Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at Calvary. It is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians, and is a public holiday in many countries.
Candles in the Church of Our Lady of Bethlehem on La Rambla in Barcelona, Spain. Photo credit: John Tan
Here’s wishing everyone a great Easter weekend.
It’s Valentine’s Day today. Here’s wishing all lovers a most romantic day/night.
Just in case you haven’t bought that Valentine’s Day card yet, here’s one you can use as a gift tag. Just print it out 🙂
I took this photo in a pottery workshop in this little Japanese shire called Takamori （高森）, nestled in the caldera of Mount Aso （阿蘇山） in Kyushu （九州）.
Loved the pottery pieces in the workshop. Knew at once it would go into the February 14th post for 2013.
* Taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. Happy New Year to all the people from cultures that celebrate this traditional festival! And to all Chinese around the world, Happy Chinese New Year!
财神爷 wishes all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Text added in Photoshop CS6.
I was having breakfast at the neighbourhood coffee shop last Sunday morning when I noticed the tiny figurine in the photo sitting in the middle of the table.
Since this is the Chinese New Year period, I suppose it’s Cai Shen Ye – the God of Fortune in the traditional Chinese pantheon.
Was this merely a handphone charm inadvertently left behind by another patron, or is the popular deity paying a visit to the mortal world?
At any rate, I lost no time in snapping a candid shot with my own handphone.
We were walking through this neighbourhood street mall on Chinese New Year’s Eve morning. Shops were teeming with people doing last minute shopping for the Reunion Dinner that night.
Having a sleep-in past noon on a Saturday. Right in the midst of the hullabaloo of Chinese New Year’s Eve shopping all around it. Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone.
In the midst of all that hullabaloo, this kitty was sleeping most indulgently on the doorstep of one of these shops.
Some of the shoppers tip-toed around it, while others looked like they’d have stepped right on it.
The kitty itself, however, was totally oblivious to the buzz of activities surrounding it.
An escapade too many, the night before, perhaps?
It’s the Lunar New Year period and Chinatowns all over the world are abuzz with decorations and festival sales in anticipation of Chinese New Year.
This couple reads “Welcoming the new spring and happiness” to the right, and “Prosperity through Harmony” to the left. I snapped this picture with the Sony Xperia Ion Android smartphone.
I was walking in Chinatown Singapore and came across this corridor outside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple that brightly decorated with these floral wreaths and Chinese well-wishing couplets.
Justin wishes one and all a Happy New Year for 2013!
Don’t ask me where Justin got that pose from. He just slid into it when I asked him to say cheese.
As we stride into 2013, let’s hope everybody gets a fruitful year ahead. Best wishes!
Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I hope everybody has had a fabulous 2012.
Takamori is a small town located at the Southeastern corner of the Aso caldera. We chose to stay there because it was between Takachiho and the Nakadake peak of Mount Aso, and so served as a good base from which to visit both.
I don’t know how the kids stay so pristine white all the time.
We chose this “country-house” style hotel in Takamori, partly because of the beautiful goat that it showed in a photo on its website.
The other kid peering out from its goat shed.
When we arrived, we found that, in addition to that teenage goat, there were another nanny complete with horns and a beard – and two really cute kids.
This was what we saw when we looked out the window on the third morning of our stay. It had snowed lightly overnight and everything was coated with a thin layer of newly fallen snow. You can see the goat shed to the left.
They were really lovable and the kids (mine) were over the moon over them.
Two cold kids huddled up inside the goat shed.
The hotel probably sees the most guests during summer as a sort of summer camp location, where you can enjoy outdoor games and attend pottery lessons at the hotel’s workshop.
Eventually, the kids ventured out into the snow. After all, they’re donning Pure New Wool. Can you spot the kid against the white snow?
There was another large Japanese family staying on our second night and their children and ours had a whale of a snow fight after it snowed overnight.
“Who – me?” A figurine in the hotel’s pottery workshop.
It was a wonderful stayover indeed.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and an AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens.
Steeped in ancient Japanese creation mythology, Takachiho gorge is touted as one of the most mystical places in Japan.
View of the waterfall at Takachiho from a row boat in the gorge.
The view of the beautiful waterfall from the other side of the cascade.
The 17-metre high Manai-no-taki Falls, with the clouds of water spray, is the highlight of many a picturesque photograph of the gorge. Here you can see the bridge above straddling the gorge.
Takachiho is supposedly the place where the Japanese Shinto Sun-goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave from her mischievous brother – plunging the world into darkness – until the other gods and goddesses came to coax her to return.
Close-up view of the Manai-no-taki. The wife relived her college rowing days by hogging all the rowing, accompanied by much yelling by the cox-cum-photographer to avoid the cascading sprays of water.
The view from afar from up on high standing on the bridge above the gorge. Up to three people are allowed on each boat – I would highly recommend it if you have an hour and a half to spare.
Commercial break? Nothing like a hot can of Georgia coffee to beat the cold after all the excitement in the row boat. Disclaimer: Justin drinks coffee like once a year so he’s no regular coffee junkie.
This honour, however, is contested by Mount Takachiho-no-mine in the Kirishima National Park, further south in Kyushu.
Something cheerful at the entrance of the car park at Takachiho Gorge.
It’s easy to see why the location is associated with such lofty happenings.
The gorge was formed by the Gokase river eroding its way through the volcanic rock, sculpting the steep banks on either side of the serene river that now winds through it.
Rowing a boat on the water and looking up the sheer straight and smooth stone cliffs on either side reminds one of the awesome powers of nature that shaped this gorge.
We first visited Takachiho more than a decade back and a snapshot of the gorge from a bridge straddling it still hangs in the corridor at home.
This time round, we had more time and hired a boat to row in the gorge itself. coming up close with the waterfall that empties into it.
Nothing much to do with the gorge apart from the replica of the bridge, but something pleasant to thank visitors.
You can also hike along the side of the gorge to the cave where Amaterasu allegedly took refuge from her brother’s incessant pranks.
Absolutely delicious marbled Takachiho beef that you can cook yourself on a hotplate.
There are also temples in Takachiho town and in the evening on Saturdays, traditional Yokagura dances are performed to reenact the story associated with the place.
Although it may not look it, this local salt-grilled fish is the most tasty fish we had in Japan. And it takes 15 minutes waiting time for it to be served.
We had a taste of Takachiho beef, as well as the local salt-grilled freshwater fish.
It was an excellent day trip for the family, well-worth the drive through the winding mountain roads to get to the gorge.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
After the hustle and bustle of the city, we drove into the mountains to spend a night at a ryokan in a quaint onsen village nestled in the valley of the Kurokawa river.
The streets wind through old houses along both sides of the river.
The last time we holidayed in Kyushu we had followed a package tour booked from Tokyo.
Colourful maize hung out to dry under the eaves of some of the houses.
The coach had stopped by this quaint village in the evening and we had strolled through the peaceful streets of the dimly-lit hamlet – charmed by the local craft shops and serene ryokans lining the cobbled streets.
Stroll leisurely through the peaceful streets of Kurokawa. The face on the lantern is stylised from the Japanese hiragana character for “Fuji”.
The short stroll was really inadequate to soak in the atmosphere and we resolved then to come back one day to stay in one of those ryokans.
Hotels and ryokans are built along both sides of the river.
15 years later, we’re back – to the sleepy town with a river that runs through it.
A study of different textures, from the crackled paint to the stone and wood textures. This is the “banner” for a pottery shop.
It’s actually a popular destination for the Japanese themselves, either as a day trip or stopover.
“Used” bath tags hung outside a local temple for blessing.
For those intent on bath-hopping, you can purchase a bath tag that lets you visit the onsen baths of participating ryokans freely.
Lemonade, cider and local beer chilled naturally in water frozen from the cold temperature.
The temperature when we were there was slightly above zero, so it would have been gratifying checking out the differently landscaped onsen baths offered by the ryokans.
Shed for firewood outside one of many hot spring baths along the river.
The outdoor spa at our ryokan overlooked the river so you could sip wine at a chair after you’ve been suitably warmed up by the hot spring water.
Peaceful steps leading up to one of the houses along the street.
After that, you can partake a full Japanese kaiseki dinner served in the comfort of your room.
Two local cats watching the world go by.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
