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Speed Skater

I brought Anthony skating today, to Kyoto's Aquarena, a big swimming complex that turns one of the pools into a skating rink during the winter. Surprisingly enough, they had my size skates to rent (size 32; for reference, most stores sell shoes only up to size 28), so I could join him.

I think it was the first time I went skating in 20+ years, but it was Anthony's third time, having gone two other times during school-type events. Like many city services, skating is free for him until he starts first grade, so I was happy to get one last freebie in before he starts school in a couple of weeks.

Action Shot

I apparently can't hold a cell phone level while skating backwards

Aftermath
of one of the occasional falls

Watching the Zamboni Go By
he's standing up against the glass at the far right

After a few hours, we headed out to finally pick up a present for his cousin Josh who turns three in a few days. It's been on my mind for ages, but I'd had a cold for so long. Anthony helped me pick out the perfect present. Josh doesn't read Japanese, but I suspect he'll figure it out....

Perfect
the note at bottom left says “ages 3 and up”

We then headed home to put it into the mail. (Well, actually, we headed home to box it up and then out to the post office to mail it. In Japan, you receive mail at home, but the mailman does not pick it up, so you have to bring to a mailbox or one of the many post offices around town.)

Then we had a bit of an adventure. Once he starts first grade, Anthony's commute to and from school will be the city bus. Luckily, there's one bus that brings him from near our place to within a 10-minute walk to the school, so he doesn't have to worry about transferring. It's a 30-minute ride, with 20 stops in between.

We all practiced once this weekend, showing him where to get off and where to get on, but today he went by himself.

Sort of.

He rode the bus by himself, but I followed behind on my scooter, to be there whenever he got off. He could get off if he became worried, or if he thought it was his stop, or if he thought he'd passed his stop. In any case, I'd be there, so there was little worry.

It turns out that he was able to recognize his stop, but in the excitement(?) didn't know which button to press to alert the driver he wanted out. It just so happened that no one else wanted that stop, and no one was waiting to board, so the driver just drove past. Luckily, the next stop is extremely close (about a two-minute walk), so he got off there with a “man, I almost had it” look on his face. If he was 40 years older, he'd have said “Missed it by that much!”

He wanted to try it again for the return trip. He knows our area, so I didn't worry that he'd be able to recognize the stop, but even though the return bus is mostly empty when he boards nears school, it is generally packed like a Tokyo subway when it gets near our place on its way to Kyoto Station. Really, really packed. So, I was a bit worried that he'd not be able to physically move to the front to exit. We've emphasized that he needs to take advantage of the relative emptiness when he boards to get a seat near the front, near the driver, and that's what he did, and so he popped out at our stop as if he'd been riding that route every day of his life.

Fumie and I were very proud.

He wants to try it again all by himself tomorrow, but I don't think Fumie and I are quite ready for that.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Just a Bit More...

While visiting Zak the other day at his place in Otsu, I happened to step into the hallway outside his 15th-floor apartment just in time to notice that the tower crane at the construction site next door was about to be raised a notch. Having always wondered about the details of how these cranes worked, I left Zak with three highly-energetic preschool kids (one of mine and two of his) and stepped out into the calm to watch the crane.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 116 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lowering a New Segment Into Position

These “self-climbing tower cranes” are popular in Japan. They can be broken down and their pieces can be transported by normal trucks, and reassembled fairly quickly at the next job site. As the construction site they serve grows, they can be raised on the fly by adding new segments to their main support column.

First, they use the crane itself to lift and position the next segment of the big support column, lowering it on top of the previous segment...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 175 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Alignment

When Zak and other residents of his building bought their places, they were told that the small plot of land to the north would not be developed. Of course, they were lied to, and now a 15-story condo is going there. On the plus side, the view of the site from the top of his building is commanding, and with the crane right next to it, I had a great perch from which to watch the proceedings.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/14, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Commanding View

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Northeast
the 38-story Otsu Mary is nearby

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lake Biwa
beyond the Otsu Mary

In the picture above you can see a similar crane in the distance. The columns can be differing sizes, shapes, and colors, but the jibs (booms) are almost always alternating orange and white segments like the one seen above. Yesterday's “What am I?” quiz shows one corner where two segments join. The jib wasn't at the angle seen in the picture when it was right in front of me for the shot, but I tilted the camera to make it appear to be running from corner to corner.

Anyway, back to the event at hand, once the new segment was positioned, they installed 20 big bolts all around the joint, tightening each with several big whacks from a sledge hammer...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/13, ISO 3200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Battening Down the Hatches
so to speak

Then each nut/bolt position was marked, I suppose, so that they can notice later whether there had been any slippage....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/13, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Then it was time to lift the rig up the four and a half meters (15 feet) to its new home...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Up She Goes

The platform is raised by the winch/chain combination in the center of the photo above. The entire weight of the platform, 98-foot jib, and three men is borne by each link in that chain. Wow.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Almost There
The entire trip took about two and a half minutes

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 165 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
One Foot to Go
while the guy at left chats on his cell phone

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.8, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Locking In

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Offloading the Winch Assembly

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 195 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Back to Earth

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Oops, Hold On
Forgot Something Important

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Light Me Up, Baby

The crane, built in 1991, is a Kitagawa Iron Works' JCL030II, classified as a “small climbing crane” that can reach a free-standing height of 30.8 meters (101 feet) if all seven of the 4.5-meter column segments are used, as per the schematics.

The segment they just put on looks to be the fifth, so that means they're going to climb down 74 feet in a dark, windowless tube that's not much more than three feet in diameter, smoking the whole way. Not exactly my idea of fun, but they were all smiles.

(When I first wrote this, I'd mistakenly used the specs for the next smallest crane in Kitagawa's line, the JCL015II, and none of the measurements really added up. Kudos to my brother Steve for pointing it out, allowing me to fix it so that no one else will ever know that I flubbed it up.)

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Catch Y'all Later!

You can see in the lower left of the last picture three lines written with a marker on the top face of the cylinder. That's the (upside-down from my view) character 上, which means “top”. Such a low-tech way to indicate which way the cylinder section should be installed!

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
What am I?

Well, this is perhaps a pretty lame “What am I?” quiz, but I'll offer the hint (or stumbling block, as the case may be) that I tilted the camera while taking this shot. (For what it's worth, I also artificially enhanced the blue background in Lightroom, to match the strength of the foreground colors.)

Owing to this being so lame a quiz, I'll post the answer in just half a day...

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/10, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pausing for a Rest

So, finishing up from yesterday's post about our fun day on nearby Yabasekihantou Island, after the obstacle-course play area, Anthony headed over to a big rope-climbing thing...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Up

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/3200 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
In Profile

I took the shot above thinking it'd make a great opening for a post, but I ended up liking the impact of the almost-hidden feet hanging out, so chose that one to open with instead.

When he came down, he ended up sitting on a rope with nothing under for quite a while, and he wasn't sure how to get down. So I told him to lean forward and grab the rope in front, as seen here...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/30 sec, f/22, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ready To Make a Move

Then I told him to swing down to put his feet on the rope below and in front. He was a bit apprehensive, but gave it a try...

Launch!

Landing

His feet went right over, and he naturally landed in a sitting position, and was quite pleased with himself. He returned to do the same move again.

He then moved on to other play...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Taking Another Rest

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Going For 60°

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Instead Opting for 45°

The park has many more activities, including those for little ones...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/4000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Splash-About Stream

I was getting hungry, so we didn't stay long – there's a lot remaining to check out the next time we visit. I'm sure the area will be gorgeous in a couple of weeks, because many of the trees in the area looked like this...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Budding....Er... Buds
soon to be cherry blossoms

So, we headed to lunch nearby, and returned to the first little park on the island because Anthony wanted to do more of the “dinosaur play” (as described on the previous post)...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dino on the Hunt

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 340 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kid Again

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 230 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dino Again

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 210 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Playing With Mommy's Face
I have no idea

Then he decided to take some pictures, so went out on a different kind of hunt...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 210 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Hunt

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 260 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/4.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Photograph Daddy

Canon IXY DIGITAL 700 + 7.7-23.1mm @ 23 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.9 — map & image data — nearby photos
Picture He Took
photo by Anthony M. Friedl

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful day.

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peaceful

We had a most wonderful day yesterday.

It was a combination of:

• My cold finally getting mostly better. (It turns out it was a common upper-respiratory infection, for which antibiotics seem to be working).
• It was shorts-and-T-shirt weather, the first such day this year.
• It was the first day in ages where no school event was scheduled or on the immediate horizon.

We celebrated by venturing out to a place we'd heard of but had never been, a small (180-acre) 30-year-old man-made island in the south of Lake Biwa with the imposing name yabasekihantou (矢橋帰帆島 – website).

Perhaps a third of the island is taken up by a sewage treatment plant, and the rest is for recreation... a huge playground, golf, soccer, campgrounds, parks, etc. It's quite pleasant. Other than the unlikely shape of the island as seen on a map or satellite photo, it all seems quite natural.

Upon arriving at the island over a small bridge, there's a small visitor center with a pleasant little park behind it, and so we stopped to enjoy it....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lots to Explore

A lot of the decorative rocks, such as those to the left of center above, had odd patterns on them. Here's a close up...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
You Can Almost See It Oozing
a bazillion years ago

Of course, Anthony's interest in the rocks is quite different...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 82 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Anthony was in the mood for “dinosaur play”, where he pretends he's a velociraptor hunting for prey....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/9, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dino on the Prowl

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Velociraptor / Boy

You can tell by how he's holding his hands in the photo above that he's doing dinosaur play, but the smile on his face is decidedly that of a 6-year-old human boy leaking through the scaly veneer.

We then moved on one minute down the road to the main park. Here's Anthony checking out the map...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

The blue water droplet seems to be the mascot for the island. Moving from the parking lot and cresting a hill, you're greeted with this seizure-inducing sight for a kid:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Huge Expanse of Fun

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slide
made of rollers

As Dave answered correctly in the first comment (first comment.... drat!!) to yesterday's “What am I?” Quiz, the “bunch of bars” are rollers making up the bed of a slide. These are not uncommon in Japan, but having never seen them anywhere else, I thought I'd be able to stump everyone.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Many Miles Before I Sleep

It was almost sensory overload, with so many different areas of play to check out. He first gravitated over to an obstacle-course type zone...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Continued here...