American Village, Okinawa - So many fun things!!!

The Okinawans have gone so far to make Americans feel at home that they have built a place called Mihama American Village located in central Okinawa. It emulates San Diego's seaport village - an outdoor mall with shops and restaurants. I am from the OC, CA and to me it reminds me of the Irvine Spectrum. Complete with a ferris wheel and all ;)

Anyways, we have ventured here a few times. This is where we went the first night in town to eat at the Ramen Noodle House, which we now know the name to be Hayatemaru Ramen. We recently went there to explore a little more.

Our first stop was Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks. They have an English menu here, but you need to keep it simple…Ordering a drink from Starbucks can be complicated in America, let alone with a language barrier. We ordered one drink - a blended soy matcha (also spelled maccha) frappuccino. We didn't know what it was but saw a guy carrying one out of the store and wanted to try it. It tasted like soy beans to me but apparently it's powdered green tea. It was delicious, if you like edamame.

There are tons of restaurants to choose from in American Village…In fact, we are going back for dinner tonight to try a new spot! The restaurant that got our attention that particular evening was a "Yakiniku" style restaurant, which means grilled meat and is often referred to those restaurants where you cook your own food on the grill embedded into your table. If you have ever been to a do-it-yourself Korean bbq, then you know what I am talking about. This place was way more authentic than the ones in the states - rightfully so.

The restaurant is called Yumemaru and is located on the second floor by Sega. They do have their menu on display, like many restaurants here, but they also offered an English menu. When you enter you place your order at the front and pay first. We went for the all-you-can-eat level-1 (can't remember the name).

Once you have paid, you are taken to your table. The server instructs you to remove your shoes and place them in the cubby before entering your dining area. They provide house slippers outside your dining area in order for you to walk to the beverage station without having to get your shoes out. The majority of restaurants in Okinawa have self-service beverage stations, so you end up using their slippers.

Remove your shoes before entering the dining area

Beverage station - The "white water" aka Calpis was delicious

We then placed our order. We ordered a combo platter with pork, loin, and chicken, an order of lemon chicken, an order of boneless short ribs, and an order of hot stone bibimbap - a delicious rice and veggie dish. We will be back just for the boneless short ribs (melt in your mouth) and the bibimbap! Once our order came we began cooking. Surprisingly, we were full quicker than we thought. Of course we had to order dessert…a waffle with ice cream and an imagawayaki - a pastry filled with sweet azuki bean paste. It tasted like bean paste wrapped in a pancake. Haha. Since we were so full so fast, next time we will not do the all-you-can-eat and just order off the menu!

Imagawayaki - Sometimes you have to try the not-so-delicious things too!

After dinner we ventured into Sega, a main attraction in American Village. One word to describe it - AMAZING! We were immediately greeted by the Okinawan workers. They were so friendly, even though we had no idea what they were saying and no interest in playing any games. We just had to venture inside to have a look around. There were games everywhere…Like heaven for any video game player.

The first thing we saw was 4 guys playing a game like Guitar Hero but for your hands on a screen (sorry, I'm not a gaming person). These guys were great entertainment. I really wanted to try, but they were way too intense. Haha. We also saw lots of casino-like games and claw crane games - you know, the ones you put tons of money in to try to win the 10 cent stuffed animal inside.

Guys playing hand music game...

Claw crane games - they had 3 rows of them!

They even had one with Ninja swords inside!

One of the greatest things we saw, however, was the picture booths - also known as Sticky Pics. Sticky Pics are very popular here in Japan. And they are so much fun! It's hard to figure out at first because it's in Japanese…But, hey, that makes it more entertaining. You can choose if you want make-up added, you can add drawings and stamps, and other features all through the computerized screen!

We actually did Sticky Pics in the Dragon Palace. It's another gaming place in American Village. 

Card shop where the guys play and trade cards (don't know the name)

I met a friend sitting all alone on the bench

Sticky Pic booths - lots of options!!

The costumes. Only saw these at Sega though, not at Dragon Palace (but I wasn't looking for them)

 Us!!! They added make-up to Mike's face! Haha!! He told me not to post this, but I couldn't resist!

After our Sticky Pics were ventured a little more through the mini mall called Mihama Carnival Park, which is also at American Village. Here we found some very interesting places - including a Sbarro restaurant at the top of the stairs. Haha. We probably will be in there at some point, just to try it out! The first store we came across was filled with glorious Japanese treasures. I was in heaven! I love the bright colors and all the things to look at, it's so captivating!

Japanese treasure stores - my favorite!

Look at all the Shisa!!

Okinawa condom?? Not sure exactly what these are, but they look like crackers that you eat. Haha. We will be back to investigate!

Then we went upstairs in the mini mall and found more hidden treasures…Dr. Fish. What is Dr. Fish you ask…They are small species of carp that eat the dead skin off your feet! Awesome…We had to try it! They don't have teeth and can't bite you; they act as a suction vacuum cleaner to suck the dead parts off your skin. It was very tickly at first, just like any foot massage. Then once you relaxed into it, it was like tiny vibrations on your feet. We only did a 5 minute trial run, but next time we will be there longer :)

The description

The fish are eating the dead skin off our feet!

They also have a massage/salon place, restaurants, and other stores for shopping in the Mihama Carnival Park mall. There's so much to do in AV! After our Dr. Fish session we went to grab some frozen yogurt outside the mall next to Dragon Palace. It's just like a Yogurtland back home and it's called Partyland. The kind of place where you fill your cup with your yogurt flavor and then add the toppings. They charge you based on how much it weighs. This place is not cheap. We did not overload our yogurts and it came out to 1350 Yen ($13.50)! They have some interesting flavors and toppings though, so even if you have been to a place like this before, you should still go.

In case you didn't know what you were doing...

They have some fun flavors - Maccha, purple sweet potato, milk tea...

They have some fun toppings - Aloe, rice flour dumplings, condensed milk...

And just in case you were caught in a tsunami warning while at AV, this is where you need to go…This has been my worst fear since I was a child. A giant wave consuming everything in its way. And now I live in Japan. Great.