Berlin

My long flight to Berlin feels like ages ago, but I haven’t even been here for 24 hours. Such is the nature of crossing 8 time zones on three flights. I routed through LHR (London Heathrow) and was very happy to still have a couple United Club passs left: they had hot showers there! It was surreal to be taking a hot shower during…

Nikko, 2016

Nikko is nearly two hours north of Tokyo, in the mountains. The only thing keeping the town alive is the presence of Toshogu Shrine and Rinnoji Temple, but those two places alone make the trip worthwhile. On our trip there yesterday (Friday), we spent most of our time at Toshogu; it’s so vast, with so many stairs to climb, we ended up spending three…

Kyoto, 2016. Part II

To make a long story short, I got my iPhone back! If you’re ever going to lose your phone in a city of 4 million people, make sure that city is in Japan. Somehow, even with my cellular data turned off, and my volume turned off, I was able to retrieve it. Most of the credit, however, goes to Erick Benitez, the owner of…

Himeji, 2016

Himeji Castle is located in the heart of the Kansai region. I first visited Himeji back in 1997 and it was a cold and wet day. Later visits were always sunny and warm, which is the best way to see the castle, since it’s almost pure white and a deep blue sky in the background makes for great contrast. Our trip there yesterday yielded…

Kyoto, 2016

We are in the land of enchantment. After the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, which is a big part of why I love that city, it’s nice to be here in the laid back city of Kyoto. Also, for the first time since arriving in Japan, we saw blue sky yesterday! The Shinkansen was late leaving Tokyo Station due to heavy rain but when…

Tokyo, 2016

It’s already Friday morning here, in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo. We arrived on Wednesday evening, some 12 hours after leaving PDX. The jet lag is still with us and we were wide awake early yesterday morning. Looking at the clock on my iPad, and seeing it was 1:30, I thought it must be 5:30 am here in Tokyo (since my iPad clock has…

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

These are not really wedding images but I had so much fun at Salt Creek Falls yesterday, I had to post these. This location would make a great spot for winter engagement photos!

An India Story

I saw one man painting the doorway of his house in pastel shades of green and red that seemed to catch the morning mood. A little ways down the street I saw a child squatting in the gutter, using the runoff of water below the curb as a sink while he repeatedly jabbed one finger into the foul stream and then back into his mouth; he was brushing his teeth. It hit me at last: I was Somewhere Else.