Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.

Memories of Japan flood back when viewing this… and they got shots of the alley of good food I had mentioned back in April of 2008.

You can learn more about the video here.

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Shooting with black and white film is not only fun, creative, and exciting, but a pain in the ass. after taking so many carefully exposed and filtered photos, one has to process the film and print it.

Processing film is temperature sensitive and, usually in Texas, the water from the tap is been too hot. The heat in the summer warms the pipes in the ground, therefore, warming the water i would be using to process film (shake shake rinse dump), so, my film ends up sitting about with memories trapped inside (excuses, excuses).

This is a collection of my favorites from my 2008 travels to Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.

Japan

New Zealand

Australia

(Lots of photos of the Opera House, I know, but its so enchanting and amazing, I couldn’t stop snapping off shots.)

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The photos above are the photos that my friend Bryan took while i was visiting him in Japan a year ago (almost exactly). I think the flights to and from Japan and to and from New Zealand and Australia took a lot out of me since i’ve not traveled much since that crazy couple of months last year. I’m looking forward to whatever trips out west and east i’m going to take this summer. there are several plans in the making, but nothing solid yet.

Lately, i’ve been devoting my time to creating a WordPress theme “to rule them all” which means i’ve been working on a theme that i could easily have customized and ready in a weekend for whoever wants one. Any takers? Leave me a message and i’ll get back to you ASAP! Needless to say, things are going to be changing a bit around this blog with some examples of the new project.

The commuter bike is still riding strong. i swung by REI downtown yesterday to pick up a rack, but they didn’t have the one i want. Recently, i bought an Ortlieb saddle bag from Bike Trailer Shop and received my order in two days, so, i’m sold! i plan on ordering my Ortlieb Backroller Classic panniers, a Rackpack, and a pannier carrier system from them, since they have such good service and a great package deal on the bags. They have a great selection is anyone is interested in bike commuting, biking your drive, or all out touring.

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Bryan is still sleeping. I’ve been asleep for about 13hrs, so, i’m quite awake. The sun is rising; its almost 6 am.

The flight went well. It was definitely long, but what should one expect when taking a non-stop flight from Dallas to Japan. Each chair was equipped with a personal entertainment device on which one could watch movies, tv shows, the flight path, or listen to music. I watched Juno, No Country for Old Men, and August Rush to fill in the 13 hrs. Due to 50 mph winds at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, we had an, ahem, interesting landing. The plane went up and down in big swooping motions lifting us out of our seats. Everyone made the frightened “whoa” sound and i gave myself a leg cramp trying to hang on to the plane (although i was buckled in).

Arriving at the airport and going through customs was super easy and quick. as i came down the stairs to the baggage claim, i saw my bag swirling about on the conveyor and quickly grabbed it; no wait there. Bryan and i easily found each other at the exit and he guided me quickly through to exchange some money and grab train tickets to Shinjuku, where our hotel is located (and where i am writing this in the dark).

As we waited for the train, which we were only able to catch because it was late, Bryan became confused and thought that, maybe, we were on the wrong side of the tracks and that we would miss it after all. The next train was an hour later, so we would be stuck at the airport for that time.  As he walked a circle around me to reading the signs, i glanced into the train that was stopped in front of us in time to see a couple looking at us and laughing. It wasn’t in a mean way, it was in a way that let me know that they understood how confused we were as though it had happened to them just a moment ago; as though they were laughing at themselves.  I smiled back and waved, which they returned, and pointed them out to Bryan. We laughed as it hit us as to how funny we must look standing there being so lost and confused. I wanted to sit with them and make them our new best friends. We laughed at ourselves some more, and i was left feeling really welcome in a country where i don’t understand the language and the writing but can still share a moment with strangers.

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Everyone seems to be asking the same questions: How long am i going to be in Japan? What am i bringing? How many bags am i taking? How much money am i taking? When i tell them, it seems shocking to the point where i wonder if i am really not thinking this out very well.

when i say that i am taking 4 changes of clothes, it feels a bit like i’m over-packing. “4 changes for 2 and a half weeks?” seems to be the common reaction. I was just planning on bringing two bags, just carry-ons, but i thought maybe they wouldn’t allow gummy worms on the plane with me so, i thought maybe i would bring my rolling carry-on bag in addition to the other bags and check it (“gummy worms?” you might be wondering, well, i hope to get to that in a later post). on my past trips, i’m usually stuck in my car for hours upon hours when i’m not sleeping in a tent or hiking. i’ll live in the same set of clothing for several days before changing, so, having only one other change of clothes make sense, camping is “roughing it” after all.

In Japan, i’m going to be in cities with people, not just any people, but very clean Japanese people. being that Japan is so densely populated, i will probably be very close to all of the people in these cities in which i will be visiting. so, really, i thought it would make sense to bring 2 more changes of clothing being that i can do laundry while i’m there. I also included my swim suit, running shoes, rain shell, jacket, hoodie, and a long sleeve t-shirt, so, really, i should be fine, especially since i packed 6 pairs of sock (2 pair of which i bought specifically for this trip, since my old ones had holes).

so, in all, i will have 3 bags: a 35 liter backpack, a domke camera bag, and a small rolling suitcase. i like to have a separate bag from my main luggage to fill with what i need for a day of wandering, so, packed inside my rolling bag is my timbuk2 messenger bag. I chose this bag because its medium size can fit my cameras and jacket and still keep all of my other whatnot decently organized in its handy little pockets, and, its a shoulder bag. since schoolchildren are the only ones that carry backpacks about in Japan, it was suggested that a shoulder bag would be best.

i should eat some breakfast and load up the car.  i’ll post photos as soon as i can.

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