It`s getting hot now, isn`t it? What do you like to eat in hot weather? Shaved ice [kakigori], which many cafes & restaurants serve in summer, is pretty good. Mizumanju (a jelly-like traditional Japanese sweet) is also cool & tasty, & you can get it at most supermarkets. Even better though, is... mizumanju IN shaved ice!
However, there`s only one place I know that sells it...
"Owen, grab your hat - we`re going to Ogaki!"
"Ogaki? Yada..."
"...to eat mizumanju! In shaved ice!!!"
"Iku!"
Of course it tasted great, & from another shop we bought some more mizumanju which we ate in the park by the castle. Finally, we got some to take home too.
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...
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?
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
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
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.
On Sunday we visited the town of Ise, beside the famous Ise Shrine. It`s a nice place - there are lots of traditional-style shops & buildings, as you can see*. There is also a shop that I really like which sells woodblock prints [hanga] and woodblock print style postcards [ehagaki]. Other shops sell various kinds of traditional food, souvenirs & goods.
Unfortunately, on Sundays there are also a lot of people & cars - it took a long time to park our car!
If I go to Ise again, I`ll try to go on a weekday (Monday to Friday).
[*click on the image to enlarge]
When I was a kid I used to read American comics like Spiderman, Batman & Superman. Sometimes in those comics there were ads for a kind of snack called `Twinkies`. However they weren`t (& still aren`t) sold in Australia, so I was really curious about them. What were they? Were they tasty? They looked tasty!
Similarly, when Snoopy drank something called `Root Beer`, I was really curious about it. What was it? Was it tasty? If Snoopy drinks it, it must taste great!
Finally, after so many years, I got to try these two things in Hawaii. Twinkies are just small sponge cakes with cream inside, & actually we have `root beer` in Australia, but it`s called `sarsaparilla` - in the end I had tried it but didn`t know it.
Visiting Hawaii was very educational.
Not too far from Waikiki Beach is a place called Hanauma Bay. It`s an excellent place to go snorkelling - you can see all kinds of colourful tropical fish, and coral too. I had a great time taking photos of them with my underwater camera.
The beach is very scenic, isn`t it? So it has appeared in various TV shows and movies, such as `Blue Hawaii` in 1961, featuring Elvis Presley. I`ll look for it next time I`m at the DVD rental store!
Our hotel, The Imperial, was in a convenient position - a five minute walk to the beach, & five minutes the other way to shops & restaurants. We didn`t have a great view of the beach, but we had a bit of a view, & I was able to take these photos. It was interesting to see everything change colours as time passed. Also, we were in a great position to see the fireworks [hanabi] display (for APEC). Lucky!
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