2019 Feb. Okinawa. Japan.
Flew in to Okinawa via budget airline Peach and had an interesting deplaning and immigration experience, made me feel more like cargo than passenger. 🙂 First mission after getting rental car, was to find a nice local lunch! Mikasa Matsuyama shop serves awesome and cheap Okinawan food and was packed with locals. The champon Mikasa style tasted so delicious, even though it looked simple and somewhat messy. Must try!
Okinawa is quite a long island and you need to drive to explore the place. We decided to visit the attractions near the airport and city in Naha first, starting with the iconic Shuri Castle. After we visited in Feb 2019, the UNESCO world heritage site castle burnt down in Oct 2019 which was really sad. Apparently the fire was just the latest in a series of blazes that have blighted the castle over the centuries.
After spending most part of the afternoon walking the castle grounds, we slowly drove up north towards our accommodation, and stopped by Cape Manzamo to view the rock formation. By the time we reached Nago, it was already getting dark.
Itinerary for the next day was to visit Kouri Island. Kouri Ocean Tower is an observation deck overlooking the sea. The view was just alright, somewhat underwhelming.
Chanced upon a nice and charming cafe by the roadside for a morning cuppa when exploring around Kouri Island.
Kouri Shrimp. Nicely flavoured succulent shrimps from a food van next to a cemetery. Business was extremely good and customers kept streaming in. Definitely worth making a stop for. Thumbs up!
Heart Rock at the northern part of Kouri Island, is a popular key attraction in Okinawa.
Weather was gloomy and it began to rain, but we made it to Aquarium. Btw this is not just any aquarium, it is another huge and impressive world class aquarium, in the same league as Monterey in California!
Right next to the Aquarium was the Okinawa International Orchid Show. Flowers are always beautiful and make me happy. 没错我就是花痴！
Dinner at Chura Hana, food was alright and didn’t leave much of an impression. When in Okinawa, must try the sea grapes umibudo, a local specialty. In general, Okinawa cuisine is very much like chinese stir-fry or zichar.
Breakfast from the 24hr take-out place Hotto Motto near our homestay was pretty good. Prepared and served warm.
The following day, we visited American Village which was essentially a shopping mall with restaurants, nothing particularly interesting.
Had lunch in Naha and walked around the main shopping street of Okinawa.
Drove around to explore more of Okinawa, including Cape Zanpa and Cape Maeda. But February was the wrong season, too cold for water activities, so no action along the coast.
The homestay Yamoriya in Nago I booked was right above restaurant Ryukyu Dining. Chose this homestay as I wanted a relaxed and quiet place away from the city with sea view. The homestay was well equipped with every appliance you need and can think of. The owner is the chef of the restaurant downstairs, which serves modern creative Okinawan cuisine. Food was pretty good too.
Felt greedy late at night, and ramen was the most satisfying supper. Ramen shops in Japan can’t go wrong, always consistent and delicious.
Overall, it was a relaxing nice short getaway over the Chinese New Year break.
