Who knew?!

Emerald Beach

The coral sea  

at the cafe

Pineapple World

The entrance to International St.

 Dinner

This ice cream shop is EVERYWHERE 

 

 

 

Breakfast, seaweed, cucumber, chicken and jellyfish salad.  Yum.

 



We finally got out of Naha, which is not a pretty place.  We took a tour bus (it was easier and cheaper than trying to figure out the connections ourselves) north to the Churaumi Aquarium  http://oki-churaumi.jp/en/index.html check it out.  The main tank is even bigger than the one in Monterey.  There are 2 whale sharks and many, many rays as well as various other fish swimming around.  There are 4 different types of viewing areas.  The main view is a lot like the big tank in Monterey, then there's a 1/2 tunnel area (one side and part of the ceiling) and my favorite was the cafe where you watch the fish as you eat.  You can also look down from above but we didn't get to that area.  I think the rest of the aquarium isn't quite as diverse as Monterey although in the outdoor area there are places with dolphins (and a show), manatees, and sea turtles.  There is a little 'nesting beach' attached to the turtles pool.

We had 4 hours at the aquarium, which as it turned out was just about perfect.  We even had time to enjoy some taco rice (famous in Okinawa for some reason) while sitting amoungst the fish.  We did get caught in some downpours while outside and didn't get to see the 'emerald' qualities of Emerald Beach to the east because of the overcast sky but it must be beautiful.  It is part of the China Sea. 

The Ocean Expo Area of which the aquarium is a part has many other features including the swimming beach, a botanical garden, tropical garden, historical area, etc.  We did stop into the small historical area - just two or three buildings - where we were served tea with brown sugar candy (another Okinawan specialty) and we were given a short sanshin (similar to the mainland shamisen - a stringed instrument) lesson which was very fun.  Shamisens (good ones) are made of cat skin... sanshin are made of snake skin. 

On the way back we stopped at Pineapple Land which is nothing more than a place to shop.  Good samples though.  Pineapple wine, pineapple cake, snake wine, pineapple sherbert and soft cream.  On the way back, the tour guide convinced us to try simmered pigs' feet (I was going to skip that Okinawan delicacy) and it was really delicious.

We headed back to Kokusai dori for dinner and to pick up the rest of the necessary gifts.  We found the market I had read about.  Downstairs is a pickle/fish/meat market and upstairs are restaurants (you can buy things downstairs and have them cooked above or not).  I had a delicious fish plate with Gurugun (the prefectural fish of Okinawa) fried without batter that is served whole and you eat the bones, sashimi, soup, rice and my favorite kind of seaweed - sea grapes (another Okinawan specialty).  Yoshie had chanpyu (bitter gourd and egg - yes, an Okinawa specialty) and some tuna topped rice.  Then the last of our shopping and back to the hotel to pack.

Okinawa World and Fukushuen Garden, 12-27-2012

breakfast, another yummy tofu dish

Okinawa world

Habu

'Dr. Fish' they eat the dead skin off your feet and evidently tickle.

 

 Shisa (シーサー) (Okinawan: siisaa) (shishi or shisaa) is a traditional Ryukyuan decoration, often in pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology. People place pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some evils. When in pairs, the left shisa traditionally has a closed mouth, the right one an open mouth.^[1] The open mouth wards off evil spirits, and the closed mouth keeps good spirits in.

animals made from fronds

Shikuwasa sherbert - the BEST!!!

Fukushuen friendship garden

all the animal zodiac signs were on this bridge.

Sam's

 

Jake's favorite - vending machines that sell beer and cocktails!

 

We spent most of the day at Okinawa World.  I love caves and there is a very long one here.  Yoshie had never been in a cave and I think she enjoyed it.  Outside of the cave there is a cultural village.  Areas for doing crafts like dying fabric, paper making, etc.  We watched the Eisa dance which is very energetic.  They also have a habu snake museum but Yoshie doesn't like snakes so we skipped that.  Habu liquor is quite famous in Okinawa.  Didn't try it - it's very expensive so they don't give samples of that.  But I did have the most delicious shikuwasa sherbert.  Shikuwasa is a fruit very much like the Tokushima sudachi which is somewhat like a small lime.  But they all have different tastes.  The shikuwasa turned out to be my favorite 'food' in Okinawa and we were lucky enough to have it served as juice every morning in the hotel.  Speaking of the hotel, it was the Toyoko Inn, a business hotel chain and it was so convenient.  About 5 minutes walk from the monorail, 7 from the bus station and 10 from the main tourist street.  And they had great breakfasts included.  Every day there was a different Okinawan specialty, or dish with Okinawan ingredients, as well as salad, scrambled eggs or sausages, rice, miso soup, bread, yogurt, tea, coffee and Shikuwasa juice.  Good way to start the day.

After Okinawa World we took the bus back and then walked to Fukushuen, a Chinese style 'friendship' garden in the middle of Naha.  It's free, but I think it would be better if they charged a little something and used the money for upkeep.  Although you can't really tell from the pictures, it's fairly run down.  Probably just needs to be painted, I think it was a little more drab because of the season, nothing was blooming.  A fact that surprised me throughout the trip.  It doesn't get colder than the low to mid 60s in Okinawa so I don't know why they don't have more blooming at this time.  Even in Tokushima were the temps go to 30, people have flowers out.

Yoshie was in the mood for steak for dinner so after checking out all the restuarants that served steak we finally decided on Sams - like a Benihana.    It's strange, the Japanese consider those restaurants 'American' and we consider them 'Japanese'.  It was good, but typical although they did serve a delicious pineapple butter with the pineapple and the wineberry (don't know what that is) bread.