Walking around Kukosai Dori in Naha, Okinawa. Our first time trying umi budo, sea grapes, which are awesome! I wish I could find them back home.
Travel tips:
Depending on how far you are, you might want to get a cab, which are pretty reasonable in Okinawa. Tell them “Ko-ku-sai do-ri ma-de o-negai shi-masu” and they will hopefully know the way, but if not, it’s helpful to have a map ready.
Japanese language:
There are 3 different Japanese alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana are sort of similar, but kanji is very different. Google translate does a decent job helping out where your skills may lack.
Remember, the “u” is usually silent when it is at the end of a word, like desu, arimasu shimasu. These words are pronounced more like “dess,” “arimoss” and “shemoss” if I Americanized it. Other than that, most Japanese words are not too difficult for an native English speaker to prounounce. I bet you already know some! Wasabi, sushi, Mitsubishi 😉
Ordering food in Japanese:
When you enter Japanese restaurants, they usually greet you with an enthusiastic “irasshaimase!”
To ask if they have an English menu say, “eigo no menyu ga arimasu ka”
If you don’t have a good grasp on Japanese, you can usually hold up your fingers to show how many seats you need, but learning 1-10 in Japanese is pretty easy! Give it a shot.
When ordering food, say the name of the food + o-negai shimasu to be polite.
Before eating, it is polite to say “itadakimasu”
And be sure to thank them, “Arigatou gozaimasu”
Sea grapes were delicious and salty little seaweed bubbles that pop in your mouth. If anyone knows where I can find them in the San Francisco bay area, let me know!
AloJapan.com