin Kannonji 金武観音寺: the parking lot is across the street from the temple. https://goo.gl/maps/5f94bKcMJXQ2

Tatsu no kura 龍の蔵: https://goo.gl/maps/dPy3C2BeQoF2

Experiences, Local Foods

Grape Picking in Okinawa: ぶどう狩り

ぶどう, ブドウ, or 葡萄 budou means “grapes.”

狩り kari means “hunting” which in this context means more like “picking fruit.”

Believe it or not, there are 2 farms located in Nakijin (North part of Okinawa, not far from Nakijin castle 今帰仁城) that have grape picking for a short time in July. One is Komesu vineyard 米須ぶどう園 and the other is Ishikawa vineyard 石川ぶどう園. In the past I believe there were more, but these are the 2 that I know of. Both farms grow the kyoho grape variety 巨峰, which are a large and sweet.

Now, this is not really cheap here in Okinawa, so you won’t be getting a “deal” or anything… though there is no entrance fee, it is 1500yen per kilogram. That being said, they are fresh and very delicious.

Anyway, after missing the season last year, at last we made our way up there. If you visit, look for the flags with ぶどう狩り or 巨峰 and pictures of grapes. We got to Komesu at 10am, were explained the rules, given scissors and a basket, and let loose. We were told the grapes in the bags with a red mark were ripe and ready for being cut down. Since it is not terribly cheap, we only cut a few down.

Afterwards they weighed the fruits of our labor and we paid the fee. We also tried a grape smoothie made with local kyoho grapes being sold by a vendor at the vineyard… I don’t normally like grape flavored things, but made with fresh local grapes the ice-cold smoothie was sooo good.

We decided to drive to Ishikawa vineyard next since it was nearby. This vineyard was a little more difficult to find, located off a road not even in GoogleMaps… so you may end up circling a bit. We stopped by and took pictures. It was a bit more crowded (with all locals), so we decided we probably had enough grapes anyway and moved along. Overall we had quite a bit of fun and the fresh grapes really are much better than what you normally buy in the stores. To be honest, I don’t typically love grapes, but I really like these kyoho grapes.

Both places recommend calling ahead to make sure they have enough grapes for picking, or even reservations if it is particularly busy (otherwise you may drive up there and leave empty-handed). We took our chances and did not call ahead, but since we were there early in the morning, as well as one of the first weekends they were open for picking, we had no problems at all. So I recommend showing up close to opening time (9am) and NOT waiting until the end of the day, otherwise you may be out of luck. I also recommend trying to get there early in the picking season, otherwise they close up shop when they run out of grapes; this is what happened to us last year. Typically the season is during the whole month of July; usually the event sites or newspaper publish an article when the time is near.

address:

Komesu vineyard 米須ぶどう園: https://goo.gl/maps/pVSRbnBvBPy

Ishikawa vineyard 石川ぶどう園: https://goo.gl/maps/GZoDWiqP26o

Restaurants

Miyazatoya Coffee: 宮里屋

Another hot day here in Okinawa. As I went out to run some errands, I remembered a coffeeshop in Naha I had wanted to try… so I decided to go ahead and check them out.

It shares a parking lot with a home store, so there are plenty of parking spaces. The shop itself also doubles as a flower shop, so when you walk inside it is actually a little magical feeling… like you entered a secret garden or something. There are plants everywhere, and it has a really nice atmosphere.

As much as I wanted to stay (there is a cafe on the bottom floor, as well as seating on the second floor), I needed to get it to go. You can also order a light lunch or cake set here. I got an iced hazelnut coffee, and while I actually tend to avoid this type of flavored-sugary-whipped coffee drinks (to be honest, I never go to Starbucks in Japan with all the fancy limited time specialty frappes), this was quite good and what I needed on a hot day. This was a rare treat indeed~~

They have their own originally roasted beans in store, and there are plenty of options to choose from, both iced and hot. I thought the prices a tad on the high side (keep in mind I also drink Lawson machi cafe coffee normally), but it is a sort of specialty shop so it is not unreasonably priced. I couldn’t tell you how the price compares to Starbucks, but I suspect it is a bit higher overall. However, being an independent shop that roasts their own beans, I think the price compares to other shops of this nature, at least in Japan. This is definitely a cute place, worth coming back to when I am in the Naha area.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/eRfQtdLDNuv

Restaurants

Cafe Nicoli: カフェニコリ

Cafe Nicoli in Ginowan has smoothies (スムージー) and scones (スコーン). I passed by there many times but never stopped in, so finally I decided to take a peek.

Since it was a hot day, a smoothie sounded nice. There are 2 parking spots down the small road past the shop, across from the Ginowan library labelled for the shop. The shop is very cute looking from both the outside and the inside. There are rows and rows of scones, as well as a few cookies which all smelled rather delectable. I will try to remember these for next time I need a baked good. There were quite a few smoothie choices, from coffee bases, yogurt bases, cream bases, and fruits bases. Some were sold out though, so check the board inside the shop.

The price and size of the smoothie was really quite reasonable (perhaps even cheap) for Okinawa; I got a mango smoothie which was likely not made from local Okinawa mango but frozen ones. Which for the price was fine… if it was made from local mango I am sure the price would be quite a bit more.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/Q53qVn2iW7v

Restaurants

Slowlife Cafe: スローライフカフェ

Slowlife Cafe is a beach-themed cafe located in Ginowan. I pulled up, and parking seemed a bit… well, anyway I pulled up the curb where some other cars were parked, so I think it was okay. The cafe is on the 2nd floor, so it has a pretty nice view if you go out to the terrace.

Anyway, the interior was very nicely decorated and comfortable, sort of “beach chic” with natural wood and ocean colors. The menu was only in Japanese, but not too complicated as there are only 4 items on the menu for lunch: plate of the day, pasta of the day, don (rice bowl) of the day, and sandwich of the day. Each come with soup, salad, and drink, all for 1000yen; if you add the cake of the day, it is an additional 150yen.

They didn’t have all of the -of-the-days written out anywhere like most places, instead the server listed them off. Though it seemed he was not confident that I would understand much because I was a foreigner, he said them all fairly quickly and without much details. I didn’t bother to correct him on that or ask more details, as I pretty much knew I would get the pasta anyway and I added on the cake since it was cheesecake. Not that he was rude or anything, quite the opposite, very friendly… just a lot of times as an obvious 外国人 people tend to assume you have zero grasp of the Japanese language. Everything was pretty good; not superb, but for the price I thought it was pretty decent. I enjoyed eating in the relaxed atmosphere. It definitely seemed like a trendy but not expensive place where young 20somethings could eat, drink, and enjoy life slowly not too far from Tropical Beach in Ginowan.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/bNqna9tNxcD2

Japanese sweets

LOOK x Sanrio Cinnamoroll Chocolates

To be honest, I don’t actually like chocolate that much. But these chocolates were just too cute to pass up, plus they were coffee flavored (which I do love). So on an impulse, I purchased them from the conbini here in Okinawa. It was only about 120yen, so fairly cheap.

Sanrio’s Cinnamoroll character is featured on this special edition of LOOK chocolates, and the theme is “cafe.” There are 4 flavors in the box (and 3 of each, so a total of 12 small chocolates pieces). From left to right, the flavors are:

カプチーノ cappuccino
シナモンロール cinnamon roll
シフォンケーキ chiffon cake
エスプレッソ espresso

Of the 4 flavors, I really only liked the 2 coffee ones; they were actually quite good for cheap chocolates. Cinnamon roll was… overpowering cinnamon to say the least, I was not a fan and I think this was the worst of the 4 for me. Chiffon cake was… kinda weird and vanilla-y; it was okay and maybe if you like that weird “birthday cake” flavor you might like this. When I read the ingredients, it said something about “dry crepe” in it so I suppose this is where that flavor comes from. The chiffon cake chocolate was so-so overall. After trying 1 of each of the 4 flavors, I was overloaded with sugary sweetness and saved the rest for later (or more likely, my husband).

Anyway, this is what I get for being suckered into cute packaging when I don’t even like chocolate candy that much. However for those who do like little chocolate candies, you may enjoy these. And they are adorable~~

Update: as matter of fact, I did give the rest to my husband. And he LOVED the cinnamon roll chocolate. So our tastes are pretty different some of the time. Who knows, maybe you too would like it if you like that burst of cinnamon-y flavor.

Culture, Experiences, Travel: Outer Islands

Ryukyu Onsen Senaga-jima Hotel

South of the airport is the small island of Senaga-jima which is connected the main island by bridge. A very luxurious hotel with an onsen, Ryujin no Yu 龍神の湯 (translation: dragon-king bath; Ryujin is the dragon god believed to lived under the sea near Okinawa), is situated there. The rooms to stay overnight are very expensive (so I have never stayed there), but luckily the onsen and spa is open to the public. The entrance fee for the onsen is also reasonable (middle school and older, weekdays: 1,330円, weekends and holidays: 1,540円, elementary school: 720円, preschool and under free). There is even a foot hot spring for free next to the resort hotel, if you just want to relax your feet for a bit.

Like other onsen in Okinawa, you go to the spa desk to check-in and receive your towels and spa clothes. The onsen has indoor baths as well as some very lovely outdoor baths. I didn’t spend a lot of time in the indoor baths or sauna; mostly I cleaned myself at the shower stations and went almost directly to outside. Outside you have some different choices; there are a few individual rotenburo 露天風呂 and then some large baths (1 is a standing bath, so you stand up in it but it is quite comfortable) that overlook the ocean. I enjoyed all of these and the view was really quite nice, it made it all the more relaxing. The water is a bit salty– it is a unique seaside hot spring for sure! If you stay overnight, half of the hotel rooms even have private outdoor baths…!

The spa treatments offered here are quite nice for some pampering. When I went for my birthday, I got a body scrub, a seaweed-mud wrap, some sort of facial, and a massage… it was not cheap, but it was a birthday present from my husband. I felt amazing afterwards… maybe one day I can return.

As far as food, I have only eaten at the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant inside the resort, which was so-so. Some people really like it, and it was okay, but I probably recommend just going over to Umikaji Terrace うみかじテラス (the small shopping/cafe area on the island) and checking out the food there. There are several options from happy pancakes to food you can eat while sitting in hammocks, each of them with just as nice a view as the resort.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/9fsrcNESWES2

website: https://www.hotelwbf.com/senaga/

Folklore, Restaurants

Seaside Drive-In: シーサイドドライブイン

The Seaside Drive-In is an assuming place located near Moon Beach Hotel in Onna (North). It is open 24 hours, and is sort of charming in its own way. It reminds me of Hawaii, actually, so I felt very comfortable inside like I was eating back home.

The food is cheap, nothing exotic, just sort of a typical drive-in diner menu; it has “western,” Japanese and Chinese dishes (seriously, if the menu had some spam options, chili, and loco moco I would swear I was in Hawaii). My husband and I both got sandwiches, a side of fries and a soup for the husband– our bill was ~1100 yen. We were quite satisfied with our lunch. I cannot believe we passed by this place a few times to never check it out until now! If you are looking for a cheap lunch spot with plenty of options in Onna, this is a pretty decent place to check out. Plus, you can even get take-out if you don’t want to eat inside; the counter is to the left of the entrance doors outside.

There is even a jukebox, 100yen for 2 songs.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/ND3hUizSYgw

Bonus: Abandoned restaurant island?! Out the window of the diner (or from the parking lot) you will spot a strange little “island” with a pretty dilapidated structure, only about 20 m from the shore. It is called “Hiituu-jima” ヒートゥー島, translated as “Dolphin Island” in Okinawan language. The reason being they used to hunt/kill dolphins in the area of Nago Bay around the island and eat them so there is some rumor of it being a haunted or ghost spot (kinda like the opposite of a power spot). Though I hear the custom of eating dophin is still practiced in the Nago area even today; it used to be a protein source for Okinawans.

The owners decided to open a restaurant only accessible by boat (you can already imagine why this might be a failing idea) that would serve hiittuu (dolphin) on the menu and started building on the small island; however they did not end up getting permission or approval from the local authorities, dooming their restaurant to never actually open. So, now it is in ruins. Perhaps the revenge of the dolphins.

There is also a rumor that unhappiness always comes to those who enter this island. There was a young man who went to the island to explore the ruins. It seems that he broke the mystery stone shrine inside and took pictures; it is said that he died the same day due to an accident.

Since it is technically private property I cannot encourage you to visit it (you could easily swim/snorkel in the area), or if the tide is low you can practically just wade out. There are signs (in Japanese) that say no trespassing, so keep this in mind if you try to seek it out and get into trouble. That being said it does not keep out some of the fearless urbex-ers, as there seem to be a few blogs out there with photos of this place, as well as a fair amount of graffiti decorating the ruined building.

**心霊 shinrei spirit, ghost, soul; can also be used in “haunted” spot (心霊スポット shinrei supotto).

Culture, Folklore, Holidays, Japanese foods

Tanabata 七夕 & Somen そうめん

七夕 Tanabata: Japanese Star festival on July 7th (read more here).

そうめん (素麺) somen: a type of noodles made of wheat flour so they are white and very thin. It is a very popular dish during summer.

I wrote previously about Tanabata and how it is not really celebrated the same in Okinawa. But with ever-changing populations, you see a little more each year.

A traditional food for Tanabata is… somen! Not only is it perfect as a summer dish, but the noodles represent the Milky way and Orihime’s threads (she was a weaver).

This type of somen dish is served chilled with a a tsuyu つゆ dipping sauce (mix of shoyu and dashi). If you want to be fancy, you can slice up okra and serve on top (they look like cute little stars). Or you could cut other veggies into star shapes, but that sounds like too much work for me, although there are many Japanese kitchen gadgets used for bento to aid with this. Perhaps you could even find those cucumbers grown into star shapes here in Japan.

Some places in Okinawa will have a nagashi-somen 流しそうめん event (translation: flowing noodles) around this time of year. A bamboo “slide” is set up and you grab them as they go buy with your hashi 箸 (chopsticks). It’s a lot of fun, so I recommend trying it.

(photos coming soon).

Travel: Outer Islands

Adji-jima, “Hideout Island”

アーヂ島 adji-jima (or aadji-jima) in a very tiny island located off the Nanjo coast of Okinawa main island. The name means “hideout.”

As you drive down towards it, you come to a tori gate 鳥居 utility pole… interesting. You can park in an area off to the side of the driving path (I call it a path, because it is really not much of a road). There is a concrete bridge connecting Adji-jima to land. You can walk across but…

It is gated off at the entrance to the island. It is actually a private property, possibly owned by a resort from the 80s and is said to have been a training facility for the resort, but now… no one seems to be sure of ownership from what I have read. It seems well-kept enough, so I don’t think it is abandoned. It is a bit mysterious.

Since you cannot enter, you can walk (at low tide) or wade (during high tide) circling small “island”. It is surrounded by barbed wire fence on the land. There is even a marker for 1983 when it the facilities were made. You can see some various structures and such too. There even seem to be some sort of dock for a boat, but the water must be too shallow for this to be used. It is a bit strange overall. Perhaps the strangest is that there is a sign on the main road for this hideout island even though you cannot enter and it is privately owned. It is close to Hyakuna Beach 百名ビーチ though, so you could just walk over from here and enjoy some beach time.

address: https://goo.gl/maps/7jETrXP6Gaw

Culture, Folklore

Hyakuna Beach and Nanjo Cultural Properties

Nanjo 南城 meaning “southern castle” is unsurprisingly located in the southern area of the island. In Nanjo, there are many cultural and historical properties, most famously, perhaps, the Seifa Utaki 斎場御嶽 (also spelled Sefa Utaki).

**utaki 御嶽 is a Ryukyuan term for “sacred place,” oftentimes a water spring, mountain, woods, cave, etc.

The area I went to today qualifies as another “power spot” and it is quite close to Seifa Utaki. It is another spot related to the goddess Amamikiyo.

ヤハラヅカサ Yaharazukasa is the name of the monument submerged at full tide, and is totally revealed at low tide. It is located within the Hyakuna beach 百名ビーチarea.

The meaning is broken down into ヤハラ yahara, which can be soft, healed, gentle (柔らかい yawarakai, 癒されるiyasareru, 優しい yasashii in Japanese). The second part ヅカサ zukasa means mound, 塚 zuka in Japanese. So the meaning is something like a mound to receive gentle healing.

Amamikiyo touched down at yaharazukasa through Hamagaa utaki 浜川御嶽 (utaki means sacred spot) after Kudaka-jima; 浜川 Hamagaa would be normally be pronounced Hamagawa in Japanese (beach + river). Hamagaa utaki is a small “shrine” area with a spring (gaa 川, river/spring in Okinawan language) running through the Ryukyuan limestone cliffs. It was happily burbling as I explored the area. This utaki area was also supposedly a location where the goddess would rest and heal. She came from the sea kingdom Nirai-kanai, the home of the gods and created the Ryukyu Islands.

The Hyakuna beach is free; same with parking if you go all the way down to the end of the drive. If not, you can also pay for parking in a lot about halfway to monument area, more by the beach sports access area.

I did not check the tides since I was just wandering about so, alas, I ended up here at nearly high tide. Sometime I shall go down just for low tide to see the monument in its fullest.

Later we went to the parking and cafe area for Seifa Utaki to enjoy some cool treats at the 2nd floor cafe. I had a mango float and my husband had shikwasa (Okinawan lime citrus) kakigouri (shave ice). The view was quite beautiful and we chose to sit outside and enjoy.

address for Hyakuna Beach: https://goo.gl/maps/TJeUAGAzutK2
*When you park at the end of the road, you can see a sign pointing into the wooded area. That is where Hamagaa utaki is. From the utaki, there is a rock step path down to the beach directly in front of the yaharazakasa monument. There are some well-worn signage with both English and Japanese information.

Seifa Kitchen cafe せーふぁキッチン: https://goo.gl/maps/MhHZRJhzjMv