The Quest to Explore

We decided that it was time to break away from local area and head up north. We picked Onna Village to be our first little outing. We didn't have any really destination, but we were thinking about checking out the glass factory we had heard about. The drive up to Onna Village was nice. We paralleled the beach for the most part after we got away from Kadena. On our initial pass through Onna Village we didn't see any signs that pointed to the glass factory so we decided to keep heading north. We drove for about another 30 minutes checking out the scenery and noting a few nice looking resorts that we might want to come back and check. We decided to turn around and head back to Onna and explore a place that looked interesting.

As we approached the establishment we were not sure what it was. Upon entering we discovered a pantheon of little desserts, snacks and other assortment of knick knacks. The thing that surprised us the most is that all of these things were made from the local sweet potato. This potato is unique in that it is purple in color. We had a great time walking around trying the different samples and watching the mechanical assembly line make a specific kind of little cake. The machine went from the initial squirting of the purple paste into shells, all the way to the wrapping of the little pastries. After a while we became thirsty and decided to head over to the Blue Seal booth, the local ice cream dealer, and order a drink. We decided to be adventuresome and order the green drink. It was the only one we were not sure what exactly it was. We thought that it was most likely a green tea of some sort. We were smart enough to observe that everyone went up to a machine and purchased a ticket before going up to the counter. We bravely made our selection and handed the woman behind the counter our ticket. About a minute later we were handed our green drink. Lucky for us there was a table for two available right next to the Blue Seal booth.


The look on our faces say it all. First, you experience a very subtle taste that is kind of grassy. Just as you are setting the glass down, the back of your tongue is assaulted by a very bitter taste that catches you by surprise. We could not for the life of us figure out what we were drinking. Luckily we were right by the booth and could look behind the counter and see an employee pull out a bag of chopped up goya. Goya is a local specialty. It is known as the bitter melon. Upon seeing that bag everything became clear. We pushed through our initial feelings and finished our beverage. We kept telling ourselves that the drink was probably really good for our bodies. We left the sweet potato pastry factory happy that we had found another fun adventure.