Hakone-Yumoto, Japan.
Photography: Hakone-Yumoto
Reply
Category Archives: Art
Photography: Nagasaki
Nagasaki, Japan.
These paper cranes are seen on statues, shrines and just about everywhere in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The story behind this tradition is just so incredibly sad.
Photography: Kumamoto
Photography: Aso
Photography: Beppu
Photography: Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Japan.
Evangelion-themed Pachinko machines. You play these weird games by starting out by buying a bunch of metal balls/marbles, which you can do either get at the register or sometimes by inserting coins straight into the machine. Then you feed the machine these balls, pull this handle and watch as they slowly flow thru the machine. If the balls fall into the right slot you win more balls. There is no skill involved. Only luck. The balls make a loud rattling noise as they fall thru. It is noisy. Notice the rubber bands btw? They are there so you don’t have to pull the handle constantly. You just strap the band around the handle and then all you need to do is sit there and watch the balls flow thru the machine. Since it’s illegal to gamble for money in Japan you can’t exchange the balls for money if you win. However, you can exchange them for cigarettes. Clever enough there is usually a shop next door which buys cigarettes for money. Japanese legal system fail. Some people sit there for hours, smoking, of course, watching the balls rattle on thru.
Photography: Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan.
This building, known today as the “Atomic Dome”, has been preserved as a memory of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
Photography: Himeji
Pictures from Himeji, Japan.
Himeji Castle. Known as “the White Heron”, it is probably the most beautiful samurai castle in all of Japan.
Photography: Kobe
Kobe, Japan.
Capsule hotel. 40 men stayed on this floor.
My very own “capsule”. I was quite surprised to find it quite a lot bigger than I had first expected.
Photography: Nara
Photography: Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan. Hometown of Nintendo and home to hundreds of temples and shrines.
The former headquarters of Nintendo. I was surprised to find it just lying there, inconspicuously in the middle of a residential area.
Just a short walk down the river I found Nintendo’s current offices. It lies in an industrial area but it’s not without charm. There are several tiny little lunch restaurants scattered about and behind the building lies a baseball field bustling with activity.
Photography: Osaka
Pictures from Osaka, Japan.
My room in Osaka. Small but cosy. My first time sleeping on the Tatami-floor.
Photography: Shanghai
My final destination in China – Shanghai.
Scenes from “The Bund” (the river flowing thru Shanghai). Included in the image are The Pearl Tower, World Trade Center and “The Bottle Opener” (guess which building that is).
Night shots from the very top of The Pearl Tower. Looking down at “The Bund” and the rest of Shanghai. The boats on the river are lit up like Christmas trees creating these “sweeping light effects” when photographed with a long exposure.
The Bottle Opener at night.
Pearl Tower, the Bund at night. One of my favorite pictures.
Photography: Hangzhou
Photography: Henan province
Henan province, China.
Martial arts performance in the Shaolin temple. The legendary birth place of Shaolin Kung Fu.
Scenes from The Long Man Caves.
Photography: Yangshou
Photography: Guilin
Guilin, China.
Boat ride down the Li river to Yangshou.
According to the legend the gods painted these mountains with their huge divine brushes and black ink. The mountain in this picture is “horse mountain”. If you look carefully you can see several horses in the black and white patterns on the cliff wall.
Photography: Xian
A few pictures from Xian, China.
The Terracotta Soldiers of Xian. Bigger version.
Performance in the citys bell tower.
The Drum Tower.
View from the top of The Big Goose Pagoda.
Photography: Beijing
The Great Wall of China, somewhere between Jingshangling and Badaling.
Sunset in a park in central Beijing.
A man taking an afternoon nap at the Imperial Summer Palace just outside Beijing.
Photography: Expanding my horizons
So I bought myself a digital camera and I’ve been taking pictures with it for about 9 months now. It’s not like I haven’t taken pictures before but it’s always been a loaner since I haven’t owned a camera before. So I would say that buying this camera marked the start of a new hobby for me. This is the sexy little beast I bought:
Canon Ixus 980 IS
It’s my precious. :)
I’ll be posting some pictures in the coming days, primarily from my trip to Asia.