Okinawa Travel with my Japanese In-Laws maybe NOT a Good Idea
so this is what it's like staying at a resort hotel in Japan with my Japanese in-laws so I'm in Okinawa right now it is a summer and it is super hot this one is going to get a little bit personal but I wanted to share with you my summer vacation and spending it with my Japanese in-laws but before I start if you want to see what I'm doing on the daily check out my Instagram account if you want to help support the channel check out the Tokyo and Japan merch and if you have any questions about Japan or your Japan travels check out my Discord community so we're back on another summer vacation trip last year as you know we went to a tummy just over an hour away from Tokyo but this year we decided to fly all the way down to Japan's resort island of Okinawa and this time they meet with my Japanese in-laws Michael's mom and sister seemed like a good idea at the time but after getting here maybe it wasn't such a good idea you'll see as The Story Goes On video [Music] so we specifically decided to stay at the Renaissance Okinawa Resort which is known to be a kids friendly family beach resort with many in Hotel activities to keep us from having to travel too much outside of the hotel Michael and I have been to Okinawa several times but this is the first time for Wolfie in fact it's his first time to fly as well which will also be posting on the second Channel Tokyo zebra later on this is like not a good start huh they don't have the room available upstairs unfortunately our room wasn't ready when we arrived at 4pm an hour after standard check-in time comment maybe in other countries but Michael and I were surprised as we never experienced a hotel check-in delay before in Japan this was one of the first signs that maybe Okinawa wasn't ready for us anyway about 45 minutes later we were able to check in [Music] when we started planning our trip a few months earlier the Japanese government was actually encouraging domestic Travelers even running campaigns with discounted travel up to 50 in some cases so it's only natural for many residents to start traveling back to areas like Okinawa especially since many people have been staying home the past couple years in fact the hotel itself seemed to be at near full capacity so perhaps the government initiatives were working well maybe too well [Music] are we calling dude little does he know the phone is unplugged so as you can see we've the beds here and it just is so much more space I mean just look at it it actually works out pretty good I [Music] oh cool they finally brought up our luggage and our Amazon packages are you hiding so one thing that you may or may not know is that you can get your deliveries from like Amazon or other places deliver it to your hotel I can't say that's true for all hotels in Japan but this place you can do it and so we definitely wanted to take advantage especially since we're coming from Tokyo so what we did for example like Wolfies diapers and some of like the pool toys that he's going to be playing with we don't have that in Tokyo so we actually just ordered it on Amazon and had it delivered directly here it just makes everything so much easier probably also like best to just like ask the hotel before you do this one thing that you can also do um if you're coming from overseas is you don't have to go to the amazon.com website if you're in the States but you can go to the amazon.co.jp site they do have an English interface and you can order products so that's you know kind of like a tip okay [Music] you have to change so this is officially our first morning here at the resort the place is pretty freaking awesome it has outdoor pool it has an indoor pool we're right in front of the beach all these different activities we have this like hello dolphin plan we have a few dinner plans so that said we're probably gonna go get some breakfast and have a day of it [Music] all right so here we are on our first full day since Michael's mom and sister won't be arriving for another day we're gonna take it easy and spend time at the pool I'm kind of excited because this is going to be Wolfie's first time to ever swim in a large pool I ordered this puddle jumper vest to help him out and think he's liking it [Music] it's a one thing I actually didn't notice until Michael pointed out on the video was that the pool walls were uncharacteristically lined with a green algae luckily it was cleaned a day or two later but I guess you usually don't expect to see this at a resort hotel in Japan later talking to one of the housekeepers though I asked how they were doing these days with all the travel coming back to Okinawa she actually told me that they were quite busy because the housekeeping was only about 80 staffed which in this case would probably explain why we had a late check-in and also why the pool wasn't completely clean on her first day either way though Whoopi still had a blast spraying in the pool which is the most important thing laughs oh and movie got caught into an endless water slide Loop going about 30 more times [Music] all right so right now um we just finished our little pool day now what we're doing is we are going to dinner at like a Izakaya that's kind of out of the hotel just to do something a little bit different because we're going to be here all week [Music] did Mommy go underwater no so the restaurant we're going to offers a van shuttle service just in front of the hotel which is perfect because we didn't rent a car this time around even though it's a must in Okinawa well truth be told we actually tried several weeks in advance to rent but there were no cars available apparently during the long two years of covet travel restrictions in Japan specifically Okinawa the Rent-A-Car business here struggled and had to get rid of 30 of their rental car inventory to minimize costs in order to stay in business so now the domestic travel suddenly increasing for the first time this summer The Car Rental shops don't have any Supply and if you could find a car the raids would be extremely high like a thousand dollars per day luckily the hotel has plenty of activities and restaurants so not having a car is not a killer for us but well worth noting for any future visitors to Okinawa hopefully though by the time more travels return the Car Rental Supply will be back so this is pretty crazy we are back to the same place we are here maybe like several years ago you watch any of my Okinawa videos then you know we were here but we wanted to share this experience with Wolfie we love the performance we love the food so yeah it's like actually a really really good experience and the Wolfie is eating my food [Music] so these days I will be absolutely love singing and dancing so we plan to go to a live Okinawa music restaurant as expected Wolfie loves the music and there's nothing better than seeing your child feel the joy and happiness foreign [Applause] [Music] so today my Japanese in-laws are finally arriving but not until later this evening so we decided to do the pool again and this morning and then after Whoopi's NAB head over to the in hotel petting zoo one of the reasons why we chose this hotel alright so we are on our way to the turtles I guess they have a little sea Park and then we'll probably hit up the splash park after this what if he just woke up from his nap and yeah we're just taking it slow foreign [Music] is it a big turtle or a small turtle it is a small so this is pretty cool you can see all these Turtles and animals is amazing this is a really good experience for children look [Music] how glad the hotel is still able to maintain such an area especially over the last few years as Okinawa has been devastated by a 70 decrease in tourism forcing local hotels and related businesses to let go of many of their employees but with a recent summer spike in travel many hotels have to quickly hire new staff which they can't find and train fast enough it's unfortunate but it's tough all around but probably only a level of compassion and understanding from Travelers will help them get through this difficult time [Music] foreign that they have here a few little things splashing here and there but I think these ones are broken they're not like completely working but I guess you know it is pretty cool that they have all of these little amusements for kids to play around in General oh and there they are Michael's mom and sister or should I say Wolfie's grandma and I'm D since Wolfie was born during the pandemic and they both live in IG they only got to see him in person once and only after he was one in fact this is the first time they get to see Wolfie together so this is quite an occasion for us unfortunately though Michael's dad is still recovering from an illness so he wasn't able to join this time around but hopefully we can all meet in aichi this winter many many men okay so I'm a little bit late to breakfast I had to release the video the family is already here [Music] [Music] so this place is so much better than the buffet downstairs there's a eggs benedict they actually had like a raspberry flavored French toast and I got some Fallen bolognese sauce have some crispy bacon which is I guess kind of rare in Japan you usually get like the soft bacon but this is like properly crispy bacon got some sausage and Wolfie has all the fruit he wants here so I think we'll probably be going to this one more often than the one downstairs although there's kind of like more food downstairs I feel like the quality here is a lot better what happened will be good good wow did Grandma make you some shorts amazing so cute I asked my mom to make the same mom for me [Music] okay so we just finished breakfast and now we're gonna go over to this what do you call it a Coral boat I guess where you're able to see underneath the water and see all like the coral and the fish swimming around so we're gonna do that with Michael's mom well Grandma and Auntie right now so this should be a fun experience I think this is his first time on a real boat we're gonna go on that boat over there you want to ride a boat yeah you want to ride a boat yeah before we continue on I want to tell you about the awesome people at booksu who also sponsor this video I know that many of you have already signed up which is awesome but for those who don't know they provide a gourmet experience of Japanese snacks and tea pairings delivered to your front door they work with traditional Japanese factories some over 100 years old divided with authentic and Japanese flavors first time users will get a Seasons of Japan box and after that you'll get a theme box like this one and this one's theme is outskimi Harvest Moon viewing Festival where families get together Express their gratitude for a good harvest and eat seasonal Foods you get this nice booklet that takes you through each snack as well as extra information about Japan which helps you to get to know more about Japanese culture my favorite this month is the hitokuchi gomodango which you can try for yourself so get 15 off your own authentic Japanese snack box subscription from booksu by using my code paolo15 and Link in the description [Music] this is [Music] a little boy so we are finally on the boat one thing that's quite funny is that we are like outside but we still need to wear a mask which is part of the journey Wolfie is doing all right the family is on the boat and we are ready to go [Music] he thinks we're gonna go into the water so he's a little bit scared he seemed a bit cautious in the beginning probably because there was a lot to take in all at once but when he realized you could see Fists in the glass he felt super comfortable and couldn't get enough Turtle oh look it's like a zebrafish [Music] I'm not feeling good oh and Michael unfortunately got a bit seasick Wolfie usually naps about two hours after lunch but he got too excited and couldn't sleep so we decided to take a stroll to the petty Zoo together by the way recently when he sees a girl he likes he sticks his hands in his pockets and acts cool next to them I wonder where he gets that from [Music] so we are here a second time but you know Wolfie loves turtles so why not welcome so for many parents watching who have toddlers it's pretty common understanding that schedules that don't always go as planned so having a readily accessible pool and zoo in the hotel as a backup plan is super helpful all in all we're just glad that Wolfie gets to have these experiences that he normally doesn't get to have in Tokyo regularly okay so we are running a little bit late um we're supposed to be at the dinner reservation at five o'clock but Wolfie and I were playing the pool we totally lost track of time in fact we didn't know we had the reservations for five well we did but we just didn't remember we thought it was a lot later and yeah we gotta go right now one more one more go first oh yeah we'll be learned how to put on his sandals by himself during this trip it takes him a bit of time still as expected but it's just so cool being here for these little Milestones okay so kind of in a rush we're kind of not I don't know um luckily Michael is mom and sister already at the restaurant so we're okay Wolfie likes to take his time I actually forgot Wolfie is at baby shark tour so I need to pick it up we'll be are you gonna come see Daddy hey so tonight's dinner is at a Japanese style barbecue restaurant that's set up on this little island surrounded by the ocean next to the hotel which has its own private aquarium to help entertain worldview foreign loves it he's just been like staring at the fish this entire time we're gonna have some barbecue order the course so this is what it's all about just hanging out spending time with family relaxing and you know taking it easy but maybe a little bit of rush trying to get here but at the end of the day you know it's all about family you're having a good time as many of you know it's usually just Michael and I going out to dinner with Wolfie so it was nice to have family around to help share the play time with Wolfie living so far from Michael's family as well as my family sometimes we feel like this restaurant on an island having my Japanese in-laws around and being able to share these moments are Priceless I'm hoping that we can get together even more in the future as things settle down [Music] is that why they call it Pac-Man incredible boys [Music] [Music] all right so that was dinner with the family what's quite interesting is I think this is the first dinner we've had where it's still bright outside and we just finished so it's good we'll get wolfy to sleep earlier than usual [Music] so he had this is what it's all about family time I know I went a little bad on Okinawa in the beginning but the truth is that many Japan tourist spots in general are still not fully staffed already like pre-coveted times at least when we filmed this not really a fault of a specific hotel or any other group just a situation we're in I could go on about other stuffy experience but I prefer to finish off positive we're just grateful that travel is back and because no matter where we are as long as we're with family it's all worth it thank you though [Music] this height hello dolphin [Music] so here we are at the family is bested up ready to go see some dolphins okay are you gonna be okay [Music] [Music] you see the dolphin he said hello Again movie was a bit cautious with this completely new experience I think I'd be too first time seeing a massive creature jumping out of the water right in front of me but in very woven fashion once we got back to land he did say he wanted to go back and see the dolphins again make something yeah Turtles [Music] Mommy Mommy so three days with Michael's mom and her sister was quite special seeing how Wolfie quickly developed a bond with him [Music] [Music] Unfortunately they have to leave now while Wolfie's still taking a nap so we have to quietly say goodbye to them thank you when Wolfie woke up though he had a pre-recorded video message from them was a bit sad because he missed him and he even kept calling out their names so Michael let him watch their video over and over until he felt just a little bit better alright so we're gonna end this video here this was our trip to a Japanese Resort here in Okinawa also meeting the Japanese in-laws if you guys like this video if you guys want to see more videos like this then definitely hit that sub oh oh that is not done yet if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan hit that subscribe button and the above button and we'll catch you guys in the next one
2022-09-26 23:15
