Okinawa Adventure Day 2 - Ramen Noodles!

We enjoyed our first visit out in town today, as we continue our search for our future Okinawa car and home. 

Luckily we have a good group of sponsors who are helping us get around and acquainted with the local life and culture.

Today we ate at our first local restaurant – a ramen noodle restaurant – and it was a fun experience!

First, we entered to find a vending machine. Unlike American style restaurants where a waitress takes your order, here we just insert money in the machine, select the menu item of choice and receive a ticket. We presented our ticket to the waiter after being seated. Easy! To purchase a beverage for our meal, there was a separate vending machine outside the restaurant. It felt odd to walk out to the parking lot to purchase a drink, but definitely a quick and convenient option.  After choosing an open table, we handed the ticket order to the waiter. Done!  

Entrance to the Ramen Noodle Restaurant

The Menu Vending Machine!

The beverage drink machine outside the restaurant

There was a variety of seating styles, from a traditional American booth, to Japanese style floor seating with legs crossed, and even a hybrid version that includes an opening under the table to sit on the floor but with feet hanging down. 

I ordered a “fancy” miso soup with veggies and stuff (not sure what it all was but tasty), and Henry ordered a fried rice – which was still sizzling when it arrived and then mixed the egg and rice ingredients together. Yum! We loved the experience and will definitely be back.

Our table. No shoes allowed! Slurping sounds welcome (we'll get used to it :)

Loved the floor seating! Very comfortable 

Eating at our first local restaurant

We also visited a department store/mall called Aeon. Think of a Sears or Macy’s combined with a supermarket, along with food court stands around the perimeter. Prices here are about the same as in the states, variety is extensive, and sales people are not pushy or intrusive.

Artistic breads at the Aeon bakery

Having woken up at 1 am, it was a bit of a struggle to stay awake for our second day, but we managed to make it through until 8:45 pm before we knocked out. I SWORE I would make it through the night until the sun came up, but to my dismay, we were ALL up at 4am again. Looks like our midnight parties will continue!