Japan Culinary Adventure (29): Takayama Food Tour

Sake Being Cooled (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Horse Screen at Tofu Establishment (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Nice event. Masayo led the tour through small sake brewerys, tofu and miso production plants with samples at all stops. Then, a little break at a coffee shop where Mike sampled rice dumplings, cookies and a cafe au lait.

Alas, no photo here of the actual group, for that, you will have to visit Dan's site.

Cafe au Lait, Dumplings (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Menu (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Monday Eastern Spot-Billed Duck Blogging

Eastern Spot-Billed Duck (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Eastern Spot-Billed Ducks (Hakone) - Japan  2016

Very attractive birds, seen while we where hiking around Lake Ashinoko near Hakone. I used an Olympus E-M10 and a 14-150mm lens.

Alas, the Wikipedia entry is somewhat clunky and dry.

Outside Takayama

Evening Forest (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Abandoned Building (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Scenes found while walking around our ryokan outside Takayama. The area was just a little bit dilapidated and overgrown, but not without its charm.

Wandering through the evening forest Mike came upon a hidden pond, a single koi slowly swimming back and forth. He found the enveloping darkness to be just a little bit . . . , hm, eerie. One thinks of the Japanese aesthetic term, yūgen:

Yūgen (幽玄) is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics. The exact translation of the word depends on the context. In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yūgen meant "dim", "deep" or "mysterious".

Evening Pond, Koi (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Takayama Morning (Video)

Takayama AM, October, 2016 from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.


Early morning iPhone video clips, strung together.

San Francisco Reflections

Transamerica Pyramid Reflection - San Francisco  2017

Reflections - San Francisco  2017

More pyramid shots here.

Tiburon Sightems

Fire Boat (vertical - Tiburon) - Marin County  2017

Fire Boat (Horizontal - Tiburon) - Marin County  2017

Tiburon is an upscale community east of Highway 101 in Marin County. This is where you would take the ferry to Angel Island.

Roses

Roses (Daytime) - Marin County  2017

Roses (Evening) - Marin County  2017

. . . from Safeway. Day, evening and below on the backyard porch. Framed Escalante River photo is from my 2016 Utah trip.

Roses (Porch) - Marin County  2017

Sansome Dental

Sansome Dental - San Francisco  2005

Sansome Dental - San Francisco  2017

If one does a Google search for "Sansome Dental" images, yes, there it is! My earlier 2005 photo from the mikereport!

Reposted on top, above. Latest photo below.

Monday Warbler Blogging

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Fairfax) - Marin County  2017

Yellow-rumped warbler, perched in the backyard maple tree (seen below).

Maple Tree (Fairfax) - Marin County  2017

Takayama Sightems

Takayama Jinya (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Super Hotel (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Top: Takayama Jinya, old government complex. Good central meeting place. Next: Super Hotel at night.

Below: School bus, perspective corrections in Photoshop.

School Bus (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Japan Culinary Adventure (28): Kazuma (Breakfast in Takayama)

Kazuma (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Proprietress (Kazuma, Takayama) - Japan  2016

Hmm. When I was actually there, I never got the name of this place. However, enlarging the outside menu in the top photo reveals that it's called "Kazuma." No more information, because, unfortunately, a Google search for "Kazuma Takayama" shows that Kazuma Takayama is a Japanese football player.

Oh well. Kazuma turned out to be an idiosyncratic tiny little place where the lady served cake, coffee and toast. And a hard-boiled egg.

Breakfast (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Japan Culinary Adventure (27): Hida Beef at Maruaki

Hida Beef (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Hida Beef Cooking (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Hida beef in Takayama. From Mike's trip journal: "Ryokan shuttle back into town, then dinner at Maruaki, famous for its Hida beef. Cook it yourself at the table: Mike lets Hali and Dan do the cooking. Mike still prefers Jocko's for beef, but the others are more enthusiastic."

We Are Breeding Hida Cattle (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Takayama Ryokan

Ryokan Office (Takayama) - Japan  2016

View from Ryokan (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Another not-our-first-choice place. For the record, Ryokan Murayama.

From Mike's trip journal: . . . arrival at Takayama and the shuttle to Ryokan Murayama. Interesting place, with parts of the building seemingly constructed at different times. Elevator starts on the second floor. (?) Have to mention two things: a) they didn't have our correct rooms, and b) this place might have seen much better days, to be honest.

Located a considerable distance outside of the city in an area that, like I said, had maybe seen better days in the past. But actually, I finally decided that the surroundings were kind of cool in a rundown kind of way. Plus, the Teddy Bear Village was within walking distance!

Teddy Bear Halloween Window (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Takayama

Takayama, Pampas Grass - Japan  2016

Train Tracks (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Takayama is surrounded by mountains, giving the impression that its elevation is higher than it actually is (1844 ft.). Population is a little over 92000. I've learned by now not to be surprised at the amount of highrises in small touristy Japanese cities.

Language note: I pronounced Takayama like almost two words put together: "taka" and "yama." But the woman on the loudspeaker on the train pronounced it as one word: "TaKAyama." Interesting.

Train to Takayama

Pedestrian, Building - Japan  2016

Weed Whacking - Japan  2016

From Kyoto to Nagoya, then transfer to the train to Takayama, during which time I took these photos. I set my Canon to shoot at 1/800th second, which seemed to work out OK.

Old Buildings - Japan  2016

Monday Koi Blogging

Koi, Hida River (Takayama) - Japan  2016

Swimming around in the Hida River in Takayama. Very picturesque.

Richmond Bridge, Winter Storm

Richmond Bridge, Storm Clouds - Marin County  2017

Lots of opportunities last month for storm-related photos.

I had just parked and was getting ready to go to Starbucks inside the San Rafael Target when I noticed the sunlight breaking through the clouds, highlighting the bridge. I retrieved my camera (an Olympus E-M10 with a 14-150mm zoom lens attached) and jogged up an embankment, and then down through some mud and weeds to the water's edge. The shot was taken using the wide end of the lens, at 14mm (28mm 35mm equiv.).

Chinatown Sightems - 2

Trade Mark (Chinatown) - San Francisco  2017

The Young and the Elderly (Chinatown) - San Francisco  2017

Top photo taken with the Olympus E-M10, with a telephoto range of 430mm (35mm equiv.). Bottom one with the Canon G5X.

Chinatown Sightems - 1

Bao Chan (Chinatown) - San Francisco  2017

Teapots (Chinatown) - San Francisco  2017

I was walking around Chinatown with two cameras: a smaller Canon G5X and a larger Olympus E-M10 / 75-300mm lens combo. Both the above photos were taken with the Canon.

. . . from the archives #96: Surf, Queen Anne's Lace - California Coast 1968

Surf, Queen Anne's Lace - California Coast  1968

Well, that's the problem with some of these older negatives: there's really no way to know exactly where they were taken. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes I just remember the circumstances for some reason.

But not with this one. So, for now, just "California Coast" as the location. Standing on a cliff somewhere, pointing the camera downwards.

I used a Nikon F 35mm camera, with, probably, Panatomic-X film.

San Francisco Sightems

I Will Protect You by Dancing - San Francisco  2017

Lunch (Union Square) - San Francisco  2017

Top: Sign seen while waiting for the return ferry to Larkspur. Not sure of authorship.

Bottom: Lunch at Union Square, as seen from behind a window at Burger Bar.

Berkeley Demonstrations / Tear Gas

Berkeley Campus, Tear Gas - Berkeley  1970

Berkeley Campus, Tear Gas (vertical) - Berkeley  1970

Not 2017. Photos taken in 1970.

Quiz: which American president uttered the phrase, "If it takes a bloodbath, then let's get it over with"?

Answer: Ronald Reagan, although he wasn't president at the time, just governor of California.

Photos taken with a Nikon F on Kodachrome film.

Monday Dog Blogging

Dog (Penny) - Point Reyes  2016

Dog, Joe Montana - San Anselmo  2016

Top photo taken during an incredible downpour in Point Reyes Station. (See below.) We were the only customers in the place.

Joe Montana  photo taken in the Batteries Plus store in San Anselmo.

House, Intersection, Rain - Point Reyes  2016