10,000 Eisa Dance Parade

The summer in Okinawa is known for its matsuri (Japanese word for festival). There are tons of them; in fact, the same weekend we went to the 10,000 Eisa Dance Parade, there were six others around the island! Eisa is a traditional Okinawan dance that sets itself apart from the customs of mainland Japan. Eisa is performed mostly by young people to pay respects to the culture, customs, and, well, old people of Okinawa. The dance consists of groups of people playing taiko drums and moving to the sound of the drums. Often times there are Eisa competitions, to see which group has the "best" dance.

The guys in purple/white were competing against the guys in black (pic below)

This team had a very young kid playing drums; I would guess around 7 years old ;)

Walking into Kokusai street (main street in downtown Naha) there is a huge Shisa (Japanese lion-dog thought to protect against evil spirits). We took a pic with him :)

The 10,000 Eisa parade worked like a parade we would see at home - The groups would perform in one area then walk about 100 yards or so, stop, and begin their performance again. That way, people did not have to walk around to see them perform. The performers came to you! Of course, us antsy Americans had to keep walking around to find something new to entertain us.

Here is one group performing. The men played the drums and dance, while the women danced.

This picture has nothing to do with the parade, but I thought it was cute. Haha.

View of the street and the performers

It's buildings like this that make it hit me, "Wow, I live in Japan."

Oh, and don't forget the frog purses on sale. Yes…REAL frogs (or toads?).

More Eisa performers

We got side tracked by the fish market

This guy in the cage is 1. Alive and 2. For sale at the fish market. Yes…To eat. 

Turtle soup, anyone?!

We also got side-tracked by Blue Seal ice cream. So good!

For lunch we stopped and ate at a restaurant on Kokusai street during the parade. The restaurant will be featured in the next post about the food and restaurants here on Okinawa!

Exploring Naha area - Where did we end up?

Part of the fun of living in a new country is driving around (on the "wrong" side of the road and car), getting lost (ok, only kind of fun), and finding things you never thought you would find! So there we were, driving around the south end of Okinawa island, known as Naha. This is where the airport is, where to go for downtown shopping, where city hall and public transportation thrive, and apparently where to go for an adventure!

As we were driving along a road, which I presume to be the 58 that runs up the coast of the island, with the East China Sea to our left, I see this to our right. We immediately turned, and headed toward the structure. 

We pull into the parking lot of where we think this wonderful structure is located, the arm to the lot lifted as a machine spoke Japanese to us. We came upon a map located in the parking lot. Since we couldn't read it, we just ventured along. I think the scariest thing is thinking that your car might get towed if you parked in the wrong spot, or the park is going to close and you will be trapped inside the parking lot, or that you will not have enough Yen to pay the parking fees, etc. You know, the important things that you may miss because you don't speak the language. Things like this make adventures truly, well, adventurous.

Despite our concerns, we just kept walking along the path. We came to a small beach. People were laying out in the blazing hot sun (no exaggeration needed) and were swimming right underneath the overpass in the middle of Naha, one of Okinawa's major cities. To us it was kind of weird; could you imagine doing this in California?! You would probably come out with black feet from toxic water. Haha. But, it was like a miniature beach to them, complete with food and drink vendors and people renting out swim equipment. 

This sign was on the beach. We have no idea what it says, besides what the little pictures depict: "no dogs, alcohol, fireworks, etc." We were a little confused about the picture with the two people and swim equipment… "No swimming"???

There is a beautiful cliff over the beach where people were swimming. But, I really liked this picture because of the palm tree that lost his head. I promise I did not photoshop his head out!

Passing the beach and continuing to our true destination (the authentic structure we saw from the 58), we walked up this random dirt area that looked like it was used for nothingness, rounded the corner, and found this…Apparently a Shrine!!

We did not know what this "watering hole" was for (pic below) until we saw a few locals take the ladles, scoop out some water, and rinse off their hands. We didn't know if anything was "sacred" here, so we opted out. You never know whose toes you may step on because you're doing something wrong. 

I have no idea who this guy is, but he must be important. I'm sure the locals know…Guess I need to do more research on Okinawan history.

This was what we saw from the road, the Shrine!! People were praying here so we did not want to get too close, but it was really cool to find, while we were out exploring the city. According to a local Okinawan, the Shrine we happened upon is called Naminoue-gu Shrine. Side note: Every time we meet someone that speaks relatively good English, I make them look through my random photos and tell me what these things are. This girl was so excited when I showed her these photos and exclaimed that she used to live very close to this Shrine.

Where they prayed.

A simple google search of Naminoue-gu Shrine revealed that it is a Shinto (the indigenous religion of Japan) Shrine also known as "Above the Waves Shrine." It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, since the 1300's! Its most recent addition is a smaller shrine located on the grounds, which was built in 1993. People have used the Shrine for various purposes over the many years, but it was mainly used as a place to pray for safe journeys in the seas (when trade between the Asian countries increased) and to house Shinto objects of worship. Naminoue-gu Shrine is on the list of most popular Shrines around the world…Who would have thought we just happened upon this piece of history while driving around!

We left the main Shrine area and found these beautiful steps and pathways. It was so serene here; the only other person we saw was an old Okinawan man sitting on a bench and enjoying the ocean view. I love this photo - the pathway of stone steps that look like they lead to Heaven.

There were smaller statues and areas for praying all around the main Shrine. This one is a carving of a woman holding a baby.

Again, my lack of knowledge of Okinawan culture lets me down. I wish I knew what this statue was; there were many steps leading up to it and it sat in the center of several pathway directions.

After walking around the Shrine for a few hours, we decided to look for a place to eat lunch. We left the parking lot, with the parking machine again speaking Japanese as we pulled away. We happened upon a restaurant that looked good, because it had a window display of food. Haha. You can tell when you are in an area that not many Americans venture when the older Okinawan people stop to stare at you. It's kind of disconcerting because you are not sure if they are angry with American military or if they are just curious. Uh well, continue forward.

The restaurant - I later asked the local that spoke good English and she said it's called Akebono Ramen.

The food window - sorry the pic is not good.

This is the inside of the restaurant. They did not speak ANY English and their menu is written in Kanji!  The menu is displayed all over the walls and even from the ceiling. Great, how do we order…? You get creative. We stood up, walked the server outside to the food display window, and pointed to something that looked good. Haha! Success. Forget you, language barrier!

Our food! I ordered Yakisoba (sautéed noodles) and Mike ordered the fried chicken. They were both delicious!

More of the menu (and me drinking soup). I wish we could read Kanji, because there are TONS of food options. We were limited by the outdoor food window display. All of the food that people at other tables had ordered was not in the window display. Next time, I think I'll just point to one of the banners behind me, or point to someone's food at another table! Haha!

100 Yen Store = Dollar Store

100 Yen equals $1(for the most part). The exchange rate changes daily, but this is the typical conversion. So, it's pretty easy to figure out how much stuff costs. 1000 Yen is $10, 2500 Yen is $25, 50000 Yen is $500 etc. So many people talk about these 100 Yen stores, which can be found in many places in Okinawa. This particular one was not my first one I have ventured into, but it was probably the most amazing and the largest. It was recommended to me by our house inspector, an Okinawan native. He even drew a map for me! Thankfully he did draw the map because it's not called the 100 Yen store, like ours back in the states say "99 cent store" or "the dollar store." I have learned that this particular one is called Daiso (after accidentally walking into the wrong store that was in the same parking lot as the map he drew). Haha ;)

Daiso has some great items for 100 Yen, better than those in the states. Not all items are 100 Yen and will be marked accordingly - some are 200 or 300 Yen. I was probably in the store for about an hour and picked up some things for the house - miscellaneous baskets, a magnetic dry erase board, ice cube trays, a picture frame for our name in Kanji drawing, candles, a grill lighter, a cheap beach bag, and tons of Japanese drinks and snacks that I thought we could try!

Daiso!

Where to start?

School supplies

An aisle dedicated to glue and tape

Party supplies

Flowers for arranging

The language barrier can be fun at times. This was in the closet section - super thrust pole can use to erect too. Haha!! Awesome. I wonder what they see when the translation goes the other way?!

Chair socks so they don't scuff the wood floors ;)

Slippers galore!

Tools

Tableware

Gift boxes and bags

Fans!

Don't go the 100 Yen store when you're hungry or you'll come back with all of this! I love buying snacks, candy, and Japanese drinks from the 100 Yen store! There's always something new to try. If there is a local Okinawan in the same aisle as me, then I will secretly watch what they buy and will then buy one of them too. Haha! Sometimes you think you're getting one thing and it's completely different - I once bought Pretzels and they ended up being mini garlic breadstick crackers. Nonetheless, they were delicious.

And, the 100 Yen store sells dehumidifiers for cheap. This was the main reason I came to the 100 Yen store, recommended by our house inspector. Because it is very humid here in Okinawa, you must have some sort of dehumidifying device in each room, or else you will get mold! So we bought tons of these and put them all around the house in the closets and under things. They are not the best looking thing, so we try to keep them discreet.

That concludes my trip to the 100 Yen store…For now. I'm sure I will find many more things in this treasure chest ;)

More FOOOOOODDDD!!! Vending Machine Ramen? Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream? Tempura Deliciousness?!

One of our favorite things to do is EAT! And, with us just recently moving into our house, we have been forced to venture out and try lots of new restaurants. The "force" part was a joke ;) So this post is about me catching you up on the restaurants we have been to that I have not previously written about…Lunch or dinner here and there type of thing.

TICKET RAMEN - A "ticket" restaurant is where you order your food from a vending machine. The food does not actually come from a vending machine…Here's how it works: You enter the restaurant, check out the menu on the wall, put your money into the vending machine, push the food button you want to order, give your ticket to the server, sit down, and wait for your order! We went to our first ticket restaurant with one of our good friends, Eddie, who also received ordered to Okinawa and was actually on our same flight! The place is called Ramen Kagetsu Arashi.

The vending machine

Placing our order...

Our order! I ordered a ramen where the noodles and soup come separately. The second picture is after I poured the soup into the noodle bowl. Yum! Mike ordered a miso-based ramen. Eddie was super hungry - he ordered a tomato-base ramen and a spicy rice dish. Delicious :)

BLUE SEAL ICE CREAM - After our ramen ticket dinner, we went to a Blue Seal ice cream shop. There are many locations of these ice cream shops in Okinawa, kind of like many of the Cold Stone-type ice cream shops in the states. I think they are so popular because of the very hot weather in the summer and ice cream always sounds like a good idea! They also run specials on the 10th and 20th of every month - buy one scoop and get two mini scoops for free! Anyways, they have tons of flavors and some very curious ones to boot. If you know me, then you know that I was extra excited about this…A new flavor and it's ice cream?! Yes, please. 

I ended up ordering two scoops, one with Beni-imo and one Okinawan cheesecake. Beni-imo is very popular here in Okinawa and this was my first time trying it. It's a purple sweet potato flavor and it's delicious! They sell Beni-imo (the actual potato) in the markets here but I have yet to try a real one. Haha. The Okinawan cheesecake was a much milder cheesecake flavor than us Americans are used to. In my opinion it was better than our cheesecake ice cream. Eddie and Mike went with a little more "kid" flavors. They both got blue splash, which may have been carbonated because it had a fizzy feeling in your mouth. It tasted like bubblegum. Mike also ordered a Grape Muscat which is really good too and Eddie ordered a mango flavor. I can't wait to try more flavors!!

Purple sweet potato ice cream

Me, Mike, and Eddie enjoying our ice cream cones :)

TEX-MEX - Trust me, we did not set out to eat Tex-Mex in Okinawa, we just ended up here. Haha. The restaurant next door, which we intended to go try, was closed for who knows why. Places here do that- You go to them just to find out their closed, even though their hours say they should be open. Kind of frustrating, but it forces us to be spontaneous! So we ended up at Mike's Tex-Mex, which we eventually wanted to try anyways. 

The outside

The inside

The menu was typical - burritos, enchiladas, tacos, etc.

Starter salad - shredded lettuce with salsa and secret recipe dressing

I ordered a burrito and Mike ordered a taco and quesadilla. The food wan't actually that bad. Being from CA I know I'm not going to get delicious Mexican/Tex-Mex in Okinawa, but if you're craving it and don't want to cook your own, then it will do.

SUSHI, again - This time we went to a sushi restaurant located in American Village. It is upstairs from Sega and greatly caters to Americans' palettes. In fact, they advertise that it is all original sushi from Los Angeles, CA. Haha. This is where you will find all the specialty rolls we typically see at a sushi menu in the states - Rainbow roll, Spider crunchy roll, Philadelphia, etc.

Menu displayed on the outside wall

Here's the menu. They also offered tempura and other things besides sushi

Here's our order. We got some typical rolls, nothing out of the ordinary. Normally we can easily eat 4 rolls, but these were huge! Now we know to only order 3 here. I found that the sushi back home is just as good, if not better. Although the fish is fresh here in Okinawa, I was not super impressed with the food. If we are ever craving rolls, however, we will be back :)

Habusake shot = snake venom shot. Notice the dead snake in the jar. Word around town is that this shot will knock you on your a**!! We will probably try it, eventually...

TENKAIPPIN RAMEN - We have driven past this restaurant several times and finally decided to stop here for lunch one day. It is a typical ramen restaurant - not very big and designed to get you in and out quickly.

The outside

The inside

Our order! We both got combos - you pick your type of ramen, your rice, and your side. Mike got the thicker broth in his ramen, which was more delicious than my miso-based ramen. He ordered crispy chicken and I ordered spicy shrimp. Both of those were good.

MYSTERY RESTAURANT - This is another restaurant that we have driven past a few times. So…we popped in for dinner one night. I don't know the name - I now call it "place of fried foods" and in Okinawa "fried" means tempura battered.  Their menu consisted of combo sets and the English menu was not very clear. Also, the server dod not speak English very well so we ended up doing a lot of pointing ;) Mike and I picked the same combo meal with a few different options. I went with the tempura shrimp with almond jelly for dessert and he went with the tempura fried pork cutlet and Okinawan brown sugar dessert.

The outside

The inside

The menu

Cabbage salad starter. Had a strong vinegar taste.

The food came in these cute containers!

This ended up being one of my favorite places! The shrimp tempura was perfectly done, served over a bed of white rice, and some sauce that was delicious. It came with a salad (shredded lettuce), squid ink soba noodles, and a vinegar-based green bean-like vegetable. Mike's was also very good. We will be back for more "fried" food!

Obviously there are tons of other restaurants that we have still have to try all around Okinawa. These ones are close to home and on the major streets we drive daily. I will keep you updated on the wonderful places we find :)