Princess Cruise; Japan, Naze & Chicken Rice

Day 6 - 24 August 2018


Breakfast at Horizon Court -

Considering the bad experience of breakfast the day before at Regency Dining Room, it was a safer bet to eat at Horizon Court.  

Let me show you a picture of my food. I will always prefer this to what we had. 

The eggs look decent and definitely more moist. Still, it is not the best tasting scrambled eggs. Nice gyoza too. The only thing is - the horrible coffee..

Naze - 

I do not know where our cruise ship docked. We came out to a tentage and everyone queued to take the shuttle bus to the main area. Otherwise, there is really nothing much around. Each passenger had to pay 200 yen and we placed our coins in the container as we walked up one by one. 

It was a windy wait.

We arrived at the entrance of a tourist-information place. Following the guidance of a fluent Mandarin-speaking Japanese, we walked to the area where we could walk and see see. There's a choice of going to the beach as well, which we were not at all prepared for. 

We shopped at the supermarket called Green Store along a short shopping lane. Lovely cooked food and tempuras available here! There's some other nice shops along that lane and it's where I bought a cute flowery dress and a maroon long sleeved shirt from a shop named bis. 

Lunch at Syokudo &Teishoku Restaurant 鳥と卵の専門店 鳥玉 泉崎店 - 

Thankfully, it was a short wait as it is a popular restaurant to accomodate to the cruisers. We came earlier than the rest! It is said to be a famous chicken rice store. Anything like the chicken rice in Singapore? Nothing like that at all. 

We ordered our food after we were seated. The drinks and the sides came relatively quick. The skewers are quite delicious, the kind you would expect with the sweet terayaki sauce.

We ordered fried goya as well. Although the main character seems to be the tofu, I really love this one! The bittermelon is more bitter than in Okinawa, and yet I think it is nicer this way. They really should top up more bittermelon to pair with the soft silky tofu. This would really go well with Japanese white rice.

The chicken rice took quite a while to be served. It was at least a 30 minutes wait and we were quite worried if we would be able to go back in time. The plates of ingredients were served first. Honestly, we were quite shocked that the chicken is just the shredded chicken! The pot of chicken soup was served after. It was served the same time as the table beside us, even though we ordered way earlier.  I supposed they were trying to prepare the next batch of broth and we just happened to have to wait for it.

The pot of soup was looking so good that we all had to have a taste of its original flavour first. We can definitely taste the rich chicken essence in the pot of goodness. A pot of rice was also provided and we were to place the rice and some ingredients in the bowl first, and then ladle the soup over. Wow, this is really pure comfort food which warms up the stomach. The rice absorbs the soup and sort of lessens the saltiness. It is better that way. What an awesome lunch!

We ordered some "real" chicken later on too lol.


Watching the Sunset -

Once again, like 3 years back, I "escaped" from my sleeping bf and roamed the ship myself. I stood there watching the sun go down before I went back.

The movie screen at the outside is quite small, and there is no good position where you can watch the movie under the stars directly in front the screen. I think we were better off watching movies in the comfort of our room.

Dinner at Marquis Dining Room -

Since we did not have a designated table due to every day being a stopover day, we decided to try eating at the Marquis dining room. The layout and size seem exactly the same.

The day's dinner was satisfying! The squid appetitizer has squids that are nicely marinated and tender. I could go for another serving. Marinated lychee and watermelon? Taste the same but slightly sweeter and nice. We did not like the swiss beef as it was more like cold cut.

My choice of main course was absolutely superb! The tilapia is so succulent and savoury. The Beijing BBQ beef is too salty and the rack of pork still had that pungent porky smell.

The best part was dessert when I discovered a really awesome chocolate mousse cake (called the Love Boat Dream) brought out by a funny and cute Thai lady staff.

She asked my bf whether I was the wife or gf. She asked him whether he love me, and then told him to present the cake to him and declare his love for me. I guess he was quite paiseh since it was in front of his family but gosh, it was such a memorable moment to treasure. The photo captured his brother because he had nowhere to hide.

This every-day-on-the-menu dessert turns out to be so delightful and one of the nicest desserts on board.

That night we sat at at the bar and immersed ourselves in the singing of the singer. When it was finally our turn to request for "Collide", the crowd from Princess Theatre came streaming out, walking past, blocking our view and totally disrupting the romantic mood.

Nevertheless, we found a nice toasted tuna sandwich at the International Cafe before we headed to bed.

Princess Cruise; Okinawa

Day 5 - 23 August 2018


Breakfast at Regency -

We thought we could have some nice finer-dining western breakfast, but the disappointment was great. Just take a look at the pictures below and you can get an idea of what I mean. That egg which looks like a "Tutu kuey" is actually what they call poached egg?! That is basically eating a hard-boiled egg that is flattened.

The congee did not look appetizing as well and was only mildly warm. The taste is so so only with the ingredients all served cold. I feel that at least the braised peanut could be warmed up before serving.

Still feeling unsatisfied,  I ordered scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. What came out were some really dry eggs and fries that were not hot. Really, this is the standard of food at the dining room? The presentation of the food was bad as well.

At least the coffee there was considered good. The Horizon Court serves really horrible and diluted coffee which taste nothing like coffee. 

We would only reach Okinawa around noon and so we just walked around to pass time. We went to Horizon Court to check out the food, and I took away a box of cornflakes to munch while looking forward to lunch in Okinawa. Breakfast was a major disappointment. 

Naha Cruise Terminal -

We made our way down the ship with all the necessary stuff. Our passport copy was printed and provided to us, suddenly appearing at our door. They slipped in the copies under the door. It is quite funny, but I am fine with that anyway. 

We pasted some immigration sticker behind our passport copy and went through the checks. I remembered filling up some form after that as well. It is important not to bring food stuff like fruits, livestock and etc into Japan. I don't remember we had any passport copy when went down to Vietnam on the previous cruise. The room card and an immigration card stamped by the authorities represented our identity.

Naha Kokusai Dori Shopping Street -

Looking at the map, it seems like the shopping street was within walking distance. I believe the walk was around 30 mins but it was still manageable. On our way there, we came across a drug store. The staff was giving away free samples of chocolate and sour plum snacks.

In we went for our (my) shopping spree. Spending above a certain amount, we were able to get back our tax rebates on the spot. My Biore sunscreen lotions was already cheaper in Taiwan, and was half price in Japan compared to SG! Japan's Biore ma. Buy buy buy!

I bought the signature purple sweet potato tart and it is quite good after I refrigerate it. Although the tart is not crispy, you can taste the realness of the sweet potato filling. I even bought a pack of bittergourd tea to try.

I found the type of candy that my mum was asking me to search for. She say it is good for cough/ sore throat. We found a blackcurrent flavoured one and it is so nice! Although it has a bit of the medicated taste, it taste pretty good coupled with blackcurrent. We shall buy 5 packs each if we see it when we visit Japan in Jan!

Lunch at  焼肉と沖縄家庭料理 うるま-

I tried to locate this restaurant on the map for ages! When I found it, google maps does not seem to suggest any name for it. I tried to type the Chinese characters and it finally gets located. lol. It is opposite this shop called Kid House 7.

We all went for the lunch sets of a different combination. Having watched Running Man try the Okinawa Soba, I was excited to know what it tastes like. My set came with the soba, multigrain rice and some sides.

The soba is more like ramen and taste like yellow noodles! It's like eating fishball noodles in a way. In fact, doesn't it look like it! The soup is light and pork bone based, but the noodle taste was integrated into it (like the yellow noodes). I preferred my bowl of rice to the bowl of noodles. The bowl of rice is very tasty, partly like a healthy multigrain rice, and partly like a hearty fried rice.

We also tried Umibudo (sea grapes) - another must-try in Okinawa. It has a saltish taste which really tastes like the sea. As you bite down, you hear the clear crunch sound as the juice "burst" out. It is comparative to eating Ikura (red caviar/fish roe) which is of a similar texture. The umibudo came with some yuzu sauce, and it is really appetizing when paired together.

Another speciality in Okinawa is the Goya Chanpuru. It is basically fried bittermelon, with sliced pork, egg and tofu. Their bittermelon is not the same as our usual Chinese bitter gourd. It is greener, has a crunchier texture and slightly more bitter in a way. But when all the ingredients come together, I must say that they really complement each other. It is really delicious, possibly enhanced further with Japanese seasoning. 

Blue Seal Ice Cream - 

Blue Seal is their special brand of ice cream. There are many different unique flavours like yam, purple sweet potato, sugarcane, milk tea and etc. My choice of the sugarcane flavour tastes nothing like the sugarcane drink we know and is too much on the sweet side. 

They also have soft serve and it comes in purple sweet potato flavour as well. It is surprisingly really good and refreshing.

Some fruit juice please - 

We walked along the street after our dessert and came across Daizo Juice Stand which was just opening. The lady staff just literally crawled in because the door into that box is at the bottom! It was shocking and interesting at the same time. 

I ordered number 3 as I preferred that combination. The ingredients came out from a plastic pack and it seems that all are already pre-packed. Regardless, I got a large cup of healthy tasting drink which not many will appreciate. You can still taste the ginger bits. 3/4 down the cup and I was super stuffed. It indeed provided a "solid feeling of satisfaction like eating a salad" (as described on their store). My bf accidentally paid in Taiwan dollars and it was a little embarrassing especially with the language barrier 😆.

(The juice is very effective. A few hours later and a visit to the toilet, I feel so internally cleansed lol.)

I think we barely explored the shopping street but we had to go off to catch our ship by a certain time. We took the taxi back - the taxi with the automatic back door. The driver did not want to accept big notes, and we had to give whatever small notes we could and he collected slightly less than the fare. O.O. 

The staff on board did not seem very welcoming to the passengers who were coming back. In fact, they were rather rude and rushed us to move on quicker. Really annoying.

Dinner at Regency Dining Room - 

You know what is so weird and irritating is that our table number reflected on the room card only means something on the first day? It was claimed that they do not go by the designated table numbers on the days with stopovers. Tables are planned as and when the customers walk in. This means that you do not sit in the same spot and you have different people serving you every day. It has both good and bad points, but I definitely prefer some personal experience in which my attendant knows what kind of tea I would like after a meal.

Speaking of tea, it seems that there is no such thing as tea/coffee after our dessert on Princess Cruise. They do not ask you about it at all. On our Royal Caribbean cruise, I drank peppermint tea consecutively and then subsequently, he knew what to get me.

I was looking for something sour and appetizing. Minestrone seems like the thing, but what was served looks more like vegetable soup, the Chinese style. The pasta was bad. I cannot remember the reason why but I know I did not enjoy it. On the other hand, the sirloin steak that day was really delicious. Very juicy and tender. The french fries at the side was of a pathetic amount though.

The dessert was satisfying. The Portuguese egg tart is created perfectly. The hazelnut chocolate pudding is great too, albeit the half-melted vanilla ice cream. The cream puff swan was beautifully served but the puff taste too hard. And the last dessert was a melty bowl of 3 flavours.

What followed was a singing show at Vista Lounge, a Magic show at Princess Theatre which I escaped from, and a relaxing session listening to the pianist at Crooners.

We had a lovely supper at the International Cafe. I can never resist a toasted crispy croissant.