Posts Tagged ‘Japan 2012’
Thursday, February 19th, 2015
It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. This year, it’s the year of the Goat, according to the Chinese zodiac.
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!
I snapped this photo of a kid in a small town called Takamori at the Southeastern corner of the Aso caldera in Kyushu, Japan. The Chinese greetings is a pun during the Goat (on the Chinese Zodiac) years on the traditional Lunar New Year greeting “三阳开泰” – which augurs an auspicious year ahead as the sun ushers in the warm Spring from the cold Winter. Photo taken in 2012 with a Nikon D800 DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
It’s customary for Chinese to give out Ang Pows during the Lunar New Year. These are red paper envelopes containing money that’s given to relatives and children.
It being the new year, you’re supposed to use crispy new notes in these red packets.
(more…)
Tags:Chinese New Year, goat, holidays, Japan, Japan 2012, kid, Kumamoto, Kyushu, Lunar New Year, photography, photos, potd, Takachiho, travel, vacation
Posted in Cameras, DSLR, Gadgets, Holiday, Japan 2012, Lens, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, travel | No Comments »
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
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.
Tags:Japan, Japan 2012, Kyushu, NIKKOR, Nikon, photographs, photos, Valentine's Day
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Sunday, December 9th, 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.
Tags:goat, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, kid, Kumamoto, Kyushu, Takachiho, travel, vacation
Posted in Cameras, DSLR, Holiday, Japan 2012, Lens, NIKKOR, Nikon, Travel | No Comments »
Friday, December 7th, 2012
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.
Tags:baths, Food, holiday, hot spring, Japan, Japan 2012, Kumamoto, Kurokawa, Kyushu, mountains, onsen, river, spa, travel, vacation, valley
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Thursday, December 6th, 2012
The last place you’d expect to go on an African Safari would be on a mountain on the outskirts of Beppu in Japan – as chilly winds and light snow ushered in the winter.
Different types of food was provided for feeding different types of animals.
In every family holiday, you’ve got to dedicate part of the itinerary to the kids.
Handfeeding a black bear with tongs.
So we decided to check out this African Safari theme park half-an-hour’s drive from Beppu in Japan.
It’s actually the Kyushu Natural Zoological Park, with more than 1,300 animals of 70 different species, spread over some 115 ha of rolling mountain plains.
You can self-drive your car or take the bus. We took the latter because that came with the opportunity to hand-feed (or tong-feed) the animals up close from within the bus.
There’s no question this lion prefers the bigger morsel holding the tongs with the tiny morsel.
You can still drive your own car along the same route as the bus after the bus tour, but we didn’t have time to linger, and had to give the rest of the theme park – which included a petting area for tamer animals – a miss too.
I did harbour fantasies of patting this lion on the head until he convinced me that although he may bear a slight resemblance to my golden retriever at home, he is anything but.
This was meant to be a treat for the kids, who love animals.
Back to more docile animals.
But it turned out great for the parents too, as we’ve never had the chance to feed wild animals this up close before.
Here’s a smiley camel.
Perhaps it’s time for a real safari?
Not sure if these Cheetahs appreciate the impending cold season – all huddled up like. Photo taken through the grills of the safari bus.
* The photos in this article were taken with a Nikon D800 and Olympus E450 SLR.
The elephant’s trunk is actually rather dexterous.
Always thought that the proper attire for an African Safari were khaki shorts, not wrapped up in winter wear like this.
This bully of an adult giraffe kept butting the other giraffes away to hog the food.
Tags:animals, Beppu, Food, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, kids, Kyushu, Safari, travel, vacation
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Wednesday, December 5th, 2012
Today we started our sightseeing in earnest – checking out the onsen “hells” of Beppu.
Umi Jigoku (海地獄） – or Sea Hell – is my favourite hell.
Beppu claims to be the world’s second largest hot spring water producer in terms of volume – behind the Yellowstone National Park in the USA.
The Umi Jigoku has nicely landscaped gardens aroud the hotspring ponds.
The seaside town is a popular onsen destination in Japan – both for the regular version spas where people immerse their bodies in the healing attributes of natural hot spring water – as well as eight hot springs that can only be viewed for their striking colours and characteristics but which are not suitable for bathing in.
Each of these eight hot springs are called “hells” （地獄）because of the high temperatures and vivid colours – much like the boiling waters used to punish evil-doers for their sins – traditional Japanese and Chinese beliefs about what hell is like.
Six of the eight hells are located close to each other so you can visit them one after another before heading to the other location where the remaining two are located next to each other.
There’s also a red mud hot spring pond in the Umi Jigoku.
The most striking onsen among those we visited must be the Umi Jigoku （海地獄) – or Sea Hell – because of the vivid turquoise colour of the hot spring water here.
It had emerged after a volcano explosion 1,200 years ago.
The Yama Jigoku （山地獄） – Mountain Hell – comprises steam spewing out of a pile of rocks.
The second Jigoku we visited was the Yama Jigoku （山地獄）- or Mountain Hell – comprising hot steam emitting from a pile of rocks.
Ever stared into the mouth of a hungry hippo before? For 100 yen, you get some fresh carrots to throw inside this begging hippo at the Yama Jigoku.
Though the hot spring itself is simple, it’s a favourite with the children because there were some enclosed animals on display, including a hungry hippo, some flamingoes and a bored elephant.
And here’s a one-eared Llama at Yama Jigoku. Wonder who chewed up his ear.
Next was Kamado Jigoku （かまど地獄） – or Boiling Hell – because of its association with boiling water for cooking.
Bubbling boiling water at the Kamado Jigoku （かまど地獄） – or Boiling Hell.
It actually comprises six pots of murky, bubbling boiling water.
An orange mud hot spring pond at the Kamado Jigoku.
After that was Oniyama Jigoku （鬼山地獄） – or Demon King Hell – which claims that the force of the steam produced here is strong enough to pull one-and-a-half train carriages.
The Oniyama Jigoku （鬼山地獄） – Demon Mountain Hell – produces steam that’s strong enough to pull train carriages.
This hell also had a collection of crocodiles relishing the warm spring water.
The Oniyama Jigoku has a collection of crocodiles frolicking in warm spring water despite the cold winter.
Next was the Shiraike Jigoku （白池地獄） – or White Pond Hell – which got its name from its creamy-white hot-spring water.
The Shiraike Jigoku （白池地獄） – or White Pond Hell – also has a nice Japanese landscaped garden around it.
It had a collection of tropical fishes, including a tank of deceptively-harmless-looking piranhas which were eyeing us as intently as we were eyeing them.
Piranhas at Shiraike Jigoku lining up to watch us. This was the first time that the kids had seen live piranhas.
Finally, we visited the Oniishibozu Jigoku （鬼石坊主地獄） – or Shaven Monk’s Head Hell – because the bubbles of gray mud boiling up the ponds resemble the shaven heads of monks.
The Oniishibozu Jigoku （鬼石坊主地獄） – or Shaven Monk’s Head Hell – has white bubbling mud springs.
We had to give the final two Jigokus a miss because of time constraints – although they looked beautiful and sounded interesting in the brochures.
The Chinoike Jigoku (血の池地獄 – Blood Pond Hell) has red water while the Tatsumaki Jigoku (龍巻地獄 – Geyser Hell) has a geyser that spouts every half hour.
Along the way, we had plenty of Jigoku Mushi – food cooked using the steam and hot spring water – such as eggs and sweet potato.
As per the night before, we rounded off the day with a visit to the onsen.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
Tags:Beppu, D800, Food, hell, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, jigoku, Kyushu, Nikon, onsen, travel, vacation
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
After a scrumptious meal at CoCo Ichibanya, we made another unplanned stop at the Tosu Premium Outlets before continuing towards our first night in Kyushu – Beppu.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
Window dressing for Dog Dept, one of the shops at Tosu Premium Outlets.
The town of Tosu lies at the crossroads of two major expressways of Kyushu.
Some familiar brands at the Tosu Premium Outlets.
One runs north-south from Fukuoka to Kumamoto and beyond, while the other runs east-west from Oita to Nagasaki.
So it’s an ideal location for Premium Outlets.
People commuting long distance from one part of Kyushu to another tend to go through Tosu and it’s so convenient to just make a quick stopover.
We’d already planned our final hotel stay in Kyushu to be in Tosu before flying out of Japan.
But since it was on our way to Beppu, we decided to take a quick preview of what the outlets had to offer.
As an outlet shopping mall, the Tosu Premium Outlets seemed pretty run-of-the-mill, with the usual brands that we see at other similar malls.
Another unplanned stop to take a preview of the Tosu Premium Outlets.
But we’ll be taking a closer look at the end of this trip so maybe we’ll discover something special.
Miyuki – a local restaurant in Beppu whose owner doubled up as enthusiastic tour guide. This photo of its exterior was shot at ISO 6400 with little noise.
After Tosu, we continued our drive towards Beppu, the seaside town known for its hot springs.
Trying out the local fare – especially the Dango Jiru soup, which is made with flattened wheat flour dumplings.
Here we had a little bit of difficulty locating our hotel among the tiny and complicated streets in the area.
Checking out the shops and wares of You Me shopping centre in Beppu. Everybody recommends it – for its free parking in town, from which to visit other sights.
Contemplating whether to make a stop at Uniqlo. This shot was deliberately over-exposed to get a high-key effect that puts the focus on the boy in the car and the brand.
So we asked a local who promptly got onto his motorbike to show us the way to the family-run establishment called Happy Neko – where we had booked a studio apartment complete with kitchen and launderette facilities.
Bukkake is served in the food court – here it’s a legitimate and traditional Japanese dish, not a genre.
The Czech proprietor, Bibo, sat down with us to tell us about the places to visit, food to eat, and things to do during our 2-day stay at Beppu. He spoke perfect English.
So we headed out for dinner at a local restaurant, whose owner plied us with more brochures, travel magazines and recommendations on what to do during our stay.
The owner was a one-man-show: owner, chef, steward. He had visited Singapore before and immediately associated the Merlion with our island nation.
After dinner, we popped into the huge shopping mall in town – YouMe, before visiting the Hyotan onsen spa near where we stayed – an apt and restful end to a long day of travel.
Tomorrow, we shall visit the Beppu Hells – eight natural hot springs that tourists all over Japan come to visit.
Tags:Beppu, Bukkake, D800, driving, Food, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, Kyushu, Nikon, onsen, rental car, travel, vacation
Posted in Cameras, DSLR, Events, Food, Gadgets, Holiday, Japan 2012, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, Shopping, Travel | 1 Comment »
Monday, December 3rd, 2012
The direct flight from Changi Airport Terminal 3 in Singapore took slightly more than six hours to reach the International Airport in Fukuoka, where we collected our rental car.
* All photos in this post were taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.
SIA SQ656 flies 5 times a week direct from Singapore to Fukuoka – 0105 hrs to 0810 hrs. This is the golden sunrise from the plane’s window.
We paid for the air tickets using the UOB Prvi Amex card which entitled us to a free airport limousine transfer from home to the airport. We did have some problems getting them to change the date of the limousine to the correct day, but the service from the driver was excellent.
First thing upon arrival is to pick up the rental car. Take a free airport shuttle from the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal and then cross the road.
The flight itself was unremarkable and upon landing we promptly collected our rental car from Nissan Car Rental outside the Domestic Terminal.
First stop after picking up the car is to visit the supermarket to stock up on supplies, especially bottled drinking water.
First stop was the supermarket to top up supplies and to get bottled water, before heading to our first stop – Beppu – a seaside town 2 hours’ drive from Fukuoka.
We’d discovered CoCo Ichibanya during our visit to Kyoto and Nagoya some years back and the children loved it.
We didn’t get far before we came across an outlet of the CoCo Curry house.
CoCo Ichibanya has since expanded into Singapore although we haven’t had the chance to check it out back at home.
That’s our favourite Japanese curry house so we decided to stop there for lunch – that’s the kind of flexibility that a self-drive holiday gives you – you can make unplanned stops at your whim and fancy.
Tags:CoCo, curry, D800, driving, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, Kyushu, Nikon, Nissan, rental car, SIA, travel, vacation
Posted in Cameras, DSLR, Events, Gadgets, Holiday, Japan 2012, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos | 1 Comment »
Sunday, December 2nd, 2012
Every time we set off for a family vacation, guess who gets to set off first, and is always the last to return home?
Cliff gets to set off for his staycation before us and only returns home after we’ve returned and settled back at home. Photo taken with Nikon D800.
It’s Cliff of course – that’s our resident Golden Retriever.
Before we set off for our family vacation, we have to pack him off to his boarder – which costs as much as our own hotels.
We wonder if he misses home and us, but secretly concedes that he probably enjoys his staycation as much as we do our vacation.
What with the other dogs at the boarder to hump interact with.
And we usually pick him up after we’ve come back from vacation and have unpacked and settled down.
So guess who has the longest vacations in the family?
Tags:Cliff, D800, dog, holiday, Japan, Japan 2012, Kyushu, Nikon, travel, vacation
Posted in Cameras, DSLR, Events, Gadgets, Holiday, Japan 2012, Lens, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Saturday, December 1st, 2012
So we decided that there was a 2-week window to grab a quick break. But that’s like one-week away. Is it possible to plan the usual DIY self-drive holiday at such short notice?
Aerial view of Fukuoka, our gateway to Kyushu.
The answer is yes, with the advent of the Internet. Here’s a recap of what I did for my own holiday.
Cutting it close
I booked the air tickets the day we decided to go for the break, the car rental the next day, 3 hotels on the third day, and the remaining 3 on the fourth day.
The remaining days were spent planning the itinerary for each stop.
It’s as close to the date of departure as I’ve ever tried going on a self-planned, self-drive vacation.
First the obvious, decide how long you’ve got and where you want to go. In my case, we’ve long wanted to visit Kyushu in Japan, and the window of opportunity available was roughly two weeks.
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan, I recommend this site called japan-guide.com. It has comprehensive descriptions of popular tourist spots all over Japan, as well as travel tips for Japan.
Even more useful is its forum where vacation planners get their queries answered in detail with advice from a community of fellow travelers, as well as useful links to resources – such as timetables, rates etc – outside of the website.
Next book the air tickets. The availability and price of last-minute tickets usually determine whether your vacation destination will become a reality.
Cameras of choice
For this vacation, I’m entrusting our memories to the Nikon D800, with the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lenses.
That’s almost 4 kg of camera gear but for the sake of image quality, I believe the 36.3-megapixel full-frame camera and two FX lenses from Nikon are worth every ounce of their weight.
Besides, we have the rental car to carry the gear between sights.
For a second camera, my wife will be carrying our trusty Olympus E450 with the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens.
I use Zuji.com to get a feel of the airlines plying Singapore and the possible stops and the price range, then if there’s time, check competing sites or the airline’s website for better rates.
For Kyushu, it was pretty straightforward, only Singapore Airlines fly directly there from Singapore – to Fukuoka. It’s straightforward until you hit the SIA website. For a premier airline, it sure has a terrible website for bookings and reservations – plenty of long waits.
Next is the car rental. I use ToCoo car rental. It helps you check the rates for multiple car rental companies with cars available in the cities where you intend to pick up and drop off the car. But you’ve got to compare rates manually yourself.
Computing on the go
For computing, I’m bringing along the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, a BlackBerry PlayBook, and the Seagate 1TB Backup Plus.
The X1 Carbon is sleek in design, wonderfully thin and light, yet powerful enough for surfing Web and running Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS6 for photo-editing and blogging back in the hotel room.
The 7-inch PlayBook keeps the children entertained with game apps, and serves as an e-book reader. Its biggest bugbear is that it’s the Wi-Fi version and does not have 3G, but I don’t use 3G data in Japan anyway.
To store and back up the 40MB RAW photo files generated by the D800, I brought along the 1TB Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive. The 2.5-inch plug-and-play drive constantly backs up the hard disk and makes posting photos online a breeze.
Usually, I pick up the car at the airport, drive off to the first destination and return the car at the airport I’m flying off from. If the pick-up and drop-off locations are different, check if a surcharge is levied and how much it is.
Fuss-free music
For music in the hotel room, we’re bringing along the Jabra Solemate portable speaker. Instead of lugging stacks of CDs around, simply download your favourite tracks onto an SD card and plug it into the Solemate.
What I like most is we can play our song collections and playlists wirelessly from our smartphones, tablet and Ultrabook via Bluetooth. It’s portable, easy to use and the sound quality is superb.
Finally, book the hotels. I know some Japanese so I used to browse Japanese booking websites and hotel websites directly, calling them on the phone for enquiries and reservations.
This time round, I discovered that my favourite accomodation-booking website for Europe holidays – booking.com – now has quite extensive list of hotels in Japan. Enough to find hotels that fit your budget in most places in Japan.
I like booking.com because of its clear information and easy booking. So even if you don’t know ANY japanese, you can still find and book accommodation easily.
Smartphones
We don’t use smartphones an awful lot, but for the record, we’re bringing along the Android Sony Xperia ion and an aging iPhone 3GS.
I’ve left the Nokia Lumia 900 at home because Nokia maps does not have the navigation map for Japan, and I’m renting an English GPS with the car anyway.
Another website that I tried last year – hotels.com – seems to be only beginning to move into Japan, with poor selection and high prices. I’m hoping there coverage and pricing will improve over time.
Once you’ve gotten the flight, car and hotel bookings out of the way, what remains is the physical packing for the big day.
Tags:Backup Plus, Carbon, D800, holiday, ION, Jabra, Japan, Japan 2012, Kyushu, Lenovo, Nikon, Olympus, Seagate, Solemate, Sony, travel, ultrabook, vacation, X1, Xperia
Posted in Apple, Audio, Cameras, DSLR, Events, Gadgets, Holiday, Japan 2012, Lenovo, Lens, Lumia, NIKKOR, Nikon, Nokia, Notebooks, Olympus, Phones, Photography, PlayBook, RIM, Seagate, Sony Mobile, speakers, storage drive, Tablets, Travel, Ultrabooks, Xperia, Zuiko | 1 Comment »
