Stand Strong Japan

Stand Strong Japan., originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

Together we stand strong with you, Japan. My heart is with you all.

When I get older, I will be stronger

When I get older, I will be stronger, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

I am just giving the title as I am having World Cup fever. I really like that WAVIN FLAG song which is very energetic with very good words. I really want to be stronger when I get older. Of course, stronger in term of mentally. When I get older I definitely will be weaker in physical as those sunflowers.

I am still using the photos taken during last year vacation because I don’t have nice new photos yet. I edited this photo with masking layer in GIMP. I previously do not like to edit photo with software but now I am enjoying it a bit more. Using software is also part of modern photography, isn’t it?

Golden Paddies

Golden Paddies, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

After looking at Ko Ye Tun’s sunflower photo , I remember that I took photo of paddies and sky. When I look at my photo it’s not very nice as Ko Ye Tun’s photo. But I would like to post it here to share. I took this photo on the same day as Golden Fields

Simply Alone

Simply Alone, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

I took this photo on the way to Mt. Fuji. I didn’t crop and leave it as it is. Just change level to enhance the brightness.

Fly High

Fly High, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

Limitation is only the sky

Best you can do is to try

So start your journey to fly

Remember not to cry

But to eye greats for all thy aye.

Tōdai-ji Temple

Tōdai-ji Temple, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

“ Tōdai-ji (Eastern Great Temple), is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (aibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu .” (ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%c5%8ddai-ji)

I went Tōdai-ji temple with my parents alone as my sister didn’t come with us. The main reason she didn’t’ come with us is to save the cost. You know what; the transportation cost in Japan is very high especially if you are taking Shinkansen (bullet train). We bought one week unlimited ride tickets, called JR Rail Pass, from Singapore, which cost about S$420 at that time. So we can take unlimited ride to any JR trains, Buses or even Ferry with that pass. Oh yeah, we exchanged the pass with the ticket in Tokyo just before taking first Shinkansen.

Ok, back to them temple. There are many deer roaming freely around the temple. They are not afraid of people but my mom was afraid of them.

We can buy a stack of cookies to feed deer. You have to be careful when you feed them because deer can be very aggressive. I didn’t have to go near to them to feed. They surrounded me once they saw me buying cookies. They even pulled my backpack from behind while I was waiting for my change. It was a bit scary even for me. While I was feeding one of them, another one will be trying to get cookies. I had to quickly feed and run away :D . They are very smart, they didn’t follow me because they know that I don’t have any more cookies for them.

I was wondering why deer are there but not other animals. I know after reading Wikipedia that deer are regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, that’s why they are allowed to roam the grounds freely. I don’t have good photos of deer as I was busy feeding and running away from them. :D

Ciao!

Wild Grass

Wild Grass, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

This is another photo taken on the way to Yaku Shoji Temple. I saw wild grass roadside and took this photo with the background of blue sky.

I edited this photo with GIMP to get nicer blue sky. I am using GIMP as image editing software even though it is not user friendly. I want to use Photoshop but it is expensive for me. At the same time, I do not want to use pirated copy because I feel that I should be more sensible as I am working in software industry. This is just my feeling. No offence.

By the way, a friend from Japan visited Singapore on last Saturday. So last Saturday was like international friends reunion day for me. I met with New Zealander friends from Australia for lunch and this Japanese friend for dinner. He is very friendly and nice man. When I visit to Japan, he gave us a treat in a Tofu restaurant in Tokyo which is really exclusive. The tofu they served was fantastic as well as fish.

This is my turn to ask him what he would like to have for dinner. He said anything is ok. So I suggested we would have a nice Indian food for dinner which is delicious and not very spicy. I brought to an Indian restaurant in Boat Quay to have dinner. The food is good while the talk was better. We were making jokes and laughing until our cheeks were tired. The price of food is pretty expensive compare to the service we got. Too bad, I forgot the name of the restaurant but I remember if I see that again. I should take note shop information if I want to write about it. I will do that so in future.

Thanks…

Golden Fields

Golden Fields, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

I went to Yaku Shoji Temple which is in a village near to Urasa Town in Japan. The main reason of visiting that template is to see the place where Dr. Ba Maw of Burma (Myanmar) hid during WWII.

Dr. Ba Maw was "Naingandaw Adipadi" (head of state) of Burma during Japanese occupation in 1943. He was regarded as traitor, at least by me, before knowing about him details. In fact, he is a patriot who helped to cover up General Aung San’s plan to expel the Japanese from our country.

On the way to the temple, we saw many paddy fields, in golden color, which were ready to harvest. I am told that the rice from this region is famous and expensive because the quality is the best. The view of golden color paddy fields with the background of blue range of mountains is stunning. I couldn’t stop taking many photos of the scenery.

Firstly I didn’t upload this photo because I thought the nice view was obstructed by overhead power cables. When I see this again, I feel that it’s a feature of Japan because we can’t easily find an overhead power cable in Singapore… So I am sharing this lovely photo to enjoy.

Thank You!

Sunset in Miyajima

Miyajima at Sunset, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

This photo was taken during my vacation trip to Japan. The place is called Miyajima, which is a small island near to Hiroshima City.

When I get to the island, it was about 4:00PM and the weather was cloudy. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to take this giant torii gate with sunset view. Anyway, I took this photo after visiting nearby temples, when light of the gate on.

With the light from the gate and the sky, I got this nice photo though I didn't have chance to take the gate with nice sunset. I rank this photo as the most favorite photo of Japan Trip, and also My Photo of 2009.

Thank you for visiting.

Happy New Year 2010 and Happy 62th The Independence Day of Burma (Myanmar).

Mt. Fuji

Mt. Fuji, originally uploaded by ZackTwin.

When we go to Mt. Fuji in September 2009, the weather was so fine until there is no cloud at all... Besides Mt. Fuji has no snow on it's top at all.

A friend who sent to us there told me that he has never seen Mt. Fuji without snow. Maybe because of global warming...

I was a bit sad because I dreamed to take Mt. Fuji photo with some snow. Anyway, I tried to get some photos. Hope you guys like it.