Yup. Something like the official day of spring today. So there’s no work here in Tokyo, and spent the whole day out in Nakano having tako balls, charcoal fired unagi and the occasional Fujiya here and there (and checking office mails at the same time). Bought a lens case at the junk corner. Raining the whole day, and made the whole day feel miserable. After that its time for Shinjuku just to walk around a little here and there. Was looking for small hard cases for 120 films since they seem quite fragile after exposure.
Flying back to Shanghai this Saturday after spending 3 weeks out here in Tokyo.
Starting the day lucky. Weather forecast earlier in the week was cloudy and raining today Saturday, but the skies were done with the rain after nonstop downpour yesterday and this morning we finally have the sun. So its time for Mount Fuji, and exactly, the five lakes region. Destination town will be Kawaguchiko at the foot of Fujisan. Have tried to see the mountain twice before in the past. In Kamakura there was rain, in Hakone dense fog. Elusive as it is, I going closer each time. This trip I’ll be bringing some serious lightweight firepower. Leica M6, Ricoh GR Digital and a Fujifilm GA645i. 120 films are a combo of Fuji Velvia 50 and Fortia. 35mm includes Kodak 160VC and a host of black and white films. Not intentionally for landscape, but just happen to have it with me. Will test out the 160VC for landscape. Wierd choice I know.
Continue reading 'Mount Fuji take-3: Five Lakes area'»
My first earthquake in Tokyo. Woke up at about 2am on Saturday morning by a little shake. Nothing compared to the one I experienced in Taipei a couple of years back, but this one was still a first. Nothing like a first! Here’s a copy and paste of the details from the USGS website.
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 5.2
Date-Time
* Friday, March 07, 2008 at 16:54:56 UTC
* Saturday, March 08, 2008 at 01:54:56 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 36.474°N, 140.420°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances 15 km (10 miles) NNW of Mito, Honshu, Japan
80 km (50 miles) SSW of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
110 km (65 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
120 km (75 miles) E of Maebashi, Honshu, Japan
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 8.9 km (5.5 miles); depth fixed by location program
… I regret to inform you that I will need some more weeks before uploading all photos to the last 2 posts. Ok… my office PC just decided not to boot up last week and there goes all those photos I was hoping to upload while in Tokyo, bypassing the Chinese firewall. Lucky I managed to upload the A380 photos and maybe 1-2 from Sydney. The rest will have to wait…
9 March in Tokyo
This trip is supposed to be different, putting work aside. But still find myself going to Tsukiji fish market in the morning for breakfast. Same old routine for the last one year here. But this time I have my Tri-X film. Hmmm. Ok will make the most of it. But very determined to do something different for the rest of the weekend. But the next stop will be a visit to Fujiya Camera at Nakano JR stop. Same old routine again. I’m out or creative ideas. No tourist spots for me for sure.
So this time its tuna and minced tuna with the rice for 1000 yen. Nice way to start the day. And after that its half an hour strolling with the leica and a roll of film. Too bad ran out of battery for metering so had to do a premeter with the ricoh gr digital and locked in the exposure at f5.6 and 1/125s for the most common scenes. Compensate plus or minus up to 2 stops depending on whether I shooting into a shop or on the street in the morning sun.
Continue reading 'Tokyo: 8 March 2008'»
Been 5 to 7 years at least since I’ve been here in Sydney. Will be bringing along the a&a bag after proving itself very agile and capable in Macau. Inside will be my Garmin eTrex Vista loaded with Australasian World Map and fresh set of batteries. Ricoh GR Digital with 21mm adapter will be coming along as well, joined by the Leica M6, my favourite 35 ‘Cron and 50mm Summarit with the sexy XOONS hood. Will be shooting with a combination of Pan F+ as I expect fine weather, and Kodak 160VC and Tri-X to impart some grain if i need to. Not too sure I will use them all, don’t think Sydney is a black & white area. Will probably be using more colour film than b&w. Highlight would be my first flight on the A380 to Sydney.
Continue reading 'Sydney, Australia in February'»
Flying over the outback on SQ222 right now, typing on my iPod touch. Maybe it has to do with with the desolateness of the place but it does look mysterious. The fissured landscape, reminiscent of a long dried out sea, features of rivers draining the plains millions of years ago and dotted with lakes all over the places. The flight is cruising now and these features must be huge on the ground. Nice and nice. For sure will have to spend some time in the outback soon. And hopefully survive to tell.
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