Welcome to Nago!: August 2016

Monday, August 8, 2016

Fukugi Trees and 1.5 Gakuya Ocean

Fukugi trees, the protectors in the shadow of Nago. Fukugi trees aren’t really known even by the people that were born and raised in Nago. We can find a few in the city but this little number of Fukugi trees play a very essential role in Nago's environment. They are really easy to recognize because of their height. 11 meters tall is their average. They are rare and a beautiful green and are very big like the Baobab that we can find in Africa.

The fukugi trees of Nago are located in Yabu, in a very calm and peaceful place. And the reason why they are called essential is because they protect Nago’s population from typhoons. Those trees prevent and decrease a part of the strong wind coming from typhoons. And that is why we want them to be known not only by Nago’s people but also by all visitors including foreigners coming to Nago. That might be very helpful for people to know about what makes this very beautiful environment of Nago.

If you had only one day to live, where would you eat your last meal? For special events and also daily meals, I strongly recommend 1.5 Gakuya Ocean. This restaurant is located in the Yabu area, Nago. They serve two meals and many kinds of smoothies at lunch time.

They use mainly fresh ingredients so that anyone could eat and benefit from their delicious and healthy foods. The lunch menu is composed of only two meals: Taco Rice and Coconut Mild Curry. Their prices are around 900 yen. When we visited there, we had the chance to eat the Taco Rice. That was a little bit spicy but nutritious and very delicious.

They have, at 1.5 Gakuya Ocean, many smoothies made mostly with fresh bananas. For example, the Banana & Ginger Smoothie, Peanut Butter & Banana, and also the seasonal smoothie. Everything is delicious there. The prices of these latter are about 800 yen. We invite everybody to try these delicious smoothies. By the way, our favorite one is the Peanut Butter & Banana smoothie.

During the night, this café totally change into a Japanese pub and has its special evening menu. There are many varieties of foods. For example, Shrimp, salad, French fries, or Fried chicken. They also have three kinds of party plans for those who want to celebrate special events.

All these facts make the café crowded every night.

So, as we said, 1.5 Gakuya Ocean is a unique restaurant in Nago with very delicious food that we want everybody to try even just once in their lives. For the location of the restaurant, click here or visit the page below:

https://www.google.fr/maps/place/1.5gakuya+ocean/@26.6018225,127.9513025,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x34e4ff1697ad2745:0xa3957f6724179ddf!8m2!3d26.6019559!4d127.951148

Kaiholo Cafe

What would you imagine when you think of hot summer days, the ocean and a long car ride? Do you want to take a little break and go to a cafe? We want to introduce you to a nice and lovely cafe in Onna village. Onna village is the middle of Okinawa. National route 58 is running near the cafe. It is near by the crossing of national route58 and 88. The cafe is located at the opposite side of the sea. It takes 40 minutes from Meio University. It is a small cafe, so please be careful not to miss it. There is a parking in front of the cafe so we recommend you to use a car.

When you open the door, dogs will come towards you to welcome with their cute Aloha costume. They like to be petted and are really well-behaved. The interior of the cafe is Hawaiian style so it makes you feel like you are in Hawaii and you can also get the Hawaiian and Okinawan goods as souvenirs. A lot of foreign customers enjoy their meals on a sofa or a bench. You can also enjoy your meals at the terrace looking at the Okinawan beach.

The menu here has many dishes which you can eat for less than 1,000 yen. In addition, it is recommended for people who want cheap food but eat a lot because for less than 1,000 yen, there is much quantity. We ate pancakes and an omelette there because the pancakes had very much quantity and there are many kinds including fruits, ice cream and cheese. We enjoyed them and were able to eat them all.

Since the cafe is in Onna village by the street, there are not a lot of stores, but it is a good place to take a little break from a car ride. They are open from 7 to 4. You can enjoy their food with the beautiful sunrise and sunset. There are not a lot of seats so you might want to make a reservation. It is a nice place to start off your day at Kaiholo Cafe.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Tanpopo Curry

Do you want to challenge yourself to eat spicy food? We will introduce “Tanpopo Curry.”

Tanpopo Curry's atmosphere

The restaurant’s atmosphere was very good.

The restaurant was built of bricks and decorated with some leaves. The clerks were nice. They were quite energetic. It was the system of the restaurant that we were most surprised about. It was not only curry and rice. If you want to go to a cafe or bar, how about this restaurant? The clerks will provide a cake and a cup of coffee or some alcohol and food for you.

About the menu

There are many choices on the menu. We can choose level 2 to 5 for the spice. So, if you can't eat spicy food, you can eat no spicy curry there. We ate Cutlet curry that is level 2 spice. It's mild and very delicious. The price of dishes is between 750 and 1050 yen.

☆Main menu (8 varieties of curry) …chicken curry, cutlet curry, vegetable curry, mushroom curry, beef curry, seafood curry, hamburger steak curry, rice curry

☆Level of spice…soft (sweet), mild (usual taste), hot level 1 (good spicy), hot level 2 (You will feel a little spice), hot level 3 (tabasco's taste), hot level 4 (You will think it is very hot as you sweat.), hot level 5 (Your tears will fall.)

The reason why we recommend "Tanpopo curry"

These are chicken curry and cutlet curry.

We recommend that you come to Tanpopo curry because we can choose the level of spice. We chose Level 2 and Level 4. As we mentioned before, level 2 is mild. And, if you like more sweet things, you can choose a sweet taste. Level 4 was so hot that I sweat on my back. So, if you want to try to eat spicy food, you should choose the high level of the spice. So, we recommend that you come to this restaurant.

How do we go to "Tanpopo curry"?

Tanpopo Curry is located in Nago city. You start from Nago city hall. Walk to Nishimatsu-ya. (It is a clothes shop for babies.) You turn right at the second corner. Walk a few minutes, you can get to Tanpopo curry on your left. It is closed every Tuesday.

Adress
〒905-0015
Okinawa, Nago City, Ominami, 1-11-7

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Higashi Village Kesazi Nature Park

Higashi village Kesazi Nature Park

Have you ever wanted to feel the power of nature? Then, we recommend a visit to Higashi village. We went to Higashi village. It is a very good place! So, we will introduce Higashi village in detail.

1. How to access it.

Higashi village is located to the east in Nago city. You go on a mountain road! But, the view on the way to Higashi village is good. On a sunny day, you can watch the sea! It is very clear and beautiful! You should go with each transportation. So, we recommend you to enjoy the way to Higashi village!

2,. About Higashi village!

Anyways, you should enjoy nature. Higashi village has good nature like some mountains, sea or mangroves! And there are many creatures there like birds, crabs, or insects! But every creature is perfectly safe. For example, sometimes there are many bees! You shouldn't go there with black clothes because bees tend to attack when they see something black. The air or landscape in Higashi village is good. You can relax and freshen up! The most interesting thing is playing! You can ride a kayak! But, sorry... the fare of the kayaks is a little expensive. If you have a lot of money, you can try to ride. Probably you will enjoy it!

3. About food

Unfortunately, there are not many restaurants or eating places in Higashi village. But we will introduce one. The name of the restaurant is ''Canon Slow Farm." The atmosphere in the restaurant is pretty good! All of the cuisine the owner provides is her own food. So, it is very tasty! We recommend you to go there. If you don't pay to eat, you had better bring some food. We recommend it.

4. Some Comments

Anyway, you should enjoy nature! If you are tired because of hard working, you should go to Higashi Village Kesazi Nature Park! Probably you can feel nature and nature gives you a good condition. Have a good time!

Heart Rock

HEART ROCK

Where is the place that is the hottest in the northern part of Okinawa? There is much nature in the northern part, and the sea is clear, too. The place that we want to introduce you to this time is the “Heart Rock” of Kouri Island. I see “an island of love” and an island when we cross the Kouri bridge of Nakijin-son.

There is a legend of the Okinawan version of Adam and Eve on the island. We arrive at the Tiinu beach when we make a round trip of one lap of the main road. There is a heart-shaped big rock, a Heart Rock, there.

There are three reasons why we want you to introduce the Heart Rock to all. The first is that Kouri Island has it. Some famous singers photographed a promotion video in an island. The sea of the island is very beautiful. The second is that we can enjoy it with a friend and a lover. This is because we can confirm love in not only lovers but also friends. The third is it is close to Nago. Because it is near, even a foreign student can go by bicycle from Nago. Even a foreign student can experience a love spot of Okinawa.

How to get to Heart Rock from Meio University?

We can get to there by car, bicycle and so on. It takes 19km from Meio University to Heart Rock. If we use a car, transit time is about 32 minutes. There is a pay parking lot. The charge is 300 yen for one hour, 500 yen for one day.

How was the feeling?

There are a lot of sightseeing people. In fact, heart rock is very beautiful. If you can see a reverse heart, you are very fortunately because you can see it only when the tide goes out.

There are many places where we can see beautiful views and experience interesting activities in Okinawa. However, if you want to feel a romantic experience, please go there.

by Nanase, Honoka, and Aya

Jambaru Taco

Our group went to the restaurant called "Jambaru Taco" in Agarie, Nago. It took about 13 minutes from Meio University by car. Head south on route 58 from Meio and turn left at the signal by the fishing port on the right side. Right after the left turn, make another right turn at the next signal. There are only 2 parking areas so you might want to park at the pharmacy called "Drug Store Mori" which is located right next to the Jambaru Taco.

The restaurant looks pretty sketchy from the outside, but once you step inside, it's a pretty fancy and relaxing place, even in the bathroom.

They have a variety of foods besides tacos such as whole roast chicken and they serve pretty quick. They also have an English menu so if you have a hard time reading Japanese, don't worry about it! You can eat there or get it to go. The food is so good that there are coupons in the magazines at JAL airplane so make sure to check the magazines when you use JAL.

We believe ￥800 - ￥1200 would be quite enough to make you full. We got 2 pieces of chicken tacos, C plate, and a quarter roast chicken and they were all great! We could say Jambaru Taco is the best taco place in Nago! If you travel around Nago and get hungry, you definitely should go there!

UFUYA

"Since I've come all this way, I want to feel Okinawa!"

If you were a traveler, you would think that. As you know, Okinawa is famous for its beautiful nature. But that isn't all of Okinawa. Okinawa has an original culture. You can eat food and see buildings. We would like you to know about all of Okinawa. We will introduce about UFUYA. This is the best place to feel Okinawa. UFUYA is an Okinawan restaurant. Moreover, you can see old Okinawa life. You can find UFUYA on the way to NAKIJIN town from MEIO University by car. Go straight in front of Meio's slope and turn right, so you can see the signboard. Follow the road, and you'll find UFUYA. When you emerge from the mountain road, you can see UFUYA's building.

The main lunch menu here is "Okinawa soba." There are three types of meat,

SANMAI-pork, SOKI-pork, AGU-pork.

There is also pork culet and ginger baked bowl of AGU-pork.

Listening to the sound of the SANSHIN while watching the waterfall will feel like a special place. There are four desserts, UFUYA-ball,
PARIPARI-pudding,
WASANBON roll cake,
brown sugar roll cake.

There is a "BAUMKUCHEN" which is only in UFUYA. This looks like a sponge cake. This cake was made of "WA-SAN-BON". WA-SAN-BON is the high quality sugar in Okinawa. The sugar is ten times the price of others.

Not only do they have foods but they also sell some goods like Okinawan ornaments (SEE-SA) and beautiful glass (RYUKYU-GARAS). You can buy Okinawan traditional goods here. The space is a small, but has many products. And, if you're tired, you can take a break outside. Inside, there are some chairs for eating, or sitting or whatever you want.

UFUYA is the place which has a lot of bright flowers and fruit every season. A walk in the garden is very comfortable. So if you come on a sunny day, you can take beautiful pictures. Meanwhile, at the place, you can try on clothes of Ryukyu and can have your photo taken. You can not only enjoy dinner or lunch, but also take a ceremonial photograph. Preparations for the photo take time, but you can feel the culture of Okinawa.

How do you feel? Excited by your curiosity? UFUYA is the best place to feel Okinawan culture. UFUYA is open from 11a.m. to 5p.m. at lunch time and from 6p.m. to 10p. m. at dinner time. You can enjoy SHABU-SHABU and the lit-up view at night. Please drop in by all means!

・Address :〒905-0004

90 Nakayama Nago city Okinawa（沖縄県名護市中山90）

・Tel:0980-53-0280

Panchori-na

Let’s go to Panchori-na!!

Do you like bread? Do you know a fantastic bakery in Nago? Today, we would like to recommend a special bakery. That is “Panchori-na”!! This bakery is in Onaka, in Nago. This bakery is famous in Nago, and many people come there to eat delicious bread. The inside of the store is small. We can’t eat inside. But, many people come to the store because they feel fascinated by the store and this bread.

Why is the store so popular??

First, the bread's names are so interesting, like “Shishimaru” or “Horun.” The name is in Japanese. If we eat the bread, we couldn’t forget these names. Second, the bread’s name plates are written in handwriting. This design is fancy and interesting. It is written with colorful painting. The plate will take a visitor’s eyes. Third, the bread is so delicious! Fresh vegetables and local food are in the breads. These are not cheap. They are about 150yen to 250yen. But it drives up the price of bread. If foreigners come to the bakery, they will be able to enjoy eating bread with their friends!! The bakery’s breads make us happy and warm. Do you want to be happy?? Do you want to enjoy a picnic or party?? OK! We recommend “Panchori-na” for everybody.

★Popular ranking (6/1/2016)

1^st Curry Flunky

2^nd Cheese Italian

3^rd Shishimaru

Let’s go to “Panchori-na”!!

☆How we can go??☆

We can go there by car.

It is near the Hokubu hospital.

First, go down the slope from Meio University.

Turn left at the traffic light, turn right at the next traffic light.

Go straight down the road. And tune right at the T junction.

Last turn right at the traffic light and we can see Panchori-na on the right side.

Address: 3-1-17, Onaka, Nago, Okinawa

by Akari, Yoshino, Madoka, Kaede, Tatsuki, and Daiki

Yanbaru Kitchen

Do you like Japanese food? We don't recommend. We recommend Okinawan food. We would like to introduce you to Yanbaru Kitchen, which is in Nago city. You can eat many kinds of Okinawan food there. It is reasonable, fast and delicious.

Menu

From now, 5 members of the group went to eat, so we will show you 5 major Okinawan foods we ate.

Taco Rice (600\)

Minced meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato are on rice. It had a great taste, and there was enough to eat. There was much cheese in it. I was satisfied.

Goya Chanpuru (600\)

Goya is a famous Okinawan food. I ate Goya Chanpuru, but it was a little bitter for me. I want to recommend it to a person who likes bitter food.

Tebichi (600\)

Tebichi is boiled pig’s trotters. There were many bones in Tebichi, but it was so tender and delicious. The vegetables boiled with Tebichi were good, too.

A Rafute Bowl (650\)

I ate a Rafute bowl. Rafute is one of the traditional Okinawan foods. It is very tender pork. There is a soft-boiled egg and green onions. It is yummy.

Sokisoba (550\)

Sokisoba is a famous Okinawan food. This noodle is thick, and tastes mild. Sokisoba is a salty and sweet soup. I recommend it to everyone.

Questions & Answers

What kinds of services are there? → Water and hot tea are free.

Is there a washroom? → There is a washroom for men and for women.

Is there anything to read? → There are some comic books. (“Hajime No Ippo” and so on.)

How long do you wait for the dish. → Usually it comes quickly.

How do you order and pay? → First you have to order by machine. Then, you bring the ticket you got from the machine to the staff.

Are there enough seats? → Usually there are enough seats.

Are there places to park a car? → Yes, there are.

I can’t use Japanese. → Staff members will take care of you.

How is the atmosphere? → Easy to be comfortable.

Time

It is open from 10:00～21:00

Place

It’s near the Nago Bus Terminal. Here is a map.

How to go there from Meio University

Go down to LAWSON (convenience store). Turn left at the first traffic lights. Go straight until the fourth traffic light. You will see LAWSON on your left. Turn right on route 58. Follow the road,and you'll find Yanbaru Kitchen on your left.

Contact

0980-52-7910

Every citizen of Nago knows it. YOU MUST GO!

Annettaichaya

Anettaichaya

(Subtropics cafe shop)

We live in an awesome place in Yanbaru. We’d like to introduce a nice cafe to you. This cafe is Anettaicahaya. At the cafe, you can eat original Okinawan food and drink fruit juice while laying on a hammock.