​ARRIVAL Naha – Day ONE: 24 Feb

The ship was cleared quickly. We have a late night planned with our Pub Crawl ashore so we took it easy in our cabin and left the ship to check out the local area around 3:30 pm.

We had to show our cruise card and passport to enter the cruise terminal. Showing our cruise card ashore while leaving the ship was a first.

An ATM and money-changing machine are in the terminal. WiFi is available.

There is a taxi stand outside the terminal, but we never saw any taxis waiting. You need to use the DIDI or GO TAXI app to summon a taxi here. A little further down the sidewalk, a shuttle bus will leave about every 30 minutes to take you to Kokusai Street for ¥240  each way.

We walked across the street and checked out the large statues on either side of the Main Street leading to the port.

STREET FOOD

Near the Max Valu Grocery store, we spotted a Yakitori stand selling a variety of skewered chicken, quail eggs and more. All for ¥500  per package of four each. We got some of the Salted Chicken and Quail Eggs & Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto.

MAX VALU SUPERMARKET

Exploring supermarkets in different countries is interesting and gives you a feel for the local culture and what types of food are popular. Once again, Google Translate makes this more interesting as you don’t have to guess about the contents of packages with only Japanese characters.

Going up and down every aisle, we picked up a few items – some Ghana chocolate, giant chocolate Pocky sticks, and Lipton Yellow Label pyramid tea bags.

NAHA LOCAL PUB CRAWL

I found the Naha Local Pub Crawl on Viator and we booked it with tablemates, Kim and George. Check it out HERE

The normal meeting time was 6 pm, but the organizer shifted our start time to 7 pm to accommodate our guide’s schedule. We would meet in front of the Lawson Convenience store in Makishi on Kokusai Street, near the center of all the action in Naha.  See the maps at the bottom of this post.

Outside the cruise terminal, I requested a taxi using the GO TAXI app. After 3 minutes, the app was still searching for a taxi when a taxi arrived to drop off another fare. I canceled our GO ride and waved over the taxi. I used Google Translate to translate our meeting location into Japanese and showed it to our driver on my phone. He nodded, we piled in and were on our way. Twenty minutes later, we arrived. The fare was ¥1,400, paid in cash.

We met our guide, Arito, at the Lawsons and were on our way to the first stop. It was Saturday night and the streets were crowded and full of young people having great time.

Our first stop was nearby, where we found a low table in the back. It was loud and fun – everyone was having a great time. I didn’t see any other Westerners, but the place had English menus available and catered to tourists. See the map below for our routing.

We had a choice of drinks. I selected the traditional rice liquor Awamori, which is unique to Okinawa and made from long-grain Indica rice. It was nice.

In the middle of our table was a large glass jar – maybe 2 gallons, filled with an amber liquid covering a dead Pit Viper snake. There was a spigot on the bottom. I learned later that this was Habushu , an Okinawa rice liquor. Everyone walking by our table took a second glance at the Habushu and of course I had to give it a taste. This was an extra ¥500 . They served it in a shot and I tossed in back in one motion – reminded me of a Vodka Shot!

You can buy Habushu in a variety of sizes, complete with a snake, for anywhere from $10 to $400, depending on the size and probably the quality. Bringing dead Pit Vipers into the USA may not be allowed under the Endangered Species Act, so check this regulation carefully if you are considering buying a bottle to bring home.

We had a selection of local food, and we all picked something different to try. It was all pretty good and we enjoyed sampling a variety of dishes. We were here about 35 minutes.

We spend the next 40 minutes wandering through back alleys and narrow covered streets. This area was for pedestrians only and filled with young locals having a good time on a Saturday night. We were supposed to stop at a bar here, but it was either closed, too crowded or Arita couldn’t find it. Nevertheless, we had fun walking around and soaking in the atmosphere.

Our next stop was Izakaya Hateruma, off Main Street, Kokousai, on the second floor. We sat in the back on traditional tatami mats with our feet in a well under the table. We had to remove our shoes and put them in the plastic bags they provided. If you had to use the restroom, they had rubber sandals just off the mats you could use instead of putting your shoes back on.

Our guide placed our order on a tablet, and the servers quickly delivered our food and drinks. We all ordered the local beer Orion.

An entertainer was on stage at the far end of the room. He played a guitar and sang various catchy tunes in Japanese while his partner played a drum. Patrons in the restaurant were completely engaged, singing along and occasionally standing and waving their arms in unison. We were the only Westerners.

We were here over an hour before moving on to our final stop, a coffee and beer stand which was back inside the maze pedestrian walkways. We sat at the bar, and I got a Moscow Mule while Judy got some delicious hot chocolate. The Bartender, Akita, was fluent in English and very friendly. We enjoyed chatting with him. This was a small place with only a couple of tables. Once again, we were the only obvious tourists.

We left about 10:40 and were back on the main street in a few minutes. After saying goodbye to our wonderful host, we found a cab that was completing a ride and we were on our way back to the Cruise Terminal, fifteen minutes away.

There was a movie on the World Stage tonight, “Murder on the Orient Express”.

NAHA – Day 2 – The Grand Fair – 25 Feb

SHUTTLE TO SHOPPING

We left the ship around 1 pm and caught the 1:30 shuttle to Kokousai Street for ¥240. They accepted credit cards and Apple Pay, so I could use my watch to pay the fare. I held it before the payment scanner for a few seconds until I heard the “ding.”

The shuttle dropped us at the eastern end of Kokousai street closed every Sunday to allow for more friendly pedestrian access and let musicians perform there. Sunday street closures are common in Japan on popular shopping streets.

It was windy and cool today, so we spent much of our time in the shops along Kokousai. We walked westward toward the Lawsons, where we had started the Pub Crawl the previous night.

There are dozens and dozens of touristy shops selling almost anything you can imagine—a few shops selling wine, liquor and some Habushu with the snake inside.

Ever present was Shisa, a cross between a lion and a dog, a very common feature and distinctive trait of the culture of the Okinawa islands. They were for sale in every imaginable size and style.

After two hours we were almost to the Lawsons where we started our Pub Crawl. As the wind started to pick up, we spotted a line of waiting taxis and decided to head back to the ship from here rather than walk back to the shuttle bus. Taxi fare was ¥1000.

THE GRAND FAIR

The Lido Deck was transformed into a “County Fair” this evening. A variety of games were offered at no charge. Everyone would get tickets for participation with the winners getting more. The tickets were placed in a drum and then winners were drawn from time to time, awarding prizes such as Pinnacle Dinners, Spa treatments and more.

Here is a YouTube Short showing the setup in the afternoon before the party started.

The event officially started at 7:30 pm with a nice crowd. We showed up at 6:30, pulling two tables together to make room for our Table 89 tablemates. We all decided to have dinner here and skip the MDR. There was a lot of food: popcorn, cotton candy, candy apples, ice cream were always available – and waiters were delivering Corn Dogs, Mini Burgers, Deep Fried Mac and Cheese Balls, Tacos and probably a few more items I may have missed. There was plenty to go around. Complementary beverages were available from a premixed assortment of Long Island Ice Teas, sparkling wine, and similar drinks, but it wasn’t an open bar.

HAL President, Gus Antorcha and Michael Smith, Senior VP Guest Experience and Product Development were on hand but didn’t make any general announcements.

The Lido Pool was full, but not crowded – you could move around easily and there were always a couple of empty seats.

We stayed late, past 10 pm, when the staff started putting everything away. Fun time!

MAPS