Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Pet Store

We have recently added a new reptile member to our family, our bearded dragon Pascal. He and Tilly have many things in common: they both sleep a lot, like warm spots, and enjoy eating bugs. In Pascal's case he actually needs insects as the protein in his diet. As a result I make the long trip to the closest pet store, Petbox, at least once a week for fresh crickets. I have noticed some differences between the large pet store chain in Okinawa and the ones back home.

First of all, however, I need to stand on my soapbox. Petbox does offer dogs for sale, which seems ridiculous in Okinawa where there is a huge population of stray or abandoned dogs and cats. The shelters here are high-kill, and some people will turn in their animals anyway if they are no longer wanted. My kitty was a rescue, and I would highly encourage anyone in Okinawa to save a dog from the shelter instead of purchasing one that was bred for a pet store. You can adopt, foster, or donate to Okinawan animals through Doggies Inc at http://www.doggiesinc.org.

There are also birds, reptiles, rodents, and fish for sale in addition to all of the necessary supplies. We found Pascal at a small, specialty beetle and reptile store where they had raised him to maturity. Petbox only sells baby reptiles which are much harder to care for, but they do sell live crickets in different sizes. The salespeople know who I am now and ask "Crickets?" whenever I enter the reptile section. "Hai!" They count out twenty for me from the huge bin swarming with crickets, and I have time to wander around and look at all of the neat Japanese products.

Would your pet like some dead, whole fish for a treat?

The cutest animated animal advertising ever!

THE CUTEST!

Tiny screens play advertisements for certain brands of kitty litter. 

Tropical fish for sale: where else can you buy a sting ray and/or an eel!

I hate the drive and probably being known as the "cricket girl," but that is one happy reptile! 


Sunday, March 22, 2015

Friday, March 6, 2015

The Last Blossoms

The cherry blossom season in Japan is celebrated with parades and festivals and teaming crowds around popular viewing spots. I traveled to Nago Castle Park, a popular site for cherry blossom viewing, with my neighbors Alex and Eric the weekend after the festival and parade. We managed to avoid the crowd but also the majority of the cherry blossoms. The trees were more green new leaves than hot pink flowers, but we still explored the ruins and snapped pictures of the blossoms we could find.


The castle is no longer in existence, but you can take the stairs that lead to the top of the hill where a tiny temple overlooks the ocean. Alex led me through how to pray at a temple. Usually you wash your hands and mouth with water first, but since this temple was teeny tiny there was no water available. You give your offering of coins into the box before calling the attention of the spirits. You usually clap your hands twice, but at this site there was a bell to ring instead. You then bow your head and fold your hands in order to pray. I was so happy to have a friend there to make sure I did not do something terribly wrong or rude!


We saw folded paper tied into the trees and determined they were fortunes! I wanted my fortune too! I used the fortune gumball machine that drops a slip of paper in a plastic circle for only 100 yen ($1). Then of course I realized I could not read my fortune. I am still going to try to get it translated, so I will let you know when I know what will happen. I then tied my slip of paper on a string with a line of others.


Does anybody want to translate for me?




It was a beautiful, clear day that I got to spend with friends. Even if we missed most of the blossoms, we managed to photograph a few and get our exercise in after climbing hundreds of ancient stairs!