I like heading off on my scooter into the mountains of Japan to explore and take pictures, but am often out of cell range, so the map on my iPhone can't update. I like the idea of having maps with me, and until someone can invent a way to make a map on paper or some other high-tech solution, I'm happy to have recently discovered the Galileo Offline Maps iOS app.

After installing the free base app and purchasing the $1.99 “import maps from PC” feature, I could import maps made on my laptop by following these instructions. I made maps for large areas of Kyoto using both Google and Yahoo! Japan Maps (and was surprised to find out that somewhere along the lines the Yahoo! Japan maps have become superior).

The resulting 2GB database files are then copied to the app, and voila, I have wonderfully-interactive no-WiFi-required maps of the area. I love it.

I also spent a whopping $1.99 extra to enable the bookmarking feature. $4 for this app is amazing to me.

Sadly, when I bought my iPad a couple of years ago, I didn't realize that the WiFi-only models had no GPS antenna, so when I'm out in the mountains I have to actually read the map and look at my surroundings to figure out where I am. I may not survive. Perhaps this is sufficient reason to get a new iPad, being sure to get the GPS (and now presumably GLONASS) antenna.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Pretty as a Peach
peach blossom in the mountains of Kyoto, Japan

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2000 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Busy as a Bee

I had an amazing outing yesterday with Paul Barr and Nicolas Joannin, to a far-off temple in the mountains of north-west Kyoto. On the way home, we stopped in the “Mountain House” restaurant Yama no Ie Hasegawa (山の家はせがわ) that I wrote about a couple of years ago (here and here). Upon pulling in, we were immediately drawn to a row of blossoming trees that had quite a different vibe from cherry or plum. It turns out that they were peach.

They were on an embankment, so we could view them from above, below, and on the side... it was a target-rich environment made to order for the creamy-smooth shallow depth of field of my favorite lens, the Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Just. Too. Perfect.

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Shy

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I'm not all too sure about that last one above... it might not be visually apparent enough to not annoy at first glance. At my first glance I really liked it, but when I came back to it later didn't like it at all. They say that you should trust your first instinct, so I'm at least giving it a shot.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2500 — full exif & map — nearby photos

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We eventually made our way inside to order...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Vicks
watching our coffee being prepared

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Our Coffee

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Extra Stuff
Nicolas and Paul about to abuse their coffee

Back outside after I enjoyed my coffee (and Nicolas and Paul enjoyed what had been coffee), we couldn't help but give another go at the blossoms in the fading light.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 640 — full exif & map — nearby photos

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I took my camera when I walked to lunch through a small area of eastern Kyoto yesterday. These are some of the shots I took along the way.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Kyoto Field Trip
I'm guessing these are high-school kids on a field trip to Kyoto.
small groups are roving all over

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 250 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Lunch Break
at a construction site

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Uprite and Stowed Position
complex business end of a retractable crane

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 280 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Not Quite
I was thinking to make this a desktop background, but the more I look at it,
the more I feel something is off balance

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
On Patrol
meter maids on the prowl

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Ultra Fluffy

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Rest Break

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Duckie!

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Some Temple or Other

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
“Nene-no-Michi”
Quaint “Ne-ne Street”

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Dress Up
Ladies dress as geisha and hit the town

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Green-Tinged Cherry Blossoms
Pink splash over a greenish-white base
These are 御衣黄桜 (gyoikou sakura)

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Fellow Photographer
She took photos of the blossoms while I admired her simple and elegant kimono

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 220 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Touristy
but quite pleasant when not crowded

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Neighborly Assistance

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Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 400 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Photo Op
while she hides an SLR behind her

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 450 — full exif & map — nearby photos

Both lunch and the walk back will be their own posts...

The charity sale for the big North-East Japan Earthquake that I posted about last year will take place again this year. If you'll be in Kyoto on May 5th or 6th, perhaps stop by. Michael Lambe gives full details over on Deep Kyoto (日本語版).

Last year I donated several prints for the sale, but this year I'm thinking of something different. I recently had a large print of this Paul Barr piece framed for my office and I really like it, so I may ask Paul whether I can make another for the sale.

Proceeds benefit Kyoto-based charity International Disaster Relief Organization Japan (IDRO Japan).

Poking around my Mac laptop, I came across

and found thousands and thousands of logs and crash-reports for various iPhone/iPad applications that have been accumulating over the years. You'd think that iTunes would clean this stuff up after a while. I deleted it all.

Elsewhere in ~/Library/Logs/ I found random cruft, some dating back three generations of laptops, to 2003.

I deleted it all. It felt satisfying.

Can anyone recommend a “keep things tidy” app, along the lines of Crap Cleaner, which I used to use when I had a Windows box?