Category: photography

Look at me, only six months since I took the photos and I’m already posting them. Much better than the full year it took me to post the photos from December 2023. Although, I have not even started on Kyoto yet, and there are a lot more of those. So maybe no celebrating yet.

Anyway. We went to Osaka for a few days before we moved on to Kyoto. I’ve never really been to Osaka, passed through but never really spent any time there. Since we flew into and out of Kansai airport, we decided to spend a few days.

We didn’t really have much of a plan for Osaka. The one thing we really wanted to see was Katsuō-ji [wikipeida.org], a Buddhist temple north of Osaka that is associated with “winning”. But the reason we wanted to go is the temple grounds are covered in daruma [wikipedia.org]. Daruma’s are a talisman of good luck so people leave daruma all over the temple. All the daruma are gathered up and burned once a year. It must be a big bonfire, judging from how many daruma there were when we visited.

One of the most striking, and photogenic, sites is a series of sheltered stalls along a stairway that are filled with daruma. Hundreds of daruma, all the traditional, round, red, papier-mâché daruma that people buy and fill in the eyes for their wish to come true. The stalls are filled with daruma of all sizes: from a small as a fist to more than half a meter tall.

Besides the traditional papier-mâché type, the temple sells a smaller, solid wood daruma with a whole drilled in the bottom containing a fortune. These daruma are more waterproof than the papier-mâché variety. Nearly everyone visiting the temple buys one of these, writes something on it and leaves it somewhere on the grounds. Every flat surface is covered in these mini-daruma. Every nearly flat surface has a few balanced on it. And people wedge them in the nooks of trees, or impale them on tiny branches, or squeeze them in crevices in rock walls. They are everywhere. Some have been taken over by fungus and the people have arraigned others into little cult-like meetings, surrounding the fungal ones.

In addition to seeing all of the daruma, the grounds of Katsuō-ji were amazing. Last year Japan had an unusually warm, and long, summer. In fact it was international news that Mount Fuji remained snow free later than any time since records began [bbc.com] (only since 1884, I would have expected that to go back longer in Japan…). But, in this case climate change worked in my advantage.

See, I almost always visit Japan in winter (at least for holiday, I’ve been there in summer for work). This is mostly due to living in Singapore where it’s always summer, so I want to visit cold places. And also the need to plan holidays around the Singapore public school calendar. The end result, is that usually there is no nice foliage, it’s too late for the colorful leaves of autum and too early for the beautiful blossoms of spring.

As I said, this time climate change worked in my favor; the long, warm weather meant that we arrived, in December, with the full colors of autumn still on display. Over the two weeks we where in Osaka and Kyoto most of the red, yellow and orange maples faded to brown and the leaves fell but we were constantly amazed that there were still trees in full color everywhere we went in the first few days. Katsuō-ji was our first stop and it was stunning. I took as many photos of fiery Japanese maples as I did of daruma.

Ok, enough of Katsuō-ji. What else did we do in Osaka?

We visited Himeji to see the castle, and Nara to see the big Buddha and feed the deer, but I’ll post about those day trips separately. In Osaka itself, we mostly shopped an wondered around the city.

We spent a lot of our time in Shinsaibashi [wikipedia.org]. We visited a cat cafe. and spent too much time (and too much money) in gashapon shops. This was to be a reoccurring theme in Kyoto too. Victoria was determined to get a full set of one particular Mofusand [mofusand.co] figurines. She literally got the final figurine on the last night I think.

I also had a chance to meet up with someone I’ve “known” since 2000 that I’ve never actually met. The creator of Little Gamers [little-gamers.com]. He’s Swedish but moved to a small town an hour or so from Osaka a few years ago. Luckily he was able to make the trip to Osaka and meet up. It amazes me, and delights me, that I can meet up with people I know in random cities all around the world. People I went to school with in London, or have worked with over the years, and in this case a guy I know because he draws a web comic I read. I don’t have a large group of friends but it’s very cool that I have people around the world to meet up with.

The last thing worth writing about that we did before moving on to Kyoto was to visit the small, but very interesting, Osaka Ukiyo-e Museum [osaka-ukiyoe-museum.com]. It’s small, but if you enjoy ukiyo-e [wikipedia.org] it’s worth the visit. Amazingly, they were showing a collection of original and early reproductions of Hokusai [wikipedia.org] prints when we were there. A number of pieces from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji [wikipedia.org] series were on display, including the famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa [wikipedia.org], the most famous ukiyo-e or japanese woodblock print ever. You can’t photograph the originals or early reproductions on display, typical museum rules. They did have two slightly newer reproductions, owned by the museum, of The Great Wave and another Hokusai, Fine Wind, Clear Morning, on display that we were allowed to photograph. It’s a small museum, with only a single room exhibition space but worth the visit. They have classes too, on making prints (using linoleum, which is something I did in art in like 7th grade) if you make reservations in advance.

That was it or the first few days in Osaka. But we had to pass back through to get to the airport on our last day. As we flight out was quite late, we stowed our luggage at one of the train stations and spent the day at the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan [kaiyukan.com]. The main attraction there is the two whale sharks in the massive pacific tank. As you make your way through the aquarium you basically spiral around this tank going from top to bottom of its thirty plus meter height.

And so that was it for Osaka. Next up was Himeji. Let’s see how long it takes me to post those photos.

---

You can see the whole Osaka, Japan, December 2024 [flickr.com] photoset on Flickr. Or browse them below.

I covered the details of my trip trip the US in my 2024 Recap [confusion.cc] post. So I won’t rehash that, but I wanted to post some of the photos I took in New York. I’ll get to Minnesota in another post.

I didn’t take a ton of photos, I was only in the city for a few days. I did take a walk from my hotel, south of Penn Station and Times Square, up through Central Park and spend a few hours at the Guggenheim Museum. And I made my way to MoMA for an afternoon.

At the Guggenheim there was an exhibit in the rotunda by Jenny Holzer titled “Light Lines”. It was interesting, the LED displays spiraling up the ramp showing various quotes was interesting to watch. And I enjoyed some of the political pieces – redacted documents related to the “war on terror” and Trump tweets make for interesting material for sculpture. You have to see it.

My favorite piece of Jenny Holzer work that was on display was a small, easy to miss, plaque near the very top of the spiral. A simple plaque you might see in any building with some label or name on it. But this one said “Laugh hard at the absurdity of evil”. Given the current state of the world, that just too close to home.

Meanwhile, over at MoMA there is a giant blob of rainbow colored stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling with smaller “moons” of stuffed animals, each moon a different color…

Also, van Gogh’s Starry Night [flickr.com], and Picasso’s Ladies of Avignon [flickr.com]. And much more, MoMA is big. I spent like 5 hours. It’s not Louvre big but it’s much bigger than the Guggenheim. But between the Guggenheim and MoMA I saw a lot of “modern” art in a few days.

Anyway, I only had a few days in NYC, so modern art was most of what I did. Other than that I caught up with A█████, aka F█████, as I mentioned in my 2024 Recap post. And, I enjoyed some proper New York pizza and bagels.

I also swung through NYC on the way out but was just there for one evening. I stayed in the TWA Hotel [twahotel.com] at JFK. There I met M███ in the most random fashion, as covered in the Recap post. But I also had time to explore the TWA Hotel itself and admire —and photograph— the 1960 architecture and decor. Including the “Rainbow Room” or “Hidden Alcove” where the Beatles hid before, or after, their famous press conference in 1964 when they first landed in America.

Anyway, that’s enough for this post. Just remember:

Laugh hard at the absurdity of evil

Jenny Holzer

---

You can view the whole New Your City, New York, USA, May 2024 [flickr.com] photo set on Flickr.

And so, with a few hours to spare before I leave for this year’s winter holidays, we come to the end: Milan. The final post, the last photos from our 2023 Italian adventure.

We didn’t spend much time in Milan, a few days only. We flew into Milan when this trip started but we jumped on a train immediately and went to Venice, saving Milan for the final few days of our trip before flying off.

As we only stayed a few days we didn’t see everything in Milan, but we did go to the must see sites: the Duomo, La Scala and, of course, The Last Supper.

The Duomo, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary [wikipedia.org], but that’s more than a mouthful, so we will stick with “the Duomo”, is beautiful. I think I say this about almost every cathedral I visit, but it’s almost always true; they are beautiful buildings. A lot of the smaller cathedrals are very similar, but the Duomo in Milan is in the group of great cathedrals that set themselves apart visually. The roofline of the Duomo in Milan is unique as far as I know, covered, almost to excess with floral inspired carvings and statues. It looks like there is not an inch of the roof that is uncovered. But that’s an illusion, there are walkways on the roof. You can climb up to the top and walk among the spires and statues. It’s amazing.

Inside too the Duomo in Milan stands out. it isn’t stark like and bright like the inside of the Duomo in Florence [wikipedia.org], but dark but airy. I’ve seen photos of the newly renovated Notre Dame [wikipedia.org] in Paris and it’s too bright. I guess its true to the original, but like the idea of vividly painted ancient statues from Egypt, Greece and Rome, it just feels wrong, I prefer the raw marble without garish paint and I prefer cathedrals that soar into the dark high above. The Duomo in Milan feels right, the stone is dark, but the space is vast and it does not feel oppressive. I love the texture of the vaulted ceiling and the shape of the columns.

Near the Duomo we also visited the Galleria Vittorio Emanuel II [wikipeida.org]. I’m not much for the shopping but the building itself is worth a visit. It’s industrial revolution architecture at it’s best. I would say “Victorian Architecture” if it was in England or an colony of the British Empire from the time, but as it’s Italian I’ll stick with “Industrial Revolution Architecture”. It combines the steel work and ornate brick and stone work of the industrial revolution. The central dome is awesome soaring above you.

But, as I said, I’m not much for the shopping. But on the other side of the Galleria from the Duomo is La Scala [wikipedia.org], the famous opera house. It’s not as fancy and magnificent as the Palais Garnier [wikipeida.org] in Paris, but its probably the most important opera theater in the world.

Another very cool, if small, site near the Duomo that we went too was the chruch of San Bernardino alle Ossa [wikipedia.org]. Specifically it’s ossuary, where the walls are decorated with the skulls and other bones of thousands. This is nothing like the Catacombs of Paris [wikipedia.org], where the bones of millions are stacked up gathering dusk. Here the bones are not just stacked up, but used as materials for decorations. There area stacks of skulls, in the shape of crosses packed into walls of femurs (it think), but also little scull and crossbones and other decorative motifs made of bones. A very cool site.

The last sight we saw, on the last day before we flew back home, was The Last Supper [wikipedia.org]. I’ve seen it twice before, but it’s still amazing. It’s not my favorite painting but it’s history and the obvious technical mastery, even in it’s wounded state after so long, make it well worth the visit. I took a ton of photos, as this is the first time I visited it with a good camera (as it was for much of the things I visited for the second, third or forth time this trip, my first time in Italy I took few photos with a film camera as I was poor and my second time I lost my camera —stolen on a train). I any case I don’t expect I’ll go back to see The Last Supper, or many of the other sites in Italy, there is so much more to see in the world.

And so, that was the trip. Venice, Florence, Pisa and Siena, Rome and the Vatican, Pompeii and Milan. Retracing my honeymoon 16 years ago, with my wife and this time accompanied by our daughters.

Now I have a few hours to sleep before I head to Japan for this year’s holiday trip. I made it with a full 12 hours to spare! This year I will also be re-treading old ground, this time in Kyoto, as my older daughter was 18 months old when she visited and my younger daughter has not been there before. They both love Japan but this year will be death by temple and shine.

---

You can see the full Milan, Italy, December 2023 [flickr.com] photoset on Flickr.

Continuing to document my 2023 family holiday in Italy. I’ve already covered Venice [confusion.cc], Florence [confusion.cc], Siena and Pisa [confusion.cc], and Rome [confusion.cc] and the Vatican City [confusion.cc]. Now for the penultimate entry: Pompeii [wikipeida.org], the ancient city buried in the ashes of Mount Vesuvius and rediscovered in the 16th century and still, to this day, being excavated.

We went to Pompeii as a day trip from Rome (as my wife and I did back in 2007). It’s a long day trip taking a few hours to get to Pompeii, via Naples and then a rickety old graffiti covered train around the mountain to the historic Pompeii. But it’s worth it. I would love to visit Herculaneum too and I could spend more time in Pompeii as there is too much to see on a short winters day, but we made a good go of it.

We started in the forum, where the temple of Jupiter, Apollo and various public building are. We walked all the way to the other side of the city, to see the amphitheater and we passed the theater on the way. But these are not what you visit Pompeii for, the real attraction is the real lived in city. The many houses and shops that are so well preserved.

There are so many houses and shops many with spectacularly preserved fresco and mosaics. The main Pompeii page on Wikipedia lists:

• House of the Centenary [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Faun [wikipeida.org]
• House of Julia Felix [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Greek Epigrams [wikipeida.org]
• House of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus [wikipeida.org]
• House of Loreius Tiburtinus [wikipeida.org]
• House of Menander [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Prince of Naples [wikipeida.org]
• House of Sallust [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Silver Wedding [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Small Fountain (Pompeii) [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Surgeon [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Tragic Poet [wikipeida.org]
• House of the Vettii [wikipeida.org]

And that’s just the houses, and just the one with dedicated Wikipedia pages in English. Check out the list of categories on WikiMedia for Ancient Roman frescos in Pompeii [commons.wikimedia.org], it lists 47 subcategories, almost all of which are individual houses with enough fresco to justify a list of photos and older painting and drawings of the fresco.

We visited several of the houses on the Wikipedia list, and a few shops and one of the public baths. But the highlight of our visit was the House of the Vettii [wikipeida.org]. We went out of our way to rush to this one because it has a lot of fresco but also because it has a particular one next to the main door on the street. Wikipedia declines to display a photo of it, but gives the following description: “The painting depicts Priapus weighing his phallic member on a set of scales” and it does not disappoint:

Anyway, as I said, I could spend a lot more time in Pompeii, to see each and every house and shop and public building that is open. One day I’ll have to make a tour of southern Italy and Sicily.

Enough for this entry, I need to start working on the Milan, our last stop so I can get them on Flickr and write a post about them ASAP. Less than 48 hours until this year’s holiday starts.

---

You can view the full Pompeii, Italy, December 2023 [flickr.com] photoset on Flickr.