five days of Okinawa in the summer | sun, seas, good food & good times ☀️🌴🇯🇵
hello again for another trip 🙂 making full use of the last bus to Changi Airport! we’re heading to okinawa via a red-eye tonight, leaving Singapore at 2am and reaching Naha at 8am pretty skies en route as soon as we land, we’ll have to rush down to the nearby airport metro to reach downtown Okinawa / our hotel the said rush (while keeping my ankles unsprained) made it to the quintessentially japanese metro the views here are already to die for we’re heading to Miebashi station to drop our bags off at the hotel before we begin exploring Naha city 10am – all checked in and ready to venture out first stop – queueing for Okinawan soba this place is relatively popular online – so we came before opening to put our names down the seasonal cold Okinawan soba noodles with jelly broth = so refreshing and flavourful braised Okinawan pork hot soba noodles – so hearty the shop is so small so come early or go to their standing shop! during the 2 hour wait, we explored and encountered many Shisas – Okinawan creatures derived from guardian dogs/lions we explored and marvelled at the quiet town life lacked self control and did some souvenir shopping in day 1 hour 3 as well oops got a few coasters + Okinawan jewellery the sun was blazing so we hopped on a taxi to… a popular joint for coffee artistically unkempt(?) i find japanese coffees are better at filters than milk-based drinks. lattes in japan taste like coffee-flavoured milk lol but this place takes their beans seriously (there was a 200g bag going for 20,000 yen wth) next stop: the museum – it’s more than reasonable at 530 yen per pax what up dawg right outside, they have a replica of a typical olden Okinawan home dining / living room kitchen and a traditional altar didn’t film the inside, but we spent more time than expected gawking their collection was extensive – from prehistoric times, all the way through WW2, and to present day but… “very windy leh!!!” yes thereafter we got caught in our first of many storms we were struck by relentless winds and rain just waiting for a cab finally we found our uber… ngl this trip will see lots of random rain & thunderstorm bouts … truly summertime chilled a lil and then headed out for an ‘early’ dinner by 6pm and the skies are clear like it never even rained! found a place serving agu pork (a particular native species in Okinawa) 15 minutes away so we’re trudging there turns out people don’t really eat at 6.30pm here oops… we had the whole shop to ourselves and spent some time admiring the interiors trying the highly recommend sea grapes & tofu salad – i have never had anything like this – think boba, but salty then they (tried) to teach us on how to cook the agu pork set (appreciated) had chanpuru (bittergourd x egg x tofu x pork) – not bitter at all, super umami making sure our precious agu pork is laid out nicely behold ~ juicy pork slices and the veggies were coated with the essence of pork we also got a black sesame agu pork belly which was absolutely melt in your mouth and juicy / nutty and this braised agu pork belly – which is like dong po rou highly rec this place and would come back! both service n food were so pleasant and pricing was reasonable now onto our next agenda – getting our lil car Okinawa just isn’t complete without a road trip but first…… what the helly…. fr what up dawg??? anyway… we got a suzuki spacia – it was a mid-range pricing at about S$60 a day good enough for 3 people – super spacious. the passenger doors open sideways too, so squeezing into small lots was a breeze a (bumpy) start! first road trip pitstop – outlet mall shopping, the discounts here were chef’s kiss it was so big we took an hour just to window shop. and walked away with a Coach bag at 70% off purrrrrrr! yeah so obvs we shopped till it turned dark LOL so we had a lil supper at the iconic diner-style blue seal! i’ve never been to a diner so this is a cool concept the amount of ice cream here though… a variety indeed… ofc, merch! what better way to increase revenue! (tempting, but #lessconsumerism) (stuff of nightmares) tried their apple pie w vanilla ice cream and their banana chocolate crepe w Okinawan rock salt icecream! yumz and that’s it for day 1! a lil dim ride home with faraway blinding lights to accompany we’re out early-ish today, 8am! the driver and chief of directions are both half asleep we have a whole agenda to complete today hence the early call time + bagel breakfast in the car off we go a&w for our second breakfast at 9am lmao… we’re just here for the aesthetics (maybe sneaking in curly fries while we’re at it) another diner-style place, it’s giving 1950s vibes these kiosks let you use the attached phone to order from your car! though only one staff mans the singular phone from the store, so the place gets busy quick surprisingly, others were already here at 9.30am with us more! merch! luckily i have shoved my wallet to the bottom of my bag. we ordered some curly fries for takeaway – piping hot and so bad for our throats, but yuuuuuum immediately after fries, we’re headed to our first beach salute to this guy for running in 34 degree heat though. could never be me we saw this place recommended, but it was honestly quite gloomy and dated, unfortunately unenticing… like this lone dolphin luckily we noped out in time – 15 seconds later, a rain cloud and strong gusts of wind arrived no worries, more beaches to come! erratic summer weather – it’s all bright and sunny again a second shot at Okinawan beaches as you can see, it is much sunnier, open and green though it was the Japanese school holidays, it wasn’t too crowded either gentle breezes~ and it’s not too far from civilisation, literally 1 minute away are popular acai shops for instance: #livelaughlove we got a bowl with chia pudding, peanut drizzle, and a healthy dollop of acai + fruits uhm onto less worrying sights… did not know water colours could separate like this… it’s so pretty! highly recommending this beach! perfect plan to tan too going from a peaceful beach to the bright lights and sounds of a mini USA is this how the USA is meant to look like… fr… very las-vegas-as-on-tv vibes we’re just here to browse, take in the colours, and get some coffee oh… not the sight i intended to take in… i really wonder if the american personnel stationed here actually feel like it compares to home LOL but the boardwalk is calmer in comparison! one of the cafes on the boardwalk we had a tiramisu and coffee but then we were asked to leave bcos each person had to order one drink to sit inside LOL ok fine… 🙁 no worries moving on to more sounds of ‘america’: it was a bit overstimulating so we went on for a lunch break at a roadside grill / poke place unassuming, but this place was next level delicious however it only has seats for 5-6! so takeout is preferred we got a tako & salmon poke bowl with a mixed grills bowl grills were so moist despite the char, nicely being sweet and savoury yet not too fatty; seafood bowl was fresh with a tasty miso sesame sauce thereafter, another sudden downpour… and another suddenly sunny sky omg luckily for most of the time we were outside of the car, the skies were clear this bridge leads the way to Miyagi island many cars park along this bridge for photo ops and stop to play in the clear waters and some choose to partake in beach sports here too nevertheless it’s still quiet and calming back on the journey to Miyagi and to view a cliff! never got bored of this view ngl we had to park our car, before taking a short 5 minute climb up to the main spot once up, breathtaking views. you can also visit the nearby Salt factory for Okinawan salt goods! we spent much time marvelling here before… seeing rain in the distance. again. by now i’m a certified predictor of how hot it gets before rain starts to pour “you’ve called it” (love being right xoxo) cue driving in a lil rain when the skies cleared a lil, we decided to visit an outdoor attraction in Hamahiga the resting place of Okinawa’s founder gods you could technically walk in the perimeters of this little rocky cave-islet but if you have precarious ankles like i do, let’s walk and stand amongst the established paths lol walked back to the car so we could head to… here for the coffee – stayed for the beans (buy 1 pack = 1 free coffee? of course i’m sold) i bought a light and dark roast – and ended up getting a free latte and a spiced Giciru latte loved the Giciru latte – almost like a cousin of Chai (not sure what ms driver is doing here ngl…) onto trying some caneles with Okinawan flavours – turns out this place is called “Houkiboshi” oops of the flavours, the most interesting ones were the Okinawan rock salt / brown sugar caneles the caneles were so yummy – not too sweet, not too alcoholic, filling was just the right amount headed back down, and we stopped by a fish market vendors mostly open in the earlier part of the day but a few stalls remained open by 4pm the procured goods we lugged back home sweet and creamy uni + melt-in-your-mouth chutoro were the best buys and at pretty affordable prices too a few hours later, we finally had the stomach for dinner we’ve tried this in tokyo / taiwan (yes taiwan.) and have never failed to visit this chain since also because of the interactive aspect of cooking your meat on a fired-up stone and rain draws day 2 to a close! welcome to day 3 passing by some military bases on the way to our next destination drove up north to visit Cape Zanpa and its iconic lighthouse we came too early, but you could enter the lighthouse for a fee to go up top after 9.30am seems like this place is popular with families (and dogs) (and cats) super scenic and peaceful, coming early was a good call on to our next scenic destination “malibu hills”? a Cape where “a thousand people can sit in” = Manzamo it is pretty big, and overlooks an elephant shaped formation notice the ‘trunk’ of the said elephant? currents flowing rapidly on this day with good weather and a surprise appearance by a guided banana boat tour while the attraction is paid, still a beautiful sight to visit! next: to try out a shop famous for its pancakes a pretty long wait – about 30 mins with only one group ahead of us the nuts nuts + king bacon pancakes were decent – like a thicker ver. of hotcakes, if that’s your thing! raining again, and seeing a lil birdy take a quick rain bath and part 2 of our lunch plans – when we smelled the spicy and OG garlic shrimps: “suddenly not that full leh”. delicious, and you can eat the shells! their steak slices were juicy and not dry as well after a filling lunch, we’re back on the roads we’ll be heading to Kouri Island to see a heart rock to get there, we need to do a lil 10 minute downhill trek on a rocky/steep path called Heart Rock(s) as it looks like a <3 (or some sort of heart) you'll need to use the steep flight of stairs to head to that small beach, but it got too hot and overpopulated that we headed to... a cafe stationed near the free parking for the Heart Rocks overlooking a field of sunflowers and with seats in the air-con that day the heat reached 34 degree celsius, so we headed back to the car after some time tanning by just walking in the sun decided to head into Nago for a coffee place this place is 4.9* on google maps, we're gonna see if a hot latte tastes better than a cold one! ms driver photobombing. this place also does buy 1 coffee bag = 1 free coffee, but none of the beans i wanted were for sale :( so we just got a coffee tonic + a hot latte ala carte not bad, better than the other lattes i've had here! had a quick gander after at the neighbouring unit's trio of cats and dogs <3 then headed on another scenic journey to Nago's aquarium happy to have better skies today because where we're going to next is partly outdoors Churaumi which means Graceful Ocean Aquarium apparently. cute! looking a lil old, but looks are deceiving - the inside and tank itself are humongous! you can even head up to see the 'tank' from above - though they provide warnings of the high humidity provided for the creatures admittedly i'm not sure how exactly humane this aquarium is but if anything, they created a personalized prosthetic fin for one of their dolphins, Fuji, whose tail was infected and amputated heading outdoors (and praying for good weather) everyone's headed to see the dolphins (not to be inhumane but we went on to eat seafood for dinner thereafter :-/) before heading to our airbnb, we dropped by a place known seafood - both fresh and grilled - and Okinawan dishes like sea grapes tofu salad fresh fish with more seagrapes lol a sashimi donburi chanpuru and their specialty of the day - butter grilled sea bream (i think?) which was moist and flavourful! skies setting, heading to our airbnb soon but first, restraining myself from getting beer with Okinawa-specific designs... ok on to the airbnb. where are the streetlights omg. welcome to our lil airbnb for the night, filled with Okinawan trinkets it seems like a very local and family styled home - there were tatami mats available looks very homey indeed - goodnight day 3! and good a.m.,,,, last night we could see the stars so clearly and nothing else, haha now that it is daytime, we're facing the east china sea i believe! it's so pretty here checked out by 11am, unfortunately we have things to do on our last full day here goodbye Nago :( we're heading back to Naha today pitstop midway through the journey back - trying taco rice! considered modern Okinawan cuisine, originally catering to US military personnel stationed in Okinawa rice with seasoned and spicy ground meat, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and hot sauce! so good that we had to park over and fully concentrate on digging in okay, back on the way to Naha i was already missing these views while still in Okinawa :-(((( back in Naha city, we had a later lunch at a Marugame udon two of us got a cold udon with a local seaweed dish called "Mozuku", native to Okinawa one of us got a meaty albeit cold udon - the heat and saltiness of the meat blended nicely with the cold udon and the Mozuku udon - salty seaweed with an onsen egg, mixed together it was creamy and savoury! raining again - at least we don't need to be outdoors now! the day itself, we got a Typhoon No. 7 warning - so we foresaw that this rain would be heavier than normal. but still worrying... fortunately about an hour later, the skies magically cleared up again just in time for us to visit one last place with our suzuki spacia! it's primarily a ceramics shop but one of the only highly rated matcha shops here very quaint the shop used Yamamasa powder for our drinks - hard to get even in mainland Japan the lady kindly nudged us to start recording before she began pouring the usucha HAHAHA the usucha tasted nutty, smooth and balanced! no bitterness at all yum would highly recommend this place for a matcha fix, though it only had like 4 seats by this time, we had dropped off our trusty suzuki spacia :-( and are on the way to back to our original hotel! we'll be ordering in food for this night, cos we have an early start tomorrow when overseas we gotta try the local McDonald's! and we got a burger from a well-known Kyoto chain with a side of ... digestive drinks ... #monitoryourfibreintake first up: a limited time offer - Garlic Shrimp burger, 490 yen - affordable + not lacking in shrimp; second: Zakugiri-Potato & Thick Beef Irresistible Cheese Pepper - so sinful, but hashbrown + cheeseburger can never go wrong; third: a Cheeseburger from Burger Revolution Naha - lives up to the Kyoto branch's standard! love their soft potato burger bun; and finally: trying McD's Cheese Bacon Potato Pie! only ever had their sweet pies, so this was an interesting (tho heavy) change. super good end of the trip meal, tho we also tried this calbee chips as it's Okinawan limited but it just tasted like a salted chip :-/ also i highly recommend the Okinawan-limited beers - especially the Orion Natura flavoured ones! it had little artificial vibes it's our last day :-( we reached at 6.30am just to buy check in baggage because i bought a knife at the outlet store and our bags defo weigh more than 7kg each LOL the airport is just as peaceful as Okinawa itself Naha airport has a fair amount of eateries, but since it was 7am, only this onigiri place was open so we tried their Spam Mentai onigiri! grateful for this machine because for once we did not need to count our coins. whew... it looks sad but how can you go wrong with mentai, spam, and tamago? this was salty but creamy, so it paired nicely with the tamago's sweetness and to cap it all off before entering immigration, we saw a rainbow <3 sign of good times? this trip was more of a 4 day, 4 night kinda trip but we got so much done nonetheless goodbye Okinawa <3 i will be grieving this trip for the next month... capping it off with some pretty pictures from the trip taken on LA's Ricoh GRIII :-) fields of sunflowers kafu banta cape manzamo beach activities cape zanpa lighthouse's surroundings and views from the mid-sea road beach! heart rock and the precarious steps to heart rock lol that's all for now, thanks for watching! till the next trip... in... october? ;-)
please turn on CC subtitles and have quality set for 1080p:-)
new trip new vlog! just a lil vlog to make sure these memories remain unforgettable :”)
the 3 of us took time off to escape up to Okinawa for a summer trip. and wow, this might just be my new favourite place in the world. good food, good experiences, maybe not so good but memorable weather (luckily we had a car bcos we’d have been drenched otherwise) – i’m still in grief over even leaving this place (legitimately i stare at pictures from Okinawa on my IG every day on the way to work).
hope this inspires you / future me to go to okinawa and embrace the slow life / touch grass
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0:00 Day 1
0:53 Okinawa Soba Eibun
1:33 Rokkan Coffee Creators
1:46 Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Gallery
2:31 Shima Butaya
3:40 Outlet Mall Ashibanaa
3:47 Blue Seal
4:19 Day 2
4:35 A&W Makiminato
5:14 Tropical Beach
5:36 Araha Park / Beach
5:58 Happy Bowls
6:20 American Village
6:44 Zhyvago Coffee Works
7:03 Hammerhead Shark Grill
7:43 Mid-Sea Road Beach
8:14 Kafu Banta
8:46 Tomb of Amamichu
9:04 Okinawa Cerrado Coffee
9:21 Houkiboshi / Canele de Okinawa
9:32 Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market
9:55 Gyukatsu Motomura
10:08 Day 3
10:20 Cape Zanpa Lighthouse
10:54 Cape Manzamo
11:21 Paanilani (Hawaiian Pancakes House)
11:33 The Garlic Shrimp Okinawa
11:56 Heart Rock
12:01 5910 sa-ta-cafe
12:21 Lester Coffee
12:55 Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
13:50 Kaihomaru
14:35 Day 4
15:04 King Tacos
15:26 Marugame Seimen Ginowan
15:49 Cafe Watsuha
16:40 McDonald’s take-out
17:22 Day 5
18:06 Pictures round-up
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