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.