It took me awhile to process what was going on. When my brain caught up I turned around and said "Mommy" in scared voice and my mom lying on the couch said, rather loudly because she had earphones in "You feel that!" She took out her earphones and I stood up from my chair looking at the clock and then my mother. "Cool!" she said. "No mommy not cool. What do we do?" but both of us said nothing, mesmerized by the waving beneath us. Also, I was frozen with fear. Wondering what do. Just standing there.
After several seconds, the shaking faded but, came back with a boom like thunder. That's when my mother said: "Okay. That's a bad one." I'm pretty sure that's what made it a 6.9. That last bang. You know, I think the earth is mad at us. All these earthquakes, it's beating us up. We need to treat it better. Then again, the earth is alive so no earthquakes would be weird. However, we still need to treat it with more care.
Learning For Life!
09 November, 2011
Churaumi Aqaurium
As some of you may already know my Grandmother (my dad's mom, Grandma Carol) just came for a visit. She was our very first visitor here in Okinawa. And, we had loads of fun!
One of the places we went while she was here was the Churaumi Aquarium. It was all of the Price Kidz first time going to any aquarium.
The aquarium is a part of the Ocean Expo Park located in Motobu, Okinawa. The aquarium is made up of four floors, with tanks containing deep sea creatures, sharks, coral and tropical fish. The aquarium is set on 19,000 m² of land, with a total of 77 tanks containing 10,000 m³ of water. Water for the saltwater exhibits is pumped into the aquarium from a source 350m offshore, 24 hours a day (I got that from Wiki-pedia).
"Churaumi" means graceful or beautiful ocean. "Chura" (pronounced chew-rah") means graceful or beautiful and "umi" (oo-me) means ocean. It was so cool to see all the wild life there but, sad to see them not in there natural environment. I'm attaching a link to this entry for the slide show. We also got a new camera from Grandma Carol. So there will be plenty of pictures now!
Here is the link. I would suggest changing the seconds to 6. And change the zoom level on your computer to 100%.
https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/October282011#slideshow/5668376632144045602
One of the places we went while she was here was the Churaumi Aquarium. It was all of the Price Kidz first time going to any aquarium.
The aquarium is a part of the Ocean Expo Park located in Motobu, Okinawa. The aquarium is made up of four floors, with tanks containing deep sea creatures, sharks, coral and tropical fish. The aquarium is set on 19,000 m² of land, with a total of 77 tanks containing 10,000 m³ of water. Water for the saltwater exhibits is pumped into the aquarium from a source 350m offshore, 24 hours a day (I got that from Wiki-pedia).
"Churaumi" means graceful or beautiful ocean. "Chura" (pronounced chew-rah") means graceful or beautiful and "umi" (oo-me) means ocean. It was so cool to see all the wild life there but, sad to see them not in there natural environment. I'm attaching a link to this entry for the slide show. We also got a new camera from Grandma Carol. So there will be plenty of pictures now!
Here is the link. I would suggest changing the seconds to 6. And change the zoom level on your computer to 100%.
https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/October282011#slideshow/5668376632144045602
29 October, 2011
5K Run
A couple weeks ago my mom signed my father and I up for a 5K Back To School Run. When she signed us up there was nobody else signed up. So, we were definitely going. As some of you may already know; I used to run track. So running isn't new to me. But long distance is new, and I don't even like running. You can go head and imagine how I felt being woken up at 6:00 am to run...........(your imagination is flowing)............exactly.
Yet, I had to be positive about it because, well, I had no choice. So I ran every morning for a week until finally, came Saturday, August 13, 2011, (I guess it deserves that whole date) the day of the run. *DUN DUN DAAAAAAHHH* I have to admit I was nervous. I mean I had never ran a 5K before and my dad and I were barely trained for it. Plus, there was a whole bunch of people there. But, we signed in, stretched and were on are way. I thought I was doing pretty great until my calf's really started bothering me. And, soon enough I started walking. The route was pretty easy and mostly down-hill until there was a HUGE up-hill part. That was the hardest part of the whole entire run. However, I was proud of myself for not being the last person to cross the finish line. And I crossed it running. My time was also shorter than I expected too. It was 37 minutes and my dad's was 32 minutes. I think we did pretty good for not really training for it. And, I believe we'll be doing another one in October!
Yet, I had to be positive about it because, well, I had no choice. So I ran every morning for a week until finally, came Saturday, August 13, 2011, (I guess it deserves that whole date) the day of the run. *DUN DUN DAAAAAAHHH* I have to admit I was nervous. I mean I had never ran a 5K before and my dad and I were barely trained for it. Plus, there was a whole bunch of people there. But, we signed in, stretched and were on are way. I thought I was doing pretty great until my calf's really started bothering me. And, soon enough I started walking. The route was pretty easy and mostly down-hill until there was a HUGE up-hill part. That was the hardest part of the whole entire run. However, I was proud of myself for not being the last person to cross the finish line. And I crossed it running. My time was also shorter than I expected too. It was 37 minutes and my dad's was 32 minutes. I think we did pretty good for not really training for it. And, I believe we'll be doing another one in October!
14 August, 2011
Robot Exhibit
Have you ever wondered if the future many kids dream of is here? If the hover boards and flying cars made up in Back to the Future: Part 2, is really somewhere out there being approved? What if the future is here? What if right now there is an alien talking to the president? You never know. The world is a gigantic place, and so is the universe. All I know is that’s exactly how I felt last Saturday.
We drove and drove to a billion Lawsons, Family Marts, and even a CoCo. These are all convenience stores by the way. They have these red boxes where you can get (no, not movies) tickets for whatever event you. If you buy from those boxes instead of the actual event, you get a discount. We were trying to get a discount but of all the convenience stores we drove to, not a single one had any tickets for a robot exhibit. My dad had read about this exhibit in one of the newspapers on Kadena Air Base. He really wanted to take us. So, he ended up buying tickets at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum of Art. Long name, eh?
Walking in, we saw a whole bunch of life-sized replicas of famous robot characters from famous movies. One you might recognize, (if you’re like me and just love action movies) is The Terminator. That thing scared the heepitapajeebees out of me! If it were moving I would have ran out of that building.
As we continued walking around, we saw a bunch of little toys, action figures and posters of things like Astro Boy, Starwars, Transformers, and Alien. Plus, there were many more Japanese characters we didn’t know. It was truly robot heaven!
Once we got past all the still robots, we got to some real, live, moving ones. The first one we saw was a climbing robot. It was a silver-ish color that looked like aluminum foil. The next robot we saw was a little baby dinosaur called a Pleo. You can actually buy it. I knew a friend who had that one. The Pleo is a very life-like robot. Its movements are almost like a real animal. It even has “skin” on it to cover up all its wires and medal parts.
Next we saw some remote wired cars. Kemet got to drive one on a short obstacle course. Once Kemet hopped out of that super cool car, we then headed over to check out some robot floor cleaners! They were circular and had little bristles underneath them that sweep up all the dirt off of the floor. There was a floor sample to demonstrate the cleaning performance of the robots.
Finally, my FAVORITE robot was the ones that could play traditional musical instruments! There were three robots playing a traditional Okinawan song. This song must have been popular, because everyone was clapping and bobbing their heads to it! All and all this robot exhibit was the Bom!
Here is a short slide show for this entry: https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/August102011#slideshow/5639016823074559698
We drove and drove to a billion Lawsons, Family Marts, and even a CoCo. These are all convenience stores by the way. They have these red boxes where you can get (no, not movies) tickets for whatever event you. If you buy from those boxes instead of the actual event, you get a discount. We were trying to get a discount but of all the convenience stores we drove to, not a single one had any tickets for a robot exhibit. My dad had read about this exhibit in one of the newspapers on Kadena Air Base. He really wanted to take us. So, he ended up buying tickets at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum of Art. Long name, eh?
Walking in, we saw a whole bunch of life-sized replicas of famous robot characters from famous movies. One you might recognize, (if you’re like me and just love action movies) is The Terminator. That thing scared the heepitapajeebees out of me! If it were moving I would have ran out of that building.
As we continued walking around, we saw a bunch of little toys, action figures and posters of things like Astro Boy, Starwars, Transformers, and Alien. Plus, there were many more Japanese characters we didn’t know. It was truly robot heaven!
Once we got past all the still robots, we got to some real, live, moving ones. The first one we saw was a climbing robot. It was a silver-ish color that looked like aluminum foil. The next robot we saw was a little baby dinosaur called a Pleo. You can actually buy it. I knew a friend who had that one. The Pleo is a very life-like robot. Its movements are almost like a real animal. It even has “skin” on it to cover up all its wires and medal parts.
Next we saw some remote wired cars. Kemet got to drive one on a short obstacle course. Once Kemet hopped out of that super cool car, we then headed over to check out some robot floor cleaners! They were circular and had little bristles underneath them that sweep up all the dirt off of the floor. There was a floor sample to demonstrate the cleaning performance of the robots.
Finally, my FAVORITE robot was the ones that could play traditional musical instruments! There were three robots playing a traditional Okinawan song. This song must have been popular, because everyone was clapping and bobbing their heads to it! All and all this robot exhibit was the Bom!
Here is a short slide show for this entry: https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/August102011#slideshow/5639016823074559698
28 July, 2011
Beach Day 2
Yesterday, Sunday, we packed up for yet another trip to the beach. This beach deserves a blog entry. The beach we went to was a new one. It did not have a a net like the other beach. My dad thought it was the perfect spot to practice our snorkeling. Before we got in the water we played at the park. That park was awesome! It had all sorts of cool equipment like a merry-go-round thing that you have to pedal to get it to spin. They also had a bunch of ramps for skate boards and a basketball court. My dad and I did some basketball drills when we got there. Kemet and Tsehai played in the park. They had a back board with five hoops on it. Kemet said that it increases your chance of getting it in. I don't know how accurate that is because I missed all the shots I made on that.
After sweating it out we headed toward the beach. We walked around in the water for some time. When we got to big rock sticking up out of the water we saw something black that looked like a snake. "Kemet stick your face in and see what it is." Daddy said. "Okay." So Kemet stuck his face in to take a look. When he popped out of the water he said "I can't see anything." So Daddy tried and I tried but neither of us could see it. Of course we weren't gonna put our face right on it, we didn't know what it was. So Daddy told Kemet to stick it with a spare breathing tube we had. Kemet didn't want to so I said "Gimme this. I'll do it." When I stuck it, it slithered slowly into the rock. I freaked out and ran out of the water. We snorkeled a bit and got out of the water. After that, we walk on the rocks along the beach and went home. It was a fun-filled, crazy, interesting beach trip. Here are the pictures:
After sweating it out we headed toward the beach. We walked around in the water for some time. When we got to big rock sticking up out of the water we saw something black that looked like a snake. "Kemet stick your face in and see what it is." Daddy said. "Okay." So Kemet stuck his face in to take a look. When he popped out of the water he said "I can't see anything." So Daddy tried and I tried but neither of us could see it. Of course we weren't gonna put our face right on it, we didn't know what it was. So Daddy told Kemet to stick it with a spare breathing tube we had. Kemet didn't want to so I said "Gimme this. I'll do it." When I stuck it, it slithered slowly into the rock. I freaked out and ran out of the water. We snorkeled a bit and got out of the water. After that, we walk on the rocks along the beach and went home. It was a fun-filled, crazy, interesting beach trip. Here are the pictures:
Ryukyu Mura
I'm sure most of you know that Okinawa was originally it's own country. Japan attacked it and took over. Alot of elders like to consider Okinawa as Okinawa, not Japan. So, it's best to say "I'm going to Okinawa for a visit." Not "I'm going to Japan for a visit."
Okinawa was originally called Ryukyu kingdom. Their religion is not worshiping a god. Instead, their elders and ancestors. They are tombs of all shapes and sizes all around Okinawa. My favorite is the turtle tomb. Here is a picture of it:
Here is the slide show for this entry:
17 July, 2011
July 4th (sorry it took so long)
Let me just get something straight with you. We do not really celebrate July 4th. That doesn't mean we don't like our country or anything. Its just that we believe that Independence Day in 1776, was totally irrelevant to African Americans. Sure America, as a whole, gained it's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Yet, what about the African slaves? Where was their independence? However, someone from my dad's job was kind enough to invite us to their barbecue. So, we made a exception this fourth of July.
The barbecue was very nice. They had a wonderful selection of food there as well. They even grilled some Boca burgers for us. Mr. and Mrs. Viddict's house is made of concrete like ours. I think it is a Duplex as well. The house is set quietly by the beach. There is a sorta big wooded area in front of the house to protect them from strong Typhoon winds. You can still walk to the water from their house. They have a son named Aiden who Kemet likes to play with, too.
After the barbecue we all headed towards Maida Point. Maida Point is a super awesome snorkeling area. Unfortunately, we did not acquire the right shoes to go in the water. There were many sea urchins that would stick right through our water shoes. Kemet was lucky that though. He got to go in the mini blow-up boat they had and ride along (even though he could have swam cause someone lent us there snorkel set). Tsehai got into the boat, screamed a bit, and got out. In this slide show there are pictures of what I saw on the rocks I was sitting on. Kemet said he saw tako (pronounced ta-co which means octopus), and Nemo's and Dori's from the boat. However, he didn't see much either because he was too scared to get in the water. He told me he stuck his face in the water though.
Here is the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/MaidaPoint?authkey=Gv1sRgCKP5gqmHytrkjQE#slideshow/5630571090033487458
The barbecue was very nice. They had a wonderful selection of food there as well. They even grilled some Boca burgers for us. Mr. and Mrs. Viddict's house is made of concrete like ours. I think it is a Duplex as well. The house is set quietly by the beach. There is a sorta big wooded area in front of the house to protect them from strong Typhoon winds. You can still walk to the water from their house. They have a son named Aiden who Kemet likes to play with, too.
After the barbecue we all headed towards Maida Point. Maida Point is a super awesome snorkeling area. Unfortunately, we did not acquire the right shoes to go in the water. There were many sea urchins that would stick right through our water shoes. Kemet was lucky that though. He got to go in the mini blow-up boat they had and ride along (even though he could have swam cause someone lent us there snorkel set). Tsehai got into the boat, screamed a bit, and got out. In this slide show there are pictures of what I saw on the rocks I was sitting on. Kemet said he saw tako (pronounced ta-co which means octopus), and Nemo's and Dori's from the boat. However, he didn't see much either because he was too scared to get in the water. He told me he stuck his face in the water though.
Here is the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/MaidaPoint?authkey=Gv1sRgCKP5gqmHytrkjQE#slideshow/5630571090033487458
16 July, 2011
Links to the Peacful Love Rock Concert!
Click on the links below to learn more about the Peacful Love Rock Festival that me and mommy went to!
this is the link for the festival. just an overview.
http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=8780
this is a more detailed link for the festival which list all the bands and gives info on them all.
http://peaceful-love-rock.com/artist.html
this is the link for the festival. just an overview.
http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=8780
this is a more detailed link for the festival which list all the bands and gives info on them all.
http://peaceful-love-rock.com/artist.html
15 July, 2011
Peaceful Love & Rock Festival
"Sumimasen! Kippu?" I asked a clerk at Family Mart as I pointed to a advertisement in a magazine. What I was trying to ask was: "Do you have Peaceful Love & Rock tickets?". But not knowing how to say that I just said "Excuse me! Ticket?" and pointed to the ad for it.
As it turns out, the tickets were sold-out. So, I walked back home a little disappointed but understanding. My mom, however, was not so understanding. She wanted me to go to that concert no matter what. The concert was tomorrow and we didn't have tickets. So, frustrated, she drove all the way to Lawson to get some tickets. By the way, these are all convenience stores and they have red boxes you can get tickets from. When she came back she was looking solemn so I thought she couldn't find any. "That's okay." I had said. Then, she jumped up like someone had shot her with excitement and said, "Yeah, Baby!...Party Like a Rock Star...!" She had got the tickets!
The next morning I slept in. When I woke I had some breakfast. After that, Mommy and I got ready. While getting ready I cut a funky design on the back of my mom's shirt. When we got into the car she said, "Alright, let's Rock and Roll!"
We arrived at the concert fashionably late (as always). Found a nice patch of dirt to sit on and watched, as we let the music take us.
The concert was awesome! It was kinda like battle of the bands without the battle. Bands of all genres played out there. My favorite bands were an all boy band, an all girl band called Stereopony, and All Japan Goith. There was another band that I liked as well. I didn't like their music too much but their performance was enjoyable. Mind you, this was a Japanese festival. I didn't understand anything (as most bands were shouting, and I'm still learning the language!) they were saying. But All Japan Goith did play 'I Shot The Sheriff' so I understood that. The band with the most entertaining performance had a guy that looked like Jonah Hill from far away. Just not as big. He was a funny guy. At the end of their performance he jumped off the stage. He stayed there for some time, I thought he was injured. But then suddenly he jumped up and ran out of the park with some security guy chasing him. That was hilarious! We had an awesome time even though the rest of the the bands were kind of cheesy. I am forever grateful I got to go. That day, too, I will remember for the rest of my life.
As it turns out, the tickets were sold-out. So, I walked back home a little disappointed but understanding. My mom, however, was not so understanding. She wanted me to go to that concert no matter what. The concert was tomorrow and we didn't have tickets. So, frustrated, she drove all the way to Lawson to get some tickets. By the way, these are all convenience stores and they have red boxes you can get tickets from. When she came back she was looking solemn so I thought she couldn't find any. "That's okay." I had said. Then, she jumped up like someone had shot her with excitement and said, "Yeah, Baby!...Party Like a Rock Star...!" She had got the tickets!
The next morning I slept in. When I woke I had some breakfast. After that, Mommy and I got ready. While getting ready I cut a funky design on the back of my mom's shirt. When we got into the car she said, "Alright, let's Rock and Roll!"
We arrived at the concert fashionably late (as always). Found a nice patch of dirt to sit on and watched, as we let the music take us.
The concert was awesome! It was kinda like battle of the bands without the battle. Bands of all genres played out there. My favorite bands were an all boy band, an all girl band called Stereopony, and All Japan Goith. There was another band that I liked as well. I didn't like their music too much but their performance was enjoyable. Mind you, this was a Japanese festival. I didn't understand anything (as most bands were shouting, and I'm still learning the language!) they were saying. But All Japan Goith did play 'I Shot The Sheriff' so I understood that. The band with the most entertaining performance had a guy that looked like Jonah Hill from far away. Just not as big. He was a funny guy. At the end of their performance he jumped off the stage. He stayed there for some time, I thought he was injured. But then suddenly he jumped up and ran out of the park with some security guy chasing him. That was hilarious! We had an awesome time even though the rest of the the bands were kind of cheesy. I am forever grateful I got to go. That day, too, I will remember for the rest of my life.
11 July, 2011
Doctor Fish (Old Post RECOVERED!! from June 13, 2011)
Yesterday we went to American Village. It's the place where Okinwans can experience American “culture”. There is a bunch of American stuff there like movies (eiga pronounced e-gah), bowling alley, SEGA, beach, a mall, restaurants. They also have a huge Ferris wheel, that I’m not going on. Do you know China Town? Well, they also have an Indian version called Bollywood. Which is crazy a considering India is right next-door. I think I actually might check that out………………mmm……………….Yeah I’m going to check that out.
But any way getting to the reason I started this entry. We went inside one of the depots and walked around. All I knew was my dad was taking us somewhere and I was glad it was not the Ferris wheel. We walked around some little nick-knack stores with cool over-priced stuff. I thought, this couldn’t possibly be the surprise. And it wasn’t in fact we walked around a little more and BOOM we arrived at Doctor Fish. Now I still had no idea what to expect. So when my dad said okay we’re each going to get 5 minutes. I was blown away. A little cynical but I was excited. Then he said “Kemet you get 15 minutes”. Kemet started freaking out he didn’t want to do it at all. He was whining, “Can I have another treat?” But eventually he got in with us.
Pause. It just occurred to me you don’t know what Doctor Fish is. You see, they are these little fish that nibble at your dead skin cells quote: leaving your skin beautiful. It doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, it tickles. They are not really called doctor fish.
Play. “All right La-La you go first.” “What! No, you go.” So my dad went first. He put his feet over the tub/tank thingy and they started smarming. Jumping up at his feet lingering an inch over the water. When he put his feet in all the fish started nibbling. “Woo. It feels weird.” Just when I was about to say get a refund for me I put my feet in. That’s my method for when I’m scared. To tell you the truth it’s not something I would recommend for tender feet or something I like to feel all the live long day. It tickles but not only that its feels weird. If you focus on one spot and one fish you can feel it nibbling. But we had a great time and before you know it the 5 minutes were up. I think when I go back I’ll do 15 min and work my way up.
But any way getting to the reason I started this entry. We went inside one of the depots and walked around. All I knew was my dad was taking us somewhere and I was glad it was not the Ferris wheel. We walked around some little nick-knack stores with cool over-priced stuff. I thought, this couldn’t possibly be the surprise. And it wasn’t in fact we walked around a little more and BOOM we arrived at Doctor Fish. Now I still had no idea what to expect. So when my dad said okay we’re each going to get 5 minutes. I was blown away. A little cynical but I was excited. Then he said “Kemet you get 15 minutes”. Kemet started freaking out he didn’t want to do it at all. He was whining, “Can I have another treat?” But eventually he got in with us.
Pause. It just occurred to me you don’t know what Doctor Fish is. You see, they are these little fish that nibble at your dead skin cells quote: leaving your skin beautiful. It doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, it tickles. They are not really called doctor fish.
Play. “All right La-La you go first.” “What! No, you go.” So my dad went first. He put his feet over the tub/tank thingy and they started smarming. Jumping up at his feet lingering an inch over the water. When he put his feet in all the fish started nibbling. “Woo. It feels weird.” Just when I was about to say get a refund for me I put my feet in. That’s my method for when I’m scared. To tell you the truth it’s not something I would recommend for tender feet or something I like to feel all the live long day. It tickles but not only that its feels weird. If you focus on one spot and one fish you can feel it nibbling. But we had a great time and before you know it the 5 minutes were up. I think when I go back I’ll do 15 min and work my way up.
10 July, 2011
Blogging About School by Kemet Price
So, this is how it starts. My mom asked me if I wanted to go to school. I said sure. So, we took a long, hot walk to Okinawa City Hall. When we arrived we tried to sign up my two sisters. My big sister choose not to go because she wouldn’t be in the same school as me and she wouldn’t be with other kids her age, because she doesn’t know as much Japanese. My little sister couldn’t go because she still too young. She needs to be five years old to enter Japanese school. But she can start in April.
On my first day, I was very shy. Soon, I made friends and I felt more comfortable. They helped me with my work. They helped me figure out the lunch that was served, by translating to the teacher. The lunch was delicious. I loved the rice! The lunch was traditional Japanese style. They served us in our classroom. My friends told me what the bell means when we were playing outside. It means that it’s time to come in to class for the next period. After we play, we have last period. In last period we copy Japanese writing from the board and we do math too. After math the we listened to a song called Mani Mani Moni Moni after that our teacher got a puppet frog and we high fived its hand and went home. So that’s what I did in school.
![]()
On my first day, I was very shy. Soon, I made friends and I felt more comfortable. They helped me with my work. They helped me figure out the lunch that was served, by translating to the teacher. The lunch was delicious. I loved the rice! The lunch was traditional Japanese style. They served us in our classroom. My friends told me what the bell means when we were playing outside. It means that it’s time to come in to class for the next period. After we play, we have last period. In last period we copy Japanese writing from the board and we do math too. After math the we listened to a song called Mani Mani Moni Moni after that our teacher got a puppet frog and we high fived its hand and went home. So that’s what I did in school.
This is a picture of some of my school work.
05 July, 2011
Hiking
Last Sunday we went hiking up 'something' higher than us. I say 'something' because I didn't know what that 'something' was. We could not figure out if it was a mountain or a hill of some sort. In fact I still don't know what it is.
I have to say, this was not your average hiking trail. I'm beginning to question if it was a hiking trail at all. Perhaps a way grown by our very own, mother nature. A gift. No, it couldn't be. We have not been treating her well. Why would she give us gifts? Yes, this was a suuuuuuuper rough hiking trail, it had blue markers.
First of all we could not get our car up the daggone hill. We were literally burning rubber to get through that turn. Kemet was freaking out, man. I thought I saw a tear. Yet, who wouldn't be a little frightened by smoke coming from the side of a car. Some people driving by may be thinking "Awe they broke down. Whatever let's get home." Me, I've watched enough action movies to know that a car CAN blow up. Anyway, my dad decided to park the car on the side of the road and me and Kemet got out, in the rain. Tsehai, just waking up, stayed in the car with Daddy as he parked it, nice and dry for the moment.
The hike was looooooooooooooong. I was so busy looking at my feet it was hard to take in all the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. However, when I did look up, I was in awe. The natural beauty and energy here makes me want to sit right down and write a poem... Hmmm. Anyways, I slipped about two times during that trip. I soon found out that we were hiking to ' [The] Historical Yamada stone bridge' after reading the paper with instructions of how to get there. I have to say we didn't make it there because we didn't have enough water to go on. Besides, having se-se slowed us down a bit.
Sorry if this blog bores you. I feel as if people these days don't always need good writing, just pictures to prove an event happened. I can tell you my writing is sincere and proof enough. But I will make a better effort to take and paste pictures to the entries.
Here is the link to another slideshow: https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/Hiking?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOb7YiWmbDBfw#slideshow/5624620618519013282
I have to say, this was not your average hiking trail. I'm beginning to question if it was a hiking trail at all. Perhaps a way grown by our very own, mother nature. A gift. No, it couldn't be. We have not been treating her well. Why would she give us gifts? Yes, this was a suuuuuuuper rough hiking trail, it had blue markers.
First of all we could not get our car up the daggone hill. We were literally burning rubber to get through that turn. Kemet was freaking out, man. I thought I saw a tear. Yet, who wouldn't be a little frightened by smoke coming from the side of a car. Some people driving by may be thinking "Awe they broke down. Whatever let's get home." Me, I've watched enough action movies to know that a car CAN blow up. Anyway, my dad decided to park the car on the side of the road and me and Kemet got out, in the rain. Tsehai, just waking up, stayed in the car with Daddy as he parked it, nice and dry for the moment.
The hike was looooooooooooooong. I was so busy looking at my feet it was hard to take in all the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. However, when I did look up, I was in awe. The natural beauty and energy here makes me want to sit right down and write a poem... Hmmm. Anyways, I slipped about two times during that trip. I soon found out that we were hiking to ' [The] Historical Yamada stone bridge' after reading the paper with instructions of how to get there. I have to say we didn't make it there because we didn't have enough water to go on. Besides, having se-se slowed us down a bit.
Sorry if this blog bores you. I feel as if people these days don't always need good writing, just pictures to prove an event happened. I can tell you my writing is sincere and proof enough. But I will make a better effort to take and paste pictures to the entries.
Here is the link to another slideshow: https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/Hiking?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOb7YiWmbDBfw#slideshow/5624620618519013282
01 July, 2011
Caves (Old Post)
On Sunday we drove to the mountains. When we got there we drove up the mountain and we saw all the houses and crops and buildings. We seemed to be in the clouds because we where so high up we could see most of the island. After driving around and looking at the ocean and things, we went to a cave park. Pulling in I remember wondering what the world a cave park was. But after paying for the tickets the secret was revealed. We were going inside a cave! I have to admit I was crossed between scared, excited, and curious. I was thinking all the usual things: what if it collapses, what if we get stuck in there, what if the power goes out and we have to find our way back. I was thinking these things all through the traditional drumming performance. Which by the way was awesome! Unfortunately we did not have a camera, so when we got into the cave we could not capture the wonderful stalactites, stalagmites, bats, waterfalls and fish. We tried to use our phones but there wasn't enough light. I can tell you, however, it was the most beautiful thing I've seen so far. So beautiful because it's frightening but eloquent at the same time.
stalactites - (n) : a tapering structure hanging like an icicle from the roof of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water.
stalagmites - (n) : a mound or tapering column rising from the floor of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water and often uniting with a stalactite.
Definitions from google.
Japanese
Vowels:
A = (ah)
I = (ee)
U = (oo)
E = (bet)
O = (oe)
Greetings:
Ohaiyo (coe-knee-chee-wah) = Good Morning
Konnichiwa (coe-knee-chee-wah) = Good Afternoon/Hello
Konbanwa (cone-bahn-wah) = Good Evening
Oyasuminasai (oh-yah-sue me-nah-sigh) = Good Night
*I'm starting this because if your planning on visiting you'll need it. Of course you'll have to learn the symbols on your own. Almost everything is in Japanese here.
I accidentally deleted all of our old posts. I'm going to re post all the of the ones I typed on Word. Sorry, for the inconvenience.
Oyasuminasai (oh-yah-sue me-nah-sigh) = Good Night
*I'm starting this because if your planning on visiting you'll need it. Of course you'll have to learn the symbols on your own. Almost everything is in Japanese here.
I accidentally deleted all of our old posts. I'm going to re post all the of the ones I typed on Word. Sorry, for the inconvenience.
28 June, 2011
Kurashiki Dam Slideshow
https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/PFSInJapan?authkey=Gv1sRgCKOWjdOvvN6TEg&feat=embedwebsite#slideshow/5623159377066705650
You might have to copy and paste this.
You might have to copy and paste this.
Kurashiki Dam
“I don’t know . . .”
“Oh come on Elon.”
Kurashiki Dam is located near Gate #3 of Kadena Air Base. To get there you have to pass Western World, Southeast Botanical Gardens, and a fairly big, fairly stinky land-fill of decomposing trash. At first glance, I thought the land-fill was a mountain being mined for coal. When we actually got next to it, it had what looked like plastic bags hanging off of it. In the pictures you can see its black in the inside.
You can see an aerial view of Kurashiki Dam here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Kurashiki_Dam_Japan.jpg
But the place we went to was a little play area. It had a big pond with a bunch of stones and big rocks. You can build your own dam; or it seemed that way with all the rocks. But unfortunately we didn’t take pictures of the little dams other people built or the one we decided to build at the last moment. However, we took pictures of other things this time. There were thousands of snails released by the mini waterfall, created by the damn. We were having soooo much fun. They even have a little museum with some things in English. It tells about the dam and what used to be there. We didn’t have time to take a good look, I did however take a skim through the info corner. Apparently a village was there before they built the dam. I can’t quite remember the name or if it was listed. But next time we go there I’ll blog about the history of the dam.
After a dip in the water, we enjoyed some sweet スイカ (watermelon). That is Japanese Katakana pronounced sue-ee-kah. We cleaned up the suika rinds and walked towards the bridge by the river. They’re were little tunnels under the bridge. Kemet was the one who thought of going under them first, though he was scared. So he told se-se to and se-se--being the bravest of them all--went first. She was praised by mommy, and Kemet coming from her lead, was praised as well. I was too scared, so I held back initially. In the end, I had my shining moment and went under the smallest tunnel first. Though technically speaking, it was the rock I threw across the 2 inch high water that actually went first. I was given a pretend trophy that was a yellow flower. I made my big dramatic speech and was on my way. We started building our dam after that. That was a really fun day. I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life. I’ll remember all my days here in Okinawa for the rest of my life.
“Oh come on Elon.”
Kurashiki Dam is located near Gate #3 of Kadena Air Base. To get there you have to pass Western World, Southeast Botanical Gardens, and a fairly big, fairly stinky land-fill of decomposing trash. At first glance, I thought the land-fill was a mountain being mined for coal. When we actually got next to it, it had what looked like plastic bags hanging off of it. In the pictures you can see its black in the inside.
You can see an aerial view of Kurashiki Dam here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Kurashiki_Dam_Japan.jpg
But the place we went to was a little play area. It had a big pond with a bunch of stones and big rocks. You can build your own dam; or it seemed that way with all the rocks. But unfortunately we didn’t take pictures of the little dams other people built or the one we decided to build at the last moment. However, we took pictures of other things this time. There were thousands of snails released by the mini waterfall, created by the damn. We were having soooo much fun. They even have a little museum with some things in English. It tells about the dam and what used to be there. We didn’t have time to take a good look, I did however take a skim through the info corner. Apparently a village was there before they built the dam. I can’t quite remember the name or if it was listed. But next time we go there I’ll blog about the history of the dam.
After a dip in the water, we enjoyed some sweet スイカ (watermelon). That is Japanese Katakana pronounced sue-ee-kah. We cleaned up the suika rinds and walked towards the bridge by the river. They’re were little tunnels under the bridge. Kemet was the one who thought of going under them first, though he was scared. So he told se-se to and se-se--being the bravest of them all--went first. She was praised by mommy, and Kemet coming from her lead, was praised as well. I was too scared, so I held back initially. In the end, I had my shining moment and went under the smallest tunnel first. Though technically speaking, it was the rock I threw across the 2 inch high water that actually went first. I was given a pretend trophy that was a yellow flower. I made my big dramatic speech and was on my way. We started building our dam after that. That was a really fun day. I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life. I’ll remember all my days here in Okinawa for the rest of my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)