{"id":1126,"date":"2009-01-27T23:52:03","date_gmt":"2009-01-27T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-27\/1126"},"modified":"2009-01-28T00:15:51","modified_gmt":"2009-01-27T15:15:51","slug":"cold-wet-and-slippery-in-kinosaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-27\/1126","title":{"rendered":"Cold, Wet, and Slippery in Kinosaki"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChilly<\/span>\nKinosaki<\/i> onsen district, Toyo'oka City, Hyogo, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

After spending most of last week with a mild<\/span> cold, I finally<\/span> felt better\ntoward the weekend, so we took off on an impromptu overnight trip to the\nonsen<\/a><\/i>\n(hot springs) at Kinosaki<\/a>, a\nthree<\/span>-and-a-half hour drive through the mountains north-west of Kyoto, to\nToyo'oka City in the neighboring prefecture of Hyogo.<\/p>\n\n

We haven't had snow yet in Kyoto, but hoped to see some on the way. I envisioned<\/span> the scene we saw in 2007 in Hokkaido<\/a> with clean dry\nstreets surrounded by pretty snow, but just in case, I had new<\/span> snow tires\non the car, to avoid the problem I had<\/span> last\nyear<\/a> driving in some light snow.<\/p>\n\n

We started seeing snow about half way into the drive. The roads<\/span> themselves weren't covered, but they looked really wet and shiny. That\nwouldn't be a problem<\/span> except that the temperature was below freezing\n– about 25°F – and so I was<\/span> never sure whether the road was\nreally wet, or was wet-looking black ice.<\/p>\n\n

The last hour of the drive was white-knuckle slow, but we arrived in one\npiece half an hour after sunset. I was seriously<\/span> stressed from the drive,\nso while Fumie checked in to our minshuku<\/a><\/i>\n(Japanese inn), she let me run out for some photographic stress\nrelease.<\/p>\n\n

I knew that the dusk\nlighting would be great<\/a>, and hot off my recent successes with handheld low-light\nphotography<\/a> (although in much<\/i> warmer climes), I hoped<\/span> for the\nbest.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStream Bisecting Kinosaki's Onsens<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The main onsen area had a small river with dozens of bridge crossings,\nso if you could ignore the pervasive utility lines and wires, there was\nalways a nice<\/span> view.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 4500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

You had to be vigilant in taking care with your footing, though, because\nthe ground was either extremely<\/i> slippery or puddled-up wet. So if your<\/span> concentration faltered, you'd end up with either wet\/freezing toes, or\na nasty<\/span> fall.<\/p>\n\n

The cause of both the slipperiness and the wetness was the same, and it\nwasn't snow:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>20 sec freestanding handheld<\/span>, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400<\/span> —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMid-Street Ice-Rink Production<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Many streets and walkways in the area had these little fountains of\nliquid ice-to-be spraying all over. This is, of course, the answer to my What am I?<\/a> quiz from the\nother day. They apparently have sensors that turn them on automatically\nwhen it snows.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 45 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 5600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFrostbitten Toes?   Broken Tailbone?\nDecisions, Decisions<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It seems like a pretty-freaking stupid<\/b> idea to me, but they've\nhad them for 10+ years, so apparently it somehow balances out on the plus\nside.<\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, in the deepening twilight, everything got bluer and bluer,\nexcept where there was incandescent lighting, which became oranger and\noranger. The outside<\/span> really did become more blue as dusk settled in, but\nthe incandescent lighting merely appeared<\/i> to be getting more orange\nbecause in the context of the deep blue outside, our eyes\/brain stopped\ntrying to reconcile the two as the same, and so stopped trying to perceive\nthem both as “white”.<\/p>\n\n

Thus, we could now see the orange and blue for what they were, and it\nmade for a pretty<\/span> scene...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 4000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPretty<\/span>\nPretty darn cold, too!\n<\/div>\n\n

I ventured around a bit, but it was cold and (did I mention<\/span> this?)\nreally slippery, so I didn't<\/span> go too far. I did see<\/span> another guys taking\npictures, with a tripod<\/span> but without gloves...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto Op<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The next morning it was FREEZING<\/i> (well, colder than that,\nactually). Having grown up in Ohio where 25°F would be considered\ndownright balmy in the middle of winter, I feel like<\/span> a wimp<\/span> thinking that\nit was so cold, but it's been 20 years since I lived<\/span> in that kind of cold,\nso now I am<\/i> a wimp.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Anthony is not a wimp and wanted to play in the snow, so we bundled up\nand headed out for a while<\/span> before breakfast.<\/p>\n\n

Already, people were in the streets on their way to an onsen<\/i> for a hot<\/span> bath...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGeta on Ice<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The little road-sprinklers were still slightly flowing, so a thin<\/span> band\ndown the center of the street was standing water, while everything else was\na flat<\/span> sheet of pure ice.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It was much better (and more deterministic) where there were no\nsprinklers...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 62 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSure Footing<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

One of the little bridges across the river was slanted completely down\nfrom one side, with water from a large<\/span> pipe at the high end covering the\nentire bridge in a steady<\/span> stream.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRiver Above and<\/i> Below the Bridge<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

If the thing runs all the time, it's an excellent way to keep the whole\nbridge clear of snow and ice, but the water has to go somewhere, and so the\nroad on either side was icy...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSlippery When Wet<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Anthony, of course, doesn't care about any of this... he just wants to\nplay. We found<\/span> an area where the road sprinklers were still spritzing a\nbit,<\/span> and he enjoyed it.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After spending most of last week with a mild cold, I finally felt better toward the weekend, so we took off on an impromptu overnight trip to the onsen (hot springs) at Kinosaki, a three-and-a-half hour drive through the mountains north-west of Kyoto, to Toyo'oka City in the neighboring prefecture of Hyogo.<\/p>

We haven't had snow yet in Kyoto, but hoped to see some on the way. I envisioned the scene we saw in 2007 in Hokkaido with clean dry streets surrounded by pretty snow, but just in case, I had new snow tires on the car, to avoid the [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}