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Tag Archives: Sony RX1
Weather Report
Last week, we were forecast to get 2″ of snow. We did, plus another 4″ on top of that. We awoke to this view last Wednesday. Click on the image for a larger view.
Defining Landmarks
Every city has a landmark that defines it. Imagine looking over a bay and seeing lady liberty holding her torch to the sky—a colossus proclaiming to take the world’s tired and downtrodden. Behind her lies a gleaming metropolis where people come to build their dreams. The place is instantly recognizable—Tokyo. Click on the image for a larger view.
Fast Food—Japanese Style
Fast food is synonymous with unhealthy food, at least in the West. In Japan, it is not so bad. For example, the last place I dropped in for a quick bite, this is what my $9 got me:
Lightly fried fish, shrimp, squid, and vegetables in batter
a bowl of white rice
a bowl of miso soup
boiled spinach
a small side of pickled vegetables
a cup of green tea at the beginning and a cup of brown tea at the end
The rice and miso soup have free refills.
OK, that is not quite right. That was about $6. I also ordered a glass for beer, which brought the total to $9.
And it is fast. Many places have a ticket machine outside where you purchase your meal. You take that in, sit at the bar, and hand it to the servers. A few minutes later you have your food. And when you finish, you just leave. Click on the image for a larger view.
Come On Art
The Tokyo bar and restaurant scene can be an odd one for the visitor. While large establishments can be found around the city, there are also small places scattered through neighborhoods, especially around train stations—this one is near Kami-Itabashi station. These bars tend to be well loved by a small clientele. They can also be surprisingly good, odd signs and confusing names not withstanding. Click on the image for a larger view.
Blizzard of 2015
New England was hit with a massive blizzard yesterday. This was my safe view from the window of our front door—you can see our bird feeder and the apple tree we call Midori in the foreground. Fortunately, so far, we have not lost power, unlike the ice storm we had last winter. Click on the image for a larger view.
Moonlight over Tokyo Bay
Jonanjima Seaside Park is on an artificial island in Tokyo bay. When runway B at Haneda airport is open, photographers group there to photograph the incoming planes. The lights you see on the water are ships. Just above those are aircraft lining up for their approach. The constellation Orion can be seen above the clouds on the horizon with the pleiades toward the top of the picture. Click on the image for a larger view.
Night Flight from Tokyo
Naomi and I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Tokyo. This is the first time for us to fly out of Haneda airport in Tokyo bay—we have always used Narita, which is far outside the city.
In most respects, Tokyo is probably as far as you can get from a natural landscape—a large part of the land in this image was “reclaimed” from the bay itself. The rivers that at one point meandered across the alluvial plane the city was built on are fixed in their path. The twenty-three wards of the metropolitan area have an average population density of 13,913 people per km². When combined with the neighboring prefectures of Chiba (foreground), Kanagawa (just in the top left corner), and Saitama, the conurbation totals thirty-three million people, about the same population as Canada, the second largest country by land area. Click on the image for a larger view.
Snowmen
For our Canadian and British readers, happy Boxing Day—or for anyone else that celebrates the holiday. Click on the image for a larger view.
Happy Holiday from Maine
Naomi and I wish you a marvelous day.
Christmas is a rather peaceful day. The hustle and bustle of the shopping season has taken a sudden pause. Stores are closed. No one is commuting to work. The world is quiet. Click on the image for a larger view.
