February Final Friday Faves {Japan Edition}

Sooooooooooo sorry this is late.  I've been caught up in planning our Spring Break trip.  We've been wanting to go to this place for awhile but just decided last minute to go there for spring break, so it was a lil hectic this past week.  Anyways, we move on...

This month I wanted to do a faves of the local things here on Okinawa .  I've been here for 3 year, I've actually got a huge list of things I love Japanese and Okinawan but I've narrowed it down.

                                                                :: farmer's market ::

The local JA market.  JA stands for Japanese Agriculture

This is a pork sandwich sold at the local JA,  The pork is  fed beni-imo for it's entire life and gives it a distinct sweet taste.  One of the best sandwiches I've ever had and only 250 yen {$2.50}

I love going to the farmer's market here.  Okinawa has a number of local farmers and there are a ton of markets all over the island.  I was really intimated at first, I didn't know any Japanese and I was really new to cooking.  There were a number of times where I bought the wrong fruit or vegetable because the labels are in Japanese, what I thought was something was not in fact what I was looking for. { Unfortunately this happens in the commissary too} It's awesome to see the different fruits and veggies that are grow locally One of my faves is called beni-imo, it's a purple sweet potato and the Okinawan's are famous for them.
There is beni-imo everything, ice cream, dessert tarts, fries, doughnuts, and etc.  I LOVE it.  

The are markets open daily and they all carry a variety of items.  I go to several weekly depending on what I'm looking for.  I love that its just down the street from me, the food is local, and they don't use pesticides or GMOs.

                                                                      :: starbucks ::

Sakura {cherry blossom} frappacino.  This flavor comes out after the cherry blossoms bloom.

Coffee is a big part of Japanese life and culture.  They love it.  As do I.  There are vending machines that carry cold and hot coffee, the local "mini-marts" have their own coffee, there are a lot of coffee shops and they are usually pretty packed with people, even on weekdays and usually well into the night.  I'd have to say that the Starbucks here is quite a different experience then the Starbucks in the states.  Now, we lived in WA state for years and we've been to the original Starbucks.  However the Starbucks here is hands down, on another level.  In Japan, Starbucks seems so "exclusive".   They offer so many different seasonal drinks, their staff is SUPER polite, the mugs, tumblers, and cups are always super cute and have different designs.  I wasn't a big Starbucks lover before coming here, since being here I've become quite the fan!

                                                                           :: matcha ::

My matcha obession

Before moving to Japan, I didn't really care for green tea.  I even remember when green tea started gaining popularity, I tried a few things but it wasn't really fabulous.  Then I moved to Oki and green tea is everywhere.  So I thought I would give it a try.  Oh and it's called matcha.  It started with the Kit-kats.  I've heard about these before, that Kit-kats in Japan come in a variety of flavors, but I heard that the matcha ones were the best.  I tried them and fell in love.   After that I tried everything matcha,  even the regular hot green tea.  Now I drink green tea often hot and cold.  {I've also read up on many of the health benefits of drinking green tea}.  This has become one of my fave flavors and I'll eat anything that has matcha in it.


                                                                          :: tsubuki ::

Japanese beauty products are awesome.  I of course took forever to try them because the labeling is in Japanese and I was being a chicken.  One of my favorite beauty products is a shampoo and conditioner { I think shampoo and conditioner is a beauty product} a friend introduced me to , its by Shiseido called Tsubuki.  It smells divine and makes my hair feel awesome.  I've heard about shiseido before and used their makeup.  I wasn't really a big fan, I much prefer Nars of MAC.  I didn't even know they made hair products until I started using the shampoo and conditioner. One of the coolest things they do in Japan is that they sell the products in bottles, like pictured, but then they sell refill bags to cut down on plastics!  The refill bags fill up the bottles and are cheaper!!! Count me in for cheaper and being more earth conscious.


These are just a few of the great things Japan and Oki have to offer.  I'll have to do another faves list because I have so many :)