Otto's blog

Cool Cars in Ichinomiya #15

5月

29日

The last time I saw a Porsche 356 Speedster like this was a year ago, in Chita Peninsula. This one was a bit closer - outside an office just two streets away from my school.

I don`t know if it belongs to staff or a customer. If it`s staff, I can go & admire it sometimes on my lunch break. Maybe the owner will notice me & offer to take me for a drive in it!

Or maybe he`ll complain to the police.

Nice car!

#車

Eclipse

5月

21日

What a great place Ichinomiya is - cool cars, wacky [crazy] festivals, both Meitetsu AND JR train lines, The Bohme English Academy, and today... an eclipse! This area was an excellent place to watch the moon pass in front of the sun between about 7am & 8am this morning, and unlike other places in Japan, there were no clouds in the sky around here.

I bought special glasses in order to watch it. It was pretty amazing, and quite thought-provoking. As I watched, I thought about the sun & moon...
the universe...
life...
God...
breakfast...

Did you watch it? Did you stand in the garden in your pajamas, hoping the neighbours wouldn`t see you?

#ブログ

The Graduate

5月

18日

Last weekend I finally got round to watching the famous 1967 movie, The Graduate. I really liked it.

A young Dustin Hoffman
Simon & Garfunkel
A red Alfa Spider
Scenes full of retro
Pathos & humour
A bitter-sweet ending
These are a few of my favourite things!

I bought a used copy of the book by Charles Webb in Australia & brought it to Japan with me, but when I started reading it, I discovered it was missing some pages. I was quite disappointed.

So I can`t recommend the book yet, but I can recommend the movie.

#映画

Okinawa Souvenirs

5月

14日

These are some of the souvenirs I got in Okinawa:

(clockwise from left)
- chillis in Awamori alcohol
- a pineapple
- candy
- a lunchbox cloth
- `Shisa` lion-dog figures
- black sesame & salt seasoning

The pineapple was a gift from the landlady [ooyasan] of the cabin where we stayed. She is the owner of a pineapple farm. We ate a lot of pineapple while we were there...

#グルメ #旅行

Ishigaki Island Beachcombing

5月

13日

I really enjoy beachcombing - walking along the beach, looking for interesting things to collect.

Here are some of the things I picked up from the beach at Ishigaki Island. I found a lot of small cowrie shells, which I like. Unfortunately they`re quite sun-bleached (dry & white). Maybe one day I`ll try to polish them and make them shiny.

Do you like beachcombing? What do you like to pick up?

#アウトドア #旅行

Challenge!

5月

10日

While we were driving at night on Ishigaki Island, we saw an animal crossing the road. I was able to get out and take a photo before it escaped.

Can you guess what it was?

UPDATE: Answer is in comments

#動物 #旅行

Ishigaki Island, Okinawa (more pics)

5月

9日

Here are some more photos I took on Ishigaki Island:
- hibisicus flower
- butterfly (sorry, I don`t know what kind)
- palm nuts
- silver-eye bird
- Ishigaki Island beer

*click on the picture to enlarge

#動物 #旅行 #昆虫

Ishigaki Island, Okinawa

5月

7日

During the Golden Week holiday, my family & I visited Ishigaki Island, in Okinawa prefecture. It was the first time I had been to Okinawa.

Of course I went snorkelling & saw lots of colorful tropical fish. I also saw a stingray [レイ], a big brown moray eel [ウツボ], & a massive white sea cucumber [ﾅﾏｺ]. I have an underwater camera, so I spent a lot of time trying to take photos of fish (but not the moray eel - those things are scary. And not the sea cucumber -they`re kind of disgusting). It was fun, but tiring.

There were also a lot of nice butterflies - I saw at least 15 kinds of butterfly that I`d never seen before. There were also a lot of hermit crabs [yadokari]. They`re pretty funny.

#動物 #旅行 #昆虫