EATING AT MT BATUR, BALI

Posted on April 3, 2013 by michaelweening

For the Mt. Batur part of our Bali trip we did not hike the volcano (another time), but we had lunch at the base. It is a beautiful sight.

The view from the restaurant.

Glad we didn’t hike it. We would have gotten soaked. A storm was on the way in.

The rain hit just was we stopped for fruit at this stand.

The colors were spectacular, even under a very grey and growing black sky.

If you are in Bali, make sure that you try all of the different fruits. Some will surprise you and you probably won’t see them again.

PLANNING TWO DAYS OF TOURING IN BALI

Posted on April 3, 2013 by michaelweening

It is hard to plan a trip to a country that you have never been to when you live in a country where no one speaks English. We asked questions, read reviews and researched through Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet .. with a final itinerary as follows …

We booked a car with Sila Tours (Highly recommended. They are not tour guides, but $55 a day for a new van and a driver is fantastic) and set out a rough goal of seeing these things:

Mt. Batur, the volcano.
Rice fields
Bird Sanctuary near Ubud
The Monkey Forest
A few temples, with Gung Kawi and the Water Palace being the two options
An Elephant reserve

This is more than we normally do as we definitely do not subscribe to the “as much as you can” philosophy. We like to do less, but really enjoy where we are. As most of these were nature trips, the learning/history element (which is time consuming) was not as big a factor.

Many people stay in Ubud, we stayed in Nusa Dua which meant driving through the traffic laden streets. In other countries that would be an issue, but not in Bali as the countryside is fascinating. I was enthralled looking out the window as we went from town to town. The people, the shops, the never ending temples on every street corner and at every house. Fascinating. I would have loved to spend more time wandering through small village streets.

My only mistake was that I should not have relied on the driver to help us order the trip over the 2 days that we toured as their sense of time and directions is a little deceiving. When I would ask “how far to the next place” I always got the answer “30 minutes”. 30 minutes later I would ask for an update and get “20 more minutes”.

If you are heading there, enjoy. Great place.

GETTING OUT TO SEE THE SAKURA, TOKYO

Posted on April 3, 2013 by michaelweening

This has been an odd winter. A couple weeks of warm weather meant that the trees began to blossom 2 weeks early. With our family heading to Bali for March break, we were essentially missing the season.

Plus the temperature has dropped again. But we did get out on Sunday to Yoyogi park in an attempt to see the blossoms before they are gone. Sure enough, the park was filled with young revellers enjoying a picnic and drink below the blossoms. A lot of revellers. A lot of drink. Shooting Canon 5D Mark III with my 28-70mm f/2.8.

They all looked cold. 🙂 I found the lighting difficult to shoot – it was so grey and gloomy.

Many were in unique outfits, which candidly, is not that unique in Tokyo .. and no longer very surprising. I liked the zombie theme.

This is much more traditional Japanese.

OK, this fellow was a little surprising.

These folks actually had a sign up that said “No photographs” in English. Sure, go out in public dressed like that at Yoyogi Park and demand no photographs .. isn’t going to happen. People were lined up.

Oh, almost forgot, the blossoms ….

As it is the end of the season, they fall and make a beautiful pink carpet.

I wish they were around a little longer. It was grey, overcast and 9C.

Beautiful. Thanks for dropping by.

SACRED MONKEY FOREST PT II, BALI

Posted on April 2, 2013 by michaelweening

The Sacred Monkey Forest in Bali is a truly amazing place, one of the most interesting that we have ever been at:

The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal is owned by the village of Padangtegal. Village members serve on the Sacred Monkey Forest’s governing council (The Padangtegal Wenara Wana Foundation). The Padangtegal Wenara Wana Foundation has historically strived to develop and implement management objectives that will both maintain the sacred integrity of the monkey forest and promote the monkey forest as a sacred site that is open to visitors from around the world.

The Sacred Monkey Forest is a series of paths that cut through the jungle, encompassing 3 temples and hundreds of macaques with staff spread on the paths selling bananas. A tourist mecca. There are many different reviews of this place, but my TripAdvisor review will give it 5 stars and call it out as one of the most unique places I have ever been. Yes, the monkeys can be ill-mannered – as this is the wild, with no control.

I loved shooting here, interacting with the long tail macaques. This little fellow kept my attention, when we first arrived. Same configuration, Canon 5D Mark III, and luckily I had my 70-200mm f/2.8.

He was just looking around … enjoying a banana.

And look at how white his teeth are. Really enjoying that banana.

Those eyes ….

I could have watched him all day. As you walk the path there are monkeys everywhere.

This fellow made me smile. He found a remote place to enjoy his banana, away from the rabble … away from prying hands.

If you looked closely, you would see mothers and their children.

There was a group of mothers sitting above us, on a log.

I wonder what this fellow was thinking?

It is a beautiful place with temples scattered across the grounds.

A special place.

SACRED MONKEY FOREST, BALI

Posted on April 1, 2013 by michaelweening

We pretty much missed the cherry blossoms in Tokyo as they are early this year and we were out of the country.

But it is worth it. A few photos from the Monkey Forest in Bali. Glad I put the 70-200m f/2.8 on the Canon 5D Mark III for this walking adventure.

A few close-ups. I was very close.

Just hanging out.

Very close.

They are cheeky little fellows.

NOT BLOGGING

Posted on March 26, 2013 by michaelweening

I won’t be blogging this week .. But left a few shots of things that caught my attention in Tokyo. Sorry, iPhone configuration as the 5D was not with me.

This is how you fill 5 pots with herbs on your terrace when you own a mini in Tokyo. My SUV is back in Canada ….

This is a 3 colour bush beside an embassy in Tokyo. Some quality grafting.

I love the flower stalls in Tokyo. Spring has sprung, the streets are alive with colour.

Not sure why they wrote this in English on this Tokyo window, but I agree … “Peace”.

A bus parked outside an office building in Tokyo .. I don’t know why it is in English? (smile) It was a very “Japanese” neighbourhood. Traveling stomach x-rays anyone?

I was at a meeting at Canon and WISH I would have had my 5D to take some shots. Loved their old camera display .. Great cameras.

Last shot. No one in Japan wears bike helmets. The most amazing thing? Gaijin (like the guy in the middle) have adopted a “if you can’t beat them join ’em” attitude abandoning the helmet.

Just amazing that you see everyone wearing helmets in North America and then they come here and stop. (Insert shaking head in bewilderment). The irony? He had a face mask on.

Thanks for stopping by. Posts resume Monday.

SHRINES, TOKYO

Posted on March 25, 2013 by michaelweening

There are shrines everywhere in Tokyo. What I didn’t know is that many of them are family run, generations and generations.

Near us is a shrine with a wall around it. I have not gone in yet, and when I walked by on Equinox day it seemed closed (which is odd). I did hear drumming. I had to get going, and will return, but I snapped a few photos (usual configuration shooting handheld HDR). It looks like an interesting place for future exploration.

Love the flowering bushes in Tokyo.

The not yet “awoken” contrasted by the blooming.

The view over the fence.

In contrast to a hazy white sky.

Warrants more exploration.

EQUINOX DAY, TOKYO

Posted on March 22, 2013 by michaelweening

It was Vernal Equinox Day on Wednesday this week.

Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日 Shunbun no Hi^?) is a public holiday in Japan that occurs on the date of the Northward equinox in Japan Standard Time (the vernal equinox can occur on different dates in different timezones), usually March 20 or 21. The date of the holiday is not officially declared until February of the previous year, due to the need for recent astronomical measurements.

Vernal Equinox Day became a public holiday in 1948. Prior to that it was the date of Shunki kōreisai ( 春季皇霊祭^?), an event relating to Shintoism. Like other Japanese holidays, this holiday was repackaged as a non-religious holiday for the sake of separation of religion and state in Japan’s postwar constitution.

Even though it is a non-religious holiday, many people visit their ancestor’s graves. I walked past a cemetery near our apartment that I wanted to visit .. and clicked off a few photos using my Canon 5D Mark III and my go-to lens: Canon 28-70mm f/2.8.

Pink peeking out behind the red.

The bell at the cemetery. People would walk up randomly and hit the bell, followed by a bow of respect.

A mix of very old, and very new graves.

Of course, people leave behind flowers.

The grave stones are all grey and covered in moss. Intermingled with shots of color from the fresh flowers.

A beautiful place.

FUJI-SAN, WHERE ARE YOU?

Posted on March 21, 2013 by michaelweening

Mount Fuji continues to elude me. Bring my camera, clouds role in. Don’t bring my camera .. clear as a bell. On this day I thought that Tokyo could double for Gotham city.

Shooting with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 28-70mm f/2.8. A mix of handheld HDRs and RAW.

The weather has been odd in Tokyo. I am told it was an extra cold winter, but that it is also warm earlier. This means the trees are blooming weeks earlier. As I walked home with the wind blowing, I clicked off a few pictures.

A school yard.

Walking a dark path. Not scary in Tokyo.

Trees in bloom.

Beautiful time in Tokyo.

WEEKEND, TOKYO

Posted on March 20, 2013 by michaelweening

The spring is here. It does not matter where I live (big house or small), I feel compelled to tinker. We have 5 pots on our deck that we will fill with herbs. So this weekend I put together an automatic sprinkler system for the pots. This way when the 45C Tokyo weather hits, I do not have to remember to water them.

A Tokyo hardware store is a journey. Imagine going into a place where you can read nothing …. a place filled with toy lawnmowers.

I had to figure everything out by sight. “This looks like a sprinkler head”

And of course, you have to park.

Always an adventure.

HAPPOEN GARDEN, TOKYO

Posted on March 18, 2013 by michaelweening

Last week I was at a meeting at the Happoen Garden. The conference center and gardens are beautiful. All of the trees are not in bloom yet, but they are started. Definitely on my Fall visit list.

Today’s configuration: Canon 5D Mark III, handheld HDRs, Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8.

A beautiful open space right in the middle of Tokyo.

The cherry blossoms are beautiful.

I stood outside at lunch and took a conference call, snapping off a few shots as I listened.

Of course, a beautiful little shrine is tucked into the garden.

I am going to have to take the family back there.

A YELLOW SKY, TOKYO

Posted on March 15, 2013 by michaelweening

I had to get up in the middle of the night to attend a call after the sandstorm. The sky was an eerie yellow. Supposedly the sand did come from China.

Unfortunately it has led to our learning about PM 2.5 and how Chinese pollution is effecting the region:

Atmospheric particulate matter – also known as particulates or particulate matter (PM) – are tiny pieces of solid or liquid matter associated with the Earth’s atmosphere. They are suspended in the atmosphere as atmospheric aerosol, a term which refers to the particulate/air mixture, as opposed to the particulate matter alone. However, it is common to use the term aerosol to refer to the particulate component alone.^[1] Sources of particulate matter can be man made or natural. They can adversely affect human health and also have impacts on climate and precipitation. Subtypes of atmospheric particle matter include suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable suspended particle (RSP;particles with diameter of 10 micrometres or less), fine particles, and soot.

In speaking with a colleague today he mentioned that when he was a child Tokyo was very polluted due to rapid industrial expansion. Over the years Japan has spent a huge amount of money to clean the air. I was surprised, as smog is not something that I have seen in Tokyo.

The weather has been up and down this week, cold and hot. On this hot day I happened to bring my camera and get a few shots off of Fuji-san and the Tokyo skyline.

A gorgeous sunset.

No smog ….

THERE IS NO WORD FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

Posted on March 14, 2013 by michaelweening

According to my language instructor as early as 20 years ago there was no word in Japan for accountability. In fact, the notion of accountability was one that the Japanese could not understand culturally. This was a difficult one for him to explain as I could not understand how the concept of the word was not present in the society, how do you trust someone? His explanation was that there was no need for this word as it was part of their societal norms, it was not required.

Fascinated, I kept questioning until he shared this story: When he was in the US, he was hired to teach Japanese at a school and was brought in front of the parents to explain how Japanese would help their children. The notion of having to explain to the parents was a very foreign experience for him, but required as the local taxpayers paid for the school’s programs. A parent stood up and said that he must be accountable for the money they are investing in him, to his bewilderment. He did not understand the word “accountable” and went home and looked it up in the dictionary. Even after reading it, he struggled with understanding the concept of individual accountability as it was not present in their culture.

In Japan it is all about about the group. That group pays taxes, contributes to society, lets the government lead (recently to their detriment) and think about the group over the individual. It is a homogeneous society (98.5% of the population is Japanese) where they all work together and the concept of rewarding the individual over the group remains foreign.

The downside to this thinking is that it may breed mediocrity, where the lower performers are protected by the group and higher performers are not individually rewarded as the society trends to a the middle. It also makes societal change such as women’s rights much harder to progress as it breeds a resistance to change.

The upside is that this notion is the epitome of the “golden rule”, where people take care of each other (Don’t get me started on the rich white “Christian” republican “cut taxes to line my own pocket” hypocrisy). It is the reason why I could leave my laptop on the train with a realistic expectation that I will get it back and walk around in Tokyo at 2am with almost no risk.

With the notion of the individual so strong in North America and the notion of group so strong in Japan, it is easy to see how misunderstanding can flourish if not carefully managed.

Fascinating for this Canadian socialist who is fine paying 45% taxes due to a sense of obligation to the group’s welfare.

TRIPLE THE RETURN

Posted on March 14, 2013 by michaelweening

In Japan, Valentines Day is not the same. Instead the day is called Giri choco day, roughly translated to “Obligation Chocolate day”. Women must give chocolate to their bosses and important men (husband, boyfriend) in their lives to thank them. Then today (March 14th), we have White Day where men must give back gifts to anyone who gave them chocolate. The key to this ritual is the small print:

sanbai gaeshi (三倍返し^?, literally, “triple the return”) is used to describe the generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine’s gift.

Crazy. I have elected to not participate.

BACK DOWN UNDER, AUSTRALIA

Posted on March 13, 2013 by michaelweening

Spent last week in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. A whirlwind of a tour with very little free time but I did snap off a few shots.

Canon 5D Mark III with a 50mm Sigma f/1.4 – my only non-Canon lens, most handheld HDR.

On the redeye.

Off the redeye.

A war monument in Brisbane.

I do like the way that Australia has preserved their buildings. So much character.

The clock outside the Westin in Sydney.

A few shots around the Westin.

No time …. just 18,453 km.

TOKYO SANDSTORM

Posted on March 12, 2013 by michaelweening

On Sunday afternoon the wind picked up and the sky went light brown .. sandy coloured actually. I was grabbing sushi when I saw it moving in.

It was amazing to watch. The sky went from beautiful blue and 21C to cold and blowing.

You could barely see Tokyo Tower.

Turns out it was just a cold front hitting a warm front, not the Chinese.

JAPANESE LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Posted on March 11, 2013 by michaelweening

I had a session with my language instructor the other day where I learned a few interesting insights into the language and culture that go well beyond speaking the language (I am awful at it as I travel in and out of Japan too often).

If you wonder about the Japanese accent when they speak English it is not because of their ability to say a word, it is because of how the Japanese approach language. In their culture, there are a fixed number of language sounds (a little over 100). If you learn those sounds, you can speak any word in Japanese, which technically makes the language simpler to learn. This is very different than English which has an infinite and always changing range of sounds. These are the only “sounds” in Japanese:

complexchart

Therefore the Japanese take new words and attempt to fit them into the above patterns. For example: Australia fit into Japanese sounds becomes “Osutoraria” as those are sounds that match up to the above. The interesting thing about this is that when Japanese are speaking English (they learn it in Junior high), it also accentuates or exaggerates their accent as they attempt to “fit” the new word into their known language sounds.

It also explains why you will hear English words littered through a conversation as there is simply no way to fit the Japanese language sounds into certain words, so they remain English.

Forget about trying to read the language, it is a combination of 3 languages (Hiragana, Katakana and Chinese) which takes children 10+ years to learn and has 10’s of thousands of characters. Not going to happen for this westerner.

THINKS YOU WON’T SEE IN KANADA

Posted on March 5, 2013 by michaelweening

A store in Tokyo is filled with unique finds .. most in Japanese and indecipherable to the gaijin.

Condensed milk in a tube. Purchased to make a Vietnamese coffee at home.

An individually wrapped prune goes well with your Cream Collon (tube cookies with a creamy center). You can’t make this stuff up.

I was speaking with someone about how healthy Japan is. But a fellow in pharmaceuticals said that the cholesterol and diabetes drug markets are growing rapidly in Tokyo. This is why; the only thing I will eat in McDonalds is an egg mcmuffin but I won’t eat that. Obesity on a bun. Hey McDonalds, “Big Canadian” could go there too (unfortunately).

In Tokyo there are safety men everywhere. I mean everywhere, with their hands waving to ensure you don’t crash into a truck or workmen or any of 1,000 other things going on near the roads.

But automation is on the way …. A bit hard to see, but the LED safety patrolman.

A butcher skinning something on the street. What is it? No idea, but he had a big crowd.

You never know what you will see next.

Update: adding one more. Sitting in the doctors office I saw an add for this brand of baby diapers.

TOKYO REALLY IS THAT SAFE

Posted on March 4, 2013 by michaelweening

As I left Seika Dormitory I noticed this …

Those are brand new skis (3 sets) sitting on the front porch of a house .. not locked up.

I was speaking with a friend the other day and he was asking what it was like to live in Tokyo and I said the things that stand out are the cleanliness, how friendly people are (mostly) and how incredibly safe it is.

There are police everywhere, but I have no idea what they do? No guns. Low crime (unless you seek it in a seedy bar in Roppongi) and safe. The stories of people leaving a laptop or iPhone on the train and getting it back abound, children ride the subway alone and people leave their skis on the front porch and no one takes them.

A city of 40M+ .. and safe as a town of 500. A truly unique city.

HAIKYO INSIDE THE SIEKA DORMITORY ROOMS, TOKYO

Posted on February 27, 2013 by michaelweening

I continued my Haikyo, ready to explore the insides of the building. It was getting dark quickly so I shot a mix of handheld HDRs and RAW depending on light conditions. I was also worried about stepping on a few floors, the hallways were concrete but the rooms?

The first room I looked in. It is like the fire happened and everyone just ran, never to return. So odd.

OS/2?

I would have left the Beethoven behind too. But Tchaikovsky? Heresy.

It must have gotten quite hot to melt whatever that is on the shelf …

I was fascinated by the piano.

I would have left it behind too.

A fully stocked kitchen.

Proof that the CD is dead. Why else would leave behind such a fantastic boombox?

And this is where my camera died. When I finally figured out where to go I parked quickly and decided to leave my camera bag and all of the piece parts behind. I was in a hurry. The only problem is that I didn’t look at my battery status.

It went dead. If I hurried I could run back to the car, move it to the closer parking spot, and then hustle back onto the site before all of the light disappeared.

Urban exploration can be a lot of work when you wing it.

Coming home for dinner.

Would love to know what is on those tapes. Some Magnum P.I. perhaps?

Student dormitory kegger …

I should have grabbed the worlds worst tie.

Cool afternoon out.

SEIKA DORMITORY HAIKYO (Urban Exploration): OUTSIDE

Posted on February 25, 2013 by michaelweening

I run from the car to the “potential location” and there it is. Awesome.

I duck under what must be a “Do not enter” sign on a rope and slip into the lot before anyone sees. It is like the other sites have described, this overgrown building in the middle of Tokyo. Odd .. interesting.

There is a brand new mini-van parked in a portable canvas garage out front. Odd.

There is debris everywhere. Garbage seems so out of place in uber-clean Tokyo. Why are there so many abandoned bikes?

A history of the dormitory via. (great shots also)

Near the campus of Takushoku University (literally the University of Colonial Expansion) in Tokyo is an abandoned student dormitory built in 1927 by the Japanese colonial government in Taiwan. The university was particularly established to train Taiwanese students to serve the empire and to “develop” Taiwan.

Since the end of war, both Taiwan and China have claimed ownership of the building, citing that it was built using Taiwanese taxpayers’ money. Although the legal status of the building remains unresolved even today, Taiwanese and Chinese students were encouraged by their respective governments to occupy and live in the building, creating essentially an “one building, two systems” situation. The dormitory, also known as Seika Dormitory, has been abandoned since 2007 when a fire killed two of its residents.

A pot balances on a balcony over the entrance.

Who in their right mind would leave behind a purple bike? Purple awesomeness.

I stepped inside and was greeted with a “konichiwa” as two fellow explorers made their way around the site. They looked nervous. Don’t worry fellows, I am clearly not the Tokyo police.

There are lots of pictures of the building’s central area, broken roof overhead.

Had to hustle, sun was going down.

I am surprised there isn’t more graffiti.

Looking up wasn’t that interesting. Looking down was much more interesting. I wonder how many people have stepped on this record?

Odd that someone would leave behind a toy gun.

This umbrella had seen better days.

The yellow ball behind the umbrella caught my eye. That is a nice 5 wood.

I decided to start from the top. Up to the roof I went.

It offers a great view of the floors below.

Or the doors below.

Time to go open some doors and peak inside.

MY FIRST HAIKYO STORY (URBAN EXPLORATION)

Posted on February 24, 2013 by michaelweening

Odd weekend as the family was in Saipan and I was home alone on Saturday. This is a very rare occurrence as weekends are family time and if the boys are with friends, Narda and I are usually out doing something. Saturday had not even started and I was already bored (it had been a brutal long week at work).

What to do? Read a book. Hit the gym. Watch a few shows. I contemplated heading to the office to shoot the sunset against Mt Fuji (great view) with my new 2X extender and 70-200mm. Then I remembered a few sites I had come across around urban exploring … and Tokyo.

Haikyo.org, Michael John Grist and Tomboy Urbex are a few sites dedicated to haikyo (Japanese for urban exploration). I have never done this before other than at tourist sites such as Normandy and figured this could be a nice Saturday afternoon diversion.

First, select a target. I set my sights on Seika Dormitory, a burned out building in the heart of Tokyo.

Second, the address. The problem is that finding these locations is tough – where is the address? And for some reason no one posts it, perhaps to add to the sense of adventure as you hunt for the place?. Our concierge set my GPS for the approximate location as he could not find the exact address. Makes sense. I will get to 1 Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo and have a look around. What could go wrong?

And so my adventure started. I arrived, found a spot to park the car and proceeded to randomly approach people and show them my iPhone with the name of the location (精華寮) prominently displayed.

There was a lot of smiling (I was out of the expat area, English was nowhere to be found). Two police officers pulled over thanks to a super friendly elderly woman who flagged them down to help me while asking me “Kanada?”.

After much debate they sent me off by pointing to the map on my iPhone, giving me a sense of confidence that this was the general area where I would find the site.

Off I went. A few shots along the way. February and lemons on the trees. It was 8C and brisk, I had forgotten .. semi-tropical Tokyo.

Someone’s door.

As I searched around I was on this back street and could not believe that I had come across a donut shop. A fancy one, but still, a donut shop with English. Made me wonder about their clientele .. were these donuts so good that gaijin’s made the trip?

I don’t know why I stopped for this other than the kettle and hose interested me. Why buy a watering can?

I don’t know what this says, but I hope it is pro-cat. You get a distinct feeling that Japan likes dogs more than cats.

This door headed to a temple. It was locked.

Maybe it wasn’t a temple and I almost walked into someone’s backyard. We will never know.

And here is a map of my wandering around in circles. This is from Lightroom (I love the GPS on my Canon 5D Mark III). Wherever there is a bubble is where I took a photo. I started in the bottom left, made my way over to the Suido area where the elderly woman and policemen sent me NE toward Kasuga convinced that if I headed over to the Meidai Jr school that I would find it.

At the school I happened upon a nice man who promptly walked me over to the Koban (police box) where I engaged with the incredibly friendly and “sorta speak English” woman officer (near the Koishikawa Post Office)

This turned into a group project as more offers arrived, huddling around trying to figure out how to get this gaijin from “Kanada” to a burned out building.

As everyone spoke I got into a conversation that went like this:

“Kanada?” … “Yes, I am Canadian. Arigato” .. “me go yellowknife one time” .. “Wow. Yellowknife? Very cold up there.” .. (he smiles) “Big lights”

“Yes. Northern Lights. They are very pretty. I had a trip scheduled there once but had to cancel”

“F#c!ing cold” (I burst out laughing) “Yes. It is very cold there. Kanada is cold”. My English interpreter smiled, gave me a “Sayonara” and left smiling.

We are now at 7 officers, with maps on the table, several officers looking through different map books, one reading the website on my iPhone and one on the phone with headquarters (seriously). Finally they reach an agreement that it must be in the area directly south of the school over the tracks. OK, I think I am making progress. Using Google maps I head to the area. I circle, go into back yards, read two more website on the frigging place. Nada.

This blog gives me hope and really ticks me off because I think that she has a geocaching reference in her blog post (GXR A16) and I have NO idea how to utilize it. I go to this geocaching website and they have a location reference, but I need to become a member to get the LOC file .. which I would have no idea how to use while sitting on some random side street with a bag full of camera gear, an iPhone and tripod.

I am hungry. I head to the only restaurant that I have seen but they have just closed.

I need to go to the washroom.

Hang in there old chap.

I see a cemetery on top of the hill (where the 3 is on the above map). I walk down the hill to the entrance. I head into the cemetery and to the top to see if I can figure out where I am.

Maybe I will spot it.

I like cemeteries, what people leave behind interests me and there is always beauty to be found.

Even plastic beauty.

OK. Focus. Stop looking at the headstones. The sun is going to go down. You are walking in circle.

New buildings .. one burned out building. Where the heck is it?

Wow. It is February, the Japanese are talking as it if already spring and the cherry blossoms are starting to come out.

Aaarrrgggghhhh. Where is it? I laugh and start to figure out if I can make it to the office to shoot a Mt. Fuji sunset in time.

Around another corner. Another temple. Beautiful.

Alright. I am not going to get frustrated.

I started to walk through it in my mind. It could have been torn down. There is lots of construction and a whole bunch of areas where they recently cleared buildings.

It was a good wander .. several hours wandering around. Some fresh air, a good walk.

I resign myself to the fact that this is no longer an urban exploration but just a good walk. I jump in the car, time to go home.

A couple kilometers out I stop at a light and check my email. Jimmy-san, our concierge had followed up shortly after I left with some more information, the exact address of Seika Dormitory:

I found exact address of the building, 1-23-31 Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.

The location is nearby Takushiyoku University.

You are awesome Jimmy-san. I whip the car around.

It was 3:30pm, if I hurried there would still be enough light … because .. of course .. when I packed my camera bag I had grabbed my flash and then put it back – why would I need a flash?

Hurry.

A FEW THOUGHTS ON SUSHI

Posted on February 21, 2013 by michaelweening

I am far from an expert on Japan, but I have heard a few different opinions that I thought I would share as the Japanese “teach” me their ways. These folks know sushi:

When you break apart chopsticks, you should slide them together as if you are smoothing them – everyone does it. Wrong. It is considered rude and a North American phenomenon.
UPDATE: (Thanks Brent, totally forgot this one) The proper way to eat sushi is with your fingers. NOT with chopsticks. I still remember quizzing my host on this one; “is this only done in casual situations?” (no) “Are you doing this as a joke on a gaijin” (no) “Do you do this frequently?” (yes). No chopsticks is the “proper” way to eat sushi.
Never put wasabi in your soya sauce. Wrong. I have seen lots of Japanese do it.
Dip your sushi in the soya sauce rice down. Wrong again. I was informed by a few Japanese that it doesn’t work because the rice falls apart. Do it the other way around, in effect turning it “upside down”.
Ginger is pink (I learned this years ago after asking at a quality restaurant). Wrong again. Pink ginger is fake. Ginger is whitish clear. I have yet to see pink ginger in Japan.
Urchin (Uni) is excellent. It just takes time. Wrong. Tastes like swamp bottom with a hint of catfish bottom.
UPDATE: There are primarily two different types of sushi (explained to me yesterday). Traditional sushi where the chef make it by hand. Oshizushi is pressed sushi.

A block-shaped piece formed using a wooden mold, called an oshibako. The chef lines the bottom of the oshibako with the toppings, covers them with sushi rice, and then presses the lid of the mold down to create a compact, rectilinear block. The block is removed from the mold and then cut into bite-sized pieces. Particularly famous is バッテラ (battera, pressed mackerel sushi) or 鯖寿司 (saba zushi).^[24]

My 2 Yen on sushi (smile).

One other sushi comment. I don’t buy patches or little gadgets when traveling as reminders. For me it is a magnet. Always try to find a magnet which we then add to our very large magnetic world map. Narda found me a sushi magnet the other day.

As an aside, I also like the fact that half the time I have no idea what I am eating (smile).

JAPAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION DAY

Posted on February 20, 2013 by michaelweening

There was a holiday on Monday and when I asked a few colleagues they didn’t know anything about it .. other than it being a holiday. National Foundation Day:

The origin of National Foundation Day is New Year’s Day in the traditional lunisolar calendar. On that day, the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu was celebrated based on Nihonshoki (日本書紀), which states that Emperor Jimmu ascended to the throne on the first day of the first month.

In the Meiji period, the Japanese government designated the day as a national holiday. This coincided with the switch from the lunisolar calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1873. In 1872, when the holiday was originally proclaimed,^[2] it was January 29 of the Gregorian calendar, which corresponded to Lunar New Year of 1873. Contrary to the government’s expectation, this led people to see the day as just Lunar New Year, instead of National Foundation Day. In response, the government moved the holiday to February 11 of the Gregorian calendar in 1873. The government stated that it corresponded to Emperor Jimmu’s regnal day but did not publish the exact method of computation.

In its original form, the holiday was named Empire Day (紀元節, Kigensetsu^?)^{[citation needed]}.^[3] It is thought that the Meiji Emperor may have wanted to establish this holiday to bolster the legitimacy of the imperial family following the abolition of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The national holiday was supported by those who believed that focusing national attention on the emperor would serve a unifying purpose.^[4] Publicly linking his rule with the mythical first emperor, Jimmu, and thus Amaterasu, the Meiji Emperor declared himself the one, true ruler of Japan.^[5]

With large parades and festivals, in its time, Kigensetsu was considered one of the four major holidays of Japan.^[6]

Given its reliance on Shintoism and its reinforcement of the Japanese nobility, Kigensetsu was abolished following World War II. Ironically, February 11 was also the day when General MacArthur approved the draft version of the model Constitution in 1946.^[7]

The commemorative holiday was re-established as National Foundation Day in 1966.^[8] Though stripped of most of its overt references to the Emperor, National Foundation Day was still a day for expressing patriotism and love of the nation in the 1950s.^[9]

What did not happen this National Foundation Day is the “muted” Japanese nationalism that was suggested in this note:

In contrast with the events associated with earlier Kigensetsu, celebrations for National Foundation Day are relatively muted. Customs include the raising of Japanese flags and reflection on the meaning of Japanese citizenship. The holiday is still relatively controversial however, and very overt expressions of nationalism or even patriotism are rare.^[10]

The nationalists were out in full force due to the Chinese and Russian tensions around territories, and the growing support for greater Japanese national defense forces. We live near the Chinese embassy, there were police everywhere and they were dressed for trouble.

The trouble that they were monitoring were these trucks that seemed to be everywhere. Their loudspeakers were blaring some form of rhetoric, which a bystander explained to me were calls for the Japanese people to unite around the themes previously mentioned.

Big loudspeakers.

I guess they need big loudspeakers in the Shibuya area to compete with the trucks that drive around blaring pop music to advertise their video game, pop music group or product.

I can handle the video game trucks .. the pop group trucks with their bubble-gum music blaring set your teeth on edge.

We spent a few hours in Shibuya as I needed to hit the Apple store. There are cool buildings in the area. This one looks like it came out of Battlestar Galactica.

This one does a good job of optimizing their 3m x 200m property.

A little Japanese restaurant for a quick lunch.

And probably Tower Records last store ….

Thanks for dropping by …

PARKING IN TOKYO

Posted on February 18, 2013 by michaelweening

At first it can be daunting. The signs are not in English in most places and hard to understand. Based on my experience, I have now concluded 4 things:

1. Don’t bother on the street as most locations only allow 60 minutes.

2. The price is Y300 per 30 minutes everywhere. (Roughly $6.50 and hour)

3. There is a lot more parking in Tokyo than I would have thought. The GPS is awesome at helping you find a parking lot. Without the GPS? Good luck.

4. There are two types of parking; the traditional parking lot where you pull into a spot and a little flap pops up and locks your tire into place until you pay. The other type is the robot/tower parking.

This usually involves a circle (which flips your car around) and some form of stackable parking.

This is what a parking “tower” looks like. It is filled with cars.

You pull into the parking garage (note the circle, it flips your car around).

And here is where it is stored. I have been wondering what it looks like inside one of these parking machines. It was the first time I could ever take a shot. Now I know …

A vertical parking lot. Cool.

A TOKYO STREET and A SMOKE FILLED YAKINIKU

Posted on February 16, 2013 by michaelweening

After the Ghibli Museum we stopped at a random Tokyo intersection to grab lunch. Here are a few shots; a mix of handheld HDR and others via my Canon 5D Mark III.

A busy Tokyo street.

What is a pepper lunch? Have I mentioned how I find it odd that even in the outlying areas of Tokyo there is so much random English?

For example, English advertising signs. I am not quite sure that this sign would go over well in Canada or the US? Made me smile.

We decided on “Japanese BBQ” which they call Yakiniku. The front of the restaurant was a huge open kitchen with open BBQ grills.

It was very smoky. A combination of people smoking and the BBQ fumes. On a Saturday afternoon, people enjoying a beer and some BBQ.

I didn’t get a shot of what we ate, it disappeared too fast.

Definitely a “true” Japanese exploration for the family.

One last shot from the street; we came across another Japan first for us – a bicycle parking lot. There must have been 500+ bikes.

Here is where you pay.

A good wander.

HANDHELD HDR OF A TOKYO SUNRISE

Posted on February 15, 2013 by michaelweening

A colourful sunrise, via my Canon 5D Mark III shot using the internal HDR, handheld. I recently replaced my tripod, but grabbing it early in the morning is so much harder than simply shooting away. Canon has done a great job with the technology. Zero post processing.

Through the bushes.

THE GHIBLI MUSEUM or IS THERE ANY ENGLISH?

Posted on February 14, 2013 by michaelweening

It took months to get tickets to the Ghibli Museum, but the Saturday finally arrived. Our family headed out to this “home of animation” not knowing what to expect:

Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館 Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan^?, Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum) is a museum featuring the Japanese anime work of Studio Ghibli, and is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western suburb of Tokyo, Japan.

The museum is a fine arts museum, but does not take the concept of a usual fine arts museum. With many features that are child-oriented and a sprawling and occasionally mazelike interior, the museum is a playfully created place. Centered around the motto appearing on the museum’s website “Let’s become lost children together” (迷子になろうよ、いっしょに Maigo ni narō yo, isshoni^?), or “let’s lose our way together” as it is translated in the English leaflet. It has no set path or order of viewing. While the museum brochure contains a variety of languages, the signs within the museum are in Japanese only.

Unfortunately, I missed that last line. It is a very cool museum, with a very “Gaudi” feel to it.

One of our first stops was the roof top garden. I remember watching the Iron Giant with the kids years ago.

A very serene and beautiful garden.

Inside is stuffed with interesting drawings and the history of animation from around the world. However, you are not allowed to take pictures and there is zero English to be found.

It is a real shame and very frustrating as we wanted to learn. So much in front of you and not accessible. In some ways like all of Japan.

Still, it was a beautiful day, in a park with some beautiful architecture.

EARTH DAY MARKET, TOKYO

Posted on February 12, 2013 by michaelweening

TimeOut Tokyo suggested the Earth Day market as a “what to do this weekend” so we headed over on the Sunday afternoon to explore. It was across the street from Yoyogi Park (we had to do some wandering to find it). There were street food vendors everywhere.

This was my lunch, BBQ squid.

The market was filled with colourful trucks, showing their wares.

The Love hut espoused ….

Be vegan, make peace.

Across the way, the Love Farm. Lots of love at this market. Mostly English love.

I could not understand what this root was from the vendor, but everyone was looking at it. Must be a good root.

The market itself was quite fun. Filled with an assortment of fruits, vegetables and “healthy” products. A nice way to spend a sunny January afternoon.

THE BIG GUNS

Posted on February 12, 2013 by michaelweening

While walking through Yoyogi Park I saw a few men shooting birds in the trees. All I can say to this is “wow”. Thing is almost as tall as he is.

YOYOGI PARK: ELVIS?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by michaelweening

Yoyogi park is a park that is commonly written up in books on visiting Tokyo. Filled with eclectic people, right beside one of the most famous shrines in Tokyo, it is worth a visit.

What is now Yoyogi Park was the site of the first successful powered aircraft flight in Japan, on December 19, 1910, by Captain Yoshitoshi Tokugawa,^[1] after which it became an army parade ground. During the post World War II Allied occupation of Japan, it was the site of the Washington Heights residence for U.S. officers.^[2]

It was later the site for the main Olympic athletes village of the 1964 Summer Olympics^[3] and the swimming, diving, and basketball venues. The distinctive Yoyogi National Gymnasium which hosted swimming, diving, and basketball was designed by Kenzo Tange for the Olympics,^[4] and is still in use, but most of the area north of the gymnasium complex and south of Meiji Shrine was turned into a city park in 1967.^[5]

Today, the park is a popular hangout, especially on Sundays, when it is used as a gathering place for rock music fans.^[5] The park has a bike path, a public basketball court,^[6] and bicycle rentals are available.

A few weekends ago we dropped over for Earth Day, which is a farmers market. We did not think that the bands would be there, they were. They were REALLY enjoying themselves.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and people were out in droves enjoying themselves. These lads were having fun with sticks.

Drummers.

Not really sure what these women were up to?

This man was entertaining people with his bubbles.

It is still the winter (ish). So no roses.

Some brilliantly colored graffiti under the bridge.

Cool place. Can’t wait to go for a wander in the spring.

THEY SELL A LOT OF HUMIDIFIERS IN JAPAN

Posted on February 9, 2013 by michaelweening

The concept of central heating is not one that the Japanese have caught on to. The common heating model is to have independent heating and cooling units in each room.
The benefit is that you gain room by room control which can be more energy efficient. The downside is that each room is different and there is no ability to add a central humidifier as you do in a forced air system.

As the weather moved from insane scalding hot (August) to a beautiful warm fall and now into their winter the humidity has changed (Insert Canadian scoff at 8C winter .. The other day I walked to a restaurant without a jacket and everyone around me must have thought I was nuts as they were bundled like it was -10).

Returning from holiday it became very apparent that we had a problem with humidity, as the apartment had become unbearably dry. A brief conversation with the building manager brought out that every gaijin complains about it each year and then goes out and buys more humidifiers. The Japanese can figure out how to store data on glass for 10’s of millions of years, but when it comes to central humidity it is a no go.

The only option? Buy a few humidifiers. In our case 6. What a pain.

Ultrasonic humidifier aroma Apice Apikkusu SHIZUKU PLUS +] [Aqua Blue AHD-012-BL

JAPAN POST AND A 5”6” MAN

Posted on February 6, 2013 by michaelweening

Two quick pictures from my iPhone. I sent out less Christmas/holiday cards than I usually do this year (it has been manic), only 300 or so. I sent a few old colleagues a card and one sent a note back. My assistant handed it to me last week with a comment “I have no idea how this actually got to you, look at the address” … no company, title, street address or prefecture and for the record – Mori Tower is 40 stories.

This was stuck to a metal pole in Minato-ku. Is it just me or is the height and weight reference odd?

But the dude has a posse.

FROGS, 1,000 CRANES and A BLACK CAT: GHOST WALK (Pt 2)

Posted on February 5, 2013 by michaelweening

Our next stop was a Zen temple. Everything is so neat.

Orderly.

Until that doggone cat from next door shows up again ….

I can see the monk the next morning, starting to fume and then stopping himself. Ok, remember, deep breaths, stay calm. Now where is my rake and a plastic bag?

I am sure that he wished that the lions served as a cat scarecrow.

Our next stop was a Buddhist temple where they chant and pray 24×7. In the courtyard are several mini-shrines.

The heartbreaking shine was to children who had passed on. Parents left remnants around the shrine to their children. I found this stuffed animal a sad reminder of someone’s loss.

Next to this shrine is a vanity shrine, where you leave a frog as an offering and request for good “skin”. Japans answer to Clearasil. Lots of frogs …

There were paper cranes all over the shrines .. and I now admire the dedication that it takes to finish 1,000 paper cranes:

Thousand origami cranes (千羽鶴 Senbazuru^?) is a group of one thousand origami paper cranes (鶴 tsuru) held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. Some stories believe you are granted eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise) and is said to live for a thousand years: That is why 1000 cranes are made, one for each year. In some stories it is believed that the 1000 cranes must be completed within one year and they must all be made by the person who is to make the wish at the end. Cranes that are made by that person and given away to another aren’t included: All cranes must be kept by the person wishing at the end.

Our last shrine was to the Kappa. I didn’t take a lot of shots as we had to bolt, but we did hear of the dangers of the Kappa:

As water monsters, kappa have been frequently blamed for drownings, and are often said to try to lure people to the water and pull them in with their great skill at wrestling.^[12] They are sometimes said to take their victims for the purpose of drinking their blood, eating their livers or gaining power by taking their shirikodama (尻子玉^?), a mythical ball said to contain their soul which is located inside the anus.^[12]^[14]^[15]^[16] Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to victimize animals, especially horses and cows; the motif of the kappa trying to drown horses is found all over Japan.^[17] In these stories, if a kappa is caught in the act, it can be made to apologize, sometimes in writing.^[17] This usually takes place in the stable where the kappa attempted to attack the horse, which is considered the place where the kappa is most vulnerable.^[3]

A fascinating tour. Looking forward to doing another.

I DID NOT SEE A GHOST ON THIS TOUR (Part 1)

Posted on February 4, 2013 by michaelweening

As previously mentioned, we went on a Ghost Walk tour on the last day of the New Year holiday. One of the frustrating things about Japan is that they are not that interested in sharing their rich and diverse history. Everything is either hidden away or only in Japanese. They really don’t care about sharing. This is not a stretch, just look at their history, foreigners have never been popular in Japan.

However, there are a few gaijin who have been here long enough to assemble the history. If you are in Japan, I would highly recommend taking one of Haunted Tokyo’s tours. The tour we were on was positioned as a ghost tour, but it quickly became obvious that it was more of a shrine tour filled with history, culture and Japanese mythology. We loved it and will definitely take their other tours.

We wandered around Tokyo FINALLY learning the history (beyond what we have dug up on our own). We started here … a building that she is convinced is haunted with pulled curtains and odd sculptures. Not sure. But I think someone was looking out at our group through the curtains …

We stopped off at Shitaya shrine, where our guide explained how the corner is guarded by foxes as there is only one location that the demons and bad spirits can enter from. A beautiful shrine .. with a demon entrance.

While looking at the shrine we were told that many of the shrines are being disassembled and stored by developers and the government. If you want to bring a shrine to your home, you simply need to agree to reassemble it and pay for transport (although I can find no reference to this on the web).

Still amazes me to see berries and flowers in January (especially after that snow fall)

As we wandered the streets we came through an area which was home to many geishas at one point in time. One of the few areas in Tokyo where very old buildings remain.

And very old vending carts …

DID YOU HEAR THAT BANG? CONSTRUCTION IN TOKYO

Posted on February 2, 2013 by michaelweening

I have been meaning to blog about construction in Tokyo and last weeks “event” prompted me to write.

Construction in Japan is very different than in Canada and probably everywhere else in the world. When we first moved here I noticed a few things; security guards with glowing light sticks at every construction site, well constructed enclosures around each site and crazy levels of cleanliness.

It seems that Japanese construction starts with the enclosure. When a building is set to be demolished the building is scaffolded and enclosed so you cannot see anything. The building comes down piece by piece and parts of the scaffolding remain.

The above photo from my iPhone has 2 interesting elements to it. The first is the wet pavement. As every single vehicle leaves the site, a group of workmen hose down the truck so that it comes out as clean as if it went into a carwash. They then clean and sweep the street (multiple times a day).

The other interesting element is the LED screen on the left.

A decibel meter to measure site noise. I have yet to hear a lot of noise out of one of these sites. They could use a few of these at some of the vacation resorts I have been too.

But it doesn’t always go right. Near our home the “demolition screen” went up a week ago and they started tearing down a building. One of the boys sent me a text that there had been an accident …. demolitions are tricky stuff. After getting home I grabbed my camera and had a look.

Whoops. That is a big wall.

There were a lot of guys with brooms (smile). Luckily, no one was hurt.

A COUPLE LAST RANDOM AUSTRALIA PHOTOS

Posted on February 1, 2013 by michaelweening

Most are handheld HDR.

The sunrise .. the tide is out.

I became quite fond of their beers. Australian beer is almost as good as Canadian beer. Almost.

Moon overhead.

Beautiful place.

AUSTRALIA’S GREAT BARRIER REEF

Posted on January 31, 2013 by michaelweening

Getting to the end of my Australia posts.

One of our excursions was to the barrier reef. The boat ride out to the reef (we were heading to the outer reef) was beautiful as we wove through the islands to the outer reef.

There are a lot of islands with no one on them.

Arriving at the outer reef is an odd experience as it is not an above water destination. You look down and it is there. Fish quickly congregated off the back of the boat, obviously conditioned to our arrival. These fish were big .. and friendly.

The coral was beautiful.

It amazes me how the colors change over short distances. This is the same coral (as above) but from a bit farther away. Note the way the colors wash out. I have just started playing with underwater photos and the G12, but one thing is clear – closer the better.

A beautiful pink coral.

As luck would have it the trip was rather uneventful as snorkelling is all about timing and we didn’t see any fish life that were more interesting than what we saw in the reef off the beach. We had better luck in Belize, but one off the bucket list – we have been to the great barrier reef.

A FEW TOKYO SKYLINE PHOTOS

Posted on January 30, 2013 by michaelweening

.. continuing on the theme. Canon 5D Mark III with my 24-70mm lens.

A full moon over Tokyo.

Sunrise off of a picture I love by Christos Palios.

Sunset reflections on Tokyo.

A cool sky that morning.

A not so cool sky the morning of the big storm. Getting to the airport was a nightmare.

But most often, Tokyo skies are clear. Especially this time of year. This weekend? 17C in February. Excellent.

SNORKELLING AROUND HAMILTON ISLAND

Posted on January 28, 2013 by michaelweening

The tide goes out in the afternoon providing excellent access to the reef system off the beach. You walk in ankle deep water for 300m and then make your way out to the system. The wind and waves will determine the visibility. On boxing day we spent a couple hours snorkelling with excellent visibility. I was swimming with my Canon G12 and an underwater case.

The coral is beautiful.

I have no idea what type of fish this is but the camouflage was very impressive.

There were a few jellyfish so you had be careful. Most people were not wearing a stinger suit.

I happened upon this huge sea turtle grazing. No one else was around so I just hung out for 30 minutes swimming beside him/her and snapping shots. They are such magnificent creatures.

He/she was not bothered at all.

The turtle was over a meter long. Beautiful.

Amazing experience.

HOW DID YOU SPEND CHRISTMAS DAY?

Posted on January 24, 2013 by michaelweening

;

We spent our Christmas Day on Whitehaven Beach lazing on the beautiful white sand and swimming in the ocean. They handed out stinger suits for everyone to ensure that no one got stung.

I did not see any jellyfish, but these little fellows caught my attention. I have no idea what they are and they look like a plant, but clearly swim and are beautiful.

We didn’t get to the head of the river that feeds into the beach. They dropped us on the other end and it is a 7km walk. Would have loved to see that area.

We had dinner at the yacht club. While the meal was not that great, the venue was spectacular with beautiful views.

The harbour area of Hamilton Island is beautiful at night.

The handheld HDRs were a little tough with the shutter speeds slowing.

One thing I did not catch was the bats. On one night they covered the sky on a full moon –another reminder of “always carry your camera”.

TOURING AROUND HAMILTON ISLAND

Posted on January 23, 2013 by michaelweening

Our first couple of days were rather spotty, filled with rain. As a big fan of Trip Advisor, I had planned using the tool and had a list of options. One of our first “rainy day” actions was to head up to Passage Peak, the highest point on the island. A 3KM hike in on and off again rain is very do-able when it is 27C out.

The view from the top.

View of the hotel area.

The vegetation goes from very lush to dry brown.

We also went to Target Sports, which is a range. I grew up in Alberta shooting. My boys had never shot a gun. They did very well.

And we stopped off at the Wildlife Park to see the koalas. I have never seen or touched a koala. We all took a turn holding “Elvis”. Their fur feels matted and wiry, and his “hug” very soft. Beautiful animal.

As I mentioned it was raining. Here is how a Koala weathers out the rain.

I found this fellow’s eyes piercing. He just stared right at me. I wonder what he was thinking?

As the rain stopped, this fellow came out of his sleep.

And a mother brought out her baby for a swing.

The island does not have a weeks worth of activities but it was good for a few days. Luckily, the sun came out.

HAMILTON ISLAND

Posted on January 22, 2013 by michaelweening

For Christmas week we headed up the coast to Hamilton Island, just off the great barrier reef. Here is my simple take on Hamilton Island after much back and forth trying to get the straight goods around tourism in Australia:

A wonderful resort island with the barrier reef and other tours all over the place
A few great and a few good restaurants
Hot weather (a big plus)
Great beaches

But …. the one thing people need to be aware of is that Australia beaches are not like other beaches (see my other posts). Australia is a dangerous place with strong currents, different threats and with several different types of jellyfish kicking around including the Irukandji that can put you in the hospital for 3 days of excruciating pain – you need to be careful.

This isn’t Grand Cayman. I think that if my goal was to head to a beach only – it would be to Thailand or somewhere like that, not Australia. Once you accept that vacationing in Australia is an “adventure”, then you enjoy what is around you.

A few shots of Hamilton Island. The view from our balcony was spectacular.

The cockatiels were very friendly and inquisitive. They are said to have the intelligence of a 3 year old. They were definitely looking for food.

They were also quite comfortable around us.

A few more views from our room at the Reef.

AKIHABARA AT NIGHT

Posted on January 21, 2013 by michaelweening

We had to hop back to Akihabara the other night. In the evening it is filled with young women dressed in (how to describe it?) manga/frilly/high school girl/tailor moon/prostitute outfits trying to get men to head to their various “retail” locations such as MaiDreamin (below). We found the whole things creepy.

The lights are cool though.

A FEW FLOWERS

Posted on January 17, 2013 by michaelweening

We took the Haunted Tokyo Tour on the last day of the New Year week with one of the stops being a cemetery that houses one of Japan’s most famous painters Hokusai Katusika. I picked one of his most famous pieces The Great Wave off Kanagawa for my New Years cards this year.

The cemetery was filled with stories (thanks to a great guide). Many had paid tribute to their ancestors with sake …

and incense …

and flowers.

These flowers caught my eye, a stark contrast to the headstones they adorned.

One more angle.

A solemn place brought alive with color.

AUSTRALIAN MARITIME MUSEUM

Posted on January 17, 2013 by michaelweening

Our second stop (amazing how fast the day flies by) was the Maritime Museum. Every time I go to Sydney I stare out the office window at this museum, wanting to get over there and have a look. I have never been on a military ship before and it did not disappoint. I just wish we only had 90 minutes as it closed at 5p.m.

Our first stop was the tall ship.

The Endeavour is a replica built in 1988 (took 5 years) of James Cook’s original ship that was used to discover Australia and New Zealand between 1769 and 1771. It is rather cramped quarters and the tour (thanks to local volunteers) gives you excellent insight into what life would have been like. I would not have made a good seaman. Interesting point, the shuttle Endeavour is named after this ship.

Having quickly popped through that tour we made a sprint to the other ships as I really wanted on that submarine. Walking through it made it clear that I would never want to be on a sub either, but what a fascinating world of dials, tubes and cramped spaces.

The first volunteer talked all about the ships armaments, having been on a sub in the 70’s. At the other end of the sub are a host of other tubes that were decommissioned for torpedo storage and repurposed by the men to hold 48 cases of beer (smile).

Some traditions are the same in all navies, the Captain’s china. The quarters on the submarine and the destroyer were of the same time period. Fun to see a TV with a dial and a VCR, which I am sure was state of the art in the 70s.

I say old chap, is that a Canadian symbol on the wall?

The engine room.

Up we climbed onto the next ship, the “Vampire” destroyer. This shot is in the shell loading bay below the big guns. The instruction method to the loaders is quite straight forward.

Big guns

Unfortunately we didn’t have much time inside the museum which is 3 stories and chock full of memorabilia and stories. My only advice is that if you head here – you need 3-4 hours to truly enjoy it. Next time …. One last ship, an odd looking one. It is a lightship built in 1917.

HYDE PARK BARRACKS

Posted on January 16, 2013 by michaelweening

Our first “tourist” stop in Sydney was the Hyde Park Barracks:

Constructed by convict labour by order of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, the Barracks is one of the most familiar works of the accomplished colonial England-born, Australian architect Francis Greenway. As the principal male convict barracks in New South Wales it provided lodgings for convicts working in government employment around Sydney until its closure in mid 1848.

It has had many occupants since then. It was an Immigration Depot for single female immigrants seeking work as domestic servants and awaiting family reunion from 1848 to 1886 and also a female asylum from 1862 to 1886. From 1887 to 1979 law courts and government offices were based at the Barracks.

It is a beautifully maintained building, full of fascinating bits.

Not knowing a lot about Australia’s history, it was a good first stop. The barracks walk you through one of the original intake buildings, detailed descriptions of the evolution of the colony and how it evolved from a penal to a proper society.

What is most interesting is the collection of memorabilia from the rats, it makes up a huge part of the exhibit; all of these pieces that they stole away and were later recovered in the foundation and floor boards. Amazing.

While there I bought the book A Little History of Australia. I read it on the beach the week after and enjoyed the 10,000 word essay, although I found it a little too politically. I would have liked to read more about specific incidents that shaped the Australian society.

A couple interesting quotes/facts:

“South Australia women achieved women’s suffrage in 1894, followed by Western Australia in 1899” (remarkable).
(World War I) “by the end of a war in which 330,000 Australians had served, one in six had been killed, half wounded, and even physically unharmed would hear the guns of war for years to come” (Canadian’s can relate to the WWI loss, with 620K serving and 66,000 losing their lives on European soil for England).

I would highly recommend stopping here if you are in Sydney, worth the visit.

TOURING SYDNEY

Posted on January 15, 2013 by michaelweening

On the Friday before Christmas I took the day off and we toured Sydney. The ride in was a) to the right location and b) beautiful.

A beautiful building beside the ferry harbour. Love the big mirror.

We decided to “big red bus” it. I love the big red bus in most cities (except Tokyo as it is all in Japanese). You get a sense of history, tour the city and can jump on and off. Sydney is a beautiful city. Reminds me architecturally of Montreal .. have I mentioned Toronto could learn something?