One of my favorite shops for souvenirs in Japan is Don Quijote. I wrote about them in my Budget shops in Tokyo post, but the one in Naha was nothing like the ones I’d been to in other parts of Japan.
Don Quijote’s in general tend to be crowded and a bit crazy to try and navigate. They sell everything from house hold goods to beauty, medicine, snacks and souvenirs all at a discount. The one in Naha near my hotel had free samples and aquariums full of tropical fish. I spent most of my time there trying to get the last of my souvenirs and because it was the end of January and the Corvid-19 outbreak had just begun, I was also in search of masks for my flight back to Korea later that day.
I got plenty of souvenirs but there were no regular masks to be found. So I decided to go up to the cafe. I had never been to a Don Quijote with a cafe in it before.
One of the things that had struck me about this Don Quijote was just how big it was. On the 7th floor was a cafe/bar called the Stem Resort which I kept seeing ads for while out and about and also within the store itself. From 10am until 9pm the space is a cafe, from 9pm until 5am it is a music bar. The Don Quijote though is open 24 hours.
So I went up to the 7th floor on my last day to enjoy the Instagram cafe/space. It was a little weird being there early in the morning when no one else was really around.
There are three main parts to the Stem Resort Happy Beach. The first is an outside area which is quiet and with a big tree. When I was there there were several kids enjoying the space and I believe there’s a ball pit.
Then there is a turquoise space where you place/make your order. There’s several different drink options.
The most popular seems to be a DIY bubble tea. First you pick your base. I picked a milk tea. Then you decide on how sweet and how much ice you want. Then comes the add-ons. For some reason based off all the pictures I assumed it was just done for you. But nope. If you want to stick anything on top of your drink you then need to add on some whipped cream. It comes in three colors: white, pink and blue. (I picked blue) There are little trays and tongs and a whole bunch of chocolate candy. Work your way through and put whatever you want on the tray for your decorations. You could probably do this first to make check out easy. They also have chocolate color spray, marble chocolate, popcorn, oreos, marshmallows, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and sprinkles. You can put these also on top of plain soft cream or shaved ice.
I picked two, a mermaid tail and a pineapple to go with my blue whipped cream.
You might be wondering why I only got two. All of the toppings cost extra. So the medium milk tea by itself is 600 yen for a medium or 700 yen for a large (I got medium). The soft cream (whipped cream) is 200 yen and then each piece of chocolate you want to add ranges from 80 yen to 250 yen a piece. It can add up quickly.
The turquoise space is full of booths and while I originally picked to sit there I found their booths too awkward and quickly moved to the other room.
The final room is the pink room. And it’s probably the loudest room, or at least it was while I was there. There was K-pop blasting with a couple music videos happening on TV screens. This room also has the most “props” out of all the sections.
There’s are many pink bears everywhere, pink flamingos, a pink panther, pink barbies, pink surfboards, and a pink VW next to a pink bar (open at night serving drinks). It’s intense but perfect if you’re looking for something pink. There are also outlets to charge your phone under the tables.
I did like my drink for the most part. I had been concerned the whipped cream “soft cream” would be bad (cue nightmarish Zapangi flashbacks) but it was actually decent. It’s good for what it is. It’s not really a cafe. It’s a space made specifically for taking photos, especially cute “trendy” drink photos and beach-y vacation vibe Instagram pictures.