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.

Kurashiki Dam Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/vincentprice74/PFSInJapan?authkey=Gv1sRgCKOWjdOvvN6TEg&feat=embedwebsite#slideshow/5623159377066705650

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.