The Brit on the outbound Airbus was snoring like an elephant in heat, successfully reducing my chances of catching any Zs during the flight to z as in zilch. I suppose this is as good a start as any other. The Japanese ADHD brat and mother thereof sitting behind me on the homebound flight made the guy sound like a barely audible breeze. The girl was like a Duracell bunny. Eleven fucking hours of shrieks, howls, kicking everything within reach (most notably the back of my seat) reigned in by the occasional "Stop this instant" from the mother which lasted about 0,2 seconds. This resulted in no jet-lag upon arrival at Narita and jet-lag squared with an extra dose of vituperation when I got back to Poznan. The fact that I left my bag with stuff bought in Narita duty free at the Frankfurt airport did not help in the least. A few beers, four hours of sleep and some photo-editing later I'm trying to put together a coherent account of events. Good luck with that.
Let's face it - I've not been to Japan. I've been in Tokyo, and that's an entirely different animal of the megapolis genus. Add to it the fact that I spent most of the day in the office or warehouse and you get a general picture of my trip.
It's not as if I didn't have any time at all on my hands though. Saw a couple of sights in Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shinagawa-ku and Minato-ku. Shot a couple of photos most of which turned out to be crap. Realized my Japanese is not as rusty as I thought it'd be. Got my hands on a lot of good food/drink.
It's not as if I didn't have any time at all on my hands though. Saw a couple of sights in Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shinagawa-ku and Minato-ku. Shot a couple of photos most of which turned out to be crap. Realized my Japanese is not as rusty as I thought it'd be. Got my hands on a lot of good food/drink.
Being the only three Europeans (of whom two were blond girls) in an Izakaya (watering hole/restaurant, but mostly the former) otherwise filled to the brim with white collared salary-men obnoxiously ignoring the fact that something's wrong with the picture at the corner table - priceless. As was walking around in search for ramen, passing about twenty restaurants specializing in it, each better looking than the last, only to eat it from a rickety cart, served by an ancient, grizzle faced, married Japanese couple.
Further down the list we have experiencing an earthquake (4-something but quite far off), a typhoon, and rush hour in the subway while wearing flip-flops (日本三景と言えるかな？:P). Oh and let's not forget the wonder of Japanese TV. News, that is. Don't get me started on entertainment shows or commercials. Nothing beats an expert, suit & tie, stone-faced, explaining the intensity of falling rain using a scale based on onomatopoeia. Or an anchorman reporting on site that an inbound train was delayed by 10 minutes due to the rain. Ten minutes. Veritably a nation wide calamity. Speaking of which, despite the fact that it had lost the brunt of it's force by the time it got to Tokyo, one thing I've learned about typhoons, is that raining sideways is not just a mere metaphor. Roofed walkway - doesn't help, umbrella - use it as a sail if you're on a skateboard in order to move faster. Other than that - wear a waterproof backpack (checked) and light, fast-drying clothes (also checked).
All in all I'll have to go back there. If only to wander the city on foot, stopping once in a while to sit at a street corner in a parody of Cartier-Bresson, waiting for that right shot. Go back with time enough to get a more accurate measure of that beast. As right now I can't decide my verdict. That is, don't get me wrong, it's just as special as any other big city with its quirks and intricacies which, obviously I did neither have time to study nor to experience, but along side it has all of their vices.
Further down the list we have experiencing an earthquake (4-something but quite far off), a typhoon, and rush hour in the subway while wearing flip-flops (日本三景と言えるかな？:P). Oh and let's not forget the wonder of Japanese TV. News, that is. Don't get me started on entertainment shows or commercials. Nothing beats an expert, suit & tie, stone-faced, explaining the intensity of falling rain using a scale based on onomatopoeia. Or an anchorman reporting on site that an inbound train was delayed by 10 minutes due to the rain. Ten minutes. Veritably a nation wide calamity. Speaking of which, despite the fact that it had lost the brunt of it's force by the time it got to Tokyo, one thing I've learned about typhoons, is that raining sideways is not just a mere metaphor. Roofed walkway - doesn't help, umbrella - use it as a sail if you're on a skateboard in order to move faster. Other than that - wear a waterproof backpack (checked) and light, fast-drying clothes (also checked).
All in all I'll have to go back there. If only to wander the city on foot, stopping once in a while to sit at a street corner in a parody of Cartier-Bresson, waiting for that right shot. Go back with time enough to get a more accurate measure of that beast. As right now I can't decide my verdict. That is, don't get me wrong, it's just as special as any other big city with its quirks and intricacies which, obviously I did neither have time to study nor to experience, but along side it has all of their vices.
And an afterthought: I need to get a filter with better AR coating for the 85mm, preferably a Hoya Pro1D UV or an S-HMC UV at least, as reflections on the Tiffen are fucking appalling. And maybe a monopod? Any suggestions on both?
