Seafood Lunch at Makishi Public Market

Our last day in Okinawa was a lot of fun! We had a seafood feast at Makishi Public Market. It's a seafood market on the first floor and restaurants on the second floor. 

We found a restaurant upstairs and sat on tatami mats to eat our lunch. I ordered a sashimi set. My husband ordered a chirashi bowl with tuna and sea grapes. I never heard of sea grapes before but they are everywhere in Okinawa. It's a type of seaweed that grows around Okinawa. It's good for your health because it's packed with minerals. And it's fun to eat! 

Keiko ordered tofu with pork. We ended up sharing our food so we could taste each item. Love the pre-covid days! 

The seafood was of course amazing and it was so cheap. My set was only ¥1,200 yen ($13 CAD). You can't get that price here in Toronto. 

We were enjoying our lunch and just minding our own business when 3 guys sat beside our table. 

They started talking to us (mostly in Japanese so Keiko had to translate). They ordered beer and a big sashimi boat. They bought the seafood at the market on the first floor and the restaurant prepared it for them for a fee. 

They were really friendly and nice to us. They shared their seafood with us. They gave us oysters, unni and lobster sashimi. They offered to buy us drinks.  

Okinawans are really friendly. They are very open to talk to strangers which is surprising because I find most Japanese people are shy and they mind their own business unless you approach them first. 

Fun Adventures in Naha, Okinawa

Our flight was cancelled so we drove to Naha to sort out our flights. My husband called Customer Service but they were not very helpful so we had to go to the source in order to sort out our plans. 

We drove in a torrential downpour from Onna to Naha. Poor Keiko was driving and it was scary on the road with the heavy rain. 

We made it to Onna and we went to the airport directly to speak to the counter agents at Jetstar. They were really nice. We were all offered a flight the next day with free hotel and food voucher. We were supposed to all go to Osaka together and Keiko was supposed to stay with us for 1 night. But she decided to stay with us in Naha for 1 more night and fly back directly to Nagoya. 

We had 1 night together before we had to go our separate ways again so we made the best of it. 

Our first stop was lunch. We found this small restaurant close to our hotel. I remember eating the best rice bowl with pork here. Maybe I was just super hungry but it was really delicious! 

We walked around the touristy main street of Naha. Lot of stores and restaurants. And of course we have to stop by the pharmacy. I still regret not buying this kawaii backpack. 

Keiko and I found this cake shop where they make Baumkuchen which means tree cake in German. Not sure how it became popular in Japan but we were intrigued. It's made in a spit which is how it looks like tree rings. I don't know how long it takes to make Baumkuchen but I wanted to eat it. We got a slice and took it back to our hotel and we both demolished it. 

                         

                         

Also, finally tried Blue Seal ice cream. I tried the Okinawan sea salt flavour. It was good but nothing to get excited about. 

                           

This was our eating day adventure and we found a dumplings restaurant. 

We sat on the tatami floor and Keiko ordered for us. We basically copied what people ordered besides us, haha. We got dumplings, pigs ears, veggies, and cucumbers. We also ordered lemon whisky highball (the best!!!). 

                   

The restaurant was really fun. I don't speak Japanese but the atmosphere was great.        

After eating, we walked around some more and found another izakaya. We ordered more whisky highballs and ordered liver sashimi. Oh man, it was soo good.