We stayed at the Ritz Carlton Okinawa. Arrived on Boxing Day while the Christmas tree was still up, watched as it was replaced by the New Year’s decor.
Little Miss exclaiming either “Tree!” or “Light!”……..( Or “Buhd!” or “Baw!”)
While Rockstar posed with the New Year’s decorations…
Our room at the Ritz Carlton Okinawa was relatively small, but with space very, very efficiently allocated. The bath, vanity, shower and toilet could be cordoned off from the bedroom area with sliding wooden doors. So when we didn’t need privacy, Rockstar erm, “exercised” the Miss by running laps round this area and playing “hide and seek”.
And this is the console with a myriad of different functions (it’s not just half flush or flush!) for many of the toilets here
Rockstar’s entertaining the Miss was a real lifesaver, because our bottle sanitizer appeared to pack it in the moment we arrived, so each night I would boil water to sterilize the baby milk bottles we’d used on our day out.
On a whim, Kings packs the bottle sterilizer back home – where it works perfectly again. Apparently it has something to do with the voltage usage in the different city. (Take note, don’t throw your electrical stuff away if it appears to not work in Okinawa…)
Each morning I look out the window there would be one or two golfers already out there, come rain or shine, either with clubs in hand or driving about in a golf cart or two…
More shots of the hotel, on days we waited for a cab in the lobby…
For the first few days we’re at the hotel restaurant Gusuku at least once a day. Very quickly staff anticipate what we’re likely to order (the Miss develops a love of Miso soup, sushi rice and tofu), once Kings was delayed at a work meeting and they even offered to watch the Miss toddle about doing her not eating routine, so I could.
Staff are so nice (and so efficient) I keep worrying I might be performing some faux pas or other. (Actually we also suspect they discreetly practice some “quality control” re clientele because it is incredibly peaceful and quiet, and every single day we tried to book one of their Japanese restaurants in particular with the kids we were told nicely that they only had 9pm-onwards seating available. Maybe that is their restaurant meant for business entertaining or some other such, in which case I am very happy if they don’t let our hellion-when-it-comes-to-eating toddler in because however much I might try (and I do), toddlers will still be toddlers and I don’t want to be the only patrons with a tantrum-y or vomit-y toddler ever), but as I suppose they are too polite to ever confirm this to our face we will never know for sure :P)
Someone once told me her air stewardess friend was always worried things were not alright with Japanese passengers because they often didn’t tell her outright. Coming from HK where people complain about everything, I start worrying more and more about culture shock <sheepish> I mean, for e.g. when driving in Sydney/ Perth/ Melbourne/ Canberra/ Adelaide or for that matter Queenstown, (i.e. not even in Japan ok) it took us awhile to realize when people were honking at us. In HK with the taxi drivers, you are left with no doubt 😀 I’ve even been honked at by minibuses or drivers of cars with Mainland plates several times in our residential area when I’m trying to cross a pedestrian crossing with the Miss in a stroller. To the point I actually checked with local concierge whether it is the law in HK to yield to traffic when you are a pedestrian at a clearly marked crossing that has no lights (of course it is not, traffic is supposed to stop – but try telling them that.)
Anyway. Little Miss on a better eating day with the rest of us at Gusuku:
And this Really Cool Fried Seafood And Meats thing served stuck in coral:
The food – a la carte or breakfast buffet – is pretty darn good. The breakfast buffet deserves even more credit for the fact we went down late every single time – their buffet would close at 10.30am, we’d be down at 10.15am, and they would always replenish the food. It was never like you would come down to a buffet spread where stuff was running out.
Soon, I was even getting omelets with ketchup smiley faces almost before I could open my mouth to ask.
(Okinawa btw is also known for their pork – I rarely eat any meat and especially not pork except for the occasional rasher of bacon, and their pork dishes are almost the only time I’ve ever liked pork so that is really saying something.)
At night there is also traditional Okinawan live music with their three-stringed instrument
The Ritz however is…. very quiet. As in, peaceful. I’m especially self-conscious of the Miss Ngeh-ing at mealtimes. Not a single – not one – look of ‘tude, certainly not from staff, but not even from other patrons. There were other kids too, but somehow the entire atmosphere is never Family Hotel With Kids Running About even though there are certainly quite a few families. It seems to me like everyone’s kids are somehow moving about serenely most of the time. Maybe it’s the layout of the place, with spa-like quiet dimly lit corridors.
Finally we decide to look for a laundromat. Kinda hard to send umpteen baby socks and bibs through hotel laundry. That’s when the Ritz drive us over to the J.W. Marriott maybe 2 minutes away – where there’s coin laundry and – now I know where all the noisy families are 😀
Pic above: the laundromat at JW Marriott (after 7pm there’s a queue) and below: JW Marriott hotel lobby – and that high ceiling is quite necessary 😀 There’s noisy kids and even grownups chatting loudly at the next table in the lounge. Staff are really nice here too, and I settle down happily to the noise as Little Miss and I begin one of our regular feeding battles.
But then I start to hear lots of coughs and colds among the kids staying there. <sheepish> A bit less relaxed after that.
There is also a tv screen in a secluded part of the lobby, showing something with Donald Duck on it, and a rug and cushions for kids. Also signs for parent-accompanied swimming lessons in the hotel pool. This is the “children running around” hotel. But I’m also breaking out the sanitizer with more frequency to be honest. Maybe because of all the swimming lessons and other kiddie classes, where there’s lotsa classes there’s probably lotsa coughs and colds everywhere.
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Driving around each day it takes 30, 45 – 90 mins one way, to get where we want to go. (And cabs btw are way more expensive than renting a car – maybe JPY 7000 for a car rental (fuel not inclusive) vs JPY 4000 – 7000 per one way trip.
Colombin is one of the places we stop randomly at for brunch – Rockstar describes their soup as “Miso with clams,” and Kings really enjoys their fried fish (pictured below)… Part of the restaurant is “Japanese-style seating” where you remove your shoes and sit on the floor, while the other style is Western. And they’re playing a Bryan Adams cd.
We visited Mihana, the American Village couple times (we are told the largest non-Japanese population in Okinawa is probably American):
Rockstar dancing around when we first get here and he makes getting a ride on the ferris wheel his Goal For The Day
Both kids loved the little kiddie “Funzone”-y play area nearby, which is very crowded with kids running and climbing everywhere……. who are extremely polite. Not a single misbehaving kid, and a couple Japanese speaking kids we encounter while I’m navigating the candy-colored jungle and speaking to the Miss in English make eye contact while we pass each other on the slides, smile warmly and nod.
Kings enters the jungle to watch for the kids, we take turns eating and minding the kids:
And speaking of lunch……
It’s mostly kiddie fare, quite a few items are sold out by the time we get there late afternoon, but wow they have a ticketing machine for everything
This is a ticket for popcorn
And proof Rockstar got his Goal For The Day! Up on the ferris wheel
Though this is my favorite pic because it looks like Kings is making some shady bookie deal up high in the ferris wheel carriage and Rockstar is his Hit Boy (WHY does our eldest have to be so serious most of the time?? :P)
And the-ere’s the Hit Boy Gangsta Dude in our family pic
Couple more shots of the American Village shops….
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Little Miss is more often than not extremely hard to feed each day.
(This day Rockstar had some success pitching in)
But Kings won any feeding contest hands down after our last night:
With the traditional Japanese floor seating and nothing to keep her firmly corralled in, plus no wifi to search for Babytv Youtubes, I was soon despairing, this last night. Then something really weird happened: Kings locked horns with the Miss and actually fed her the entire meal, no nonsense.
As Memorable Family Experiences And Epiphanies go, this was a biggie. Who knew Kings could possibly emerge the authoritarian? I thought I was the fiercer one but it seems the kids don’t think so (??!!) Was quite amazed it appeared to matter to both kids that Kings sees them as angels (<snort> whereas I’ve already seen them at their awful-est I suppose). At one point when the Miss is doing her Not Eating Performance, I go “you are an awful, awful girl” and she leans over and gives me a “mmmmuah!” (Kings on the other hand went “Stoppit. Eat.” and eventually she finished everything. Well, I can use the help...
This place was recommended by the Ritz, their concierge booked it for us one night, (unfortunately I don’t even know the English name and that I can tell there were no other English-speaking patrons the night we were there so I just took a pic of their entrance sign) for the dining experience and live traditional Okinawan music, which is very…… lively – whistles and hoots punctuate faster numbers. We loved it so much we tried to hunt down a cd, but the performers tell me they don’t make any 🙁 They totally should. I really wanted to play some of it for the kids back home, it’s that special.
Okinawa was special. The Rockstar family hadn’t really seen (and definitely not heard) anything like it.
Miss Rockstar is really adorable with the butterfly and bow hair clips. How did you choose to go to Okinawa for the holidays?
Kings knew a native Tokyo sometime client who recommended it because we had kids (relatively small and less bustling for a first trip to Japan was what we were looking for). What we didn’t expect was the rich culture of stage and music, especially the music. We are actually still trying some on cd…