With Age
It's nuts taking a step back and looking at how big this not-so-little boy has gotten. I can't believe it. Being a dad really opens your eyes. It's been such an amazing journey not only watching him grow, but growing with him.
TYO By Air
These are the views from the Tokyo Skytree. One of the tallest towers in the world reaching over 2000 feet straight shot to the moon. I thought the most crazy thing about the Skytree was the elevator. You hop in, and in less than a minute, you are the top. That's over 600 meters per hour... Insane.
Beauty. Grace. Mystery. Death.
Sensō-ji Temple
Japan From The Backseat
We left Nagoya and hopped in the Wekfest tour van and headed for Osaka. About a 2 hour drive so had nothing better to do than to take some shots from the backseat along the way. Enjoy.
Streets Of Asakusa
First Order Of Business
As soon as we landed in Tokyo, our first stop was to the mobile center to pick up our Pocket Wi-fi devices. Apparently, these little guys are our lifelines as U.S. phone service will barely work and if it did, prepare to go back home to a very heavy bill due to international roaming charges. Although we were told that we would need these things mainly for looking for directions, it was pretty hard considering we don't read Japanese as all the directions and shops that pull up on Google Maps were in Japanese. So I would say about 8% of this device was used for directions and 92% went towards Instagram.
Early Bird Gets The Worm
Like the saying goes, we were out in the break of morning. With our schedules completely flip-flopped from U.S. time, we found it hard to sleep in. We would wake up at 4am and so we decided to waste no time. Tokyo is known to be a very fast paced and busy place but when you catch it this early in the morning, you would be sure to find the streets almost empty. It's crazy how early these people start off their days. Even at 5am we came across handful of cars and tons of people already starting off their day. Tokyo is referred to the New York of Japan so much like New York, the residents rely much on the subway system. You can literally access any part of Tokyo and surrounding cities by public transit and it was fairly easy even for us non-natives. It was definitely an experience to be able to witness Tokyo at it's busiest and Tokyo as it rested.
Osaka By Night
With our many nights all over Japan, Osaka seemed to have the most unique night life scene. By night life, I don't mean the partying and clubbing, I mean the actual life that exists after hours. Even on a Monday night after midnight, swarms of people would be out just chillin. Some looked wired, some look tweaked out of their minds, some hustlin, some minding their own... There was just so much personality and life that took over the bright colorful lit streets and alley ways of Osaka. The night that I chose to go out and take photos could not have been better. Although it was raining, the wet pavement made for perfect photos.
Zombie Apocalypse | SF
Shibuya/Harajuku
I guess this is what you call being jetlagged. Only slept for 2-3 hours before waking up to the sun rising here in Tokyo. No time to waste here.
We started off at Tokyo Metro to head on over to Shibuya.
This is what they called Horse Meat Sashimi. Did not taste any different from Beef Tartar but man, it was delicious.
Stopped into Aape Store and was generously catered to by this fine gentleman. He took care of my sale every step of the way and even walked me out the door with my purchase. What a shopping experience foreal.
Supreme was exactly what I expected minus the fact that the prices are way more expensive than in the States. Neighborhood had some pretty dope stuff.
Kicks Lab had some heat but only for those with deep pockets. If you're looking for a deal, you're not going to find it here.
Will be returning to Harajuku soon!
TYO by Night.
Tokyo Day 1
After a very very long 10 hour flight, we have finally touched down in Tokyo. Although the plane ride was long, the fact that they had an awesome meal (included teriyaki chicken, tuna salad, fruit cup, cold noodles, salad, miso soup, ice-cream and free alcohol) and a ton of movies made the flight just a bit more bearable. After we landed and checked into our hotel, first stop was of course the ramen shop. Time to get some rest... Or at least try to. The 16 hour time difference really has me thrown off. It's 3:00am here but 11:00am home. Weird.
Matching Matcha
So I am going to try something different from my typical process of entries. I typically won't write or post on here until after I gather up a bunch of photos and have them edited but I've come to realize that it may take days, worst is when it takes weeks to come around to editing and posting. Instead, I will try and post on here as often as possible through my iPhone. Especially with our Japan trip coming up next week, I wouldn't want to waste my time sitting somewhere editing photos when I could be out exploring so this will be my solution for on-the-go posts.
Abandon Ship
Dry Docks of Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Stevenson Bridge - Davis, CA
