Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Nakamura House
We've lived on Okinawa for a year and a half and I've driven by the Nakamura house a good dozen times. Heck, it's only 5 minutes from my work and we've never made the time to visit. Well, we finally got off our behinds and decided to see what all the fuss was about this old Okinawan landmark. When we first arrived on island, we actually meet a girl whose family lived in the Nakamura house back in the day.
There isn't a whole lot to see and you can tour the whole structure within 30 minutes. But it was cool to see how the "old" Okinawans lived and how a traditional house was set up. Anyhow, for more info here's a website:
http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~knaka/english/
Here's a few pictures of our visit:
Roof of the Nakamura House
Entry into the Nakamura House
Me and Kelly posing by her "most favorite" Shisa
Artsy Farsty Picture of a Pot
Shisa Guarding the Entrance to the House
Roof of the House
There isn't a whole lot to see and you can tour the whole structure within 30 minutes. But it was cool to see how the "old" Okinawans lived and how a traditional house was set up. Anyhow, for more info here's a website:
http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~knaka/english/
Here's a few pictures of our visit:
Roof of the Nakamura House
Entry into the Nakamura House
Me and Kelly posing by her "most favorite" Shisa
Artsy Farsty Picture of a Pot
Building and old Well Pulley
Shisa Guarding the Entrance to the House
Roof of the HouseShisa on the Roof
Joe
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Comprehensive Park
We have a park here in Okinawa called Comprehensive Park. Despite the promise of a wide range of park activities that its name suggests, Joe and I have never felt compelled to visit. Until yesterday.
Why oh why did we wait a year and a half to visit this wonderful place? It's got a full-on water park, with slides and pools and a view of the ocean. (Unfortunately, according to the sign, the admittance of tattoed people is verboten. Sorry Joe!)
There are walking paths, a couple of running tracks, a weight room, and dance classes. There are ponds where you can buy boxes of fish food to toss into the mouths of the most desperate carp I have ever seen. (Feeding fish is, bar none, Joe's all-time favorite park activity. But seriously, the Japanese park carp are worse than pigeons in their frenzy for food. There were one or two of them yesterday that I thought were gonna jump out of the water and bite my hand off.)
There are tennis courts, camp grounds, a bicycle race track,and playgrounds. You can rent bicycles there. If you are feeling really ambitious, I suppose you could even ride a unicycle. I saw not one, not two, but THREE little kids teetering around (successfully!)on unicycles. Crazy.
I didn't see a cafe, nor a zoo. A few months ago, Joe and I met a man married to the designer of the park (he was an asssistant designer). Maybe we should complain to him. Nahhh...the place was awesome. Besides, in our couple hours there we didn't even see the whole thing. Who knows what else other kinds of excitement Comprehensive Park holds in store!
Why oh why did we wait a year and a half to visit this wonderful place? It's got a full-on water park, with slides and pools and a view of the ocean. (Unfortunately, according to the sign, the admittance of tattoed people is verboten. Sorry Joe!)
There are walking paths, a couple of running tracks, a weight room, and dance classes. There are ponds where you can buy boxes of fish food to toss into the mouths of the most desperate carp I have ever seen. (Feeding fish is, bar none, Joe's all-time favorite park activity. But seriously, the Japanese park carp are worse than pigeons in their frenzy for food. There were one or two of them yesterday that I thought were gonna jump out of the water and bite my hand off.)
There are tennis courts, camp grounds, a bicycle race track,and playgrounds. You can rent bicycles there. If you are feeling really ambitious, I suppose you could even ride a unicycle. I saw not one, not two, but THREE little kids teetering around (successfully!)on unicycles. Crazy.
I didn't see a cafe, nor a zoo. A few months ago, Joe and I met a man married to the designer of the park (he was an asssistant designer). Maybe we should complain to him. Nahhh...the place was awesome. Besides, in our couple hours there we didn't even see the whole thing. Who knows what else other kinds of excitement Comprehensive Park holds in store!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Advice?
How do you keep a bird from roosting on your side-view mirror? The daily avalanches of poop on the mirror, window, and side of my car is becoming much...too...much.
(A mini scarecrow perhaps?)
Any advice is welcomed.
-Kelly
(A mini scarecrow perhaps?)
Any advice is welcomed.
-Kelly
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The Girl in the Cafe, a review
I just saw this wonderful movie called, "The Girl in the Cafe". It's about a "dedicated civil servant" who meets a woman in a cafe and invites her to join him at the G8 conference in Iceland. And then you learn some stuff about global issues.
It sounds like an absolute snoozer. But, it's sweet and tender in the vein of Lost in Translation or Love Actually. And it stars Bill Nighy, the guy who played Love Actually's aging rocker.
So, just so you know for your next Netflix order/video store. (If you see it, let me know what you think!)
It sounds like an absolute snoozer. But, it's sweet and tender in the vein of Lost in Translation or Love Actually. And it stars Bill Nighy, the guy who played Love Actually's aging rocker.
So, just so you know for your next Netflix order/video store. (If you see it, let me know what you think!)
