So, while some of you were partying your asses off at WMC, I was working doubles and saving $$$ for my trip to the far east. This trip had been in the works for many months and I am very happy that I had the chance to vistit so many wonderful places. I left the states on March 31st and flew direct from JFK to Tokyo (13 hours). Very quickly realized I was a very foreign person in a very foreign land. My stay consisted of 3 nights in Tokyo with a day trip to Kamakura, 2 nights in Osaka with a day trip to Kyoto, then we boarded a cruiseliner for a 14 day trip with stops in Nagasaki, Busan, Dalian, Beijing, Shangai, Xiamen, and ended with 2 nights in Hong Kong. Returned to the states on April 22, took 30 hours to get home (saw two nights in one long ass day). I must say that I was most impressed with Japan. The Japanese are very forward thinkers and were suprisingly friendly to tourists. The temples and landscapes are immaculate and breathtaking. Everything was very clean and easily discernable. China was a different story- very 3rd world outside of the cities. Proverty stricken with lots of trash, rubble, pollution and smog. I only spent 8 hours in S. Korea, so really cant say much about it other that it was the only place I saw vendors serving larvae and fish that I had never seen before. Below are some photos that I took with a Nikon D 50 (cant tell you the lens off hand). We took about 1,700 pics in total, so this is a very small fragmant of the sites that we saw.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320d893f271.jpg[/IMG] 01-Diabatsu Buddha- Kamakura, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320ed75a36b.jpg[/IMG] 02-Tori Gates- Kamakura, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320ed7a815e.jpg[/IMG] 03-Tori Gate- Kamakura, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320ed80059c.jpg[/IMG] 04-Kencho Ji Temple Garden- Kamakura, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320ed84b0c2.jpg[/IMG] 05-Tuna @ Fish Market- Tokyo, Japan This fish market was very cool. Lots of action, fast paced. I saw these two above guys fillet this tuna with a blade that was about 8 feet long. Great site!
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320ed894479.jpg[/IMG] 06-Akihabara Electronics District- Tokyo, Japan If you are ever in Tokyo, this is the place to buy electronics. Anything and everything you could ever want for a reasonable price.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320efc1a41e.jpg[/IMG] 07-5 Story Pagoda- Ueno Park- Tokyo, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320efc608f8.jpg[/IMG] 08-Ginza- Tokyo, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320efca98c7.jpg[/IMG] 09-International Forum- Tokyo, Japan This is probably the most detailed and photogenic modern building I have ever seen. Great peice of architecture.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320efcf3836.jpg[/IMG] 10-Osaka Castle- Osaka, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320efd45acf.jpg[/IMG] 11-Nijo Jo Gardens- Kyoto, Japan As mentioned before, the gardens are immaculate. It was very entrancing to just take it in. I could of sit there all day.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f19dd52e.jpg[/IMG] 12-Golden Palace- Kyoto, Japan This is probably the most picturesque temple I saw on the trip. A life long memory.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f1a326ad.jpg[/IMG] 13-Silver Palace- Kyoto, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f1a78b86.jpg[/IMG] 14-Cherry Blossom- Heian Shrine- Kyoto, Japan The cherry blossoms were in full swing during our stay. Probably not a better time to be in Japan. This cherry blossom in particular was the most beautiful tree I had ever and probably will ever see.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f1ac5204.jpg[/IMG] 15-Heian Shrine Gate- Kyoto, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f1b1a37b.jpg[/IMG] 16-Kannon, Fukusai-ji Temple- Nagasaki, Japan
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f39d81e6.jpg[/IMG] 17-Beomeosa Temple- Busan, South Korea The most articulate paint scheme of all the temples.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f3a33cd1.jpg[/IMG] 18-Fish Market- Busan, South Korea Interesting experience in the trip- At this fish market you pick what fish you would like to eat from the basket and it is prepared for you to eat right there. There was a Korean group that was dining and invited me over to join them. I didnt want to disrespect the culture and was curious as well, so I sat with them. They proceed to give me a shot of some Korean alcohol (C1) and then passed along a plate with chopsticks and peices of raw fish. I tried the sea squirt (red thing in upper right) and then they started pressuring me to eat the worm thing in the lower right. I was extremly grossed out by watching the thing move that I didnt even want to try it. After additional pressure, I obliged. The gag reflex kicked in but I held it down. If anyone knows what the hell that creepy looking thing is, please let me know....at least Im not dead yet!
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f3a7ff68.jpg[/IMG] 19-Great Wall- Beijing, China Definetly a highlight in the trip.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f3ac6829.jpg[/IMG] 20-Forbidden City- Beijing, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f3b18ace.jpg[/IMG] 21-Temple of Heaven- Beijing, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f5d25f3f.jpg[/IMG] 22-MS Statendam- Shanghai, China This is the cruise boat I was on for two weeks. Nice accomodations and a great way to get around.
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f5d6facd.jpg[/IMG] 23-Pearl Tower- Shangai, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f5db57d5.jpg[/IMG] 24-Yuyaun Gardens- Shanghai, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f5e17d6a.jpg[/IMG] 25-Skyline- Hong Kong, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f5e642af.jpg[/IMG] 26-Skyline from Victoria Peak- Hong Kong, China
[IMG]http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/imagehosting/213946320f697040f.jpg[/IMG] 27-Laser Light Show & Skyline- Hong Kong, China
Hope you enjoyed the shots. I know this post probably should of went into the digital scribbles sub-forum, but just wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to see it without searching for it.