Haloscan

I had changed the commenting service on this blog site so it is easier for people to leave their comments without signing into blogger.com first. However, since I just installed it, the older comments on the blogspot had disappeared! Haha...well, I only had two so far! I do appreciate the comments from Di and Mai...thanks. Below is the link to Haloscan.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Origami

A while back I was obsessed with origami, especially modular origami. Bought a how-to-do book at the uni coop and colourful papers. Some were pretty easy, some were er...confusing?

Osaka

I think that Osaka is Kansai's Tokyo. I remembered when I first visited Osaka, after staying in Kyoto for a couple of months...I was like a country bumpkin...amazed to see so many tall buildings and wide roads. Made me feel like I was back home in KL city again...every where you turn there are high rise buildings, though the streets are always packed with cars, night or day. I was so used to Kyoto's narrow streets and small houses....haven't really seen all that many tall buildings in Kyoto city with the exception of Kyoto Tower. This picture was taken in the evening when the buildings were flashing neon lights of various adverts to attract the people. Thought it made a good picture....had always been drawn to colourful things.



We were walking along this street filled with shops, mostly restaurants I think. I forgot the name of this street....must ask Chan. Yeah, we were at this street walking to find the tabehodai Thai ( was it thai?) restaurant which unfortunately had only lunch tabehodai.



Haha...there is a story behind this picture. You see, Chan wanted to see the Osaka museum and we walked and we walked...we got lost along the way and finally we found the museum but it was closed! This was Puay, venting his frustrations on Chan.



The pigeons (?)....there were so many of them while we were walking along the river banks towards the museum.



A Ferris Wheel in the heart of town

Upside down

Yeah...everything you see on this website will be topsy turvy.......since I had just created this blogger, I had uploaded my latest photos from Hokkaido first. Then you would start to see various older photographs making its appearances here and there. So forgive me if this turns out to be a little too confusing. I have not the patience nor the time to sit down and create my own website just yet (maybe one fine day) where everything will be in order. And another thing....I am bound to make a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes here, feel free to correct me!
I am going to post two old photos here, taken during the Coming of Age day near Heian Jingu, Kyoto. I was drowning in a sea of kimonos (very beautiful I might add). But I was intrigued by the display of tradition with modern elements as seen here in these two photographs.
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Almost every girl or boy there had their ears glued to the handphone....but that was to be expected, we are after all living in an age where handphones had become a necessity and not a luxury item. Public phones are becoming obselete!
I have to say though that when I arrived in Japan, I had no idea that people here smoked a lot. Or that they drink coffee that much. But since I love coffee, I am in heaven. Which reminds me of this poem I found not too long ago...

You'll be greeted
by a nice cup of coffee
when you get to heaven
and the strains of angelic harmony.

But wouldn't you be devastated
if they only serve decaffeinated
while from the percolators of hell

your soul was assaulted
by Satan's fresh espresso smell?
-John Agard-

Glorious Autumn

Yeah, this is definately one of the best time to see Kyoto. The other season is definately spring, with the sakuras blooming everywhere, on the streets, along the river, on the temple grounds, beside the lake etc. While the town may be a bit drab during autumn, the surrounding areas are alive with colour....red, yellow, green....it is hard not to be taken in by the beauty of it. This particular tree was absolutely striking against the temple gate on Nanzenji grounds.
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While the more famous temples and shrines are packed with tourists who flocked to capture the moment in busloads, the lesser known temples also has it's own charms. In fact, for me personally, I liked them better because I can actually SEE the trees rather than trying to fight my way through the crowd only to see more bloody heads blocking my view!
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While red was obviously the colour of the season, yellow has it's own glory too, as seen here in this picture taken at Kamigamo Jinja. When we were there, most of the maple trees have yet to change colour, so this particular tree was the only one in full colour and the sun was just shining on it, kind of like a spotlight from God.

I thought this picture really did capture the heart of autumn....the beauty is there but for a while, before it gives way to winter....the falling leaf signals the start of the beginning of an end.

What a view

What a view
Originally uploaded by celialee.

To wake up every morning to see this gorgeous view.....I remembered where we were when we were taking this picture. We were parked by the roadside and snapping away. Everywhere we turned, every view was just as gorgeous. The snowy capped mountains, the untouched thick carpet of snow, which to me looked like marshmallows.....simply breathtaking!

Abashiri town

These pictures were taken when we were driving along Abashiri town. We stopped by one of the many lookout spots, this one was near the seashore. As you can see, the town is against the dramatic snow capped mountains....imagine to wake up everyday and have this sight greet you.

This one was taken when we were at the seaside...all frozen, covered in ice and snow. Gorgeous.

Hot air balloons

Hot air balloons
Originally uploaded by celialee.

I wanted to see what it was like being up in the air on a cold winter's night, but the price was too expensive for such a short trip. On a frozen lake, in Abashiri, Hokkaido.

Ainu Dance Performance

Ainu Dance Performance
Originally uploaded by celialee.

This is one of the Ainu performances we saw while we were in Akan, Hokkaido. They were using their hair as part of the dance routine....amazing.

Abashiri

We went to Abashiri to see the floating ices on the sea that comes from the Okhotsk Sea, Russia. The town was situated against the backdrop of snow capped mountains and the frozen, white sea. Gorgeous. These pictures were taken while we were cruising on the sea.

The seagulls (I think they were seagulls) were following the cruise ship because people were feeding them crackers by throwing them to the sea or handing it out, hoping that one of them would swoop by and pluck the cracker right out their hands.

We were on the 4.30p.m. cruise, just in time to see the sun setting. The cruise was a little disappointing for me because I was hoping to see more animals (seals for example) but all I saw were the seagulls. Though I have to admit, they allowed me to take some good pictures.

Here you can see some of the floating ices....I know some people expected big icebergs and all! The cruise took maybe an hour or so to complete.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Dusk in Kitami

Dusk in Kitami
Posted by: celialee.

We were at this playground near Shiori san's house in Kitami. We were going to go sleighing! It looked so calm and quiet.

Scenic Lake View

Scenic Lake View
Posted by: celialee.

The scenery here was absolutely awesome, too bad my camera could not take wide view pictures. This is just a taste of how it actually looks like.