Tom On day 6 of our travels in Okinawa, we were headed to Naha City to return our car back at Orix. As Orix car rental is located next to the Okinawa Outlet Mall, we were hoping to visit it before we took the train back to the city…
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We woke up at 6am and had the instant drip coffee in our room at Hotel Sunset Zanpa. Have you tried it before? We think that it’s really cool. You just have to pour hotel water over the filter and voila, you’ll have your drip coffee!
One of the first order of the day, was to pump petrol. We tried Eneros (local name for Esso) first but no pumps were available. Hence, we pumped at JA petrol station (2242 yen). Enroute, there was a jam at Itoman city. This delay caused us to be about 15 minutes later than the return timing of 9am. Thankfully, we were not charged extra for the late return. Along the way, we also saw this…
Retro-looking A&W outlet in Okinawa! The poster still has the look and feel of yesteryear! Made us want to visit this outlet during the rest of the trip. Since 1969!
Shopping at Okinawa Outlet Mall Ashibinaa
After returning our car at Orix car rental, we were directed to the bus shuttle counter to bring us back to the Naha Airport. Here, we asked the lady if we could stop by the Okinawa Outlet Mall before taking the shuttle. She said it was fine and we just had to look for her at the counter when we returned. Cool! Shopping time…
Nearby, there was train station supermarket which sells souvenirs and food! They also accept credit cards as well! Here, we bought our breakfast of spam/egg/seaweed sandwich, rice ball and Georgia coffee for 550 yen. Apparently, the spam sandwich (also known as Spam Onigirazu) is particularly popular in Okinawa – probably due to the American influence. A great perk-me-up in preparation for the shopping expedition.
The Okinawa Outlet Mall opens at 10am and the selection of shops is typical of an outlet mall – ranging from high end shops like Boss, Coach, Armani to price friendly ones such as Gap, Banana Republic and Adidas. This time, we visited Gap for some clothes (1945 yen), Fossil for a wallet (3080 yen) before chilling at Cafe de Crie for some Mont Blanc Tart (418 yen)…
We also did some random shopping at Can Do (770 yen) and bought an umbrella plus some sweets (1200 yen) before deciding our next stop. As it turns out, there are actually buses that take you from Okinawa Outlet Mall to Naha City. However, as the price was more than 3 times what we would pay if we take the shuttle bus to Naha Airport, we decided to take the slightly longer route. We walked back to Orix and boarded the shuttle bus and from there, took a monorail back to Naha City (towards Akamine – 300 yen per person).
We alighted at Miebashi Station at 2pm but was not able to check in at Hotel Aqua Citta Naha as yet. We were politely declined by the receptionist, who also spoke in Mandarin to apologise for the wait. Hence, we checked out the ferry terminal close by and had lunch at Lawson (fried stuff with Shikuwasa drink for 800 yen).
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Okinawa
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Checking in to Hotel Aqua Citta Naha by WBF
At 3pm, we checked in to our room at level 9 of Hotel Aqua Citta Naha and Kate had a surprise for Tom…
Turns out that Kate booked the Club Lounge Rooms at Hotel Aqua Citta Naha! Although there weren’t snacks provided, the lounge had free flow of beer, wines, drinks and regional awamori THROUGHOUT THE DAY! :O
Awamori is a distilled alcoholic drink made from long grain indica rice, that is only found in Okinawa. As the lounge is just a short walk from our room, we made full use of the lounge where we chilled, and pre and post dinner drinks, testing (a little bit of) all the awamori on display! Tom was so thrilled that Kate even “caught” a photo of him scrapping from the bottom of the barrels – just like how Winnie the Pooh would! 😛
We also checked out the infinity pool at the rooftop of Hotel Aqua Citta Naha. From here, you’ll be able to see the hustle and bustle of the city as the cars pass by. Do note that the infinity pool is also a “fish tank” pool where others can see you swimming from the streets below as well! Yikes!
The Club Lounge Room of Hotel Aqua Citta Naha had the typical frills of bath tub, TV and coffee/tea facilities. Loved the comfy bed as well as the short walk to the lounge!
Here’s a short video clip of our stay at the Club Lounge Room of Hotel Aqua Citta Naha
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Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Okinawa
Book Here with Klook: Okinawa Hotels
To round up the evening, we had lok lok (boiled items) from Family Mart (including a huge tofu, pork ribs and pork trotters) which came up to 800 yen. Thereafter, we chilled by the lounge with awamori drinks and snacks we bought. Stay tuned as we visit Taste of Okinawa as we do marketing like locals and whip up some authentic Okinawan cuisine!
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Okinawa Travel Itinerary Day 6: Okinawa Outlet Mall and Free Flow Awamori at Hotel Aqua Citta Naha!
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