I spent January 2020 in Zurich. This was part of my luxurious plan to start 2020 somewhere beautiful with time set aside to indulge in reading, walks and taking photographs.
Ever since my first trip to Zurich in 2017 I’ve been thinking of living in Switzerland. This was also an investigative trip.
I spent a few days in Oslo on my way back to Scotland. It’s a small and peaceful city. The weather was cold, grey and wet, but this only made the short walks followed by hot coffee and snacks at one of the many bakeries and cafes more enjoyable. There are quite a few sights to see, enough to stay entertained for a short break.
I had a free afternoon so decided to take walk around Asakusa. This historic district of Tokyo is one of my favourite spots.
The area is well known as the home of Senso-ji. One of the most famous temples in Tokyo. The entrace to Senso-ji; known as Kaminari-mon gate, has a giant lantern. It’s a popular photo spot. Look to the left of Asakusa station on the below map. You can find a big picture of Kaminari-mon gate on a previous blog post.
In 2019, I was excited to have the opportunity to visit Singapore. It was a business trip, so I had the chance to see inside a couple of impressive buildings in the financial / corporate district. I was also able to extend my a few extra days to enjoy the local vibe. Prior to 2019, the last time I was in Singapore was 2000. Back then I had just graduated from university and was visiting a Singaporean friend.
I’m grateful that my Mum and Alistair; her husband, were able to come and visit me in Japan last year. Having travelled a lot; and fallen in love with Asia, and Japan in particular, I was really excited to share it with them.
They travelled all the way from Scotland! With only a week in Japan it was tough to plan an itinerary that would allow time to recuperate from the trip, while also seeing a range of what Japan has to offer.
It’s December 1st and it was a lovely sunny warm but fresh 16 degrees in Tokyo. I decided to head out for a walk around Tokyo Tower. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while and it was really a beautiful day out.
I started from Hamamatsucho (浜松町) just 15 minutes walk to the East of Tokyo Tower. While Tokyo Tower is a major tourist attraction the surrounding area is to a certain extent a business district. Due to that I was lucky enough to find a few really nice independent coffee shops that were quite quiet due to it being a Saturday.
Tokyo is a beautifully colourful place.
I really appreciate good design in life. When people, businesses and local authorities make an effort. A lot of elements come together to make a place enjoyable. The shape of the buildings, the colours, the cleanliness, the ease of getting around.
Life can be busy, it can get tiring commuting around, rushing to work, rushing to meet people. Everything is a better when the places we go feature interesting and beautiful design.
One of my genuine beliefs is it shouldn’t just be about minimising costs and maximising profits, it should be about making the world a better place.
Earlier in January I went on a visit to Nezu Shrine (根津神社) in Tokyo. This Shrine is famous for the Tori – lined pathways.
I took some photos, I hope you enjoy. It’s a lovely spot to have a walk around in.
For my second photo walk around Kyoto in January I took a stroll around Kawaramachi and Pontocho areas. Just across the river from Gion; the subject of my last Kyoto post.
I finally decided to visit a maid cafe!
At the risk of destroying my masculine image I’ll start by openly admitting I love cute things. So I was always interested to check out a maid cafe.
It’s 2018 and I decided to start the first week of the year with a ‘photo-walk’ around Gion in Kyoto.
Gion is the traditional district of Kyoto, think old style restaurants, souvenirs shops etc.
Today, I went to have a look at the recently opened railway museum in Kyoto. They have 53 historic train cars. I skipped the steam engines; which look quite similar to European models, and focused on the early diesels and electrics.
I don’t know a lot about trains, so I’ll list the model numbers in case you’d like to find out more about any of them.
This last Wednesday I had an overnight trip out to Zurich for a business workshop. It was a 4.30 am start, but totally worth it.
The reason I love travel so much is the joy of having a change every day. Even a business trip is an opportunity to meet new people, try local food and if lucky have enough time for a stroll at the end of the day.
The Zurich trip was busy, but I managed to fit in an hour long photo walk around the old town area between eight and nine pm.
The skies were blue
The trees were bare
French in part
Shanghai at heart
Even with the cool winter air
Warm hearts were there
Dance, play mahjong
Or take a stroll with mum
Welcome to Fuxing Park
Good news!…
I’m in Travel + Leisure June 2017.
A couple of months ago one of their researchers contacted me about Shenzhen photos. Last year I spent a day in Shenzhen’s contemporary art centre; OCT Loft. I really love the ‘former industrial building’ becomes ‘contemporary art centre’ thing.
I think re-purposed industrial buildings hold a certain artistic commentary on life and hence provide an interesting contextual background to contemporary art.
I found the cutest local cafe in Seoul with the friendliest owners.
It’s called Portable Loft. They also have a craft / design store – Portable Lollipop.
You can see some pictures of Portable Loft, the owners and their friends here http://blog.naver.com/jungurion/220896163629.
And the Portable Lollipop website is http://www.portablelollipop.com/
Another good spot to check out in Seoul is Ihwa Mural Village and Naksan Park with beautiful views across the city.
It’s near to Hunsung University so there are a lot of cafe and cheap food options. It’s also a short walk from both Changgyeonggung and Changdeokgung.
I recently posted about Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul. Following that post I received a recommendation to go to Changgyeonggung. It’s right next door. A smaller palace, but less busy and with more stand alone buildings and a park with a lovely pond.
The light was a little difficult when I went and autumn was just ending. But nevertheless some photos came out well; let’s talk a photo walk around Changyeonggung!
A huge thank you to fellow WordPress blogger; bluchikenninja, who’s blog introduced me to the wonderful ‘bullet journal’ system – http://bulletjournal.com/
I love my notepads, but they are normally a mess. Bullet Journal provides a basic system to structure your notebooks for planning, journaling, reference etc.
I was in the Cairngorms earlier today; a big national park in the highlands of Scotland. It was a beautiful and I’d love to share some pictures with you.
If you are unfamiliar with Scotland I’ll reveal the mystery of what a Bothy is!
Continuing on from my last post about a set of stairs at Dongdaemun Art & Cultural Centre in Seoul, South Korea I was also impressed by the main walkway from the street to the museum and design halls.
Another spontaneous trip. I was having a coffee in Hong Kong and suddently felt like going to China. It’s quite easy to get the China visa in Hong Kong, plenty of agencies will handle the whole process for a reasonable fee.
On my last trip I went to Yangshuo in Guilin to do some Tai Chi and Qi Gong. I also visited Shanghai.
I came back to Hong Kong. The last time I was here was early 2014.
When I was here last time I took this picture from Kowloon of a Junk passing by. That’s Hong Kong Island in the background.
I took a trip to Dànshuǐ just north of Taipei on Wednesday. The weather was beautiful.
Let’s take a look starting with the view back towards the north of Taipei. This is from a waterside park / promenade just next to the MTR station (Taipai Subway/Overground).
I’ve been making the rounds of the Taipei street food scene. It’s cheap, delicious, but some dishes are pretty unhealthy!
1st stop Shilin night market. Where I tried the famous ‘stinky tofu’; shown on the left below. The tofu is fermented and has a very strong ‘stinky’ smell, but the taste is not too strong. Fermented foods are great for digestion so I was excited to try it.
I’ve had three days in Taipei. I’m feeling good about this city; it has positive vibe. Today I went for a walk along Dihau Street. It’s a fairly traditional area with a lot of shops selling things like tea and herbal medicine.
There are some vibrant, busy scenes. But even in amongst those you can catch people taking a rest from the hot afternoon sun. Check out the guy in the truck cab.
Today was a chill day. I didn’t have any exercise scheduled. My main plan was to study some Japanese and graphic design and to head over to Asakusa and maybe take a few photos.
To be honest, the day was a bit of a fail, I couldn’t concentrate at all and it was way too hot to walk around taking photos for a long time.
However, I did take a few shots in Asakusa. The area is famous for Sensoji 浅草寺 – it’s a temple complex that many people visit. There are a lot of shops selling traditional japanese products. There are also a lot of traditional restaurants.
My last three months – suits, ironing, americanos, the client office, ms excel, paper, meetings, timetables, stress relief beer, stress relief chocolate and escapism netflix.
But I finished up last Friday in London, it’s Thursday now and I’m sitting in Starbucks Omotesando in Tokyo.
Young or old,
Is there anywhere you want to go?
Look out for them,
Charging around, in a bright flash of red or blue.
You have to share,
But a sense of community can be found their.
Relax in your seat,
A moment of freedom is found.
Books, music, snooze or chat,
What will you do?
I will simply sit back and enjoy the view.
As I left my apartment I looked carefully in all directions; making sure it was clear, I immediately flagged down a taxi. I had to be quick, I knew they could be waiting, just out of sight, ready to get me. As soon as I was in the taxi the driver locked the doors and warned me not to open the window. We both knew the danger.
The roads were busy, but the driver was good, he rushed down some side streets. I might still make my appointment.
My blog name may sound strange in English. The reason is it comes from Japanese. It has a special significance to me which involves an ex girlfriend, travel across the world and around one hundred and thirty hours of TV.
The Japanese Kanji for hakka no togame is 白霞罸.
Yesterday afternoon I was browsing wordpress and I saw the discover challenge to post about perspective. Coincidently earlier that morning I took a photo of two work men from an unusual top down perspective as they sat on a truck cab.
I had a dream-like three weeks in shanghai earlier this year. I want to introduce you to m50; the contemperary art district.
Shanghai itself is a bit of an enigma, it’s China of course; but also very much it’s own place. The history is fascinating and provides background perspective on the modern day relationship between east and west. Shanghai also has it’s own dialect and other Chinese people may consider the Shanghainese as overly proud.
Stately stone towers,
Stand over the Thames river,
Watching years go bye.
An iconic sight,
That sighs when misguided types,
Say “it’s London Bridge”.
Remember ’Tower’;
London’s majestic lady,
And favourite Bridge.
Clean, shiny steel and birdsong soft and sweet. A place full of people, some fast asleep, where could I be?
Nomadic, that’s my habit,
Never in one place, that’s my taste,
Mario running from a koopa shell,
Never afraid, just need my space,
hakkanotogame