Search ResultsAs Nils suggested the other day, I visited the hiking trails behind the Westin Miyako Kyoto Hotel today. The trails are extremely simple (with mild stairs the whole way), and because it's all shaded, it was substantially less strenuous than moving around inside the gardens at the water treatment plant of recent posts. I brought Anthony with me, and it was thoroughly enjoyable for both of us. (It was much better than when I bought him on a multi-kilometer, much more difficult hike up the Daimonji Mountain last December, where I had to carry him most of the way. Sigh, [...] View full post » Last February, Fumie's friend Ma-chan (at left, above) came to Kyoto for the wedding reception of one of her coworkers. The wedding itself was held in the Heian Shrine, and likely limited to only the most immediate family -- it's the reception later on that Ma-chan and other friends would attend. So, while her friend was at the private ceremony, Ma-chan walked around the public areas of the shrine with Fumie and Anthony, with me and my still-new D200 trailing behind. I posted this picture of the lanterns that evening, but it wasn't until today, 10 months [...] View full post » Having grown up in Ohio with its summer thunderstorms, I like "dynamic" weather. I enjoy riding my bike in the rain, even if the rain is hard and the wind is blustery, so long as it's warm. If I know it's going to rain, I know I'll get wet and so I'll prepare accordingly, and I'll embrace the rain instead of try to avoid it. This lack of fear of getting wet is apparently sufficiently rare that it makes me appear to be "crazy" in the eyes of many. Whatever. I enjoy it. A "supertyphoon" was forecast to pass near [...] View full post » I recently made the short hike up Mt. Daimonji to the fire pits (which I first blogged about 11 years ago here), with Damien and Chris Rowthorn, the author of the Lonely Planet guides for Japan and Kyoto. Chris often uses Damien's and my photos on his Inside Kyoto site. The view from where we were, the center of the "大", is lovely, but today it was ridiculously hazy... The spec of orange just right of center is the main gate of the Heian Shrine. Compare the photo above to those seen on this post, and this one. There are [...] View full post » Where does the time go? I'm finally following up to "Minh and Nghia Photoshoot Preview" about two weeks later than I expected. After having a coffee and chat to get to know them a bit, we headed toward the always-photogenic Heian Shrine. I wore Nghia's backpack so it wouldn't bother the photos, and we got down to it... I never really expect anything to come of the first shots, since we're just starting to get comfortable with each other and with the situation, but what came immediately after the shot above pretty much foreshadowed the entire day: I don't recall [...] View full post » |