Naha Day 2 Okinawa, Japan: Shopping!

 Because the authorities in Shanghai changed our schedule, our ship stayed overnight in this
port. After a few days in a row of visiting various Peace memorials (see Jerry’s sober blog from
yesterday), it was nice to have a day off with nothing planned. We’ve made some friends on
board (via playing bridge); they’re from Raleigh, NC. The guys stayed on the ship and we girls
went SHOPPING!

The weather has warmed quite fast as we’ve been in Japan and traveled south. Today the temp
is in the lower 80s with humidity about that same number. Sunshine so bright it hurts the eyes.
Alaska clothes are long ago packed away.

Our shopping foray began in the morning to scope out where we wanted to return in the
afternoon. (Our cruise ship offers shuttlebus service from the ship to downtown—this time
about a 20-minute trip) We were told by local guides that the 1.4 km-long shopping street had
Okinawa goods and an 8-story department store on the corner had Japanese goods. We easily
discovered that Okinawa goods were mostly shop after shop of tourist stuff or street food.
So when Bonnie and I returned to shop in the afternoon (our hubbies stayed on the ship.
Cowards.) we took a leisurely couple hours shopping in the 8-level department store and had
some fun finding gifts.




A bit of an aside: we’ve mentioned that the women’s toilet seats are heated. It’s time you
learned that each seat has a Star Trek command center. Well, almost. There are usually
buttons to push and controls to guide once you choose your “stall.” The Japanese are
embarrassed by bodily sounds, so one of the buttons is to turn on elevator music. Of sorts.
Other buttons are to dispense sanitizer so you can clean the seat before use. Finding the larger
button to flush is easy as there are always signs pointing to it. In English. Other buttons remain
a mystery and no way am I going to experiment!!!

Another photo I’ll include is the fire safety (and for typhoons and earthquakes?) equipment I
found as I wandered toward the ladies’ room.

After shopping and as we waited for the shuttle bus to return to downtown, Bonnie and I
embarked on a tea shop adventure. As with many department stores in the past in the US, this
one had a couple lovely little tea shops for relaxing. We wandered in, hoping to blend in and
understand how to order, how to pay, etc. I made the first faux pas by putting my purse on the
floor at my feet. The waitress literally swept over with a magazine-rack-by-the-recliner-type of
box and showed me that I should put my purse inside of it rather than on the floor. There was a
nice little canvas swing inside for my purse to enjoy. The menu had photos (Thanks be to God)
so we could point. We didn’t order the whole nine yards for the tea service: three small rolls
and jams with the tea set—these full sets were delivered in individual Easter baskets to each
woman at the table. Rather, we ordered carte blanche and the waitress was helpful and
welcoming. See the photo. I had an apple cinnamon chai latte that had three large spoonsful
of cooked apple cubes at the bottom. Not sure I was supposed to eat them but they were
yummy.


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