Visiting the Kiwis - May 2017 (I)

It was careful planning (kudo to my wife to get a NZ map) to map out our driving routes from Christchurch to Curio Bay (furthest) and then U-turn back to Christchurch.  We wanted to see the Southern NZ especially the scenic routes.  It was my longest driving in overseas thus far - a total of nearly 1,573 km clocked in just about 8 days. Fortunately, it was not Winter yet else a bit troublesome  to drive.  Also we travelled during non-peak period, so booking of accommodation could be "last minute".  

To prepare for the driving in NZ, good to check out some youtubes of travellers driving in NZ.  I also did the AA NZ Road Code Quiz to familiarise myself with the signs.  Based on my 8-day plus of experience in NZ, I feel that negotiating the bends up the hills need to be more careful, and always stop if tired - get a coffee for your vehicle commander (in my case, my wife who needs to be alert to be another pair of eyes and also to talk to me).   Like to share also that we dun drive on Day 1 when we reach NZ or an overseas country - relax and have sufficient rest.  

From Christchurch, we took the "Supershuttle" service to our Hotel and our car rental company is about 15 minutes slow stroll.  Wanted to go recce the company but my wife said we could do the walking there tom to pick up the car anyway. 

I like road trip after the okinawa experience.  I like driving in NZ.  The landscape can change along the way from forested area to seas and then  to mountain/hill. The car company is APEX - initially I booked usual Toyota Corolla Sedan car but they gave us a 1.8 Hatch instead. Was offered Camry but decided to take a smaller cc as I was not used to bigger car.  The condition of the car was good though and it came with GPS set.  One thing to note is that some GPS sets may not be updated with latest maps and this was probably the reason why we ended in "off-the-beaten" tracks [Will share in subsequent blog].

Unlike Okinawa where the driving speed is 40km/hr.  Driving in NZ is similar to that in SGP.  Heard from my friends that there are many speed cameras and one of the group got a speed ticket when driving from the south to the north.  For us, safety comes first.  For a journey of 1 hour, we would factor in buffer as the daylight hours are shorter and I have the habit of stopping to see nice views or try nice food.

What I like about driving in NZ.  The routes are really scenic.  At times, we were the only car on the road.  There could be huge farms and large group of cattle or sheeps along the roads.  Very different from what we see here - buildings and narrower lanes with much traffic.  Driving can be a form of therapy too - relaxing.  I wonder if the passenger is more relaxing or the driver though.  Different stress, I guess.  One on the road, one to keep track of the direction and ensure the person behind the wheel dun lose concentration.  

It should be highlighted that there are notices in restaurants or rest areas showing the "high crash sites" and safety comes first.  Whenever I spotted one, I would remind ourselves to be alert and careful.  Dun get overly excited with the scenery.  There were also very large and heavy vehicles using the roads and these "Transformers" were really huge - another point to note.

It is kinda funny that I always will detour into small countryside cafe or into farm.  Along the road trip, I had made numerous such attempts and detours - It was a blessing that our "time" buffer really applied to us. Even the backdrop of parking was nice.  

We tried to avoid bad weather - rain or snow (APEX Office told us Winter not here yet, so no need for snow chains).  However, during one of our road trips, we met rain, snow and mist.  The sound of the snow dropping on the car was like sand or small stones hitting the roof of the car.  Thank God it was not very heavy snowing.  Weather was very unpredictable especially when we travelled up.  Need to take note of warm clothings.  

It was a good driving experience.  Safe, if you take caution and observe rules.  Fun, if you take things easy and have buffer.  Get a map to map out the journey.

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (VII)

After checking out from Hamahiga Island, we took some detours (again and as usual) to see any interesting things along the way. We visited a small islet and reminded dear dear to take note of any "hero snakes" hiding, a museum cum shop along the bridge and a breakwater to see if we could see Nemo again. We parked at a big empty space and decided to capture our Okinawan car with the nice backdrop of clouds and trees. 

 

We were heading to outlet mall and would be staying in Itoman City. Quite excited as we didn't really visit any outlet mall in Europe excluding the JPO in Malaysia.  On the way, we chanced upon a port and my instinct told me that there might be fresh seafood for lunch. We loved seafood and fresh sushi in Japan after our past "market" experience and decided to try our luck. Wow, many road users actually stopped by the "port" for replenishment. We ordered lobster sea urchin and my sushi meal.  Later then we realised you could actually select a fish of your choice and asked the kitchen to cook for you.  Where is my Okinawan Fish?  Though I could not recognise any Okinawan Fish and hence didn't get the chance to eat it again.


The sushi set made me miss my Hokkaido market meal. The lobster was big and juicy too. Overall, "Fresh" and fun eating in local canteen! I didn't realise that I have actually developed the "curiosity by the road" kind of habit - to explore any interesting things along the road trip.  It all started from Okinawa? 

An interesting outlet mall "Ashibinaa" which is quite big and weather was cold.  Only two of us in slippers and later we realised it was quite "impolite" to go around in slippers.  We focused on our likings and bought some clothes and my black Le Cresuset cup.  "Black" stuff should be quite rare and same as Freitag "black" stuff.   I was still scrutinising it and the friendly shop assistant pointed me to a notice about the condition of the goods sold at the shop. The stuff was still of good quality but might have some minor flaw only.  The cup is in use since then =)  and I dun see it elsewhere so far in the Le C shops we visited.  Got myself also a "Beam" shirt which was supposed to be a local brand. We ate "Blue Seal" - an Okinawan Ice Cream and it reminded us of the US-influence.  

Besides white cherries, we saw white strawberries in the grocery shop at the mall and decided to try and we bought it back to Hotel.  A small episode about our Southern Beach Hotel - it has either the sea view or the port view and having seen many sea views, we decided to go for port view and not to pay extra for upgrade.  Haha, still a comfortable hotel to relax and stay. 

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (VI)

Having explored the western side of Okinawa, our onward journey moved to the eastern side of the country.  We had this "child-like" thought of staying at both sides of the country to experience something "different". We drove via the Kaichu-doro drive to Miyagi Island and stayed at Hamahiga Island.  It was very funny feeling of driving from islands to islands connected by roads.  Our lodging was at Hotel Hamahigashima Resort - it was very quiet when we checked in and I was worried if we were the only couple staying for the night. Imagine the whole resort with us and the hotel staff only.  It was "so quiet" that we had to inform them that we would be eating dinner at the hotel in advance!  How remote feeling it was.

We decided to "trip advisor" and selected one Japanese Restaurant called Fukuya in Uruma, the main island.  It was an easy drive but the tough part was to navigate into the sharp 90 degree turn into the restaurant.  Not very big but very "jap feel".  The waitresses could not communicate in English at all, not even simple words and menu all in Jap.  A very interesting encounter occurred - two ladies next to our table could speak a bit of English and helped us in our order.  We chose two different types of fish and we requested for "local dish".  

While waiting for our dishes, the ladies started to scoop up some of the "appetisers" and passed them to us to try. Gosh, very hospitable and warm-feeling.  One tasted like fried potato chips while the other was vegetables with meat. 

With the background jap music and guys in another corner drinking and chatting loudly, it was really special.  We realised that Okinawan dish and Japanese dish are different - even the ladies asked us whether we wanted Japanese or Okinawan dish.  We chose one "Japanese" and one "Okinwan" dish. 

I was anticipating my Okinawan FISH, and wondered how it tasted like.  When the dishes came, we saw that one of the fishes we ordered with help was the Japanese "grilled fish".  Mine, so many bones and tough to eat, and it was really like Saba Fish.  The other one was Okinawan FISH. WOW, it was really yummy when my dear passed to me to "try".  I kept telling my wife who passed me the OKinawan fish was so delicious, fresh and yummy.  And it was supposed to be her fish, her meal.  To-date, I still dunno how to find the Okinawan Fish.  We also ordered two Okinawan Beer and had a great time communicating with the ladies and waitresses there.  My dear had to use wedding tunes "here comes the bride" to tell the ladies that we were "married" haha. It was so funny.  


We drove back carefully to the resort and it was dark on the roads.  I saw "green eyes" on the trees when I drove back. Seeing a few cars at the carpark assured us that at least we were not the only ones in the resort.  Quiet, lull period I guess.  

The sunrise the next morning was nice.  Staying in the resort in the remote island gave us a serene feeling though.  I went up to the public bath area but didn't stay long as I was the only one. Didn't catch the sunrise as planned in the area as it should be quite dark to go there to wait for sunrise....

Breakfast was a good spread and it was then that we realised got several families actually staying there yesterday night.  My dear liked the breakfast. I was still searching if there were any Okinawan Fish! Haha.

After checking out, we drove around and would stop at jetties or near breakwaters to see if we could spot any sea creatures.  Why? Cos when we were at Miyagi Island the day before, we stopped near a jetty and saw how clear the water was.  We could see clearly sea urchins, and a few memos.  Very clear, and this simple little thing fascinated us a lot.   

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (V)

We visited a few "Capes" during our drive to our next destination, the American Village. One particular interesting thing at one of the Capes was the "couple rock" - the Okinawa version.  We didn't see the rock clearly but could see the rope tied between the Hubby rock and the Wife rock.  I remembered telling my dear that there was a beach resort nearby and the visitors could see the rock clearly from their resort.  For my wife and I, we also "tied ourselves" together regularly even at home - holding hands even in the kitchen and quite funny when we ask ourselves why.

My dear has the "passion" to see pottery which I wasn't aware of.    She even did a research and found a very interesting pottery village known as "Yomitan Pottery Village".  Visited the Pottery Village and saw the kiln and pottery shops.  

 

It was a new experience for us as we have not seen a real kiln before. During one local pottery exhibition, I recalled my wife told me to feel each pottery art piece as each art piece has its own uniqueness and could understand the feeling of the potters.  Though I may not grasp how she feel it, I diligently feel each art piece.  No wonder she was touching the pottery when we were at the village - trying to talk to each pottery and the potter behind it? Haha.  We did find one which could really communicate with her but practical reasons kicked in - whether we have use for it and of cos, S Eleven also matters.  

Something else attracted my attention at this village though - the glass maker using recycled soda and beer bottle.  I was particularly attracted to an article placed on the wall outsides on recycled glass shop - it stated there was an Okinawan poem - "When life is blown into reticent discarded bottle it starts to speak".  Seemed that there were many glass bottles left behind during WW and locals started to recycle them to put into better use.  We didn't buy any of the glass art piece.  

We reached the American Village and stayed at Beach Tower Resort.  Managed to get a glimpse of the sunset from our hotel room.  My wife was surprised to see an owl at the hotel and she initially thought the owl was just a fake decoration.  The hotel was quite strict in the dress code - no bathrobe at reception.  One surprise was the onsen linked to the hotel and it was like the authentic public bath that I tried at Beppu.  Finally got to dip into onsen and I couldn't remember if that was the reason why we booked the Resort. 

The feel at American Village was a bit different from our previous visits to other parts of Okinawa.  It felt like a town with outlet malls, fast-food and more US-brand goods.  We decided to pay a visit to the Village due to "Tanglin" show and we tried to find the cafe shown in the show.  The cafe was closed that day.  We had taco-rice, as our dinner and the taco-rice was quite popular food in the Village - one of the few restaurants opened during our visit.  

We celebrated our Valentines' Day in Okinawa too.  We happened to chance upon a bread shop and surprised to see our favourite turtle bun.  I secretly bought a small gift on our journey to the Village and a simple treat for both of us in Okinawa.  I felt that I was quite romantic, haha.  


As part of our routine travel, we will buy a Starbucks for our uncle.  Well, it happened to be the launch of the Sakura-series of mugs and bottles again, and I helped my wife to decide on which one to buy and it was a good choice to-date - people will take a glance at her tumbler whenever she brings it out.  

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (IV)

One of the most luxurious hotels that we stayed in Okinawa was Hotel Nikko Alivila. The moment we parked our car and moved in the lobby, we were "wow"ed by the "golden" coloured lobby.  There were heated pool, and elevators with view of the seas.  It would be quite x around $1K per night? 

After checking in with the assistance of the service staff (she was on working holiday and a chinese and this was the first time that I actually realised how popular working holiday is), we went out to take a look at the beach.  The water was very "okinawa" - blue, and we chanced upon some cute rock formation - like Taiwan Yeliu Rocks?  Spent some time dipping our feet in the cool waters, and hearing the waves hitting the rocks.  It was a great way to chill and relax. 

There was also a church nearby and we happened to see a wedding photography session. Quite a good choice to have photos taken here. 

The drive to Kouri Ocean Tower, a stop that was inspired by the "Macau Law Wai Son" show, was also scenic.  My dear was "wow wow"-ing at the beautiful oceans when we were driving there and she told me I had to concentrate on driving and I could not stop to see the views.  The vehicles were suddenly moving very slowly as we got onto the bridge leading to the Tower.  Magnificent view, absolutely.  We should have bought a Gopro!

The famous portion of the Tower was the bell at the top, and this was the place that we could see the 360 degree view of the seas.  The space was quite small and all of us have to take turns to take photo with the bell.  

We went to the souvenir shop to get some goodies and we tasted most of the samples before deciding what to buy.  Interestingly, there was a lucky draw when you made payment at the cashier and the amusing part was if the cash register opened with some music, my purchases would be FOC! Haha. 

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (III)

There is this village of Longevity known as Ogimi Village that I have heard since young.  I recalled there was this documentary showing the very healthy grandpas and grandmas at Okinawa who have lived for more than 100 years! I still remember that the music of the documentary was very cute and I have tried to recall the tune to my dear.

One of the "secrets" of Longevity is the food they take at Okinawa.  Uniquely that most of the traditional Okinawa dish have bitter gourd. There is also this purple potato which we saw it in the TVB show.  Googling for a good place to makan, we found one very interesting restaurant known as Eminomise (Emi's restaurant).  There was this special "longevity" meal which you needed to book in advance but too bad we didn't realise until we were about to check out from our hotel!

We still decided to proceed there and asked the hotel staff to help us booked a table. Upon reaching Eminomise, we parked our car and saw a vegetable farm opposite to the restaurant. My dear said the farm were the source of ingredients for the meals and the food would be fresh.

We were ushered to our wooden table by the staff who all spoke very good English. We were near a TV set which was showing documentary of Ogimi Village, I think.  We were seated also next to the windows and we could hear some noises from the school nearby.  We got to try any versions of longevity meals they offered as we needed to live another more 100 years to travel to many more places and experience life. 

The lunch was indeed very nicely placed and fresh! It was the very first time that I ate a bitter gourd that was not bitter! I was not sure why and my dear's explanation was they were from the farm - fresh from the oven, and organic! I was not sure why they liked to put the giant "ikan bills" - these fishes were the only one that I passed to my dear to eat.  I liked the okinawa donuts which were slightly sweet and since then I craved for them whenever we makaned in okinawa.  My dear commented in the diary that I was very "game" in trying new food in a new country.  However, I would conveniently pass to her what I dun dare to try. Cos of this, she usually ordered another dish different from me.  She didn't indicate the reason(s) but I thought she could pass some of the stuff that I liked to eat to me bah?  Haha. 

The Seas, The Sun & The Air - The Okinawa Way Feb 2017 (II)

Our trip happened to coincide with the Sakura Festival for Okinawa -  there was this Sakura festival at Nakijin Castle and we had not seen Sakura@night.  So, we purposely timed our journey to catch it at night - 12 Feb 2017 supposed to be the last night of the festival.

We passed by this Butterfly Garden from the Aquarium to hotel to prepare for our night "excursion". It is known as Ryugujo Butterfly Garden.  From the exterior of the building, it didn't look like a garden but more like a castle to us. It was a small garden with one indoor section where we could see more butterflies.  I rem I wanted to bring my wife to see the one at Airport (recently we went and did not see many).  It was both fun and a bit scary to see that the butterflies rested on a bouquet of flowers and a red hat which were tools for visitors to use for photo-taking.  We took turns to put on the hat and I had to make sure I dun "snap" or "flap" any butterflies flying or hanging around my head with the red hat. Of cos, took pictures to see how we looked.

The journey to the Nakijin Castle was on GPS and there were full parking everywhere.  We did a few rounds to try to get parking lots but no luck.  My dear then did a very clever move and decided to stop at the entrance of a carpark and tried to seek help from the parking attendants - they looked like retired grandpas but still very strong and fit.  The "grandpa" attendant heard that we could not find any lots and allowed us to wait a while and enter the carpark! Bingo, we got one lot haha.  

We always like to visit Japanese festivals and we had gone to a few. They were very interesting and traditional - you could see arts & crafts, old childhood goodies (I assume as I could not find in Japanese shops) and music. 

Wondered how this Sakura festival would turn out? 

It was quite apt and "romantic" especially nearing Valentines' Day. Imaging ourselves in seas of Sakuras and likely no bees at night to disturb us?  The Sakura trees were "lighted up" with lights and we followed the locals and walked up orderly.  Maybe we were the only foreigners?  

As I didn't take my tripod out, we had to hold our breath and steady our hands to take night shots. I believed my dear loved the night viewing of Sakura. Since our first encounter with Sakura, my dear has been loving them whenever she sees them. Many times, I have to remind her that there are many bees flying just above her head when she gets too close to the Sakura trees.

There were also performances by locals and we sat down on the benches to cheer and clap like everyone. There was then this particular tune and the cute whistling that caught our attention.  Re-playing the video immediately reminded us of the ambience and festive joy then.  I started to feel the warmth of Okinawa people.


Hungry, we decided to get some "local food" and I again wanted to try the local Okinawa noodle soup. My wife asked me to order one bowl to "test" first and I was initially a bit grumpy why so "troublesome".  Again, she was the smarter one as she knew I dun fancy the "fatty meat" in the bowl. Lucky we only ordered one bowl. 

Something that I should learn to be practical and not too adventurous. 

[See more info for your road trip -  on the Festival at http://okinawatravelinfo.com/events/nakijin-castle-cherry-blossom-festival-2017/]