Tsunami + earthquake, Japan

The recent tsunami + earthquake at magnitude of 8.8 that hit Japan is saddening. According to JapanToday (13/3/11), the combined number of people who have died or remain unaccounted are expected to exceed 1,800. Furthermore, 3 patients from Fukushima Prefecture were reported have been exposed to radiation as a result of damaged nuclear power plant (NHK World, 2011). All our prayers goes to the victims and their family members

Maiko_chan Mission II

Couple of months back, while enjoying the colours of autumn, I came across another maiko_chan. This time around was under the beautiful colours of momiji trees. Probably, I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time..

Heian shrine, Kyoto - Setsubun 2011

This was a scene during setsubun (~Lunar new year). In this tradition, the "oni" (demons) that have entered this shrine is being chased out by throwing beans. Later, the leftover beans were actually given to visitors to eat - it was alright. By the way, this pic was my attempt with Holga toy camera, hehe. For those who r interested in more info, there's an awesome video posted by someone by the name of RoninDave here

My bicycle taken away..Kyoto

While rushing to a specific location, I intentionally parked my bicycle in the no parking zone. Since Kyoto is a cycling city, they have strict rules and unfortunately my bicycle was taken away. Later, I found out that the authorities actually post the date.. when the rush will take place (I was not aware of this). According to a blogger, because of this a person must be either drunk, idiot or a foreigner (something like that) for their bicycle to be taken away... Well I guess I'm all three of it. So, the next day with I headed to the southern part of Kyoto to reclaim my bicycle. I paid the ¥2,300 fine and on my journay home, I took some pics. At least I could enjoy the beautiful view of Kyoto..

Maiko_chan Mission I

Couple of months back, I set-up a course to boldly go where everyone in Kyoto has gone before... to get a glimpse of maiko_chan. After wandering for a while, I finally managed to find a perfect spot together with what I think as a beautiful surrounding also. This maiko_chan was kind enough to pose for me.. thank you, thank you, ありがとうございます. It's like a dream come through!

Kyoto Winter, 2011

I personally had the thought of completely retiring from blogging.. but I don't know, I managed to find the motivation to push myself. Anyway, this year in Kyoto we witnessed the heaviest snow as far as I can recall during my stay here. A foreign friend told me that the last time it happened was 7 years ago, Wow!. The scenery was breathtaking, i'll give credit to that, but it was freaking cooooooooold!

Akarenga Sōko, Yokohama

Actually, sorry-sorry for not posting for few weeks. Today I'm going back to my story about Yokohama. Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (or 'Yokohama Akarenga Sōko') is another unique structure in this city. My first impression of this structure was.. it's an old but beautiful building which is now used as a shopping mall. Further investigation from the net showed that, it's actually a historic structure which was used as customs building (Wikipedia, 2009). Over the years, this building has gone through many restructuring/renovation caused by the Great Kantō earthquake, World War II and also because of its age

Nagoya Basho

Anyone who visits Japan definitely have a top ten list of things they would like to do or places they would like to visit in this country. Mine was; at least once I must watch the Grand Tournament of Sumo. I consider myself lucky cause 3 weeks ago I received an invitation from a friend (with an extra ticket hehe) to witness the 'Nagoya Basho'. I thought the experience was very interesting and whole visit was a memorable one. In this pic, (I think on the 9th day of tournament) Bulgarian 'ōzeki' Kotoōshū faced Estonian Baruto. I thought this was the toughest match..

Mitarashi Festival

A day after visiting Gion matsuri, I received a phone call from Zuru-chan asking me to go to 'leg washing festival' (Mitarashi festival). For a minute I was wandering, what in the world is 'leg washing festival'? Anyway, I gave it a go. It was held in Shimogamo Jinja, Kyoto. According to the shrine's website, it's a ritual to have a good health. I found this festival very unique and enjoyed every bit of it even though my pants were wet!!

Gion Matsuri

I've posted about Gion matsuri before here. This year, it is my second visit. Compared to last year, there was lil sunshine this year.. therefore my pic also looks better, hehe. At the corner to enter 'Oike dori' (Oike street), the 'boko' (float) took longer time to turn compared to last year, probably the people pulling the boko are getting old. However, this came in handy to our advantage as more photo shots could be taken. At one moment, there was a guy dangling the child from the inside of the boko. Is this part of the tradition? I missed this last year!

On Japanese TV, there's a special program (I think every Saturday evening) that showcase the life of a baby animal. This time around it was a baby 'anteater' and its mum. Previously they have shown about a cub, baby otter etc. Since I tune in very seldom, I think I missed most of it. Anyway, the baby anteater is kawaiii!

Yamashita Park, Yokohama

I didn't know the idiom 'to kill two birds with one stone' will actually be useful for birds. In this pic, the cable/rope that is used to tie this giant ship, actually serves as 'networking' ground for a group of birds, hehe. By the way, this is a another scene at Yamashita park

Yamashita Park, Yokohama

I always wanted to go to Yokohama and finally it became a reality. This picture was taken in Yamashita Park. It was a hot day but with a cold breeze flowing, I even managed to take a rest here lying on the bench

I do like photography a lot and from time to time I do it as a hobby.. not that I'm any good at it, it's just a form of appreciating nature, beauty, people etc. Recently this one pic (via wikipedia) really caught my attention and I was really amazed by it. It's about a 'bee carrying a pollen'. At first it looks like some sort of CGI, but its not. I can tell you this, it's nothing like my firefly pic! (The picture in this post is published under the GNU Free Documentation License which can be viewed here)

Hotaru

It's kind like a firefly (the insect) week here in Kyoto. Therefore, we set up a mission looking for 'Hotaru' (firefly) along the Philosopher's Walk. Turns out, the Hotaru in this famous path probably has vacated. It was an area nearby (surprisingly next to the main road) that still had a few Hotaru. I managed to take a few pics, but had problems finding where is the Hotaru?

Tsukiji Market, Tokyo

Finally, this world famous fish site was within my sight. The auction site is opened to the public only very early in the morning and the entire market is closed on certain days. So, it's better to check here before a visit (click on the calendar button, the red button indicates rest-day). In this particular pic, the tuna is being inspected from a cut intentionally being made on the tail section of the fish. Some of the pics I took was also lil scary.. 'a giant tuna without a head', I wouldn't dare to show it in my blog. Coinciding with the visit here, I heard a BBC documentary called Fish! A Japanese Obsession was shown in the UK. Apart from other stuff, Tsukiji market was also featured. The big focus here are reported to be 'blue fin tuna' because they are an increasingly rare and expensive commodity (Pomphrey, Huck magazine, 2009). For more pics, visit here

For some time now, I've been looking for a decent FLV joiner. Previously, I used an application called 'avidemux'. The problem with that application is that the sound was out of sync. Fortunately from a recent internet search, I came across an application called Andy's FLV joiner. It's super light weight and I hope it does the job effectively. Get it here

Lunch with marcus-kun the other day was in a restaurant known for their 'soba' (buckwheat noodles). Probably to attract foreigners, this restaurant even had a English menu. One thing on the menu that made me go eek! was fresh horse meat, what!. The other thing that caught my attention was that this restaurant actually show the video of how they make soba from buckwheat, omoshiroi!

I often see some filming/shooting goin on in this area. Due to the fact that I seldom watch Japanese TV, I can't tell whether this is for some terrestrial broadcast or it's the real deal (dorama or film). From the number of crew they had, maybe It's.. well I don't know. In this particular scene, one of the actress was rather strange, maybe the scene will be funny for the viewers

Sleepless in Internet cafe, Tokyo

..Actually I was sleeping pretty well, I just wanted to rhyme it with a movie title. I even enjoyed my stay here with streaming movies, TV, mattress+pillows, free soft drinks (hehe!) and they even had a shower. I managed to watch the movie 'Dark knight' and 'Elizabeth ..' on a fast forward basis. I couldn't complain more, this was my best option for a cheap accommodation in Tokyo. However, I recalled reading an article stating that about 5400 people with no fixed address spend their nights in 24h Internet cafes across Japan (Japan Times, 2007). According to the article, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry attributes the rise to the increase in job-hoppers who are I quote 'byproduct of the economic crisis that hit a decade ago'. This data was reported in 2007, I can't imagine what is the situation now with the recent economic crisis!