GIF: Okinawa Dance at Beiju (米寿) an 88th Birthday in Japan

Grand Event in Okinawa

The 88th birthday celebration takes on a new meaning in Okinawa, Japan.

Friends, family (from Hawaii and Washington state) and, I was even there.

A hall, down in Gushikawa, hosted the event and, Kin Town, provided bus transportation.

Normally, you would never catch me in a suit and, wearing shoes.

But, I got all dolled up for this because, it was a formal event, in honor of Mrs. Yamashiro.

She's the sweetheart, who's always smiling and gardening behind my office.

Lots of bugs, butterflies, flowers and vegetables become subjects for my cameras.

She's always trying to give me vegetables, to take home but, I politely refuse.

The Camera Stayed at the Office

The reason, the town provided transportation, is some serious drinking might be required.

And, that's the reason, I didn't take along any expensive camera equipment.

It was an all-you-can-eat-and-drink type of affair. So, that's what I planned on doing.

While relatives and family, did performances on stage, I consumed plenty of refreshments.

Snapping a few hundred images with the iPhone,  they got sent to the cloud.

When I got back to the office Sunday night, an idea struck me. "You're drunk, go home."

Seven Day Work Weeks

Monday, I decided to spend the day at home and, rest the weary bones.

The wife agreed, it might be a good idea and, the dog loved it. We slept a lot.

Apple's iPhone and that iCloud  are some strange characters.

The camera takes, alright photos and they are fairly large, in size but, need work.

Once a GB of storage in the cloud, gets used up, they want you to pay for more.

The rest of the week I'll probably, decide which photos to keep and process.

Then, a Facebook album, may be created, for Mrs. Yamashiro's friends and family, to see.

Standby for more.....

Tanabata Party or Typhoon Party -- Which Will It Be ?

Little Typhoon Neoguri

 

 

There's a storm brewing out there in the west Pacific.

Some sources, say Okinawa may get whacked.

It is also, Tanabata Festival time.

The seventh day of the seventh month is when the stars line up a certain way.

Tanabata or, the Star Festival is popular throughout Asia.

The Milky Way separates two stars, who happen to be lovers.

And, they only get a chance to come together, at this time of the year.

In the past, I have visited Tanabata Festivals day and night to take photos.

The decorations are wishes for good fortune and happiness.

This sweetheart from Nanjo City used to decorate her property for Tanabata.

We stopped by last week to see how she was doing.

All the decorations were gone. But, she gave us a map to where she donated them.

They are down in Urasoe City, somewhere.

The map showed the location and pointed out No Parking, available.

So, that's my excuse to not, go to the city. Hah !

Fumiko Nakamoto, happens to be more important, to me, than all those decorations.

It was good to see her, alive and well. She remembers me and, she has free parking, too.

What a darling. 

Tanabata in Northern Okinawa

Up in the Kunagimi territory, we do things a bit differently.

We may not have all the fancy trimmings city folks have but, we still celebrate.

Tonight, I will be heading out to a Tanabata event.

Finding one of my favorite subjects at night, is always a challenge.


There's no way to capture these rascals motionless, without using a flash.

 When you yell, "Get up against the wall" they act a little nervous.

Then, when you say, "Spread your wings wide, like a little angel" the smile, goes away.

This is a technique, I need to work on. Huh ?

 Tanabata Festival on the Weekend

 

They couldn't have planned this one better, as far as I'm concerned.

Going to Ginoza Village with the cameras, tonight will be a pleasure.

Not sure if the event is inside a building or, outdoors, I'll carry a flash.

And, when I'm done shooting, it'll be Tanabata Partytime.


Keep an eye on this typhoon.

We may just have to schedule a Typhoon Party, too !

Welcome Chinese New Year with a Bang: That's My Plan

Today is New Year's Eve by the Chinese calendar.

So, when my camera shootin' buddies came by today my plan was to go find some fireworks to end the 
Year of the Rabbit and welcome the Year of the Dragon tonight at midnight.

Buy some party goodies and shoot a new photo of a dragon.

That was the plan.

It is a cold, wet, cloudy day in Okinawa.  All I wanted to do was buy some stuff and shoot something like, a gold dragon bottle of sake.  These are things that could be done indoors.

Don't ask me how this stuff happens.

We got sidetracked, somehow and found Cherry Blossoms way up in the mountains.

And, we found another WATERFALL !

This one is at a not to be identified location.  It will be a closely guarded secret.

That's mostly because I don't know the name of the place or where we were at the time.

Map It Okinawa Dude with the GPS and Google Map know-how will have all that information for you, shortly. 
See, it was his bright idea to show us this waterfall and I'm glad that he did.

Here I am wearing a contraption around my waist and popping pain pills from the last time I fell down a waterfall (SEE CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND WATERFALLS IN OKINAWA).

Crynoutloud, I didn't need to be climbing a waterfall with my camera.

But, this one was a real beauty.  So, I did.

Only this time I was careful not to slip and fall.  Got me some great shots to show you.  Later.

RyukyuRusty and Ryukyu Ryu, those guys went all the way to the top.  Not me baby.

Somebody had to slip and fall on their fanny.  It wasn't gonna be me.

One of them young guys did it this time.

And, I'm glad that he did !

PS:  As an afterthought, we found some noisemakers (gentle fireworks) to pop at our party tonight.

According to the plan, we'll welcome the Chinese Year of the Dragon with a BANG !


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:  2011 THE YEAR OF THE PARTY RABBITS

VISIT MY WEBSITE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY: BE HAPPY !

2012 THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON (龍) and A FEW PHOTOS

It's New Years Eve in Okinawa, Japan.

And tomorrow it will be 2012, the Year of the Dragon (龍).

So, I looked through my photo files to see if there were any dragons.

It made me realize something.  There are dragons everywhere in Okinawa.

Not a day goes by without me seeing a dragon somewhere.

There are gold dragons, concrete dragons, dragon-boats.....

.....and dragons on the the bottles of sake in my bar.

The name of the sake is Tatsu (龍).  That's the Japanese word for Dragon.

Tonight some of my friends who were born in the year of the dragon will be coming over.

Probably, they'll want to drink Tatsu for good luck in 2012.

Usually I only drink beer.

Just a few minutes ago I took this photo of the sake bottle.

When I went to put the bottle away it accidentally got opened.

Thinking, the way I do, it might be bad luck to serve customers sake that has been opened too early.

So, I drank it.

The New Years Eve party doesn't start for another three hours.

If I take a little nap, I won't wake up. 

Maybe, I should crack another bottle. 

The Year of the Dragon wasn't the year I was born.

For sure, when I wake up tomorrow, my butt will be a dragon !

MORE ABOUT THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON AND CHINESE ZODIAC

HAVE A SAFE, HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !

Year of the Rabbit 2011 (Photo) Okinawa: An Insider's Tip

Here it is, New Years Eve, where I'm at anyway. I guarantee in the next few days I'll get tons of emails wishing me a Happy New Year. I know because I do the same thing as soon as Christmas is over. I start telling everybody to have a Happy and Prosperous New Year, right on through the first week of January. We all do it and it's a good thing. It sure beats talking about the weather.

The Year of the Rabbit is 2011 so, I dug up this photo that I shot back in 2007 to show you what a rabbit looks like in the wild, at night, with camera flash. That's if you don't want to use red-eye reduction on your camera or in editing afterwards. Some people I know will have eyes like this when the wake up New Years Day after a night of celebrating. In Okinawa, we have New Years twice!

The Western, Gregorian, Christian, whatever you want to call it, calendar that a lot of the rest of the world uses, is used in Japan, too. Even in Okinawa we have the Western calendar and celebrate the New Year like folks in the western world. The New Year will start January 1st and people will be popping champagne bottles, kissing strangers on the lips and singing Auld Lang Syne in Japanese in my bar tonight. And they'll be running around with hangovers for the next three days visiting temples to try and have good luck in the Year of the Rabbit, 2011.

It's good for business. People are already buying rabbit jewelry, bunny footed pajamas and slippers and probably wedding gowns with rabbits sewed on them. Some of them even buy pet rabbits for their kids. Then, when they get tired of abusing them, turn them loose, like the one in the photo above. That's no wild rabbit. He's a rabbit turned loose in the wild; a feral rabbit, I guess.

Here's a tip from an old Insider. According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2010 the Year of the Tiger, doesn't end December 31st 2010. The Year of the Rabbit starts on February 3, 2011.  That'd make New Years Eve the 2d of February according to my calculations.

Not one to put a damper on everyone's holiday celabrations I'm going to dig up that Auld Lang Syne music, buy some bottles of champagne and wash the wine glasses for tonight.

What the heck, I may as well trim the beard, get all spruced up and wear my Sunday best for the New Years Party. Even if some good lookin' stranger-gal doesn't run up and kiss me on the lips, it could be my dressed rehersal for the 2011 Year of the Rabbit New Years Eve Party in February!

WHEREVER IN THE WORLD YOU ARE PLEASE DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.  AND, I WISH YOU AND YOURS A SAFE, HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !



RELATED LINK: 2011 THE YEAR OF THE PARTY RABBITS

Guinness World Record Taco Rice Recipe: Photo Essay

Making World Record Taco Rice is a community effort. You could do what I'm showing in photos on a much smaller scale. Cover your coffee table with plastic wrap and have some friends pitch-in for a Super Bowl Party, maybe. You won't break any Guinness Records but, you won't go hungry either!

The exact measurements you won't get here for a couple of reasons.
1. Somebody will try and break Kin Village's Guinness World Record, for sure. Even if ya waterboard me, I ain't talkin'. I live here.

2. My ears hear things about as well as a rock so, when the speakers blared out "Kilos" I thought they were talking about "Helos" like Mr. Guinness, or somebody was gonna land in a helicopter.

This isn't exactly a Betty Crocker (She still around?) recipe; just estimate how many friends you have coming over and throw in as many kilos as you think it takes and maybe add a few more. Just look at my visual recipe and add the ingredients to suit your taste.

Steamed rice is the first layer. You probably could get by using a putty knife instead of a paddle.

Cover the rice with your favorite blend of meat and  taco sauce. Trowel it over nice and smooth.

Load the next layer up with shredded cheese. Kinda like lasanga but cheddar works best, I think.

Pile on the shredded lettuce and spread it around to cover all the cheese. You could get away without wearing a mask if everyone promises not to sneeze. Hats and cameras are optional.

Fresh tomato slices top the whole thing off. It's ready to eat. You could have the whole thing done before the Super Bowl Pre-Game finishes and enough left after the Super Bowl Party to feed the cleanup crew.

If you really want to try breaking the Guinness World Record for Taco Rice keep checking HERE and find out what it takes to be a winner. They'll even give you an application. Have fun !

NOTE: THIS POST WAS AN ENTRY FOR SHOW ME JAPAN A BLOG ALL JAPAN LOVERS SHOULD FOLLOW !