Forrest Brown

My Blog Has Moved

2010-08-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

I've decided to move my blog to my own web site. So, if you would like to see the latest of what I've been doing, you'll have to go to my new blog.

Check it out at:
http://www.forrestbrown.com/blog/

Japan - Apartment View

2010-08-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

Japan - Chunky Cola

2010-08-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Cola Up, a new drink that I've been seeing around Japan. A soda that you can chew. Instead of the normal liquid you'd expect in a can of soda, it's a chunky jelly. Not bad, but kind of strange. I've also seen it in Grape and Almond Jelly flavors.

Japan - Apartment

2010-08-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Last year when I was staying in Japan I rented a furnished monthly apartment near Tokyo Station that was really nice and convenient. But it was also a little strange because it was in an area that was almost all business offices. So all I saw when I went out around my apartment were people in suits. For this trip I decided to try staying in a different part of Tokyo and rented an apartment near Shinjuku.

I'm staying a the Hundred Stay Serviced Apartments and have rented one of their premier apartment. The apartment is really nice with a cool modern design. The apartment is on the 21st floor with floor to ceiling windows that give an amazing view of Shinjuku.

One thing different with this apartment compared to the apartment I stayed in last year, is this apartment does not have a kitchen, just a refrigerator and microwave.

Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day Three

2010-08-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

The last day of Fuji Rock. Still cloudy and no rain until the near the eand of the day.

Oh No! The huge line to catch the shuttle bus is back. Still not quite as long as last year, only about an hour wait.

Panorama of the Main Stage.

All of the rain means lots of nice gooey, squishy mud.

Vampire Weekend on the Main Stage.

Huge Crowds, I was counting the people at the Main Stage and reached 36,528 before I lost track because some guy kept walking back and forth in front of me.

One of the food vending areas.

This guy knows how to party.

My Favorite Japanese band from Fuji Rock is Boom Boom Satellites. Their music is kind of a mash-up of Rock and Electronic.

Boom Boom Satellites

Atoms for Peace

Massive Attack

Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day Two

2010-07-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Day two of Fuji Rock. The weather forecast was looking better, but it was still pretty cloudy.

Third Eye Blind on the White Stage

John Fogerty on the main stage. I have never liked Creedence Clearwater Revival so it was time to find another band to listen to.

I ended up at the White Stage where Japanese rock band The Cro-Magnons was playing. They were not awesome, but better then John Fogerty.

The Cro-Magnons

Fishbone on the Red Marquee Stage

I was planning to stay for Flogging Molly playing at 9:30, but the rain finally showed up. The rain combined with still being a little jet-lagged made me decide to head back to the condo I was staying at for a soak in the onsen and a good nights sleep.

Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day One

2010-07-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've made it to Fuji Rock!

The line from to catch the shuttle bus from the train station is not too bad this year, only about 10 minutes, much better then the crazy long line from last year.

Arriving at Fuji Rock. The weather is a bit overcast and cloudy, but not too bad.

Panorama of the main stage. For the bigger bands this whole area is packed with people.

A one man band. One of the cool things a Fuji Rock is some of the smaller stages and performers scattered around.

The rain has come.

Rain, rain go away!

Some mosh pit action for Ken Yokoyama at the main stage.

Flaming Ninja?

Them Crooked Vultures on the main stage. They were not doing anything for me, so time to wander around and see who else is playing.

Broken Social Scene on the Red Marquee Stage. They seemed to be trying to see how many people they could squeeze onto the stage.

Muse, time for the main band of the day.

Muse put on a really great show.

Japan - I'm heading to Japan

2010-07-26T03:51:00.000-07:00

I'm heading back to Japan to go to the Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic music festivals and then to hang out for a couple of weeks.

Flying United this trip. This trip is a little different because instead of flying directly to Tokyo from LAX, I'm flying to San Francisco, switching planes and then flying to Tokyo. Coming back I fly directly to LAX.

The Jet had a flat tire that they were changing before we boarded. I wonder if they have AAA roadside assistance?

California - Stars Time Lapse

2010-07-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

California - Skiing the 4th of July Weekend - Monday

2010-07-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

The last day of the ski season.

Me at the top of Mammoth. During the winter, this sign can be completely buried with snow

There was still a small terrain park

4 rails and a medium kicker with a smaller kicker next to it

This photo is just sad. It's the last day for skiing and these guys would rather work on their tan. Even worse is where's the ladies?

At the end of the day everyone gathers at the top of the mountain for for an end of the year party/snowball fight.

Approaching the top of the mountain at the end of the day. The crowd is attacking the gondolas with snowballs

The crowd gathering at the top of the mountain for a season end party/snowball fight

Snowball fight in slow motion

After skiing I went for a soak in one of the natural hot springs around Mammoth

California - Skiing the 4th of July Weekend - Sunday

2010-07-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

I after returning from Canada I decided to go up to Mammoth Mountain for their last weekend of skiing for the season. I was originally planning to drive up Saturday so that I could ski Sunday and Monday, but I was still tired from my Canada trip so I decided to go to stay in LA on Saturday and then get up early Sunday morning and make the drive up to Mammoth. Sunday morning I was still moving a bit slowly and didn't get on the road until 5:30. But I still managed to get to Mammoth and hit the slopes by 11:00 for a couple hours of skiing.

It was amazing how much snow had melted since I was here two weeks ago. The bottom of the mountain was pretty much all melted with only small snow paths made by the snowcats to get to the lift. But once you got to the top of the mountain there was quite a bit of snow. There were two chairlifts and the gondola running.

July 4th and still skiing

There was lots of snow on top of the mountain, but getting to the bottom was a little trickier

I think this guy made a wrong turn and ran out snow

Bikinis and Bikes

This guy was having a good time

Lately I've been trying to shoot time lapse movies of the stars. So after skiing I decided to find a good location where I could camp out and set my camera up. I ended finding a spot in the mountains above Bishop that gave me a nice view of the Owens Valley, Bishop and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

My camp for the night

The stars above Bishop

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 7

2010-07-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

It's Canada Day!

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good on the glacier for the last day of camp, it was raining and snowing with bad visibility. And even worse then weather was that my legs had turned into wet noodles, all of the skiing and mountain biking had finally caught up to me. So I skied for a little while, but decided that it was better to quit early before I hurt myself.

Jeff really enjoyed the air-bag

To get to the glacier at the top of the mountain where the ski camp terrain park is located was a bit work each day. We would have to take one chairlift, then walk about 100 feet to another chairlift. At the top of that chairlift we would get on a but that would drive us around the mountain to where we would get on a third chair lift to the top of the mountain. The whole process took about 45 minutes. But one of the cool things about riding the lower chairlifts was that we would almost always see bears and sometimes deer.

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 6

2010-06-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Day 6 of camp and an we had a couple of inches of fresh snow overnight. The snow cats were supposed to groom the camp's terrain park overnight, but there was some kind of problem that prevented that from happening. So the weather and the lack of grooming made it tough to do much in the park, so we did some runs on Seventh Heaven instead while the digger worked on getting the terrain park back into shape.

Me skiing in the fresh powder

Eventually the terrain park was in good enough shape to start hitting some jumps.

Jeff going for a grab

Me going for a grab

Jeff hitting the airbag

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 5

2010-06-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have no photos from skiing for today, but I'm sure that we did something incredibly cool and gnarly. After skiing Jeff, Pinky and I hit the downhill mountain bike park again.

Me hitting a jump on Heart of Darkness

Pinky landing after a rock drop

Me hitting a small creek jump

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 4

2010-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today is a break day at camp, so no skiing. That means we have a bit of a chance to rest and recover and to do some more downhill mountain biking. The weather was a little rainy, but it was not too bad. Jeff and I were joined by Stephanie, one of the camp councilors and a rockin' downhill mountain biker. She showed us around and gave us a few pointers.

Stephanie and Jeff

Me hitting one of the jumps on A-Line

It's me!

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 3

2010-06-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Day three at the momentum ski camp. One of the cool new features at camp this year is the giant air-bag like what stuntmen use when jumping off a building. The air-bag is placed behind a big jump so that skiers can hit the jump, try new tricks and land safely in the air-bag. It was a bit scary at first, but pretty fun.

Finally, a photo of me! Trying a 360 with a big grab into the air-bag

Sequence of Jeff trying the air-bag

Another day of skiing and another day of downhill mountain biking. Today we're joined by Pinky.

Pinky going over a rock drop on A-Line

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 2

2010-06-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

Day two of ski camp and the digger were still working on the jumps, so it was mostly rails again.

Sequence of Jeff hitting the Up/Down rail

During the sumer, one of the things Whistler is known for is their downhill mountain bike park. Jeff and I start riding downhill mountain bikes a couple of years ago when we were at ski camp and every year we're spending more and more of the time we're not skiing in the bike park. We'll ski until early afternoon, then switch our ski gear for mountain biking gear and hit the bike park. Jeff's gotten so into downhill mountain biking that he's bought his own bike.

Jeff hitting one of the wall rides on Crank it Up

I like to try some of the local food when I travel and in Canada it was Poutine, french fries topped with cheese curd and then covered with gravy. It was good and not as scary was raw horse or fugu.

Poutine

Canada - Momentum Ski Camp - Day 1

2010-06-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm up in Whistler Canada attending the Momentum Freeride Ski Camp. I've come to Whistler during the summer for the last few years to attend one of the ski camps and always have a good time.

I'm rooming with Jeff again this year. He's sporting a new Kermit the Frog look for his ski outfit, so he's always easy to see on the hill.

Day one started with most of the jumps unfinished, so we spent most of the time working on riding rails.

Unfortunately, since I'm usually the one taking the pictures, I don't have a lot of photos of myself at camp.

Jeff hitting one of the rails.

Canada - The Offspring

2010-06-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

While I was in Vancouver I went to see the band The Offspring play at the Vogue Theater.

Canada - Vancouver

2010-06-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in Vancouver Canada for a couple of days before heading up to Whistler to attend the freeride ski camp that I've been going to for the last few years.

Los Angeles - Corpse Flower

2010-06-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

I went to see that blooming Corpse Flower at the Huntington Library. Unfortunately the flower was already closing.

California - Glen Helen USGP

2010-05-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles - New Apartment

2010-05-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

I'm moving into a new apartment.

Singapore - Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

2010-05-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Singapore - St. Andrew's Cathedral

2010-05-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Singapore - Night Safari

2010-05-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

One problem that zoos have is that many animals are not active during the hottest part of the day when most of the visitors are there. The Singapore Zoo solved this problem by creating the world's first nocturnal zoo called Night Safari. It's a smaller zoo adjacent to the main Singapore Zoo, but it's only open at night when the animals are most active.

It was really interesting to see the animals move around at night. But it was also really difficult to take photos of the animals because flashes are not allowed.

Singapore - Food Republic

2010-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Food Republic is a themed food court chain based in Singapore.

Food Republic in the VivoCity Mall

Panorama of Food Republic

Dinner - Seafood Soup

Singapore - Din Tai Fung

2010-05-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Awesome dumplings. There was a Din Tai Fung restaurant next to my hotel. It was't really a goal, but I've now eaten at Din Tai Fung in four different countries.

Singapore - Universal Studios

2010-04-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Singapore has just gotten it's own Universal Studios. Most of the ride are pretty much the same as at other Universal Studios, but there were a few new ones. Unfortunately, The Battlestar Galactica Roller-Coaster and Madagascar ride were not open yet.

You can see the wild looking Battlestar Galactica Roller-Coaster in this photo, unfortunately it was not running.

Outside the Madagascar ride

The Mummy

Run Away! Run Away!

Far Far Away

The Lost World

Singapore - Mashed Potatos

2010-04-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Interesting Mashed Potato machine in a 7-Eleven.

Singapore

2010-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

I'm in Singapore for 10 Days.

The Singapore downtown skyline.

Utah - Skiing at Alta

2010-03-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

I'm in Salt Lake City for 4 days of skiing with a big group of friends and my Dad.

Hong Kong - St John's Cathedral

2010-02-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong - Bruce Lee

2010-02-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

Japan - Snow Monkeys

2010-02-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 09

2010-02-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 08

2010-02-09T03:34:00.001-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 07

2010-02-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 06

2010-02-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

Japan - Bending Machines

2010-02-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

When I first saw this sign in my hotel I thought that it was for an exercise room. But I quickly figured out that Bending Machines was Vending Machines.

I was told that this is a pretty common mistake because there's no V sound in the Japanese language.

Japan - Crab Ramen

2010-02-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

I love crab legs, but the crab ramen was really kind of dull.

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 05

2010-02-05T04:01:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 03

2010-02-04T11:35:00.001-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 04

2010-02-04T03:08:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 02

2010-02-02T03:08:00.000-08:00

Japan - Hokkaido Photo Workshop - Day 01

2010-02-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

Last year while I was in Japan I went on the Hokkaido Winter Wonderland Photography Workshop put on by Martin Bailey and had a really excellent time. We traveled around Hokkaido taking photos of Japanese Cranes, Swans, Eagles, Deer, and the winter landscape.

This year I was thinking about going on the workshop again, but when I checked into it, I found out that the workshop was already fully booked up. I didn't think too much more about it until a week before the workshop was scheduled to start and I received an e-mail from Martin saying that there was a last minute cancellation. So there was now an open spot on the workshop if anyone could make it to Japan.

I was expecting it to be pretty expensive for a last minute flight to Japan and that would prevent me from going. But when I checked the airfares, it turned out that Singapore Airlines had flights from LA to Tokyo for less then $700 round-trip. So here I am, freezing my butt off in Hokkaido, but I'm having a great time and hopefully getting some great photos, and even learning thing or two.

Japan - Lunch

2010-01-31T12:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a lunch I had at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo. It was really good, but the one thing that's a bit strange is the food in the lower left corner, it's raw chicken.

Japan - Fugu!

2010-01-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

Fugu (Puffer-fish) is a Japanese delicacy that can be served a number of ways. What makes Fugu interesting is that the fish contains lethal amounts of poison and if prepared incorrectly can result in death to the person eating it. The poison is a very potent neurotoxin that paralyzes the muscles of the body while the person remains fully conscious and eventually they die from asphyxiation.

Because of the danger, chefs have to be licensed to prepare and sell Fugu.

I was actually a little disappointed by the Fugu. I expected a fish that could kill me would have a very exciting taste, but it was actually very mild and a bit boring.

Japan - Shakey's Pizza

2010-01-30T18:03:00.000-08:00

When I was a little kid I loved to go to Shakey's Pizza. So when I saw a Shakey's in Japan I had to try it out. Even better was that it was an all you can eat buffet, which in Japan is strangely called a Viking Dinner. Lot's of interesting pizza.

Ham and Potato, Ham and Calamari, Sausage and Corn

Brownie and Marshmallow, Fruit and Corn Flakes, Tuna and Corn, Chicken Nuggets

Ham and Corn, Ham and Corn with White Sause, Brownie Marshmallow

Japan - Dog-Wiz

2010-01-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

Dog-Wiz pet store. I'm pretty sure they were thinking Wiz as in smart, but I saw Wiz as slang for peeing. The fact that the sign is yellow doesn't help. So I just kept thinking it was the Dog Pee Pet Store. Maybe it just shows where my mind is.

Dog Pee Happy Forest. That's even stranger. I know I'm not a happy Forrest if a dog pees on me.

Japan - Big American Texas Burger

2010-01-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

Japanese McDonald's were having a special series of hamburgers called Big American Burgers. There were four different hamburgers and each hamburger was on sale for a month. While I was in Japan last month for the Hokkaido Photo Workshop, they were selling the Texas Burger, so I had to give one a try. As you can see from the photo, the reality vs. advertising was just a tiny, tiny bit different.

Japan - Strange Store

2010-01-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

Get your teeth cleaned and your hair cut at the same time?

California - Mammoth Mountain

2010-01-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I went to Mammoth Mountain for a couple of days of skiing. All of the rain that Los Angeles was getting hit Mammoth as a ton of fresh snow. You can see how much snow fell on my truck just in the time I was skiing.

Los Angeles - Supercross

2010-01-12T20:52:00.001-08:00

I went to the first Supercross of the season last night in Anaheim.

James Stewart chasing Ryan Dungey

While I was there I tried shooting some slow-motion footage using my Casio EX-FC100 camera. This is James Stewart chasing Ryan Dungey about half a lap before Stewart makes the pass to move into 1st place.

California - Yosemite in the Winter

2009-12-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

California - Mono Lake

2009-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

California - Death Valley

2009-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Japan - Disney Hidden Mickeys

2009-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

I went to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea several times while I was in Japan. While there I was able to a couple Hidden Mickeys.

Tokyo Disneyland

Like in California Disneyland, there's a Mickey Head in one of the planets during the que for the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Outside of Buzz Lightyear there's a sculpture of the little green alien guys, on the back of the sculpture there's a Hidden Mickey.

Haunted Mansion

Tokyo DisneySea

In the Mermaid Lagoon area there are several Hidden Mickeys in the wall surrounding the King Triton statue.

Someone had made a Hidden Mickey in the dirt.

Hidden Poo Head

Hidden North America. I think the couple sitting on the bench was wondering why I was taking a photo of them.

Someone had formed a Hidden Mickey out of rope on one of the gondolas.

Japan - Tokyo Disneyland Food

2009-11-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

Crab Meat Pizza at Tokyo Disneyland. Pretty good!

Japan - Hot Dog

2009-11-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty brave about trying new and different food and I have eaten many strange things while traveling in Japan and Asia. But one thing that I saw a lot of, but was never brave enough to try were these strange hot dogs that you could find at the convenient stores. The must be popular because every convenient store has them. One part of what scares me about them is that they are not refrigerated, they're stored out on the shelves with the breads and other pastries.

Los Angeles - Halloween Pumpkins

2009-11-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

Every year I like to carve a couple of pumpkins for Halloween, here's my two pumpkins from this year.

Los Angeles - My Halloween Costume

2009-11-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

My Halloween Costume.

Los Angeles - Pumpkin Time Lapse

2009-11-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

How to carve two Halloween pumpkins in 20 seconds. Actually this is a time lapse of me carving my Halloween pumpkins. In real time it took about 2 hours to clean and carve the two pumpkins.

California - Halloween in West Hollywood

2009-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

The West Hollywood Halloween Carnival is supposed to be the largest Halloween event in the the country with over 400,000 people attending. I've wanted to go the last couple of years, but this was the first year that I actually went. A section of Santa Monica Blvd. is closed for the event and stages and food vendors are set up. The event was a lot of fun, the stages had a variety of different bands and performers. But the reason most people go it to see all of the other people in strange costumes. Here's a bunch of photo I took of some of the interesting costumes.

Los Angeles - Halloween Horror Night

2009-10-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

Halloween Horror Night at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Japan - Energy Drinks

2009-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Energy frinks seem to be pretty popular in Japan. Every convenient store has a big rack of dozens of different kinds of energy drinks.

Display rack at a convenient store.

Since they are so popular, I thought I should give one a try. I have to say that it was impressively bad tasting.

I was walking around one day and spotted this recycling bin in front of someone's house. This guy seems to be living entirely off of energy drinks.

Japan - Book Vending Machine

2009-10-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

I was in a train station when I spotted this vending machine. It sells books, which makes sense for a train station, buy a book to read on your train ride. But what was a bit strange is that the books were waterproof for reading while in the bathtub.

Japan - Tokyo Game Show

2009-10-24T16:04:00.001-07:00

Recently I went to the Tokyo Game Show, a huge video game expo at the Makuhari Messe convention center. The major video game companies were there to show off their latest videos games.

Entering the Tokyo Game Show

The XBox Booth

Booth Babes

Like at many conventions and expos, most of the companies at the Tokyo Game Show believed that Sex Sells (especially to video game nerds) and most of the booths were staffed with lots of pretty booth babes.

Strange combination of a Star Wars Princess Leia outfit and a Gladiator Helmet. I'm not sure what game she was promoting, but she always had a huge crowd whenever she came out.

Photographer feeding frenzy over some cute booth babes.

CosPlay

One of the other interesting things was all of the cosplay going on. Lots of people in some pretty interesting and elaborate costumes.

USA - I'm back in Los Angeles

2009-10-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

I've returned to Los Angeles. But I still have a ton of photos to post from Japan, so I'll keep posting those and I'll start posting about some of the hopefully interesting things I'm doing here.

Los Angeles Sunrise

Japan - Hamburger

2009-10-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here's some strange food I found at a convenient store in Kyoto. It's hamburgers, what's strange is that they are setting out on a shelf in a non-refrigerated area.

Japan - Coolest Van Ever!!

2009-10-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

I had seen a web site about these crazy customized vans before going to Japan, but this was the first time I actually saw one in real life. All of those fins have to make the van do some crazy stuff if they get driving very fast.

Japan - Food

2009-10-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Sashimi

Snails

Fish

Japan - Food

2009-10-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

In Tokyo Station and the surrounding area there's hundreds of restaurants, everything from quick to fancy. I was at one of the restaurant and this is what we ordered.

Fried octopus on a stick.

Tuna

Eggplant

Fish and mushrooms.

The main dish, crab legs!

Japan - Public Bathrooms

2009-10-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Can you spot what's missing in these Japanese public bathrooms?

One fairly annoying thing about Japan is that in many public bathrooms there is no way to dry your hands after you wash them. Some bathrooms have the blower style of hand dryer, but many have nothing, no dryer, no paper towels, nothing.

Japan - Vending Machine

2009-10-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

I was walking through Tokyo Station on my way home and I spotted really cool vending machine. It's a vending machine for making your own business cards. There's a touch screen where you can select a design and enter all of your information, then your cards are printed out. All for only 400 yen ($4.00).

Japan - Bike

2009-10-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

I've seen this strange bike a couple of times in Akihabara. The owner is always careful to make sure the back tire is rotated so that the graphics is straight.

Japan - Tokyo Statue of Liberty?

2009-10-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

I must have taken a wrong turn in Albuquerque. Actually Tokyo has it's very own Statue of Liberty on Odaiba.

Japan - Very Public Bathrooms

2009-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

For some reason many public bathrooms for men in Japan have been designed so that there's not much privacy.

Japan - Stair Safety

2009-10-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Japan seems to go overkill on safety sometimes. Here's some stairs that anybody can see has half of the stairs blocked at the top by some construction. Just in case anybody going up the stairs and has not noticed that one side is blocked, there's a little barricade of stanchions and a sign directing people to us the other side of the stairs. And in case someone has not noticed the construction, the stanchions, and the signs, there's a security guard standing there to help direct confused people to use the unblocked side of the stairs.

Japan - Fireworks

2009-10-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

Taiwan - Time Lapse Taipei

2009-10-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Some time lapses movies from around Taipei.

Japan - UFO Ramen

2009-09-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Japan in preparing for the upcoming alien invasion by making food specially for our new alien overlords.

Japan - Train to Hell

2009-09-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

The 3:05 Kodama Shinkansen (Bullet Train) makes a quick stop in Hell on the way to Tokyo.

Japan - Ham Sandwich

2009-09-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was taking the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) back to Tokyo and wanted to get something to eat, so I bought a ham sandwich from the food cart. This is my sad, mostly meatless sandwich.

Where's the Wendy's lady when you need her? "Where's the Beef!" except in this case it's where's the Ham!

Where's the meat!

Hong Kong - Curved Buildings

2009-09-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

While in Hong Kong in order to take photos of some of the really tall buildings I started playing around with shooting vertical panoramas, taking several photos of a building to capture all of it and then combining the photos in the computer. Because the combined photos would be a wider angle view then is actually physically possible, showing both looking up and looking down, there had to be some distortion added to the photos which I though makes then more interesting.

Hong Kong - Time Lapse

2009-09-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Some time lapse movies I took while in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - Hotel

2009-09-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

My hotel room at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - Street Market

2009-09-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

The Horror! Think of all the poor chickens having to hop around with no feet.

Like in Taiwan, you can get your chicken very fresh.

Chicken and Duck

Hong Kong - Sexual Well-being Store

2009-09-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

I was wandering around Hong Kong when I saw the Sexual Well-being Store.

I love that there's a poster of a little old Chinese lady with a big smile holding a vibrator. What's a little scary is that the poster says that there's demos in the store. I wonder if they'll let you try one out right there in the store.

Hong Kong - Wong Tai Sin Temple

2009-09-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong - It's Me!

2009-09-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong - Market Streets

2009-09-18T00:22:00.000-07:00

Scattered throughout Hong Kong were the different market streets. Each street would specialize in a certain type of products. Here's some photos from three streets close to the Prince Edward subway station.

Gold Fish Street

Flower Street

Bird Street

Hong Kong - Marina

2009-09-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong - Interesting Plant

2009-09-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

I was wandering around a park in Hong Kong and I saw this interesting plant. What was cool about it was that the top of the leafs were a normal green color. But the underside of the leafs are a deep red color.

Hong Kong - Tall Buildings

2009-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong - Fanasy Vegetarian Restaurant

2009-09-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Vegetarian Restaurant, I think the fantasy is that you have to image that you're eating meat.

Hong Kong - Hotel

2009-09-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

One of the Hotels I stayed at in Hong Kong was the Empire Hotel in Causeway Bay. The room was very nice and had a glass wall between the shower/bathroom area and the main part of the hotel room. I've stayed in lots of hotels that had showers like that so I didn't think it was too interesting at first. But then I realized that there was a extra light switch in the bathroom and when you flipped the switch the glass wall instantly turned a opaque white. Pretty High-Tech!

Hong Kong - No Spitting

2009-09-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

No spitting sign that I saw around the subway stations.

Hong Kong - Umbrella Vending

2009-09-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that Japan is famous for vending machines, but in Hong Kong I found a cool umbrella vending machine. I wonder if it's connected to the weather so that it know to jack up the price when it's raining.

Hong Kong - McCafe

2009-09-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

One thing I had not seen before was the McCafe. At a lot of the McDonald's there was a side section call McCafe, where it was more like a nice coffee shop with all of the things you would expect to find at a Starbucks or something similar.