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Post by Nomad-wino on Aug 30, 2012 17:18:14 GMT -5
Hi all! I've been working on a photo blog. Please feel free to check it out here: yokosukamike.blogspot.jp/Best regards, Mike P.S. if you click on a picture it should enlarge to full size. |
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Post by liriodendron on Aug 30, 2012 19:26:34 GMT -5
VERY COOL! I looked at all of them quickly and I intend to go back and check them all out in the full size mode. I bookmarked it in my Photo Sites folder. I love looking at (and taking) photos.
What is that in the second from the last photo in the Second Chance Pictures section? It looks like many little drawers.
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Post by BoatBabe on Aug 30, 2012 22:03:30 GMT -5
Wow, Mike, those are great pictures, and what a wonderful format!
I'm going back and bookmarking it.
Just Great!
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Post by gailkate on Aug 30, 2012 23:24:22 GMT -5
I tried to respond on your blog, but it wanted me to identify myself in order to make a comment. What's with that?
You've always had a great eye - good job!
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Post by doctork on Aug 31, 2012 0:04:47 GMT -5
This is wonderful Mike, thanks for letting us know.
We saw belly dancers in Tangiers ("conservative" Muslim culture) last week; I suppose they are everywhere now! Who knew?!
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Post by Jane on Aug 31, 2012 8:13:52 GMT -5
Very cool, Mike!
We've missed you.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Sept 6, 2012 23:52:31 GMT -5
Thank you kindly for the nice remarks everyone.
Gk, don't worry about leaving comments; it's a pain in the behind to do so and I can't change that. Just look and hopefully enjoy.
Liro, yes, they are drawers. If I remember correctly that's where one would buy incense for burning.
All the best,
Mike
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Post by joew on Sept 7, 2012 0:34:11 GMT -5
Shimoda is so beautiful, and so are the other places you photographed on your "end of summer" weekend. (But I continue to tell myself and others that summer continues until Columbus Day.)
Keep reminding us of your blog, so we won't miss any of these great pix. And keep the poems coming.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Sept 10, 2012 16:41:47 GMT -5
Keep reminding us of your blog, so we won't miss any of these great pix. And keep the poems coming. Joe, I try to update it a least once a week. In fact, if you look now there are two new updates. All the best, Mike |
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Post by joew on Sept 10, 2012 19:14:52 GMT -5
When I saw the picture of the shaded alley, I decided to look at all of them in full screen to see how well the new camera does with bright and shadowed areas in the same frame. I'm impressed, especially with the one where you can make out detail in the underside of the restaurant's overhang (No. 14 of Part 1). It does well with the rain too. I think you've got a pretty good camera.
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Post by BoatBabe on Sept 10, 2012 21:50:58 GMT -5
Oh, just The Best!
I have to send this link to My Dahhlink!
Hugs, BB
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Post by Nomad-wino on Mar 25, 2013 17:22:46 GMT -5
Hi all! If anyone is interested I posted up some pictures of the cherry blossoms along the Ooka River in Yokohama as well as the festivities that go along with the viewing experience. yokosukamike.blogspot.jp/Mike |
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Post by joew on Mar 25, 2013 17:28:51 GMT -5
Hi all! If anyone is interested I posted up some pictures of the cherry blossoms along the Ooka River in Yokohama as well as the festivities that go along with the viewing experience. yokosukamike.blogspot.jp/Mike From this and the one before, I'd say a good time was had by all. |
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Post by jspnrvr on Mar 25, 2013 21:13:13 GMT -5
I really liked all the little girls in the boaT!
And community festivals are great, wherever they may be.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Mar 26, 2013 17:22:48 GMT -5
Hi Joe! Yes, a very good time was had by all. Cherry Blossom parties are going on all over Japan.
Jay, the kids in the boat was one of my favorites too.
All the best,
Mike
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Post by joew on Mar 26, 2013 21:37:02 GMT -5
BTW, Mike, my kid brother is now Japanese.
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Post by BoatBabe on Mar 26, 2013 23:35:57 GMT -5
Hi all! If anyone is interested I posted up some pictures of the cherry blossoms along the Ooka River in Yokohama as well as the festivities that go along with the viewing experience. yokosukamike.blogspot.jp/Mike BEAUTIFUL pictures, Mike! And I got to catch up on your blog. Fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I forget to check in. Love, BB |
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Post by gailkate on Mar 27, 2013 9:19:30 GMT -5
The cherry blossoms are out of this world. Breathtaking.
Chocolate-dipped Bananas on a Stick - I wonder if they have them at our State Fair? So much tidier than ice cream or cotton candy!
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Post by doctork on Mar 29, 2013 3:13:04 GMT -5
I love the photos Mike; the cherry blossoms are so beautiful! When I was a kid growing up in Washington, DC I loved the Cherry Blossom Festival there around the Tidal Basin (it's going on right now as a matter of fact) - the trees were a gift from the Japanese people to America.
When we moved to Washington State I was very surprised that first spring we lived there. I was driving down the road and there were these beautiful flowering trees that - amazingly - looked just like cherry trees. How could that be? I thought cherry blossoms were only in Japan or Washington, DC!
Joe, I am surprised your brother could become Japanese! I thought that was very difficult for people not born there as Japanese, and also that Americans had to renounce their US citizenship, as Japan (I'm told) does not permit dual citizenship.
My best friend from college lives down in the valley and we talk about this often because her son has lived in Japan for 5 - 6 years (a US citizen, though he is fluent in the language, often mistaken for a Japanese on the phone, has a good job there) and last year married his long-time Japanese girlfriend. They recently had a cute baby boy so she has a lot of concerns about these citizenship issues. Oh well, it's a small world after all - we're all Earthians.
Thanks for posting the photos Mike!
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Post by rogesgallery on Mar 31, 2013 1:17:14 GMT -5
Great pictures and commentary Mike I tried to post a comment on your blog but I don't think it published. Hmm
Maybe you can explain why some people wear the masks and if there is a stigma attached to wearing them.
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Post by joew on Mar 31, 2013 15:57:18 GMT -5
Well, Kristin, obviously it is possible. Maybe having a Japanese wife helps, and maybe length of time in the country matters. Lots of documentation is needed.
They do require renunciation of the foreign citizenship, but the follow-up to make sure it gets done is apparently not too strict. But neither country is very pleased with its citizens entering and leaving on another country's passport. Anyway, my brother is going to renounce his U.S. citizenship fairly soon.
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Post by Nomad-wino on Mar 31, 2013 17:50:48 GMT -5
Boat Babe, Gail, Doc-K, roges,
Thank you very much for the kind remarks.
Joe, if I couldn't be a citizen of the United States, Japan would be my first choice. Tell your brother I said congrats!
roges, the white masks are because of all the pollen in the air. Japan has terrible problems with pollen in the spring and those who are affected strongly wear a mask to help filter it out. People also wear masks when they have a cold so that they don't pass on germs to others. How effective the masks are is an unknown for me. While the pollen bothers me (itchy eyes, scratchy throat) I choose not to wear a mask.
All the best,
Mike
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Post by doctork on Mar 31, 2013 18:29:42 GMT -5
I've seen a fair number of Japanese visitors wearing masks around Flag and up at the Grand Canyon (we are a major international tourist destination!), and they say exactly what Mike said: either allergies or a cold.
And Joe, yes it can be done - a US citizen can indeed become Japanese, though it is not easy. For my friend's son, it would indeed be a significant factor that he has lived in Japan for 6 years, graduated Japanese university program, his wife is Japanese, they have a Japanese son (and plan to eventually have another baby too, also very important in Japan), and he is very fluent in Japanese/English and has a very good job with a Japanese firm who would like him to continue employment with them. Marrying a Japanese was an important factor in his being eligible to continue employment with a Japanese firm.
The checking on renunciation of US citizenship is reportedly minimalist, because the US is one of a very few nations that collects income on its citizens world-wide income, so naturally the US government has little interest in a citizen becoming a non-citizen and a non-taxpayer.
However, the laws regarding a US citizen entering and leaving the US on their US passport are quite strictly enforced. If your birthplace is listed as a US location and you are over 18 (dual national kids are usually OK until they must "choose" at age 18), you will have a long talk with CBP if you present other than a US passport. Joe, according to my dual-national friends, as long as your brother doesn't make a big deal out of it, he can enter and leave the US on his US passport and enter and leave Japan on his Japanese passport.
This is exactly the angst-casing issue, as my friend would like for her son, DIL and grandson to be able to visit the US easily and frequently. Since I think we are all US citizens here, let me just mention that the US is NOT hospitable to foreign visitors, and acquiring the necessary visas is extremely difficult if you are not a visa-waiver citizen (and sometimes even if you are VWP). This is the reason the US is falling internationally as a top tourist destination.
However, Japan welcomes US visitors, and you can see why from Mike's lovely photos! We should all go visit Japan and stop in to visit Mike and Emi on a road trip!
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Post by Nomad-wino on Apr 16, 2013 20:16:03 GMT -5
I tried to post a comment on your blog but I don't think it published. Hmm. roges, I think I've fixed it so that anyone can leave comments. Please give it a try so we can see if it works. Regards, Mike |
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Post by BoatBabe on Apr 16, 2013 21:44:04 GMT -5
Great pictures, Mike! I love your narrative as well. No, I can't figure out how to post on your blog, either. I'm not a blogspot person.  |
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