As promised, come rain or shine, I have to be in Manila and spend XMas with my Mom.... this I will do come the 18th of DEC.... but because of VISA purposes, I needed to get out of Taiwan so as to not overstay..... David comes to the rescue.... he gave me my early XMas gift: A 3 Day Trip to Okinawa!!! Am happy as it is a place I have yet to see/visit - though I have been in Japan many times before.... and the flight is under one hour - even closer than flying to Manila.... and as an added bonus it is called an Eternal Summer City.... looking forward to that as it has been cold and rainy in Taipei the last few days....
So early on the 26th of Nov., we took the shuttle bus at 5:30AM to head on to the International Airport.... this time around, Terminal 2... not often for me to fly out of here... actually, only my 2nd time ever! Flight was at 8:30 AM and we were in Okinawa by a little past 9AM!!! Getting to the city was quite easy... thanks to Okinawa's Monorail that runs through the island, really.... checked in the Hotel for the nite - then we were off to explore the city....
First up was running into this little quaint place called BENTO... yes, just freshly cooked and packaged meal as you wait, served in Bento Box for all to enjoy.... inexpensive, fresh and TASTY!!! Nice first taste of OKINAWA....
... then we walked 15 minutes over and we were on KOKUSAI Street - Naha's main shopping district.... Specialty Shops, Big Department Store (well 2 only really - Mitsukoshi being one of them), Cafes & Restos, Souvenir Shops, all one could ever need and think of - on a Major Tourist/Hang Out District.
From here, we decided to walk on over to UNIQLO, in the OROKU area.. instead of taking the Monorail - we decided to take a walk so as we can also enjoy some sights of the city... get a feel and taste the flavour of Okinawa streets..... It was a nice day for it, too.... No Sun - but not too cloudy, still a beautiful Saturday - and walking by the city's main park and Stadium, it was GREAT to see people enjoying the day... Locals and Tourists alike just enjoying the day...
Got to UNIQLO in less than an hour.... not a hard walk at all as the city is pretty flat, too.... UNIQLO is on the 2nd floor of the AEON Department Store.... not as big as the ones in Tokyo, or even Taipei for that matter - still it was quite packed with both goods and people.... AMAZING to always see the cool casual clothing in regular Japan Retail - definitely cheaper than in Taiwan.... Enjoyed AEON a few more hours... had some snacks at Mister Donut (Happiness is MISDO campaign with the SNOOPY Gang is too cute to pass up... :) and then walked back to Kokusai Street to check out dinner choices....
Fresh Sushi & Sashimi plus SOBA noodles for dinner on one of the many restos on the 2nd level of the Heiwadori Market did not disappoint as the dinner choice.... filling... tasty.... and fresh.... Nice Choice for dinner, indeed..... walked around a bit more... and picked up a few things for desserts and late nite snacks and headed back to the Hotel.....
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