It was a beautiful morning in Naha as I watched life go by on the streets below our balcony. I'd been researching spam onigiri online and read about the best place in the city serving it, so decided to head there for breakfast.
As we walked the streets of Naha we noticed that the bin lorries played happy tunes to warn people of their presence. We also spotted beautiful flowers and butterflies making the most of the sunshine too. We were just over a week into our holiday and being on the other side of the planet taking a break from my daily life in Norwich was sheer bliss!
Roadwork barriers vary from city to city in Japan but they always make you smile.
When I arrived at Porktamago Onigiri people were already queueing for their spam onigiri fix. A team of staff were working hard in the kitchen preparing all the orders, their team work was an incredible sight! I was handed a menu whilst a queued and finally made a decision on the onigiri I wanted to order.
Fried fish tartar and pickled Okinawa shallots were added to this Spam and egg onigiri and it tasted incredible! Everything is made to order here so you can enjoy the onigiri hot which makes for a far more juicier experience. I could understand why they were the best place to go for these in Naha and my only regret was only buying one!
In the shopping arcade next door my wife spotted these purple sweet potato mochi snacks. They came in different colours and flavours, each one was said to bring good luck or a blessing. This particular one was said to bless the children. It cost just 100 yen and tasted surprisingly yummy, probably because it was so fresh.
The temperature outside was rapidly rising but the air conditioned environment of the Okinawa Prefecture Museum provided some much needed respite from the heat.The building containing 24.000 square meters of floor space was constructed using Okinawan limestone, it opened in 2007. There's a huge lobby in the centre with the art museum and Natural History museum on opposite sides.
There's also a local history section covering the history of the Ryukyus Islands and it's people.
As we left the museum I tried this Shikuwasa Fanta which is exclusive to Okinawa. Shikuwasa is a green tangy, tangerine like fruit grown on Okinawa.
Last night we'd tracked down this Vegan restaurant called Mana but arrived too late and it was closed. Today we were in luck though so we stopped for some lunch.
The Dal curry was tempting but we both decided to order the Veggy Kara-age.
The food was beautifully presented and included a small side dish and miso soup. The karaage here was even better than what we'd tried in Osaka, it was served with rice and a beautifully seasoned salad. The ends of the chopsticks here (not quite visible in the pic) were like needles but very nice to eat with.
We paid the extra 500 yen for the coffee and desert which was beautifully presented too.
Back in Naha we further explored the indoor shopping arcades next to the food market. There was an excellent selection of vintage goods to be found tucked away in some of the shops if you explored hard enough.
This was the first can of jelly drink I'd found in a vending machine since arriving. If you shake the can about 5 times up and down you will be able
to enjoy the jelly in a pudding like texture, if you prefer a smoother drink shake it for even longer. I'd tried many flavours before but peach was definitely my favourite so far.
These bright pink foam like bands were said to increase fertility. Not particularly enjoyable to eat though, a bit like chewing on polystyrene!
The Awamori promo event we'd visited on our first day here was still in full swing so we stopped off to sample some more. One of the locals kept offering us more drink tickets and even brought over some food to try. These cheese coated chicken skewers were delicious!
A quick pit stop at Family Mart before returning to the hotel to eat on the terrace outside. I'd been spoilt for choice with food from convenience stores but Ella's choices had been much more limited as it's quite difficult in Japan to avoid things containing meat and fish. The things she looked out for were edamame beans, plum onigiri and salad.
This evening though all I wanted to eat was an egg sandwich, pure bliss!
Click here for Day 9
Destination Kobe
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