February 24 - Saturday - Naha, Japan

 What a great day in Naha!  I took a taxi to the shopping area in town.  I wanted to go to a specific restaurant buy my elderly taxi driver (who neither spoke any English, nor understood the concept of a translator app) couldn't find it.  He dropped me near the main shopping area, right in front of a place that sold the kind of Ryukyu glassware I wanted to find.    

After some window shopping, I found the restaurant, which was nearby and had an amazing lunch.  After a bit more walking, I found a place for a massage, which was one of the best I've had.

We're doing an overnight in Naha and I plan to do the same tomorrow, except the restaurant is closed on Sundays so I'll try someplace new.  And, getting a two hour massage instead of just one hour.  It is about $50 for two hours.  How could I say no?

Photos!

I loaded the photos in a way that normally puts them chronologically, from morning until night.  I did that today and they start with evening and go to morning.  This is a peach/berry crumble I had for dessert

I had a shrimp cocktail to start and then this small order of salmon, which was very good

My view of Naha from my balcony

This is a restaurant next to the massage place.  I heard laughing and went over to see two middle-aged Japanese couples drinking, eating and having an excellent time in the open-air restaurant

Entrance to the building for the massage.  On the left is the tiny elevator I took to the 6th floor.  Was I nervous?  Alone, going to a strange place for a massage?  Yes.  Am I glad I did?  Yes.  This is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy doing when I travel.  Being out of my element but hopeful

My massage was done in a small space separated by others with drapes.  I could hear the man in the next space snoring

The table is covered with my junk, this was after the massage.  Nothing fancy but clean and private.  I was given a t-shirt and shorts to wear during the massage

She pointed to the wicker basket for my purse.  I also shoved my clothes in there because I never noticed the hangers, lol

This is the place!  I found it on Google Maps and followed the directions from about 1/2 mile away to get there

60 minutes is 4400 yen. About $30 USD

This was across the street from the massage place.  No joints were offered

The architecture is not elegant

There was some beautiful and expensive coral jewelry.  This is an actual piece of coral

This is a snack in a bag.  Thanks to the American GIs, taco rice became a thing and still is.  Basically a taco with no shell, on rice

This glass is about $20

This is a tourist area.  But in addition to the many Chinese and Korean tourists are a lot of Japanese.  The clothing styles are a hoot

This is a fairly high density neighborhood, but still a lot of parking lots

A car was parked in that spot.  When it backed out, it made a noise as it drove over the "speed bump" in the parking spot.  I need to figure it out.  Japanese love technology.  Does it measure you time there?  Security?  Or just a random bump?

Yunangi, the great restaurant where I had lunch

Not fancy

Thank goodness for Google Translator app!

The place is tiny and was busy.  This well dressed man was getting take-away

I'm so glad I sat at the bar.  These folks had to remove their shoes then climb over to the back to get to their seats which were cushions just above the floor.

Loved the little cat on the toothpick holder

The man next to me was taking leaves out of the green container and adding them to his soba noodles.  He explained they were bitter melon leaves.  Well, that was my interpretation.  He held up the bitter melon, which is just past the eggplant, then held up the leaf.

There he is, going for a leaf.  He seemed to be a regular and we had a nice chat, using his limited English and Google Translate.  One of the reasons I so enjoy traveling alone is that people tend to be very curious about an American woman of a certain age, alone.  Seems we mostly travel in herds.  People I've encountered around the world and especially in Japan have been curious, kind, respectful and very helpful.  This guy asked my age and seemed shocked when I told him.  He refused to tell me his age, though, just indicated he was much older.  Okinawa is known for having very long-lived people

Horrible photo of me but proof I was there.  Anthony Bourdain would have loved this place

The food on the bar belongs to the couple next to me.  Those are Ryukyu glasses. I'm not sure what's in the jars but it was food and for sale

The kitchen was small, hot and crowded with women working.  Mostly silently.  I can't imagine doing their jobs for a day, let alone every day

The sign was in Japanese.  This is the Google Lens translation.  Cool, eh?

My new friend was reading the local paper.  He was born and raised in Naha

Starting at the top:  Rice, a warm seaweed salad, a cold pig-ear dish, a warm custard topped with ginger, pork belly with a sweet soy gravy, miso soup with mushrooms and pig entrails, a vegetable and beef dish with egg.  The Japanese names, if you'd like to learn more are:  champuru, inamuruchi, rafute, mimiga, nakame soup.  I couldn't find the name of the custard thing but am now entranced by Okinawan food and want to learn more, including how to make it

Champuru is meat (usually pork) and egg with vegetables

The flan thing was so smooth and delicious.  Savory, not sweet.  The dish above and to the right is pig ear and vegetables, served cold.  I now understand why my dog goes crazy for pig ears.  Delicious!

They eat a lot of seaweed in Okinawa.  Why don't we?  It is delicious and healthy

Pig ears and sprouts

These women all seemed to both cook and wash dishes in a small space

They did have a few Western style tables

The bar is similar to a sushi bar in the US

This was the English menu I was given

I happened to pass by later and saw these ladies taking photos of the restaurant

Not a restaurant.  Just a statue

There is an A&W

This is a Shisa, part dog/part lion.  Famous in legends for killing a sea dragon that was killing people in Okinawa

The first store I entered.  Not tidy but nice stuff and art gallery prices

This type of glassware became famous after WWII.  When Americans took over the island (which we controlled until 1972), they needed kitchen stuff.  Locals, trying to survive, began making glasses out of whatever they could find.  It often had bits of tin foil and other trash, which created small but beautiful imperfections.  Now they don't use trash but sometimes add silver or air bubbles

Check these out up close.  Tiny crabs?

Many taxi drivers in my incredibly limited experience are male and older.  And car doors open and close automatically, controlled by the driver.  As we started off, my door had apparently not latched so he opened/closed it as we drove.  Rony would have loved how it scared the crap out of me

Back on the ship - crew were painting.  This is why you should close the drapes when changing clothes in port

These are photos of the port as we came in.  I do not know why sometimes my photos are out of order