Jupiter over Aichi University

Here is a nice view of Jupiter and the moon, seen from my apartment...Jupiter is to lower right of the moon.Here is one more view, with 200mm telephoto... Anyone know how to take a photo of the moon?

Guam, Just Above Sea Level

I almost forgot, here is a quick tour around Guam! Above the ocean!Of course, the best way to get around the island is in a Mustang Convertible. And once in the convertible one place most people visit is Two Lovers PointThe legend is sometime a long time ago, two people forbidden to be together leaped to there death from this cliff. This site also has great views of the Philippians sea.Long drop...There are also a lot of animals everywhere too.Note the Japanese script to the left of the pigs, although Guam is an American territory, there are many Japanese tourist. So the island accommodates. There are lots of cows everywhere too.Here is Fort Nuestra De La Soledad, built by the Spanish.They would stop here when traveling between the Philippines and Mexico.Old school defence. Lastly, if you ever wonder where Tuna in Japan comes from, I verified some of it is from Guam.Much of the aft cargo bay was fresh tuna. If you have a chance, Guam is a great place to visit. Kind of like an affordable Hawaii.

Guam, Just Below Sea Level

Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States and is part of the Mariana Islands chain. It is located about half way between Japan and Papua New Guinea and I was able to make a trip there during labor day weekend. Below is the bay of Tumon seen from the 19th floor of the Marriott.The morning of labor day was spent snorkeling in this bay, below are some photos of tropical fish taken just below sea level. Beyond tropical, I'm not sure what kind of fish these are, but we can identify them by color. Below is a school of blue fish passing through coral.In the photo below are two brown color fish kind of hiding in the coral, these guys were keeping an eye on me. Kind of looking over there fish cave I think.Black and white fish hiding in the coral.It turns out this crazy multicolor fish is known for attacking people, but they were cool this morning.These photos were taken by wrapping my point and shoot camera in a DiCAPac WP-410 case. The case worked really well, as in my camera stayed dry 100% of the time. Below are some black and white fish swimming away from me.I hope this coral can survive, global warming seems to be kicking up this summer...

Nagoya Central Airport

NGO or Nagoya Centrair is main airport serving central Japan and is about 1 hour from baggage claim to my apartment via train.I might be a little bias, but I think Central Air is one of the better airports around the globe, it's actually marketed as a destination, rather then just an airport.While the airport part of the airport is all business, it is never really that busy and it is usually really easy to get through security (I guess that is not a great thing for the airport). But the other half of the airport is a shopping and restaurant area that has roof access for viewing airplane take-off and landings.As a result, people come here just to hang out, many with crazy cameras. Central air has a good focus on import routs, for example, both of its US connections of Hawaii and Detroit.The 747 above basically flies to and from Detroit. It's been reported on Delta.com that next year this plane is going to get an upgraded interior with TV in the seats. The guy below, keeping you safe like it's 2025.Sorry for nerd post... I like planes.

Nagoya Cosplay World Summit

A couple of weeks ago, my father made his first visit to Japan and gave me an opportunity to introduce my family to this country and where I live. The day after landing in Nagoya were were off to Utsunomiya for a couple of days before returning to Nagoya. When in Utsunomiya I learned there was a large festival at the Osu temple and I thought to myself "cool, we can go see some Japanese culture!"

I thought the festival would be a traditional, people walking around in Kimono's, people playing drums and eating red bean candy... Nope, it was 2010 Cosplay world summit, or what is known as costume roleplay. Or what I called, my dad's first introduction to typical Japanese culture, check this out.

Dad waiting for the parade to start. Below are some of the costume's seen around Osu....Police officer keeping an eye on Osu templeRobot monster #1I'm not sure who they are dressed up to be.Old school pimp, I don't think he is actually wearing a costume or is aware there is a festival going on around him.Cartoon style...Kids dressed as students, this was kind of a typical costume.Robot Monster #2.More cartoon stuff.And of course every festival needs a rabbit....In the end, this was a really fun Party, everything normal. My dad's visit to Japan lasted for two weeks, I will try to post a few photos from other places visited soon, too.

Chicago Update

A few weeks ago, during my trip to Michigan I was able to visit Chicago for a couple of days, it felt like only a couple of hours though. Good friends of mine were getting married, but I still found time to wander around and visit some old and new places. First of all, there was a new crazy sculpture near the corner of state and Van Buren.There is famous quotes and logic engraved onto the base below the eye ball.

On my first walk south to the loop from River North I found on the corner of Wabash and Wacker piles of busted up concrete and though to myself someone should really clean this *stuff* up. I would of called the mayor, but did not have a cell phone on this trip.I found out later that evening they were actually filming Transformers 3...I should of known, that #65 Grand Bus sign should have never been south of the Chicago River. Everything else seems kind of normal.Seriously, it's not the first time I've seen a bus like that.

Everything else seems good too. The new Trump tower is up and running.Police are still relaxing.Fiesta Pizza is still fresh at Barry's Spot (this place has three stars on Yelp, that is bull).Kayaking on the Chicago river, these people probably started on North Ave.And of course, Chicago as seen from a boat!!Buckingham Fountain is also in really good shape.And trust me, the best way to get to and from the fountain is a Latino Express Bus, Ride It!

Barryton

For the first time in over a year, I was able to visit Michigan and my parents cabin for a couple of days.And the cabin is doing great, my parents have made many upgrades and changes to make it a little more modern. The boat is also running well, keep in mind, it's almost as old as my brother.To my surprise I'm still able to wake board.Which is not saying much, it more like I can still strap a board to my feet and skim around on top of the water.The last time I wake boarded was the summer of 2006 I think, even longer ago then that.Trying to jump....Barryton itself has not really changed, seems like some of the shops have closed in the past couple of years.None-the-less, Barryton is still 100% patriotic!