Category: Out & About

A Walk in the Park...

11/29/2018

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How to brighten up an extra work day:

Leave home 30 minutes later than usual - 8:00 am vs 7:30 am.
Buy the largest Starbucks coffee you've ever had thanks to a gift card from a kind neighbor. (Thank you, neighbour! (^.^)/ )
Get off the bus one stop early and take a short walk around the pond in the park.
Discover pink flowers in a sea of broken branches and piles of debris left over from the record-breaking typhoon in the fall.
Take turns photographing said flowers with a friendly senior citizen who lives nearby. Chat and learn more about the efforts being made to clean up the park. May take decades for it to recover, he says.
Greet the men who are taking a break from tackling the damage with chainsaws, and commiserate over the size of the job. Wish them all the best.
Enjoy the colours and smells of fall, and marvel at the resilience of mother nature. Regardless of the destruction and damage of the typhoon, life goes on as it should.
Head off to the office thankful that my schedule sometimes allows me such flexibility.

(If you know what these pink flowers are, please leave a comment. As usual, I have no idea...)

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This weekend I went on a short boat cruise. The main purpose was to enjoy the view of Mt. Fujii. Well, the weather was spectacular. The skies were a beautiful clear blue and there was hardly a cloud to be seen - except for those covering Mt. Fujii. All we could see was the very tip and that soon disappeared from view. Ah well. It was a glorious day to be out and the seagulls kept us entertained from beginning to end. (And we had fabulous views of Mt. Fujii the next day with no cloud coverage at all.)

Oh, the seagulls! As you may have noticed, I rarely take photos of things that move. I just haven't had much experience. However, the seagulls were flying so close I decided to take a chance. My camera settings were not what they should have been and, boy, can those things move fast! But I can be stubborn and so I tried. And tried. And tried.

In the end, I took over 150 shots. Less than a handful were successful but still I'm glad I tried. Yes! Sometimes, that stubbornness pays off! (^.~)/

(Here are my two favorite shots. I use a prime lens - no zoom capabilities - so the seagulls at the bottom were particularly close.)

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Wishing...

11/21/2018

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It's such a beautiful time of year. The air is crisp, the sky is blue, and the fall foliage is spectacular. Unfortunately, it's also the busiest time of year for me and so, on most days, I sit in my office and look wistfully out the window.

Thankfully, last weekend I managed to get to Kyoto for a few hours. We went early in the day and were able to avoid the worst of the crowds. It was only a few hours and left me wanting so much more.

Ah... So wishing fall lasted longer and I had more free time.

(This is the very first shot from that visit to Kyoto. It was a little early yet - the trees were only just starting to change.)

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Black & White

11/10/2018

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Several blog posts ago I mentioned that I had entered some photos in the LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards. At the time I only posted one photo and a link to my FB photo page which would then take you to a another link where you could view my entries on the LensCulture site. On hindsight, that was a few too many hoops to jump through - and to see rather small images at that.

So, here are my entries. Since Lensculture's only stipulation was that the entries be in black & white, there is no unified theme. I simply chose some of my favorite black and white images. All of them were taken when I was out and about (nothing staged), and all were taken close to my home in Osaka except for the lantern photo. That was taken when I was on a trip to Singapore.

Unfortunately, if I add captions to the photos, it cuts off part of the image so here are the photo details.

Sun + Breeze, Namba Parks, Osaka
Rope at the Kanji Museum, Kyoto
Chrysanthemum, Local Shrine, Osaka
Baby Cactus, My Garden, Osaka
Rose + Rain, Nakanoshima Rose Garden, Osaka
Chinese Lanterns, Singapore

Enjoy! (^.^)/

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Kintano Tenmangu Temple Sale

10/26/2018

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October 25th was an absolutely gorgeous day - blue sky, perfect temperature and low humidity. One of my Japanese colleagues told me that she had heard a weather forecaster predict it would be the finest day of the year. I believe it!

Although terribly busy, I decided to go to Kyoto in the morning to visit the Kitano Tenmangu Temple sale. After all, life is too short to spend one of the nicest days of the year doing house chores and marking homework. Right? A close friend who lives in Kyoto had never been to the sale before and so off we went.

Since it was a Thursday, and we were there early, it wasn't too crowded and we wandered along exploring the various stalls and offerings. I love the quirky combination of old and new, and junk and treasures. I've been many times but it never gets old. My downfall is always the plants and the obis. Just how many does one need? Apparently, the answer is MORE!

I didn't take many photos since I have learned that many vendors do not appreciate photos being taken. (I use a prime lens and I like close-ups so I can't do it from a distance.) However, these might give you taste of what kind of day it was...

I was standing under a HUGE tree on the temple grounds and then I looked up...
One of the lanterns near the side entrance...

If you are ever in Kyoto on the 25th of any month - yes, even on Christmas Day - I highly recommend a visit to the Kitano Tenmangu Temple sale. Go early and plan to spend at least 2 hours. And no need to buy a thing!

Yeah, good luck with that! (^.~)/

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Kintano Tenmangu Temple Sale

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