5 Scenes of Kin Town's Okawa Spring After Dark

Tonight I took a camera stroll to shoot a few night photos.

This spring has been a subject of mine hundreds of times, in the past.

 It was so much fun composing different photos, I almost forgot what I went there for.

There is a daylight scene similar to this, I want to duplicate, at night.

It might take me a few more attempts to get it right.

The original image, is in my Then and Now series.

Maybe, next time, I'll bring it along, to help me shoot from the correct angles.

People going by, looked at me like I was some kind of crazy.

That's because they aren't used to seeing a old man with a camera, sitting down in the street.

They'll get to know me after awhile, though.

It will probably take all summer, for me to get his assignment done.

Because, shooting here at night is so much fun !

Having a Blast at the Local Mud Festival

2014 Tanbo Festival in Kin Town

 

 

For those who don't already know, a tanbo is a flooded field.

Somebody donates their land for this event during Golden Week.

 Kids love playing games in the mud.

They get to do stuff like slide and splash.

Big people are allowed to have fun in the mud, too.

Sometimes, parents and children participate in relays where they do some crazy stuff in the mud.

There was good, clean fun, away from the flooded fields, too.

Try catching noodles with chopsticks while they are sliding down a bamboo pipe.

This is what's called, Nagashi (flowing) Somen (similar to ramen) but, it's not hot.

Not many noodles make it to the end of the line.

That kid in the red shirt was happy, just catching a few !

Running around, trying to capture all the events at this festival gave me an appetite.

So, while the camera was downloading, I went down the street and grabbed a hamburger.

This Bug is a Real Killer ! Meet the Assassin Fly

They Don't Eat People, Just Other Bugs

 

When I spotted this insect, it was sunning on a country road in northern Okinawa, Japan.

That's a pretty mean-looking bug.  So, I had to sneak up on it and take some photos.

Look at those big eyes and nasty barbed legs !

It took awhile to research this critter and get a positive idendification.

It is a Robber Fly (Asilidae) also known as an Assassin Fly.

Not to worry.  They won't bite humans.

These guys only go after other bugs.  And, they are ferocious.  They nab their prey out of the air.

This guy, lying on the road, is just charging-up his batteries.

Maybe, the sun warms him up so, he can fly faster.

Those bulging eyes aren't watching the camera.  He's looking for something, flying to eat.

When he spots a meal flying over, that's when he springs into action.

The critter he goes after can even be bigger than him.  It doesn't matter.

He will grab his victim out of the air and inject some poison.

The muscular legs insure there will be no escape.

And, he will hang from a place, up off the ground, by one leg, while munching away.

Wouldn't you like to have one of these in your yard ?

It would be more fun than watching TV, I bet !

 

Learn more about Assassin Flies at:

ARKive ORG

Texas A&M

University of Florida

Festival Photo: Mom Tries to Get Even

The Mud Festival in Kin Village was a blast today.

 1,000 photos were downloaded from the cameras.  Here's a teaser.

We had blue skies and temperate weather all day long and a good crowd showed up.

It's time for me to scrape off the mud I acquired and go downtown.

And have some good, clean fun.

2013 Kin Town Mud Festival (たんぼフエスヌ) Okinawa, Japan

Good Clean Fun for Golden Week

 

The Tambo Fest (たんぼフエスヌ) or, Mud Festival, is one of my favorite events of the year.

There are lots of things going on, like, live music, dancing, games of chance and food to eat.

All the stuff you'd see at any other festival on the island, they have at this one.

 

Only in Kin Town We Have Lots More

Tambo, is the Japanese word for rice field.

Some kind farmers decorate the place and, flood it for us.

Mostly kids but, anyone else, can join in and stir things up.

Play ball, ride a bike or.....

.....go diving, if you like.

The Mud Festival takes place Friday May 3, 2013 at Nature Mirai in Kin Town Okinawa.

It starts at 9AM and goes until 6PM.

It's a good idea to bring a towel and change of clothes but, you don't have to...

.....if you are one of those city people that doesn't know how to have real fun !

Related Post: Mud Festival in Okinawa

Sleepy Hollow Lake Was Fun But I'm Going Home (Photos)

It's been a whole week for me at Sleepy Hollow Lake.

But, it's time to head back to Okinawa, Japan. 

Great friends and family on both sides of the world are what keep me in good spirits.

This morning I verified my flight schedule and let the Ryukyu Dudes know I'm coming.

RyukyuRusty promised to meet me at the airport with my favorite beer.  That'd be Orion.

RyukyuRu, not wanting to be outdone, said he'll bring along an Orion Beer Gal to greet me.

Folks at Sleepy Hollow Lake wish I'd stay in New York longer.

It was fun being here but, it's time for me to move along.

Those Orion Beer people should start sending their stuff to New York.

Then, people would visit and stay a lot longer.

Dontcha think ?

Visit my homepage for the PHOTO OF THE DAY

Photo Essay: A Fun-filled Day at the Ginoza Museum

Just as soon as you walk in the door at the Ginoza Museum in Okinawa, Japan you know this isn't going to be some stuffy old place like the British Museum of Natural History.

They have like, normal, everyday people statues waving at you, doing the the dance we call Eisa and a smiling, dancing lion-dog (Shishimai) is right up there on the stage with them.

The first thing I always do is make sure it's alright to shoot my camera.  Lots of museums don't let you so, it's best to ask permission first.  When they say "OK" that's when I know I'm going to have a blast.  I'm real careful about where I set up my tripod so nobody trips over it and I like to shoot photos without any flash.  
Slow and easy with whatever light is available; that's the way to have a fun-filled day of museum photography.  
I shot everybody and everything.

Old hand tools.  Man, what guy doesn't like them?  I bet I have some more rusty and older than these, somewhere out behind the house.  But, these guys were on display for me.

Just behind that cart I was looking at the straw-roofed house and wondering if there was a way I could get inside to have a look around.  Some museums are funny about those sort of things. 

This time I figured it would be best not to ask.

Look.  You can see right through the place and there wasn't a chain or rope across the door.

Everybody was busy doing whatever museum people do and nobody was watching me.

Next thing I know, there I was in the kitchen.

Those were the good old days, when you could barbecue right on the kitchen floor.

This looked like an example of how the first wooden floors were built to get folks up off the ground so they wouldn't get wet or dirty.  But, to me anyway, it looked like it might be real comfortable to lie down on.  
I peeked outside to make sure the museum people kept doing whatever museum people do.  
As long as they weren't watching me, that would be OK.

It felt GREAT but made a heck of a racket when all those bamboo poles started rolling around.

So, I jumped up quick and pretended I was taking a picture of this newer model kitchen fire thingy.  
Nobody came along to yell at me so, I figured it was safe to check out some more stuff.

All the way out the back door of the straw-roofed house there were more tools !

Oh, and that's where some girl hung a mini skirt, or something so, I got that, too.

The best part of my fun-filled day at the Ginoza Museum was finding a Dragon that I had never taken a photo of before.  It's something I'll be adding to my Year of the Dragon collection.

I bet they don't have things like this in the British Museum of Natural History.  If they did, they probably wouldn't let folks like me in there to have fun with my camera !


RELATED POST:  A CAMERAMAN'S DREAM, THE NAGO MUSEUM

 

Going Down This Time Wasn't As Much Fun (Photos)

Usually, taking the cameras and tripods down in a cave is a blast.

Yesterday, was my first time in this treasure.

From the outside, it looked like it would be a gem for photography.

Two vans loaded with dive club members in wet suits leaving the cave should have been my first clue that it might be really, really wet inside that cave.  Duh !

There was, like a freakin ice cold river running through the place.  And, the farther you went down in the cave, the wetter you got.  Sometimes you could climb over the rocks and get out of the water.  But, most of the way, you had no choice; you waded.

Going down in this cave after it's been raining all week in Okinawa wasn't the most brilliant idea I've had this year, photographically speaking, anyhow.

Shoes, cameras, tripods, flashlights and camera holsters are drying out, right now.

When the water recedes in that cave, I'll be ready.

Going down in this cave was fun but, not as much fun as I thought it would be.

The next time I go in there with my cameras,  I'll getterdun properly.

See: HOW I GOTTER DUN. YOU CAN GETTER DUN, TOO

VISIT MY HOMEPAGE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY

Today's Photo Travel Fun: A Bath, A Bug and A Bar

Today, it looked like I'd be rained-in and stuck in my bar.  But, I convinced my shooting partners we'd have more fun if we got out and did some traveling around with our cameras.

Not sure how much they enjoyed it but, I had fun.

First, there was this old-time bath house I got to shoot right after it rained.

Check it out.  Ice cold water from a spring comes down out of the mountains.

There's a woodburning furnace to heat it up before you pour into the tubs behind it.

Just a wild guess, here, I'm thinking men to the left, women to the right.

That'd be because (you know how women are) there's more privacy on the right side.

Anyway, there was nobody taking a bath so, I got bored.

But, a bug came along and made my day. 

One quick photo of this dragonfly and I was ready to do lunch.

This is a bar and restaurant in the big city of Naha Okinawa, Japan.

Nope, I didn't touch a drop.  When I'm shooting travel photos, alcohol ain't allowed.

It's just nice to be able to show you the bar and pool table.

The restaurant, shucks, I go there to eat and forget all about taking pictures.

But, one of these days I'll get some for you.

If you really want to know more about this place, I believe

Doc, THE GOYA REPUBLIC GUY

or

RyukyuRu from MAP IT OKINAWA

Will be posting something about directions in the near future.

I'm just glad we got out of town and I got to shoot a bath, bug and somebody else's bar today.

It was fun !

Oops, almost forgot.  I promised the manager, something.

Look at his FACEBOOK PAGE and HIT the LIKE BUTTON, if YOU LIKE IT.  OK ?

VISIT MY HOMEPAGE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY