Last Full Moon of the Year 2021

 When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie

 Fairly busy with end-of-the-month and year chores, This will be a short blog.

This photo was taken at 6:29 PM from the roof of my house tonight DEC 19, 2021.

Tomorrow morning there won't be time in my schedule for shooting the moon setting.

This rising moon reminded me of an old tune, I had to do a search to find for you.

PLEASE ENJOY!

This Dean Martin Video

Suzume (スズメ) the Tree Sparrow Doing Pizza Crust

Feathered Friends Don't Go Hungry

Not out in the wilderness chasing wildlife, I've spent plenty of time at home this summer.

It's so hot and humid no one wanders far from air conditioning for more than a few minutes.

A place called Gate 1 (ゲートワン) nearby, serves various types of pizza.

When I get the urge to eat some pizza, it's worth a few minutes walking in the hot sun.

A pizza takes them about 20 minutes, to bake and box up for customers.

I don't mind sitting in their air-conditioned waiting area waiting for my order.

A large pizza is enough for two meals, around this house and nothing goes to waste.

At Gate #2, to my residence, a flock of these Tree Sparrows congregates.

Leftover pizza crust and bread crumbs are provided for the birds, daily.

When I have 700 MM of a lens, the camera, and tripod handy, I shoot them.

Soon things should start cooling off on this island and, I'll get back to hiking in nature.

What do you do with pizza crust in your neck of the woods?

RELATED POST - Animation: Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Mad Mike Review: Pizza Potato Chips

It's Been Awhile

Product reviews: Not my favorite thing to do. Once in a blue moon, something strikes my fancy.

First, let me explain how this all got started. I'll try to keep it short.

Halfway to the office, early this morning, I stopped at a machine to buy some iced coffee.

That's when I noticed there was no change in my pocket. My wallet was fine.

But, the machines won't handle large denomination bills and, that's all I had.

Another thing: My keys, I keep the small change with, were left at home, too.

Office keys are attached to my cell-phone case, I could get inside the place.

Just, wouldn't be able to open the camera locker. Keep on walking to work.

A cloudy, crappy day, I could get by without the big cameras. Do office stuff.

Suddenly, the Facebook thing went, "BING" and I read this post from a friend.

She asked: "Does potato pizza exist?"

My reply: "Sure. In Japan, they even have pineapple pizza."

The morning was grueling. There's an extra key in this office, for my camera locker.

Cleaning seven desk drawers, did nothing, to help find it. I needed a break.

So, I got back on Facebook and told the gal:

 "Let me see if, the store is open, down the street. They have delicious Pizza Potato Chips."

At the store, I grabbed chips, smokes and iced coffee and got the change in my pocket now.

Back on Facebook

" Got 3 bags and, will take an iPhone photo to show you.

 Damn cameras are locked-up in my drying vault and, I left the keys at home!"

See, I was hungry and those chips are excellent for scooping beans out of Tupperware.

Now, I'm pretty sure, the Japanese language would be difficult for this gal in the USA.

So, I snapped one more photo, to show her the pictures on the potato chip bag.

The images might help explain, what ingredients are used in making these chips.

There's cheese, red peppers, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes and maybe, pepperoni.

Even the dude, at the bottom, says, "YUMMY!"

Visit Calbee Company in Japan for more.

Back to the Review

Pizza Potato Chips from Calbee get a Five Star Rating from me.

They are a bit spicy, crispy, cheesy, crunchy, deliciously scrumptious, to me.

Ridged potato chips are strong enough to grab tuna out of a can or, use with bean dip.

The guy pictured on the back of the bag, ain't lying. They're yummy.

Back to Work

The first bag of chips has been consumed in its entirety.  But, the beans are only half gone.

The gal, in Arizona, who got me going on the Pizza Chips, deserves a big Thank You.

Not sure if I have her mailing address, I'll probably go back to searching for that spare key.

Half an hour or so should be enough time to waste on that project.

If I don't find the key, I could walk home and grab the original, to get to my cameras.

It's early in the day. Keep working and, eat more chips with beans, would be alright, too!

MORE MAD MIKE REVIEWS

An Uka-Uka (ぅかーぅか) Sort of Day

Call It Daydreaming

The word got into my vocabulary, yesterday because, I ate an Ukauka pizza.

There's no sense, running around these islands, eating if, I don't review the places.

Well, I had other things to catch up on and, put the writing on the back burner.

The camera business, kept me extremely busy, over the past few days.

So, I skipped doing my daily regimen of lifting cement blocks and doing calisthenics.

Early this morning, I made up for it, by doing a few hours of torturous training.

By 10 AM, I was exhausted, changed out of the sweatsuit and, went to get some breakfast.

Dark skies, gave me an idea. Eat then, take a two hour nap. That worked !

Except for One Thing

When, you have aching muscles, on a dreary day - Who feels like writing ?

Clearing out all the social media sites and checking emails, wore me down.

But, I got an idea from reading mail from the Travel Agent Academy.

They're always sending me reminders about travel courses, I can take. What the heck.

Into the online academy, I went and, finished another course.

Now, I can find travel information around the globe, in just a few seconds.

A gazillion off the wall experiences, events, attractions and, things to do, are at my fingertips.

Once, I got that certificate, it was time to get back to doing my normal business.

 Ukauka Pizzeria

This was where we had lunch, over on Sesoko Island, yesterday.

The chef  let me photograph him, preparing my meal in that wood-burning oven.

The professor and I, were freezing from being up on a mountain, in the rain.

So, this was a great place, to grab lunch and, get warmed up.

After we left, we had to make a stop, to grab some chicken; the pizza was vegetarian !

Today I Learned What Ukauka Means

The Jaded Network says, "daydreaming or not paying attention."

At Wikibooks - "to be careless or absentminded."

Well, I'm not sure if we were absentminded or daydreaming, when we walked into this place.

But, I know some friends and family, who would really love it.

So, I did a Google Maps review, for everyone.

The pizza was tasty. If, I go back there again, I'm sneaking some pepperoni in with me !

Kouri Island Ocean Tower: A new Attraction in Okinawa (Photos)

Here's photographic teaser for those who want to sample this beauty.

The tower stands 36 meters tall and it is 82 meters above sea level.

It's the only tower, I know of that tourists pay to get into, on Okinawa.

But, a driver-less golf cart, takes you up the hill so, I wouldn't complain.

 I sat in the back seat, just in case it crashed.

Going through, to reach the upper levels of the observation tower, you find a museum.

It's a seashell museum and, they have thousands of them, from around the world.

Some people say "Ooo and Ahh" when they get in there and see the shells.

Not me, I just pretend I'm having fun.  And wait for them to move on.

That way, I can take some pictures, with nobody in them.

They do have a bakery in there and sell gifts along with munchies.

Local products, like hand made glass are available for visitors.

But, I'm not visiting, I live here.  So, I don't need the stuff.

This tree caught my eye. 

It's surrounded by a spiral staircase, leading to the second level of a restaurant.

There was an ice cream stand outside the gift shop.

But, I didn't want to spoil my appetite.

So, back to the restaurant, I went and ate a 3000 yen pizza !



Do It Yourself (DIY) Family Mart Pizza (Photos)

Pizza in a Matter of Seconds

Today was my first experiment with this kind of pizza.

There's a convenience store named Family Mart down the street from my office.

They have these places all over Japan.  I should do a photo essay on them someday.

People traveling need to know about all the things you can see and do in those stores.

But, right now, we're just going to look at my DIY project with the pizza.

 The gals in the store would have heated the pizza for me, but I wanted to try cooking myself.

Being in sort of a hurry (hungry) I just dragged a chair over to the door.

Then, set a tripod and camera up so I could shoot in natural light.

The directions required heating for 5 seconds, if you had a 1000W microwave.

Ten seconds, for a 500W microwave.

  My microwave is 700W.  Groan,

So, I did my best estimate and set the thing to about seven seconds.

It came out sort of warm and soggy.

But, I was hungry so, I ate it.

If you want to be a real Do-It-Yourselfer, you have to expect little things to go wrong.

That's why I made sure I bought an extra slice of pizza.

For pizza #2, I decided to crank the heat and time way-up.

Call it "Living outside the box" if you like.

How about 45 seconds on Hi heat, you little sucker !?

The second slice was so hot, I couldn't get it out of the oven without burning my hands.

Flip-flops came to the rescue. I don't know where I'd be without them.

You've probably never seen anyone using flip-flops for a serving tray.  Me neither 'til today.

By the time I got done taking photos everything was done sizzling and popping.

The pizza cooled-down and it was delicious.

The only thing I have to figure out now is another Do-it-yourself thingy.

Maybe someone reading this knows the answer.

How do you remove pizza burns from one of these chairs ? 



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