Kokusai Street and Cafe Do Ka Do Ka

We had a wonderful weekend of exploring! I cannot believe it is already Monday. We started out Saturday morning with a trip to our favorite 100 Yen ($1) store. We have a SERIOUS obsession. The dollar stores in America do not even compare. I can't wait to go back and get more stuff once we are settled in and see what we need.

My loot

We then headed south and picked up our friend before heading to Kokusai Street in Naha, the capitol city. 

We parked at the craziest parking garage I have ever seen. You pull your car into an elevator type thing and they send it up until you are ready to come get it. 

We decided to eat at one of the cool looking Okinawan Cafes. It had the coolest atmosphere and the food did not disappoint. I think it was one of my favorite meals since we arrived!

After lunch we got ice cream at the chain ice cream shop here in Okinawa. I wanted to try the popular purple ice cream. I found out that it is Ube ice cream. Ube is a purple sweet potato they grow here on the island. It was surprisingly really good! 

Ube

We then walked down Kokusai Street. It is such an awesome place. It is a street lined with interesting and crazy stores. You can find really weird things, souvenirs, clothes, and tons of food. We saw lots of restaurants we wanted to try. There are also tons of stores and stands with fruits and vegetables, fish, bakery goods, and flowers. I wanted to try so many things but was way too full from lunch. I can't wait to get groceries, especially fresh fish and produce, at the local markets. 

The large covered area of Kokusai Street

An Okinawan Liquor with a poisonous Habu snake

Sweet Bread in lots of Flavors

Jake eating a pumpkin sweet bread

Fresh Fish

After we went all the way down the street and back, we were very hot and tired. We drove our friend home and then headed to see Lexie. We also went to the exchange to buy a fan for when we move into our house. I am pretty sure it's a necessity. It is almost October and I am still sweating every time I walk out of the door. I think the high was 90 this weekend. I guess I won't complain when it's 60 degrees in the middle of winter. After, we wanted to go watch the sunset, but it was very cloudy and looked like it was about to rain, so we just headed home. We had been eating out way too much, so we decided it was ANOTHER PB&J night. I feel like a 5 year old. I can't wait to have a kitchen so I can start cooking again. 

Sunday morning I dragged Jake out of bed to take me to a Cafe up north I had heard about. We drove for awhile and got lost for about 45 minutes (oops, sorry Jake). Fortunately, when you get lost here, you always happen upon some beautiful views. And let's just say, this cafe was so worth getting lost for. It was not only a cafe with a breathtaking view, but also a pottery gallery. We had so much fun sitting on the deck looking out at the beautiful water and then perusing the intricate dishes and vases. 

In Japan, you take off your shoes when you enter homes and restuarants. They gave us slippers to wear

How cute is this??

My tofu cake

Jake's cinnamon toast

Beautiful pottery

Directions to Cafe Do Ka Do Ka: Take highway 58 north to Onna. At the intersection of 58, 73, and the 58 bypass, take the 58 bypass to the right. Right after you turn, take the road immediately to your left. There will be three brown signs pointing up the hill. It is a small entrance, so you may miss it. Drive up the road and the cafe will be on your left. 

It was seriously a perfect morning. I could have sat there all day. Once we left, we headed east towards our house. We took a road along the beach and found a spot to stop. The great thing about this island, you can just wander around and find beautiful spots. We found a cute little beach with tons of sea shells!

We were dripping with sweat after our beach walk, so we stopped by our house before heading back to the hotel. It is all ready for us to move in! On our way back home, we also stopped at KFC. You may think this is weird, but we were really curious. Mcdonalds, A&W, KFC, and Starbucks are all really popular here. We wanted to see what it was like compared to the states. The menu was a bit different, but the food was good! 

We had a great time exploring this weekend and can't wait for this crazy week. We will be moving into our house, getting another car, and finally getting settled in. I can't wait to share all of the exciting things taking place!

Also, I am hosting a Target giftcard giveaway with one of my blogger friends, Maegen. Go hop on over to her blog to enter!

Target giftcard giveaway HERE