Travel Photo: Not the Stairway to Heaven

Location: Okukubi River, Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date: NOV 6, 2014    Time: 5:05PM

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Sigma 50-500 at 270mm

Exposure: f/11   1/13sec   ISO 100

Does Anyone Miss the Dog Days of Summer ?

Me Neither !

 

 

 

Cockroach: The Beginning of a Terrific Day

It Doesn't Take Much to Make Me Happy

 

 

Things were looking grim this morning.

The message, I got from Doc, said he would be a little bit late, for our camera shoot.

So, I decided to do some chores around the office.

When the trash was taken out for the truck that comes around, I spotted this out front.

A DEAD COCKROACH

Yahoo !  I've been needing a cockroach for weeks.

And, here's the kind, I prefer.  It's dead but, not squished.

Careful not to touch it, I got it in the office and took some natural light shots.

Then, the remains were (respectfully) deposited in the trash.

Now, I don't have to go looking for cockroaches, dead or alive, anymore.

Before 10AM, Doc and I were at the Kin Dam, shooting birds.

November, has to be one of the best months of the year, for being outdoors in Okinawa.

The mornings and evenings are cool and, the sun feels great; warm but, not scorching hot.

Before noon, we wound up at the 21st Century Forest in Nago.

And, spotted this lone duck, swimming among water lilies.

We don't usually make travel plans on our weekly camera shooting day.

Just look at the sky and try to predict the weather, then follow our five senses.

Does that make any sense, to you ?

Every once in awhile, something like this, shows up in front of our lenses.

It's a statue of a young girl, holding pigeons.

There has to be a story behind this scene so, I shot it, while a cloud passed overhead.

No camera shooting day would be complete without getting sand between our toes.

So, we headed over to Kouri-jima and, discovered lots of tourists.

They were all visiting the beach to see a special rock.

This is something that, I saw on Japanese TV over the past week.

People are flocking, probably, by the thousands to see this.

They call it the Heart Rock.

Hah !  It looks like a big slingshot, to me.

Maybe, my imagination got all used up, somewhere along the way.

But, if it draws travelers and tourists, I guess it's a good thing.

Heart Rock T-shirts, Heart Rock Cafe ?

Think of the possibilities.

Doing what we call, Island Hopping, can make a person hungry.

When we got back to Nago City, Blue Seal Ice Cream, seemed like a good place to visit.

They had a character in there, that looked older than me.

It never dawned on me before, that they served pasta in an ice cream parlor.

Chicken spaghetti and New York Cheesecake Ice Cream, what a lunch.

While we were there, I shot some photos for a TripAdvisor review.

And, I checked the place out closely.

No cockroaches.

A Stick Bug Still Shot and a GIF

Also Known As Walking Sticks

 

 

They probably have a Latin name for these bugs, too.

After I discovered there are hundreds of different insects like this, I'll settle for stick bug.

Here is what the rascal looked like on the walkway at Kin Dam.

When it first landed, it was in some tall grass.

Maybe, I spooked it when I lowered my tripod to get closer.

It took another short flight and landed in the grass again.

So, I lowered the tripod legs all the way down and, sat on the ground.

 There are some interesting things about these critters, you may want to know.

No 1.  They won't bite you.

No 2.  Females, don't need males, to help them make babies. 

No 3.  Stick bugs have the world record for being the longest bugs on earth.

For more information about these bugs, you should go see Debbie the Insect Expert.

She wrote, 10 Fascinating Facts About Stick Insects 

5 Motion GIF's from a Traditional Sailing Sabani Boat Race

An Annual Event in Itoman Okinawa

 

 

There must be some way, we can figure out how to publicize this event in adance.

It's good, clean fun and, no alcohol drinking or, bet making goes on, as far as I can know.

 There isn't a better way to spend a November day than this.

There was plenty of sunshine, fresh air, an ocean breeze and a good time was had by all.

One time, I went to that 5 star hotel, in the  background.

The people, at the front desk, were real polite.

But, when, I asked if they knew where the sabani races were, they didn't know.

They should probably, climb the stairs and, look out the windows, once in awhile.

 They have men and women, paddling and sailing those wooden boats.

Watching these boat races is more fun than, trying to view a marathon or, golf tournament.

When the wind blows, just right, the boats move real fast, without even paddling.

After they circle the designated buoys, they may be sailing into the wind.

That's when, people power and paddles, come in handy.

This is one of the highlights of a sabani get-together that, I think is important.

Everywhere they go, children and pets are welcome.

And, at any beach they use, a cleanup is held.

Don't you wish, you had sabani sailing people, come to a beach near your neck of the woods ?