Solo in Okinawa | Exploring Kokusai Dori & Hidden Alleys of Naha

Solo in Okinawa | Exploring Kokusai Dori & Hidden Alleys of Naha

Good day everybody. Guess where I am. What does this city look like? Where does this city look like? Any guesses? Any guesses? I am back here in Okinawa. I’m here on a solo trip. It’s very short 4 day solo trip. Um I needed some relaxation and um yeah, I am back here again. I’m so happy. This is my small little room here. This is my bed. Actually, the bed is quite big for a single room. My suitcase over there. The television set, which I never watch. a place to put my stuff, a little um refrigerator. I have a nice uh table and chair here. And the best thing is the view. I have a view of the sky. This is great. I’m on the 11th floor. This is the very top floor of this hotel. So, I am back here in Okinawa. Uh last time I was here, actually was earlier this year was uh January. I was here I think January 4th and I was here for five days and I did not manage to make any videos for this particular channel because that’s when I gotten into that uh depression and so I thought you know I come back again. I wanted to come back when I felt but when I felt better and here I am and I’m so happy that the weather is beautiful. Uh the weather forecast does not call for rain. Maybe just a little bit rain uh the day after tomorrow, but other than that, it should be fine. And and also it’s not very hot, so kind of happy about that. It’s about 4:30 p.m. right now, so I’m just going to go buy something to eat for tonight. Maybe walk around a bit and just some chill. So this is the hotel I’m staying at. Hotel Abesta Kokai. It’s super convenient. Uh, Kokai is right over here. And the train station is just one block down that way. Right around the corner, there’s a family mart here that’s open 24 hours. This is Kokai Dhi. So, it’s very lively. And let’s walk this way. Let me show you where the train station is to show you how convenient it is. Oh, by the way, you can try A&W up there on the second floor. There’s an A&W um all American food restaurant. This place is famous for this salt ice cream using Okinawan salt. And this is Bubble, which is a department store. And the tra train station is connected to the department store. It’s right there. That’s the train line right there. That’s the train tracks. So guys, I am back here in Okinawa. Can’t believe it. Well, I can. It’s not a difficult thing, but I’m back here again. And I’m really, really happy. The weather is perfect, guys. It’s like, look at the sky. And it’s not humid. It’s not cold. It’s It’s just so perfect. I’m so happy. H I’m so relaxed just being here on this trip. I’m just going to do whatever. I don’t really have a uh purpose. I guess my purpose would be to just enjoy myself. That’s a That’s a You know what I’m going to do this time? I’m going to eat some street food this time and I’ll take you guys into that shop uh later on the way back. Kokai Dori is full of souvenir shops, but there are some nice shops as well. I mean non souvenir shops, although they are harder to find because I got to say like maybe 75% is souvenir shops. There’s some nice restaurants. [Music] This place has some really authentic Okinawan things like shisa and they have like Okinawan uh ceramics. Some nice ones too. Yeah, this is a nice store. Here you have more seisawa statues. Walking along this street reminds me of Wik Ki in Hawaii kind of without the beach and without the the big brand names. I guess there are no designer shops on this street. There’s no uh big chain shops either. You won’t find Uni Kulo. You’re not going to find Gap, anything like that. So, I guess that’s different. Did you know that steak is a popular food in Okinawa? You see a lot of steak houses here. This is Hotel Collective. It’s probably the highest end hotel on this street. Uh, this is a great place for picture taking. Funny, I’ve actually never been into this shop before. It’s basically a souvenir shop. Chinsko Okinowan cookies. This one’s the best I found so far. This pineapple cake looks really good. Boy, I’ve never seen these before. These look good. This is a Okay, now let’s see. Potato. What are these? Like sponge cake. This is a sorbet. Oh, this is pretty tropical sorbet. This high sauce, you can only buy in Okinawa. This is very, very delicious. I use it on everything. I’m going to go inside Family Mart. I need to buy myself a drink. And look at all the spam musubi here. They have so many varieties. One thing you will always find in Okinawa convenience stores is instant Okinawa soba. Okay. And this is some pingcha. Jasmine tea. So, if you watched our Okinawan videos, I’m sure you know by now sinking, aka jasmine tea, is the tea that they drink here in Okinawa. And we’re right now in the middle of Kokai. And this is their Doniote. This is open till quite late. There’s a Starbucks across the street there. This is the one and only Starbucks in this area as far as I know. And yeah, this is my favorite Ichiba hondori. This show guy here. I love walking through here. This guy is actually quite long and it’s not the only show. There are many, many of them that’s kind of uh linked together. You have souvenir shops, of course, but a little more interesting. And this is the Blue Seal ice cream that I like to come to because the man is really nice here. Also like this traditional Okinawan sweet shop here on this corner. It’s better to come during the morning though. They have more things available. This is kind of a new new shop here. Giam Dofu. And right next door they have Yukq soft serve. Oh, this is new. One thing I noticed is these lanterns. They didn’t have the these uh lanterns on this street before. I like it. Here’s a brand new store. Baked sweets and rice crackers. Really? And they have um What else do they have? They have like t-shirts and stuff. Ui cat things you can find. Look at this claw machine. It’s a claw machine for this money. instant noodles. So, I decided to turn into one of the side streets here. And uh as you can see, this is what the the vibe is like in the side streets. It’s like you can get lost. It’s like a maze. Isakayas. There are bars, restaurants, noodle shops, markets. This whole area comes alive at nighttime but even during the day some of these places are open like there is a coffee shop here. This is a quite a famous coffee shop drinking establishment and I think there’s a very old tempura shop here. I think I’m going to come tomorrow because I know they’re sold out. Yeah, this is the very very popular temper shop that’s been operation for like 70 years, I think. I really like the vibes of these um back streets, you know. Okay. And then uh we’re out here suddenly. Let’s take a look back here. We just came out from this street here. And then if you walk out the market area, you’ll find these random stores just kind of scattered everywhere. Like that’s a store there. Actually, this street has some nice stores. Go this way. Today I want to explore. What’s this here? Is this new? Oh, wow. They’re celebrating their 90th anniversary. Oh, it’s a What is it? H. It’s like a Wagashi shop. Like Okinawan traditional uh sweet shop. I remember when I first came to Okinawa, I was I don’t know why, but I loved I love the tiles on the sidewalk cuz it’s so different from the tiles in Tokyo. They look like hibiscus flowers to me. Oh, is this new, too? I don’t know. So many places to check out. There is a cafe that I want to check out tomorrow. It’s by the beach and I plan to go there. This is a vegan restaurant. Saboami Vegan. Oh, that’s another coffee shop over there. They’re closed already. This is uh like a vintage clothing store. Cool. Oh, and there’s a there’s a craft beer place that Satosh and I love going to. This one right here. Glad that it’s still here. Kishima Brewing on the second floor. And this is another uh arcade show. Tomorrow we’ll go this way. This is the really old section. I like it. Yeah. Random garden. I’m not really sure what this is. Garden parlor. What is it? Is this just a garden or or do they sell anything here? Let me check. I’m curious. Garden parlor. They are closed on Monday and Thursday. So, it is Monday today. H I wonder if it’s a like a garden shop or is it like a cafe? I don’t know. I hardly ever walk down this street here. So, maybe we should check this street out. Look at this. Isn’t it cool? Here’s a little eery here. This is that that gu garden thing. Oh my goodness. Look at this. Wow. That’s like a retro car. This must be an isizakaya. I think it’s an isizakaya. They open at 5:00 p.m. and they’re open until 4. Oh, this is a nice nice bar here. And this time I also want to visit a new shop that opened up over there. I’m going to do all that tomorrow though because it’s already kind of late. Should I go down that street? Like I like this particular street very much. This is a shop that we’re going to check out tomorrow. Maybe today I’m not going to. So, this shop right here, we’re going to check it out tomorrow. Such a cool shop. And I hear down this street. I was just talking to the owner and I promise I’ll film it tomorrow, guys. I’ll show you what the shop is looks like cuz it’s such a cool shop. They opened a cafe and it’s somewhere around here. Oh, this is a nice shop, too. Let’s see. What is this? It’s a record shop. Wow. It’s a t- room game spot. Sorry. [Music] Umh, I don’t see it. Oh. Oh, no. Actually, here it is. It’s called Scoop. So, this is their cafe, and they close at 3:00, so they’re closed already. So, I think I’ll come here in the morning tomorrow. Wow, what a nice cafe. It’s called Scoop. And why is it called Scoop? Delicious gelato and cafe. Oh, they have gelato. Okay. And they have toast as well. Okay. Definitely checking this place out tomorrow. This is the street with that cool shop that I just checked out that we’re going to be checking out tomorrow. This whole street has some really cool shops. That’s where I bought my uh beer mug. Handmade beer mug. Okay, so this is a super random video, I tell you. So, I just ordered fried chicken from this place called Jeff. This is a local burger chain, and it was I also ordered a ulong tea. So, total was 850 yen for two pieces of chicken and one medium ulong tea. Okay, my food has arrived. So, this is my chicken. I got two pieces and I got iced tea. Let’s see. So, this is the boneless fried chicken. It’s my first time having this before. They come out piping hot. Looks really crispy. Jeff is a place if I’m traveling solo, I always make it to at least once. I like this. that’s really chill, has like a retro vibe and it and I like the fact that it’s a local chain and I like their French fries. I really do. But I decided to try something different [Music] this fried chicken. It’s very hot. [Music] Oh, actually that is really yummy. It’s crispy on the outside, seasoned perfectly with salt and pepper. Not too complex of the chicken’s very very tender and [Music] juicy. All righty. Okay, so it’s like almost 6:00 p p.m. and I’m kind of tired today. I was tired all day today. I didn’t sleep that much last night. So, I’m going to head back to the hotel. Actually, I should buy something to eat, huh? I had chicken, so I’m not that hungry. Maybe I’ll buy a salad. I’ll have like a healthy day. Who knows? I don’t know. We’ll see. Um, anyway, let’s go get something to eat and then head back to the hotel. I’m back at Kentoai station near my hotel and I really have to try one of these food trucks one of these days. So, this is the mall I was talking about, Yubo. And we’re going to go to the basement floor. They have a small deachka here for takeaway food and a grocery store as well. It’s small, but it’ll do. This is their delicatess. They have some They have a small section of readym made food here. Bentos. They have some interesting local stuff as well. They have tamagoyaki. I think I might get KFC. I know it’s such a strange decision, but something caught my eye. I have I want to get this thing here. This whatever this is. [Music] It’s a little past 7:00 p.m. I’m back in the room. I had a pretty long day today and um I couldn’t find anything I really wanted at the supermarket. probably because they didn’t have many selections by the time I I I got there. And when I was passing by KFC, I noticed that they had a um sandwich made with um no bread and that was kind of new and so I thought I’d buy that. I did buy a couple of things from this store, but anyway, let me show you what I got. This series is called the American Burgers and this is the onion filt and it comes in a green package like this. Very interesting. I also got myself a klaw from KFC. I do like klaw. I sometimes get the urge to eat this. So, I bought that. I did buy something at the supermarket. And this is okarai. Okaraichi. Apologies for the lighting. The lighting in this room is very very bad. Like there’s like it’s so dim. Okay, so this is okarai. Uh okana is um what is it? It’s it’s it’s like the what you get left over in the tofu making process. And it’s full of fiber and protein. And I love it. And this is uh stir fried with um seaweed and carrots and some other vegetables. And then I think there’s like fishcake in here as well. So this is not necessarily Okinawan, but it’s prepared the Okinawan way. That’s what I’ve been told. I think the biggest I think the biggest difference is that there are pieces of fishcake. I’ve never seen fishcake inside okara. M. That’s good. The other thing I noticed is that it’s moistister than your typical okara. I think Mhm. There’s so much umami in here. It’s It’s a little bit sweet. It’s savory. M. It’s hardy, too. M. That’s delicious. Let me take a bite of my co-law. My KFC klaw. Always [Music] delicious. Now for the burger. I have a question for you guys. Now, I know if there is a beef patty between two buns, you can you call that a burger, but can you call this a burger? We were talking about this, Satoshi and I. We’re like, can you call something like this a burger? Two pieces of boneless chicken breast deep fried in the KFC way. We’re going to be using the KFC spices, American cheese, mayo, and onion rings. Hm. That is a lot of chicken. You know what though? I wish they had some veggies in here like lettuce or something. So, like I said, I am going to go to a cafe tomorrow. The cafe and a store that I want to show you guys. Um, the store I love. It’s my second time there. I first discovered it when I came with uh Satoshi Lawrence and my friend Mike from Hawaii the last time that was a year ago and they had just opened up and it was a really cool store and I went today to say hello and he remember me so that was great and they’ve expanded. They bought out the second floor of the next building so that’s really cool and then they also opened up a cafe. I’m going to go to both of those places tomorrow and I want to share that with you guys because seriously I think it’s one of the coolest stores in Naha Okinawa and I think it adds something to this city. This city really needed something like this desperately. That’s my opinion. And the cafe looks really nice as well. It looks like they serve not only coffee, but they serve toast and gelato. And anyway, I hope you guys uh stay tuned for that one. Uh that video is coming next. And the video after that is going to be about another cafe. So anyway, lots of cafes on this particular trip. Anyway, thank you so much for watching. I am just going to eat finish my food. I hope I can finish all of it and I’m going to get an early night’s rest. I am so sleepd deprived. Thanks and I will see you guys on the next one. Take care everybody. Bye-bye.

This is my arrival day, and I decided to go on a relaxed walk around Kokusai Dori—the main street in Naha—and explore some of the backstreets and hidden alleys too.

If you’re curious what Okinawa feels like on foot or just want to chill with me on this solo travel day, come along for the walk. There’s so much more to explore here, and this is just the beginning!

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