Okinawa Holiday

My first beach vacation getaway! And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

For this trip, we would spend the day in Okinawa, then the rest of our time would be spent on the beautiful islands of Ishigaki, Taketomi (day trip), and Iromote.

Ladies dressed in traditional Okinawa Kimonos.

 Naha, Okinawa Activities

We invested in a monorail day pass (¥600), which made it easier to get around to the attractions we wanted to see.

Shuri Castle 

A 15-20 min walk from Shuri Station, and easy to spot from the train windows.

This castle was rebuilt. To walk around the grounds was nice, and to enter the main house of the castle is ¥800.

Outside of Shuri Castle.

Entrance to the central castle.

View of the main castle from the observation deck.

Yes, we cheaped out and didn’t go in.

Pottery Village

From Asato Station, a 10 min walk to this pottery village. We walked down a street that was just full of pottery shops, with a variety that ranged from the traditional clay style, to color and glazed. It was really hard to resist shopping so early in the trip. 

Naha Pottery Village / Pottery District.

We walked into one shop that was having a sale that day. This shop’s pottery is acknowledged by the International Foreign Affairs Ministry for their quality and design…I apologize as I forgot to take a picture of the shop. But, in the photo above, this shop is right across from this shop that appears in my photo. 

At the end of the pottery district, it links to the Hewa Shopping Arcade. One of the many side-extensions filled with small shops, connecting to Koukusaidori International Street.

Hewa Shopping Arcade entrance, 

at the end of the Pottery Village.

Kokusaidori (International Street)

What use to be the biggest black market scene in Okinawa is now the main shopping district.

It extends over a few blocks, and it can easily be accessed by different monorail stations along the way. 

Kokusaidori (International Street)

Okinawa Must Try Foods

Shuri Soba– we went here for lunch after I happened to stumble upon a blog that recommended it.

This place is popular for it’s soba. The soup has been stewed for a long time with pork meat that melts in your mouth. There’s said to always be a line, luckily our wait was maybe around 20-30 minutes.

Shuri Soba, Naha Okinawa.

Well worth the wait. The pork was melt in your mouth goodness! The menu is limited for the small shop that they are, but there is also a chow-han (chow-fan)/ fried rice dish that looked delicious!

My mini(?!) bowl of Shuri Soba.

Taco Rice – Taco Rice, is popular in Okinawa. We happily found a Charlie’s Taco’s, along Kokusaidori. (Restaurant came highly recommended online)

Charlie’s Taco, for Taco Rice.

 Charlie’s Taco also has a “Lady’s Set”. Comes with a little bit of everything, including ice cream for dessert. Sadly guys, only women can order this…

Charlie’s Taco, Lady’s Set.

Habushu – venomous snake alcohol… The snake is not to be consumed, and it is recommend to sip this concoction, rather than chugging or pounding it back.

Okinawa Habushu – snake alcohol.

If the large habushu jars with snakes are too much for the wallet, the smaller and cheaper version can be found around ¥1280…but no snake. If alcohol isn’t appealing, there are plenty of other habu (snake) products to try, like a habu energy drink 🙂

To me, it tasted like very STRONG tequila…with a bit of cinnamon flavor. But, now I can say I tried Habushu \^.^/

Opted for the small, non-snake, Habushu.

Shiseido Cafe

Spending some good times with a friend who also managed to get a job in Tokyo. After dragging him into XXI for some girly-shopping, we were trying to decide where to go for tea when my friend suggested Shiseido’s Cafe. I never knew until my friend told me that the Shiseido beauty and cosmetic line first started off as a cafe. Walking through Ginza we came up to a nice, deep red building, and the entire building was Shiseido, but dedicated to…food?!

Shiseido

Ground level was a snack shop, filled with cookies and slices of treats for omiyage (souvenirs) that Japanese people often love buying. On the third floor is the Cafe Salon, a tea room. While the upper level floors were high class restaurants. Super quiet and classy that it could make anyone “unfitting”, feel “unfit”.

 Shiseido Cookie & Snack shop.

Shiseido Cafe, Ginza

This cafe is popular and had a bit of a wait. We were shown to our table by a manager and a waitress who pulled and pushed our chairs in to seat us. Even at the most classiest restaurant in Vancouver I’ve never had my chair pushed in for me, and here we are, at a posh-cafe getting 5-star treatment!

  

Shiseido Salon De Cafe

The atmosphere was simple, classical and elegant. The walls were a simple deep-red color and was accented by the cream curtains and furniture. Waitresses were dressed like maids, but it was the classical, traditional French-maid uniform allowing females to retain their dignity and respectability. We could see this in their posture, how they presented themselves, and the fact that they could use their normal voice without a baby-pitch. This was a proper maid-cafe, done right.
None of the perverted, cosplay mumbo-jumbo where men attempt to fulfill some grotesque fantasy, and girls sadly play along because it’s a job that puts them through school.

 Cheesecake with Grapefruit sorbet,

with rose designed cream and berry sauce.

 

 

Pricing is expensive, starting at ¥900 for tea (a pure blend of Shiseido tea), and desserts stretched into the double digits. We ordered their “House Cake”, or cake set. For ¥1500, we got a choice between 3 different desserts of the day and their pure blend of tea or coffee. Everything tasted great!

Cream custard wrapped in taro paste, 

with Grapefruit sorbet & glazed fig. 

A day with a good friend, deep-intellectual conversations, shopping (at awesome prices = bonus); followed by a good tea time, then later, dinner. This was a wonderful day! Thank you Sam!

Japanese Festival Food

When it comes to festivals in Japan, save your stomach space! Vendors come from all over and travel like carni’s, making a living from one festival to another, living out of their vans. But the food they make is often times, really good!!! There are the regular foods that are often seen like grilled corn, or grilled sea food or meats. Then there are vendors that come around, serving up foods that are rarely seen in certain neck of the woods.

The past couple of weeks was the annual Hojoya Festival. The first festival I went to while living in Fukuoka. It brought back a lot of memories, and happily I’m better equip to read signs, order and try different types of foods. Excitingly, my new festival food finds that I’ve never had before:

Deep-fried ice cream. Different flavors to choose from, but the ice cream inside often turns out to be more like soup. Eat with caution, because this can get messy.

Deep-fried ice cream.

A YU (あゆ) Fish. Everything is intact, salted, and roasted. This vendor had a little bar/eating area set up around his cooking pit. Nice and crispy, and everything is edible! No waste, though some people aren’t too fond about eating the head, but it is edible.

A YU Fish.

Potato Mochi (ポテトもち). Round and flat (potato-based) moochi on a stick. Deep fried, with a choice of topping. The #1 popular topping is cheese.

Potato Mochi.

Choco-Banana. I have been making it my thing to get this every time I go to a festival, because they’re just so good! And I justify being “healthy” at one point, though it’s completely ousted by the chocolate coating and junk-food accessories.
But the important point here is that usually these vendors offer 2 for 1 if you beat them at “jun-ken” (rock, paper, scissors)!!

Choco-Banana.

Kumomoto Food

On my day trip to Kumomoto I really wanted to try the iconic signature foods, as I do with every place I go to. It’s the touristy thing to do, I can’t visit and NOT try it.

Ikinari Dango

Kumomoto is really popular for Ikinari Dango. “Ikinari” means suddenly, and “Dango” means dumpling. When you bit into it you suddenly get this burst of sweet potato or red bean filling. Where we stopped by they were grilling the Ikinari Dango, which made it so much more crispy-yummy!

Ikinari Dango. Original style.

I also got an Ikinari Ten (いきなり天）which is a fried fish cake, wrapped around a sweet potato and deep fried all together. “Ten” is short for “Tenpura”, which is considered the fish cake part. It was SO good!

Ikinari Ten 

 

Kumomoto Ramen

Compared to Hakata ramen, Kumomoto ramen is ranked next in line. The noodles are thicker than Hakata ramen, and there is no such thing as “kadaema” (second helping)…(O.O) Toto, I’m not in Fukuoka anymore…

We happened to pass by 黒龍紅ラメん (Kuro Ryū Beni Ramen). Ranked #1 by Yahoo! for their tonkotsu ramen (pork soup base). Usually I don’t like tonkotsu ramen, because I’ve had bad experiences with it before and it usually involved the smell of it. At first I was very adamant about not eating tonkotsu, and the shop owner was happy to make me a shou (salt) base ramen.

Shou Ramen.

My friend ordered his recommended tonkotsu specialty, and he encouraged me to try one spoonful of her soup. It looked good, so I decided to give it a shot…
It tasted SO GOOD!! I was impressed! I really wanted to exchange my bowl for it. Instead, I hurriedly finished off my bowl and ordered a bowl of his tonkotsu ramen! He was so happy to convert one more person in this world to tonkotsu ramen.

Tonkatsu Ramen

Wine bar in Fukuoka

Before leaving for vacation, for one of my best gal-pal’s birthday I took her to a kimono shop and wine bar, Yumekichi Wine.

Outside Yumekichi Wine.

 

It was last minute luck, because we really wanted to go out, have a couple drinks, and just relax. But we were picky…we didn’t want beer, or have the usual sake or shochu…we were feeling classy tonight and wanted wine. I was lucky to come across an article in the Fukuoka Now Magazine! We were in even more luck as we found out it was about 10 minutes away from my friend’s house.

Situated along the river side.
Great view if you sit at the bar.

Yumekichi Wine

The interior ambiance was beautiful. The soft-lighting and candles made it intimate yet chic. Seating was limited to the bar, one high top table area, and one lounge. One side of the room had this huge wine cabinet, with glasses hung or sitting on shelves.

Not only a wine shop, it’s also a kimono shop. The bartenders and employees all wore yukatas (men and women), and they advertised for yukata and kimono rentals. But probably the best thing about this place was the fact that no one smoked!

Complimentary appy’s.
Smoked cheese, raisins, and smoked meat.

 

4 Wine Tasting Special

The drink menu was written on a glass window, while our menu was written in beautiful calligraphy on heavy duty rice paper.

The special is 2500 yen for tasting 4 different wines, your choice of either 4 reds or 4 whites. Sorry, no mix and matches. Both my friend and I ordered a set of each to share as we munched on appetizers and complementary nibbles.

4 Wine tasting.

 

Everything tasted really good and went well with the wines! Things that I never knew that could be paired. Like certain traditional Japanese pickled vegetables, etc. And the shop owner was a wine connoisseur herself! It was really cool to watch her professionally taste wine in her yukata. Everyone there was pretty chill, and it seemed that many of them were regular customers…or maybe it’s because the staff there really make you feel at home, as if you really were on the set of “Cheers”, where everybody knows your name.I think I found my new favorite hang out. Cheers! *clink!*

Shinkansen Sushi

Aside from everything tasting delicious, food in Japan is also, at times, fun and entertaining. Stopped by Odori Sushi restaurant for dinner, and since it was busy I sat myself down at the bar. This was probably the best and most entertaining spot compared to sitting in the regular family booths.

Odori Sushi: at the bar.

 

In the Japanese sushi bars they have monitors where you could place any order, regardless if they were passing by on the conveyor belt or not. Most guests prefer to order it, as it will be freshly made, compared to the ones that pass by on the belt.

Not all of the sushi places have it, but sometimes as you are waiting for your order the monitor offers games. At Odori Sushi, for every 5 items selected the monitor would change to a slot machine screen. Next to the monitor was a box of prizes, and if you managed to get 3 in a row you could pick any prize. While the prizes are more for children, hey – teachers could always use more stickers and pencils ^^.

Menu monitor & game machine.

 

Mini- Shinkansen Delivering Sushi!
Probably the most entertaining aspect of the meal. After ordering from the monitor the items would either be served by a waiter, or more often – the mini shinkansen! It kind of makes me want to keep ordering to see that train come by.

At Hakata Station, there is a shinkansen sushi restaurant now open in the dining area of Yodobashi Camera Electronics building. These places get packed so be weary of the busy meal hours.

Dontaku Festival

Right now is Golden Week, which is almost a week long holiday with the couple odd ball days that are considered working days – but those can easily be written off as paid vacation if one chooses. Many people take advantage of this time to travel, and it’s also considered the busiest time as well for tourism, both in and outside of Japan.

Golden Week in Fukuoka.

Dontaku Festival

For two days in Golden Week (May 3rd & 4th), Fukuoka city hosts its largest annual festival, Dontaku. Tons of food and game stalls, entertainment stations throughout Tenjin, and a parade that runs all day until 6:30 PM. This year, my friend invited me to join her and her dance group to participate in the parade.

Dontaku Festival, Fukuoka.
(May 3rd & 4th)

Choco-Banana
One of my now favorite festival foods! Decorated, chocolate covered bananas. We found a stall that offered a game of rock-paper-scissors. If the customer won the game, they would get 2 cocoa-bananas for the price of one. So I tried my luck…and guess who won?!? 😀

Choco-Bananas, 2 for 1.
Thank you scissors!^^

Dontaku, Fukuoka City

At first the city was contemplating to cancel this festival due to recent events that had effected much of Eastern Japan. This was out of consideration that festivities might seem inconsiderate when another part of the country is going through hard times. Happily it went on as planned and keeping with the supportive Japanese spirit organizers themed this year’s Dontaku: “Ganbaru Nippon!” (Do your best, Japan!).

Dontaku Parade, runs all day until 6:30PM.

Yosakoi Parade Dance

Every Wednesday for the past month my friend and I have been attending rehearsals for this parade. That’s about 4 or 5 rehearsals… I was a bit scared on the day of. There were many different dance groups, but for this festival we all joined together to represent our town. I loved the energy and spirit from our dance as it encourages people to come together. Aside from Disneyland, this was the most lively and entertaining family-oriented parade I’ve ever seen and participated in.

Tosu Premium Outlet

Another eventful weekend of, seriously to my surprise, shopping! My friend told me she wanted to go shopping, because she found a good deal on frying pans at one of the T-FAL stores. Unsure of where it was but completely in love with the idea of adding to my kitchen, I tagged along. Our first stop was a nice surprise in Saga, Cafe de Blue…

Cafe de Blue, Saga

Cafe de Blue

We drove out to Saga for this famous parfait shop, Cafe de Blue. This cafe has pages of gorgeous looking cafes, as well at party tiers that going as high as $100. Before I leave Japan, for my last house party I plan to order one of those. We shared a BLT club sandwich, and then ordered a couple parfaits to share. There’s a huge regular menu of parfaits, and a special seasonal parfait menu. This month’s special is with strawberries for the sakura season.

BLT club sandwiches with egg, and light wasabi mayo.

Strawberry pie parfait.

Strawberry trifle parfait.

Tosu Premium Outlet

After eating we were full, and my friend told me the place we’re going to has many stores. So it was our goal to walk off all that we just ate. Off we drove to Tosu! Little did I know that we were going to a Premium Outlet!

Tosu Premium Outlet.

Premium Outlet VIP

Anyone who visits the Premium Outlets in USA should sign up for the VIP Lounge. It’s free and you get extra discounts on top of store discounts. Internationally though, it’s different. In Japan, foreigners just have to head to the Information Counter and present a Visa. Then you’ll get a discount coupon book for participating shops.

**If you don’t have a membership, foreigners can also present their passport to get a discount book as well**

T-FAL Lucky Box, $77.

2-tier Steamer, 2 small frying pans, & frying utensils. (over $200 value)

Most of the time you have to spend a certain amount before getting a discount, but every little bit helps when you buy a lot. Today was the last day for their special sale, many stores had “lucky bags / boxes”. And I thought they were only available on New Years! (Refer to Fukubukuro New Years Lucky Bag). I wish Canada had deals like this. I realized that I am more interested in expanding my kitchen ware, rather than my wardrobe – which is still necessary because I haven’t really bought a lot of new clothes since when I first got here.
I’m really sad anticipating the day that I will have to leave my kitchen behind when I return back home…

Franc Franc Lucky Box, $50

Changeable faceplate grill (for Tako-yaki or regular), & dinning set!
($150 value)

Any time when shopping, keep an eye out for promotions. Tosu Premium Outlet promotion was if you spend $200 you could get a free bento box. Really nice, with assembling chopsticks. It somehow became easy to spend that amount that day. Yay! More for my kitchen!^^

My new promotional bento box,
with assembling chopsticks.

Coy Sashimi & Shimizu Falls

It’s a time for sakura and plum blossoms to bloom, enrich the air with its floral scent and decorate the ground in color. It’s also the season for carps! On a day trip to Saga we stopped by and visited the Shimizu Falls (Shimizu no taki).

Entrance to the Shimizu Falls
(Shimizu no Taki)

Shimizu Falls (Shimizu no taki)

It took us a while to find it for some reason. Standing in the parking lot there weren’t any signs but many people walking up the mountainside, and many coming down. When in doubt, follow the people! However, this time should have been doubt – as we ended up in a cemetery… It just happened that many people chose the day to visit their loved ones…

We found the entrance back down the hill after asking a couple locals. The trail took us up to a shrine, and then back down to the base of the waterfall.

Shimizu no taki

Eating Coy Sashimi

Right across from the entrance of the waterfall hike trail is this ryokan (Inn) & restaurant that serves Coy. Outside in front there was a little caged pool with huge black Coy – so we knew the fish was fresh!

The Coy-serving restaurant & ryokan.

Because it was already after lunch, the menu selection was small. We ordered was a combo: Coy Sashimi and Eel soup. The Coy was thinly sliced and came with a sweet & sour sauce for dipping – which tastes really good when mixed with the diced chives and chili paste! Coy had no taste or smell, and it takes a bit of a chew but it was pretty good.

Coy Sashimi & Coy Skin

Eel Miso Soup

We weren’t sure about eating the fish skin that decorated the top of the sashimi, but the owner encouraged us to eat it as the collagen would give us beautiful skin. The skin was sliced so nicely, we could tell the chef definitely had skill! I would have preferred to just watch and admire it rather than eat it. But when traveling we should all try things at least once! It had no flavor and the texture was rubbery, which wasn’t my favorite feeling but it was fun and now we like to joke about how positively radiant our skin is. ^^

Coy Skin…

Ogi Park Night Lantern Hanami

Heard that Ogi Park in Saga was having a Night Lantern Hanami (flower watching), so some of us decided to go check it out. Sakura season is around late March to early April, but the days leading up to Hanami season was a bit cool that many people were afraid that the Sakuras wouldn’t blossom. Happy to say, some did decide to come out and it was just so beautiful! Against the lanterns, the Sakuras were amazing, but sadly my camera couldn’t justify what I saw.

Ogi Park Lantern Festival

“I love Ogi” was this year’s theme

The park was scheduled to be lit at 6pm, but it took a while to get dark as dusk didn’t start to set in until a little bit before 7pm. Sakura (cherry) blossoms were freshly budded as very few petals covered the ground, while lanterns of bamboo and cups were set around the park.

People have Hanami picnics, Ogi Park.

Bamboo Lanterns were everywhere.

Night Lantern Hanami, Ogi Park in Saga.

Ramen Burger

Outside the park stood a row of food stands. Many were the usually festival foods: fried chicken, fruit other foods on a stick, etc. But among the stalls, a sign caught my eye. Even though I already ate a good dinner I had to try it just because it was called, the Ramen Burger!

There was no patty, but noodles and egg were fried to be the “buns”. In between there were toppings usually found in Ramen: meat, ginger, etc. It was a bit bland, and it required a lot of “condiments”.

Ramen Burger…a little bland. Not high on my list of recommendations…sorry.

Ogi Lantern Fundraiser

At the entrance of the park, for a 500 Yen ($5) donation, you could decorate and write a message on a candle cover to the earthquake victims of Tohoku. I wasn’t so sure what to write…so I just did what Kanji my brain could remember from a combo of Japanese lessons and Grade 11 Mandarin:

日本,　わたしは　愛してる！
カナダ　から。
(Japan, I love you! From Canada)