Jiufen and Keelung.

 Some weeks ago Jason and I went to Jiufen on his scooter. We didn't plan to go to Keelung but because I didn't turn where I was supposed to we ended up in Keelung. 

Now.. in Keelung they had a big festival due to a big yellow duck from the Netherlands.

If I have understood the story right there was an artist in the Netherlands who made a huge rubber ducky. He sent it to sail the 7 seas and so it did. No one knew where it had gone to until the day it was sighted outside of the coast of Taiwan. 

Now it was in Keelung.

Jason and I took the opportunity to see it. We also went on a really crappy 5D ride. 

 The duck was quite big.

And here is some proof that I did see it.

Here is an artistic take on the duck.

And some more photos while we are at it.

When we had all the photos we needed we continued to Jiufen. 

For the ones who have seen "Spirited away"

Jiufen is the place that was the inspiration for that movie.

Below is the trailer for the movie.

And this is the real thing. 

Here it is by day. A small part of it at least.

I was this bird there. 

Because I had heard that Jiufen is supposed to be seen at night we killed some time at a coffee place.

I took these two photos of Jason there.

Because we didn't want to spend the whole day at that coffee shop we went to an old theatre that now was a museum.

Eventually night time came and we could make for the streets to see it Jiufen by night.

And here is the 

"Been there  Done that" - photo.

And it was quite beautiful by night.

If ever you are in Taiwan. 

Go check it out.

Stay awake

Love Ove

Okinawa - the final post

This is the Chinese character for dragon. 

Because of history Chinese and Japanese share allot of characters. I do believe that it means dragon in Japanese as well but I don't know if it does. 

I saw many interesting things in Naha City. This store was one of them. 

How many characters do you recognize? 

This crab is dead. ... But its still beautiful.

This beach on the other hand is not that beautiful. Still its a beach and I would probably spend allot of time here if I lived in Naha. 

Here is a house with a Japanese style gate next to it. 

And a statue. I took this photo to show my brother Ricky. :) 

Street lights can be art too :) 

This is me the first evening. Tired and happy. 

A flower of some kind.

And a bird. 

And a tree. 

And a cat. This photo I took to show Jason. He likes small cute animals. :) 

This is a casino that I biked past one day when I biked from one side of the island and then back again.

The whole building was light PINK with flashing lights. 

Two cats.

And a turtle. I like turtles as long as they are not my pets. And why... Do you know how long they live? 

A dove. Or at least the head of one.

Flowers hanging down from a tree growing in the Chinese garden in Naha City.

7

This was also found in the Chinese garden.

And here is a photo of ME in the Chinese Garden.

I highly recommend you to go there if ever you go to Naha City.

This is where I ate my last Japanese dinner. I didn't know what it was I ordered. I made a hand movement imitation a fish swimming and they gave me something that looked like a fish. It turned out to be eel.

Not so tasty. And if I had known that it was eel when I ordered it then I wouldn't have bought it since there are not that many eels in the ocean anymore.

And here is the last thing I ate in Okinawa. A dessert for TWO. :) 

Well... that was the last report from Okinawa this time around.

Stay awake and if you want to make a difference in the world while sitting in front of your computer please check this place out.
Avaaz - Global organization for change.

Stay awake. 

Love Ove 

Shuri Castle - Hana City - Okinawa - Japan

Hana City in Okinawa has a very long history. It used to be the center of the Ryukyu kingdom. When it was founded differs from source to source but sometime around 14th or 15th century should be about right. 

Here is a model of what it looked like around the 18th century. 

Walking the road up to the castle you passed a whole bunch of gates. 

The castle was surrounded by a couple of wide walls. 

Shuri Castle is still being resturated after it was totally blown to pieces during the battle of Okinawa in the end of World War II

Due to its historical value it it a world heritage site and Japanese high school students can be seen all over the place.

Stepping through the gate...

There were probably some more guards way back then... 

And after one gate...

there was another gate.

Only two more gates. 

But in the end you came to this... 

Imagine that you are standing in the middle of the square then you would see the left building on your left. The building straight forward would be in front of you... and so on.

The reason two buildings are painted and one isn't is because one hasn't been painted yet. Its because the two painted buildings were inspired by Chinese culture and the gray one by Japanese culture.

This is how they measured time. To make it more accurate they also used a devise with running water. They didn't have that thing now though.

On the Chinese inspired buildings you could find dragons...

In one of the buildings there was a model of what it was like when the king celebrated stuff. 

All the people in the square were important people in the Ryukyu kingdom. The more important they were the closer to the castle they were.

At some point in time the Ryukyu king acknowledged the Chinese emperor as his superior and after that whenever there was a succession of kings in the kingdom there was a representative of the Chinese emperor who bestowed the title upon the new king. 

I was lucky to visit a day when they had a free show

It was a show of ... plip.. plop... plip... plop.... Kind of.... 

But it was great :) 

Here is what the kings throne looked like.

And this is what his crown looked like.

And this was what his garden looked like. It is said that his guests where particularly impressed by this part of his castle.

And now the "been there and done that" - photo.

If ever your journey takes you to Okinawa.. 

You have to go see this place.

Well everybody. 

Stay awake. 

Monsanto is out to steal your right to plant the seeds you want to plant.

Don't let them do it.

Love Ove.