Hi again Parents!
Here is the second instalment of my blog on our recent trip to HK & Okinawa
*Super lengthy post ahead*
Tuesday, 12 December 2023
We were off to visit one of the most hip spots in town- Mihama American Village
It is a huge shopping street which is home to many shops that carry Japanese home brands. Not only that, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes that you would be spoilt for choices.
As we visited the place during festive season, there were many Christmas decorations along the alleys and streets which make it a perfect spot to take plenty of photos.
And of course, we had to get the boys' photos taken as a momento.
Passed by a dessert shop called Hug3Do by Blue Seal and we got their best selling cookie sandwich ice cream
It's really sweet. So if you are not a big fan of sweet stuff, this might not be for you.
Took a picture with Callum at some random street.
Right after that, we made a move and headed to Mega Don Quijote (Don Donki) to do some window shopping
Then headed for our Japanese dinner (sorry, I can't remember the name of the restaurant - too many things going on)
Added a parfait to the order to cool myself down after a long day (OH! Now that I thought about it again, it's 2 servings of ice creams in a day!)
The two overtired and overstimulated adults who desperately needed rest
One of Callum's main obsessions in Japan is the vending machines. He loved inserting coins into the vending machines and waiting for the drinks to be dispensed from the machine! Actually, we did too!
Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Left the hotel after our usual routine of washing, cooking and basically 90% of the time getting the boys ready for our next outing.
Loved how windy yet sunny the weather was!
Brought the boys for a short walk at Cape Manzamo where they got the full view of the ocean and the sea breeze which Callum loved so much!
Drove about 1 hr to Kokusaidori street in Naha. It is like the Orchard Road in Sgp as it's always bustling with crowds. You can see many restaurants, shops, hotels and convenience stores.
We also got Isaac’s diapers here ( in Family Mart)
We love that vending machines are everywhere!
Then we dropped by a McDonald's for lunch and to feed the boys our hotelcooked lunch as well!
Look at the mini pancakes! Reminded me of the ones that I made at home.
Visited the 100 yen store and these were our haul for the day!
We also visited Lego store to have a look and to let the kids have some activities, rather than just sitting in the stroller, looking around. They got bored pretty fast, I would say.
Kinda regretted our decision as they refused to leave the store even after spending almost 30 mins in the store.
And just next door, I saw there were Gachapons (Capsule toys vending machines). Not one, not two, but at least 50 machines!
He wanted to choose the bonsai tree machine and hoping to get different types of Bonsai Tree. In the end, 3 attempts = 3 exactly the same Bonsai trees 🥲
We did not do much activities actually but it was exhausting enough for the boys so we headed back to the hotel to have an early rest.
Night night! 😴
Thursday ,14 December 2023
It was a sunny and beautiful morning so Callum told me that he wanted to see the ocean and the crashing waves again.
Here we were!
They literally could just sit there all day.
Anyway, not long after, we set off for brunch at a Hawaiian Pancakes House Paanilani.
Pretty decent pancakes served and it's really filling. There were 2 pieces of huge pancakes served per plate. We ordered the original pancakes with berry compote and the chocolate chip pancakes.
After brunch, we headed to 🍍Nago Pineapple Park in the morning (opening hour 10am-6pm). Free admission for 3 yo and below. Ticket price for adults is 1200 jpy per person.
It's a pretty cool place. After we parked our car in the open car park, we were directed to the tram which brought us around the outer part of the park where the pineapple plantations are.
There is a huge pineapple in the middle of the plantation. Cool stuff!
Callum was posing right in front of the entrance.
Once we entered the park, we were directed to the automated cart which would bring us to the indoor plantation.
It was a short 10 mins ride but a fun one! We enjoyed every single minute on the ride.
We even had our photos taken during the ride!
And before the ride
Right after the ride, we grabbed some ice cream, we tried the best selling Sea Salt Pineapple (yums!)
The boys had fun taking photos with the Pineapple statues
Can't believe they were loving the pineapple statues so much!
After the visit at the Pineapple Park, we headed to the nearest supermarket for a walk. We did not buy anything much as we were travelling back to HK the next day.
Love how the cute trolleys were available to cater to the young ones!
And before the day ended, we went to the arcade , let the kids play some rides and took a photobox!❤️
Simply a memorable day. Core memories for the kids. And us :)
Friday, 15 December 2023
Flew back to HK and the queue at Naha Airport was crazily long (Did not take photos of anything in the airport except for these 2 because Callum insisted for his photos to be taken)
Can you guys see him? hehe
The thing about Naha Airport is that there is no priority lane for passengers travelling with children so we had to queue up with other passengers. So, if you are planning to fly in and out of Okinawa, it's best to take into account some buffer time so that you won't miss your flight or be in a rush.
When we arrived in HK, we were all pretty much exhausted so we decided to just stay in and chill in the hotel. We stayed at Discovery Bay again for a couple of reasons :
1. It is close to the airport ( our flight back to SG was as early as 9 am)
2. We loved the location and how chill the atmosphere is
The boys were definitely enjoying the time spent with each other.
Since we had enough time to make dinner for the boys, we bought some simple ingredients from the supermarket and made Tofu fishball soup with rice for the boys' dinner.
Saturday, 16 December 2023
Spent some quality time with Callum while my husband took care of Isaac most of the time.
We had a walk along the bay. It was such a meaningful time for me because back home, Callum would spend most of the time on weekdays in school and this was definitely a good time to reconnect and to fill up his love tank. Most importantly, to let him know that he is still so loved by us.
Sunday, 17 December 2023
Back home.
It was tiring but a memorable holiday where all of us reconnected as a family and tho, sometimes things did not go as planned, we reminded ourselves to go with the flow and try to slow down. After all, it was vacation and we should all give ourselves a break.
Thank you for reading this far and Happy New Year!
Loves,
Jane❤️
