Today
was our first port stop in Japan. We were in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa.
We will have 10 port stops in different cities in Japan over the next couple of
weeks so we didn’t have anything special planned for today. I’m glad we didn’t
because we were only in port for about 6 hours, docking around 11:30 but then having
to go through a rigorous process of finger printing, photos and temperature checks, passport
control and customs. We were also under penalty of fine if we tried to carry any
food off the ship (even nuts to snack on). With only 5 agents working through a crowd of several
hundred people, it seemed like it took forever to get away from the port.
The Oceania shuttle dropped us off on Kokusai-dori, a very popular shopping street. Our first order of business was to change some US dollars to Japanese Yen. After getting a little cash, we headed down the main shopping street. Unfortunately, it was sprinkling rain (enough to need umbrellas) the entire time we were out. We weren’t looking for anything in particular, so we mainly just walked along the street until we got hungry and started trying to find something to eat. There were tons of eateries but we didn’t know what any of it was, and of course the menus are all in Japanese, as one would expect. Ha!
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| 10,000 Yen note = approximately $71 US |
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| stroll down Kokusai-dori street |
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| his mom let me snap his photo |
Most of the menus are posted on the street with accompanying photos, but the meat in all the dishes is shown raw, so none of it looked very appetizing. We finally settled on some things we recognized (chicken, French fries and vegetable tempura), then went back out onto the street. Spurring off from that street was the covered Heiwa-dori Shopping Arcade and Makishi Public Market selling pretty much anything and everything one could think of. We spent some time wandering around until the rain had slowed, then back out onto the main street.
trying to figure out what to order
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| whatizit? |
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| no idea! |
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| anyone know? we think it was in our tempura |
There
were lots of shops carrying souvenirs, knickknacks and such. I keep seeing lots
of stuff carrying the Spam logo. It seems that Spam is very popular, especially
in the Asian countries and Hawaii. Spam bags, Spam shoes, Spam t-shirts, Spam everything!
handmade pottery workshop
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Heiwa-dori Shopping Arcade
these are EVERYWHERE
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| a clean, modern city |
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| a little of everything |
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I read online “Thanks to some attention it's getting on social media, Spam is making a big comeback. Because Spam is a trending ingredient on Tik Tok, you might say that the 85-year-old block of meat is undergoing a reinvention. Nowadays you can even find it on the menu at some of the finer restaurants!” One major network ran a story on “How Spam became cool again” saying “the 85-year-old canned block of meat has undergone a cultural reinvention.” Perhaps there’s more to it, but it seems like anything with the Spam logo these days is a big seller, at least in some countries.
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| Spam everything! |
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| Spam shoes? |
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| Spam t-shirts |
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| enough Spam merchandise! |
Bharberts: your green seaweed is called Umibudou. It is only harvested off the shores of Okinawa. I like it because it has a fish roe taste. "You so lucky Texas girl, you eat Umibudou," as my Okinawa friends told me.
ReplyDeleteI know right where you were in Naha. I have walked those street many times. Okinawan pottery is considered valuable as the clay has a high coral content, so when it is fired it looks beautiful. They also paint it beautifully. I lived on the Rock for 2-1/2 years in the early 1970's. I got there for the formal revision of Okinawa back to the Japanese. Because Americans lost so many lives there, it was the last place in Japan to revert. Seafood and seaweeds are the primary foods there. They have Timmy shrimp the size of your little fingernail dried with wasabi on them for snack foods. Yum yum!
You are a WAAAY more adventuresome eater than we are!! So we ate Umibudou, did we? ahaha!!! Well, at least we know what it was now! We didn't get a chance to see pottery since we were only there for a few hours. I did see a lot of glassware though that I assume was made locally? You have had so many experiences! I know you've lived in Hawaii as well. Did you know how popular Spam was there? Or maybe it's been in more recent years since you've been back in TX. It would definitely take time for us to learn how to eat here. We're in Amami today. Went into a 100 Yen store at someone's recommendation (it was in the back of a grocery store). Ended up buying some snacks and were so excited to find Cheetos. However, they tasted NOTHING like the Cheetos we get in the US. They were actually kind of sweet! I gave my extra package to the bus driver. lol
DeleteBHarberts: Oh yes, I lived "on the economy" until I had worked my way up in civil service and could get base quarters. No body on my streets really spoke English, so I did things with some of them-public bath houses, eating everything they ate...which is pretty much literally all but the oink or the cock-a-doodle do. Everyone considered SPAM as great there-as they loved to make Musubi for breakfast. Hot dogs were also a favorite for kids. Fresh meat-pork or beef-was too expensive for most, so I would occasionally have a Hibachi party on my roof and everyone brought hibachi and charcoal and we'd spend all Saturday on the roof playing Japanese radio and American free radio. They built the first Hilton resort while I was there, and one night I just told the waiter I would eat what another diner was eating. It looked like a salad made like Mt Fuji-with all kinds of greens, topped with "snow" which was rice and boulders. All my friends watched me eating it and it seemed really tasty. They said "We didn't know you liked Octopus eyes"! Needless to say, my oral hygiene routine was somewhat extended that night! I played piano and organ at a Navy base on Sunday very early for Catholic and Protestant services, then at Koza Baptist church for the English service. I taught a 6 year old SS class of Okinawa kids, and their favorite things were the foil juice packets like Capri Sun. Their grannies would make me purses and Zoris (sandals) and origami flowers from their juice packets...so the Spam "merchandise" is based on that local spirit of making even "trash" usable. A household of 4 there might have a small pail of trash at the end of a week. I learned they were far more thrifty than my depression era Mother. My trash was always being gone thru until I learned to never throw out certain items, but offer them to others if I did not reuse.
ReplyDeleteI loved everything there, except that I did not have family.
Octopus eyes!?!!! Argh@#$!!! You are BRAVE!! You have had sooo many different experiences! I do hope you've journaled all of this or plan to write a book if you haven't already!! And yes, we have seen so many cool things in other countries made from "trash" - empty espresso cups, tin cans, plastics, etc. We consume, consume, consume and aren't nearly as creative as some (probably because they have had to be). Btw, I looked up the ingredients in Spam - basically the same as hot dogs.
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