Chiayi – No time for regrets

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No time for regrets

Figuring out life by running directly at it.

Category: Chiayi

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My compliments to the chef

My compliments to the chef

July 16, 2012 — 0 Comments

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Things that are hard for me: - waking up early when it’s just me - climbing up sand dunes - not falling down sand dunes - getting all the sand off my camera when I fall on a sand dune It would be really nice if we could have our National Parks back. And, y’know, pay some people. (Picture from last month) #whitesandsnationalmonument #newmexico #nationalpark

I went up to the roof of our hotel to screw around with my camera. I picked some settings, placed my camera on the ledge, and let it shoot a few long shots. I got the pictures on my computer (a month or longer later), and they were wildly dark. Just to play, I started throwing sliders around in Lightroom. That’s when I discovered that not only was Fuiji visible, NOT completely covered by clouds like I’d thought (it was really dark, guys), but I’d also gotten a potential picture of it. This is a gentle reminder to my dear friend, great travel buddy, nope-not-married-just-friends friend, smart, handsome, funny, interesting, pro-Photoshopper friend Michael: when you have a chance, fiddle with this, would you, oh wise one? Muah. (cough cough @michaelcummings)

I send all my edits to my sister to get unbiased, real critiques. She poo-pooed a few of my Japan photos: “I mean, they’re pretty. They’re postcards. But they don’t look like you.” I sent this one to her, and she said, “Yup. This is a Mandy photo.” Regardless of if this is actually a good photo, at least it looks like one of mine. This was in the geisha district of Kyoto. There were times when we were walking around and we’d see some empty street and just wander that way. #japan #kyoto

In our social media reality, beautiful places that are well known are generally overrun with tourists. The bamboo forest in Kyoto isn’t some peaceful place where you can go to get centered and listen to the sound of bamboo swaying in the wind. Places like this are packed. A lot of Instagrammers will Photoshop people out. Our friends were able to go early (EARLY) in the morning and miss most of the crowds, so there’s that. This is one of the reasons I believe in shoulder season or off-season travel. Or going places no one else wants to visit. @cait526 and I call it hipster travel. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before. I don’t know what my next destination is. And even with the crowds, I still had a blast in Japan. But I want to see if I can find something less popular. After my solo trip to Paris and our trip to hike Ben Nevis, of course. Because no matter how popular Scotland gets, it’s got a part of my heart. #japan #arashiyamabambooforest #kyoto

Geisha, or geiko, as they’re called in Kyoto, are professional entertainers who attend to guests during meals, banquets, and other occasions. They are trained, sometimes from the age of 15, in dance, music, and conversation. (This is according to japan-guide.com.) We didn’t see any traditional geisha, but we saw many, many people dressed up like them. It’s not that expensive to rent an outfit for a day or get your hair done — it can actually be pretty cheap. And some of the kimonos, obis, and other accessories are just stunning. With all the choices, tourists can easily match their costume with their cell phone cases. (Those shoes look and sound incredibly uncomfortable. Women walked for miles in them. I may hate the overactive selfie culture, but I do have a lot of respect for people who go the extra mile in wooden clogs.) ... #kyoto #japan #geisha #nikond5500

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15am, an atomic bomb exploded 600 meters above the ground just 160 meters away from the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. When it detonated, the blast exerted 35 tons of pressure per square meter. Wind speeds reached 440 meters per second (about 984 miles per hour). Surface temperatures in the vicinity of the blast reached 3,000-4,000° Celsius (5,432-7,232° Fahrenheit). The calm river that curves through the city and just on the other side of this building boiled. Heat waves, the physical blast, and radiation decimated the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It’s believed the building survived because it was essentially directly below where the bomb exploded. None of the people in the building did — they, and 60,000 to 80,000 others, died instantly. Other structures, like a wooden archway, also survived the blast. There’s no real rhyme or reason to the destruction, although the majority of it was absolute. Some people died instantly. They were, essentially, instantaneously cooked, caught on fire, then torn to pieces by the blast wave. Some died in collapsing buildings. Some survived the blast, but later succumbed to radiation poisoning or other injuries. The reason the number of dead is such a large range is because they simply don’t know. A number of people instantly, physically disappeared when the bomb exploded, and descendants and families are still trying to get answers. Those are just the facts. When I took this picture, I was less than a football field’s distance from the hypocenter. As an American, I stood there, surrounded by Japanese and other tourists. I didn’t feel out of place or like I was intruding. I did cry. That happened in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and in the separate Memorial Hall. In the museum, I was walking around, slightly overwhelmed by the number of Japanese students there, the honesty of the exhibits, and the artifacts and photos on display. At one point I nearly bumped into a Japanese man who was slowly making his way around. Based on his age, I think he was alive when it happened. We need to remember history, and accurately. #japan #hiroshima

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