Starting 2022 with a trip to Okinawa — Chapter 2: OIST, Orion Beer & Pineapple
Continuing from my previous blog, we are now on day-2 of our Okinawa trip, and what best way to start it than having an Okinawan breakfast in our hotel (Moon Beach Hotel). The pancakes were just out of the world! Good thing — we have five more days of breakfast left!
Refueling ourselves, we picked our rental car at 15 minutes' walk from the hotel and headed to our first destination — Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). Some people have a certain “to-do” for every time they travel, like for one of my friends it is the city's post offices. For me, it has always been universities (why it started in another blog). OIST was breathtaking — located on top of a hill, it had a great ocean view and amazing greenery. Moreover, the residences were newly constructed in a modern way. Much recommended scenic spot you will not find on Google or other travel blogs.
The next destination, Cape Manzamo was a mere 10 minutes ride from OIST. This spot is known for an elephant-shaped rock overseeing the pacific ocean. It's a cool place to take some snaps and chill at the cafe with coffee and Okinawan Donuts (really delicious!)
After chilling at Cape Manzamo, it was time to go to the destination I was really looking forward to — Orion Happy Park. I read on their website that they do a 60 minutes tour of their beer factory, followed by a beer tasting session, and all this for free. On reaching, we were disappointed as the facility required telephone reservation for the guided tour, due to the covid situation. Also, we did not have any backup plan to use this time…
As we started driving towards our lunch place with not-so-empty stomachs, we found a big board reading "Nago Pineapple Park". We turned our car spontaneously into the parking, with not much hope. Skeptical of paying a 1000 yen entry ticket, we half-heartedly paid and boarded on the "Pineapple Bus".
We regretted the first 10-15 minutes but it became better as the tour continued. We loved the pineapple desserts and wine section and wanted to try the pineapple pizza but had some other lunch plans. Recommend this place if you are a pineapple fan!
As we got hungry now, we headed to our lunch place — Sunny Tacos. With 4.7 stars and more than 100 reviews on Google, no need to mention that this place was just amazing! It had vegan options as well as an English menu, clearly mentioning all ingredients used. 100% recommended if you are in Onna town of Okinawa!
As it was approaching sunset, we started looking for the best sunset places on Google and Cape Manzamo, the place we started with came right on the top. It was ideal because it was in the direction of our hotel. The sunset scene was really pretty and a perfect end to the road trip.
We ended our day perfectly with Orion Beer, Sea-weed Soba, and live Okinawan music!
Rest of the trip coming in the next blogs! Oh, by the way, work from Okinawa starts tomorrow!