Goosie 0 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Off to Okinawa next week, firs time. Any suggestions? Are there places to avoid, like yank bases etc. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Eats - chanpurū - in particular goya chanpurū! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 These umi budo are good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caulerpa_lentillifera Apart from goya chanpuru, not much else in Okinawa is really special, in my admittedly limited experience. I translate a lot of promotional material for Okinawa, and all the food looks as poor as I remember it. Pigs feet are interesting to look at, but not a great joy to put in your mouth. I do like a drop of Awamori though. But you're asking about places - dunno. I've only been to Miyakojima. Mrs 11 went to Okinawa recently and said there are yanks in uniform everywhere, so good luck avoiding that. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Spam spam spam spam! Glorious spam! Wonderful spam! That said, we love Okinawa. I've been four times. Ishigaki is best. Miyako's nice but we went in Feb and it wasn't warm enough (Feb in Hawaii by comparison is great). Last time we went to Honto, which still has some very nice spots. Honto's much cheaper to get to than Yaeyama. Its easy to do with air miles. Now is July so I guess you don't get the mega deals you get outside summer. Big beachside hotels with a massive brekkie buffet for six or seven thousand a night per adult. Okinawa has the best value accom I've stayed at in Japan. Last time we camped one night at Hiji Falls and there were maybe twenty or thirty servicemen or family members there during the day doing the river walk, but they were the only ones we came across and they weren't in uniform. At night, we had the campsite to ourselves. If it isn't obvious, hire a car. For eats, there's pretty good yakiniku, but that's about it. I don't like the trotters (tebichi) but the raamen like "soba" with the pork belly can be quite good. Clutching at straws perhaps, but A&W Burger is better than Mos/Freshness and way cheaper. For souvenirs, they do very good chili oil (ra-yu-). We usually stock up on jasmine tea too. Link to post Share on other sites
Goosie 0 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Great informaion. Thanks. Ishigaki is on the itin, so too the car. Chili oil sounds good, I like a bit of chili. It'll all be about sand in my shorts sort of thing. Lots of swimming and beer. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Make sure you do some snorkelling, and make sure you protect your back from the sun. I saw some fantastic fish in Miyakojima, then all the skin fell off my back in a ghastly mess of lymphatic fluid and dermis. So every time I leaned back in my chair, I screamed and spilt my Orion. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I like Kumejima. Very quiet place with beautiful beaches and snorkeling. Also, Kumesen is the best awamori made in Okinawa and it's plentiful on that island! Link to post Share on other sites
Goosie 0 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Good good good. Snorkelling sounds great. Amamori sounds great. I'll be driving, so a couple for the road sounds good. Link to post Share on other sites
Goosie 0 Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 It was hot. Hotter than what I'd expected Japan to be. 37 degrees and 80% humidity settling down to 28 in the evening. In a place in a triangle among Japan, China and Taiwan, we expected a cultural mix alike to Hawaii. And we got it. The people were dark. Much darker than the Honshu people. They wore Hawaiin shirts and Bermuda shorts, the youth were orange with their ginger hair. A cartoon land in the sticks of farm country. What a beautiful contrast. Amongst the azzure blues of the coast and the deep blue off the shelf, the sky made the third layer giving the dream of here, now and then. All along the coast people looked upon this beauty and just breathed "c'est la vie". We met people from Tokyo, Osaka, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. The Japanese came because they had condos in Okinawa. We foreigners came for the sun, sea, sand and seafood. It was strange that grilling fresh fish was special here. A room with a view Perfect picture postcard Oh Sunset Beautiful giants enslaved. But how werre we to see them otherwise. Now for dinner: Ishigaki beef And some black pork. Would we come back? YES. Defintely. This place is unique, special in it's way and charming for the rustic infrastructure contrasting with the mega hotel luxuries. Try it. It'll surprise you for turning the Japan experience on its head. Link to post Share on other sites
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