OMG Japan! : Yokohama & Asakusa

Yokohama is just about 40 minutes drive away from downtown Tokyo and the area is just as developed. We did not stay for long in Yokohama since the only major place we paid a visit to was the Yokohama landmark Tower in which we were able to have a bird's eye view of the city.

Asakusa on the other hand is a district in Tokyo where the famed Asakusa or Goddess of Mercy Temple is. The beautiful temple is surrounded by commercial shops which sell things at reasonable prices. And it was here where I first forked out an undisclosed sum for a pair of boat shoes. Never did I think I would get a pair of boat shoes of all places in Tokyo. I was actually looking forward to get those traditional wooden slippers but then they were priced so freakin' high that had I bought them, they would have been the most money I've wagered on footwear.

- Viewing deck of Yokohama Landmark Tower.



- Yokohama



- Jayme! I found Dippin' Dots!



- Fuji TV Station Building.



- It's got that funky spherical viewing deck which I didn't go up since it costs money.



- Along some random street near Asakusa.



- Misc shops.



- The gate to the Goddess of Mercy temple.



- The awesome-ly lit up pagoda during sunset.

Stay tuned for more of Tokyo.

OMG Japan! : Lake Kawaguchi

Here's how i'm going to do it. I will do seperate posts for the different prefectures or areas that I visited in Japan in chronological order. More or less. There are so many pictures I want to share but I can only put up so little.

Our first visit was to Owakudani Valley, or Hell's Valley which features sulphurous-gas spewing and hot steam gushing out from the cracks of the volcanically active earth. The whole place smells worse than the mud from Gurney Drive. WORSE.

We then mostly spent our day in these villlage-y, rural areas. In the evening we headed to an onsen at Lake Kawaguchi, a hot spring resort typ-ish place, donned yukatas and spent the rest of the day in some sort of high. Well, words just don't do justice.

- Sulphurous gas streaming out from the mountain.



- Owakudani Valley.



- Mount Fuji!



- Jon, Soph, lecturer (Ms. Shereen) and me.



- udon lunch



- View from the fifth station of Mount Fuji.



- Mount Fuji in the background.



- Walking on the streets of Lake Kawaguchi wearing the yukata and clogs was secretly awesome.



- Having to sleep on tatami mats at the hotel is so cool!



- Dinner.



- I could totaly get used to this life.

Stay tuned for more.

Listen to This

I love this. The video echoes the spirit of the song so well. The black and white tone creates this luxurious, opulent setting. I love the direction of the camera and the placement and movement of the people. It's perfection.

Kind of Sunshine
by Nicola Conte

Stay tuned for more.

PS: Blogging will continue in a week's time when I return from my college trip to Tokyo.

Snapshot: Penang

As I was taking pictures in town yesterday, I decided to journey off the roads would normally take. It took alot of walking but then I managed to discover places I've never explored before. I walked on roads I so often wondered where they led to, tip toed across narrow lanes I never knew existed, pranced down the streets I've never actually taken a second look at. And if you are wondering, yes I ran out of words and was forced to use 'pranced'.

It's a feeling like no other. Just when I thought I had some knowledge about the city, I find myself in some one-lane alley next to an abandoned building which somewhat resemble a crack house and I think to myself, "This is awesome!" And my interest in the roads and buildings and sights and sounds and smells of the city is completely renewed.

If I could turn back time, I wish I could have explored more when I was still schooling at St. Xavier's. If only I had opened my eyes a little larger and walk a little further just to be able to see what I missed out the day before. On the other hand, I'm glad I'm only discovering these places now. After gaining more knowledge, I can now see these sights in a different light.

1:51pm | behind St. George's Anglican Church, Kapitan Keling Mosque Road.



1:56pm | Stewart Lane.

Stay tuned for more snapshots.

Update

Nothing much has been happening with me. I've been staying at home doing the things my normal college life won't permit. Namely, T.V. and reading. I've also gone to town to take some pictures of the pedestrian bridge and the area around it for the future assignment and I can think of a few people who would want them from me. And I would of course gladly give said pictures to them.

I just returned from the mall and was midly surprised to see that they had erected a fun fair on the grounds adjacent to Queensbay Mall. However, I did not go on any of the rides. I was merely attracted to the lights.

Stay tuned for more.

May I

Out with May yesterday night. It's been a pretty long while but I feel as though nothing's changed. We still talked as though we haven't seen each other in a week.

Stay tuned for more.

Bowling!

We went bowling today!

It's been a couple of weeks since I saw the interior of a mall. I hardly went shopping in the past month. To put it in perspective, the most exciting I bought was bread. And milk. Well, two cartons of milk. Fresh milk.

Anyway, today was an unusually casual day. We had classes but not much teaching was done. Just tutorials and then we were off to the mall for bowling. Days like this are hard to come by. More so in the next month when things start to crank up and assignments start to pour in again. I'm taking a moment to enjoy this.

Stay tuned for more.

Craftboard Models

Here're some snapshots of the task which kept me and my coursemates busy for two whole weeks (weekends included thank you very much). So busy that we were on the brink of losing our marbles and to some, our cool.

It was hard work but I think it pretty much paid off. I think the site model looks awesome. I mean we built a part of Georgetown out from nothing but craftboards, UHU glue and corrugated cardboards. I have a feeling people are easily amused by things which have been scaled down or scaled up. But I like that feeling. It's hilarious.

- the whole site model


- City Hall


- Shophouses on Chulia St. (at the corner of Love Lane where 7/11 is)


- Shophouses on Chulia St.


- The junction at Penang Rd, Muntri St. and Chulia St.


- St. Xaviers Institution.


- Shophouse roofs.

After this project was done and over with, my workload continued to rain down on me with a short Project Management test this past Monday and a Working Drawings submission yesterday. But now, all of that is done and over with and I am already looking forward to the Raya holidays. I think all of us deserve this much needed break to pick up some of our said marbles.


Stay tuned for more.