The beach was beautiful with clean white sand and artful rock formations. The rope and balls enclosed a safe swimming area.
Sunrise from our balcony.
A panoramic photo of three views.
Looking up at our hotel from the beach.
Colorful kayaks.
Another panoramic shot of three views.
Jizo. Taken at a local Buddhist Temple.
Double exposure of Jizo.
Vending machine at dusk. The photo was taken on the bulb mode which allows one to hold the shutter open for a longer exposure.
Cars under plastic.
Double exposure. Figures of Jizo taken at Zojo-ji the Tokugawa family temple.
Bulb mode run on photo of shops and computer screen.
Bulb mode photo of women eating lunch in the seats at the quilt show at the Tokyo Dome. I ate there too. It was very nice to be able to sit, eat and rest before walking around more of this very large quilt show.
Wow, winter is the time to visit the Daibutsu as there were very few people visiting that day. Other seasons no matter what day of the week the place is usually full of people.
Gray Daibutsu with the browns of winter in the background.
The colorful offerings really stood out on this winter day.
A closer view.
More gray Buddha against a brown landscape. He's not tall for a buddha (13.35 meters/42.8 feet) and I admit that I was not bowled over on my initial visit. However his serentiy and his weathered look from years in the outdoors have grown on me on subsequent visits. A trip to Japan isn't complete without a vist.
A figure of Jizo on the temple grounds.
The Daibutsu from the back. You can climb inside for a nominal fee. It was beginning to get dark (and colder) as the sky clouded over so I said so long to the Daibutsu and I'll visit you on my next trip.
At the Tokyo Dome.
I turned around when I'd reached the exhibition floor and was amazed at the number of women pouring into the show.
So many quilts and attendees taking photos of them. I did check with the staff when I arrived who said photographs were allowed except for the antique quilts.
A featured guest artist's entry. Wow!
A cool looking older woman who was selling handmade clothes and fabrics. There were many vendors selling fabric, quilting accessories, clothing, kits, beads, buttons and even bottled wine.
Love the design and colors in this quilt. There were so many people I quickly gave up trying to take photos without people in them.
Colorful small quilt. The smaller wall quilts or wallhangings were framed.
One of my favorites of the small quilts. The smaller quilts were easier to photograph as the day I attended there weren't the crowds in front of them that the larger quilts attracted. My personal preference is for the small quilts which are often original designs rather than traditional quilt patterns seen in many larger quilts.
I must admit I was attracted to quilts with Japanese themes.
Another favorite.
Closer view.
A booth with lots of pink things for sale.
A handsome full size quilt.
Beautiful applique quilt.
Exhibit by another featured quilter, Kathy Nakajima. She also was a vendor at the show and each time I went past her booth there was a long line of people waiting for her to sign her quilt books.
A small landscape.
Lots of people.
A varation on what is known in the US as a log cabin design. The log cabin is one of my favorites.
No, not another quilt. But I think these panels that cover the top of Tokyo Dome would make a great quilt design.
A poster from the blog of the Ashibiuna Restaurant. This Japanese language blog contains many photos of the delicious food served at the restaurant. Scroll to the bottom of the blog, click on the numbers and have a look.
According to the sign in front the restaurant the building had been a high ranking family residence in the Ryukyu Kingdom.
We sat on an outside porch which overlooked a zen style garden. Notice the raked gravel. Also the colored chop sticks which we'd seen in other restaurants in Okinawa.
We all ordered a different lunch special. Okinawa Soba Noodle in this photo.
As we ate we spotted an elephant and pig among the rocks and greenery. I wondered what folk tales there are in Okinawa about these animals.
The menu read, "Original Squid-ink Yakisoba". I had a bite of it and it was tasty.
And "Stir fry of Tofu". The food was very good as was the company. To me it was a perfect place and lunch for our last day together.
Is that a deer peeking its head out of the bushes.
The flower bed at the bottom of the photo was designed to look like a pair of shisa, the traditional lion/dog guardians found everywhere in Okinawa. There was a rock band playing under the white awning and notice a shark made of flowers to the right.
Lots of sea creatures to look at too.
We weren't the only ones taking photos of this delightful flower festival.
What a silly but fun looking crab.
A smiley flower crab welcomes us to the Ocean Expo Park.
We noticed the flowers on the columns were in pots wired to the posts.
And guess who this is? It's Puppet Ponyo enjoying herself on her vacation with us. Please visit ytsl's blog for more of her and our adventures.
Where did puppet Ponyo go? We're heading to the Aquarium now..... Stayed tuned for more of our adventures in Okinawa
