Photo Slide 1

Just a short photo slide I made in one night using Flash. It's my first Flash project so there's still plenty of room for improvement. Photos featured in the slide are taken in various places in Japan from December 2007 to September 2008.

Yeah, I know the colours are terribly compromised after the compression. But all photos are featured in my Flickr Photostream, so feel free to drop by.

Hentai Snowmen

3rd February, the second snowfall of the year in Tokyo. It has been snowing cats and dogs for about half a day now. And it's way heavier than two weeks ago. In fact, more than enough snow piled up for making snowmen!

*****

Somewhere at the end of the street, lives the hentai snowmen family...

Hentai Snowboy: Papa, it sure is snowing cats and dogs!
Hentai Snowpapa: Indeed, it is... Indeed, it is...

Hentai Snowboy: But, papa, why are those people still hiding in their homes? Shouldn't they come out and have fun?
Hentai Snowpapa: Because, unlike us, son, humans are feeble animals. They catch colds easily. That's why they hate snow.

Snowpapa: See? That idiot is already freezin'.
Snowboy: Brrrrr...

Hentai Snowpapa: Well, there are some exceptions though... Like, people whose circuitry went haywire.

Hentai Snowboy: Why are these humans taking our photos? Are we celebs?
Hentai Snowpapa: No, they probably haven't seen a deek before. (Rolls eyes)

Hentai Snowpapa: You freakin' morons! Us no God of Fertility, 'kay?
Hentai Snowboy: Papa, what's a God of Fertility?

*****

Hell, winter sure is getting better!

The Day It Snowed in Tokyo

Something really cool happened this morning - it snowed!

Oh, come on. Every poor guy has the right to feel excited at his first sight of snow. To point at him and laugh, "Hah, so it snowed, eh? Big deal!" is no less cruel than explaining to a delighted kid who's unwrapping his Christmas gift, that the present did not come from Santa. People who do that are plain spoilsports.

But I digressed.

Okay, it snowed. Yes, snowed. S-N-O-W-E-D!

There has been more than a few false alarms last week when the weather forecast predicted sleet, and snow on a few occasions. It was disappointing when it turned out to be just rain. So, when yesterday evening's weather forecast predicted sleet, I didn't want to keep my hopes high.

But then...

I received an message from a friend on the cellphone this morning at 7.36am (See? I'm writing down the exact details because this is history in making. Heck, it's my first sight of snow.)

"It's finally snowing," it read.

Still half asleep, I read the message twice.

Okay, so it's snowing in Yokohama, eh? Lucky girl. But shit, I'm in Tokyo.

Anyway, I shot up and sprang to the window. Everything outside was covered in a white sheet of dust, as if some confectioner in the heavens was sprinkling icing on everything. It took longer than a few moments before reality eventually sank in.

It's snow, dude!

No kidding but I really did a little war dance, "Ohmygodthiscantbetrueitreallyissnowing."

Then feeling little suffocated from all the excitement, I took a few deep breaths.

Ohmygoditreallyissnowingwhatshouldido?

Pacing around in the room, I tried to calm down.

Ohmygodihavetogooutnownownow!

Spread some magarine over a piece of bread, gulped (yes, gulped) it down in two munches while changing, packed my backpack, slung the camera bag over the shoulder and left for the university. I was 30 minutes early but hell, I didn't want to miss the snow.

You bet it was cool. The whole wood deck in front of the main building was covered with snow.

And although it only started snowing one or two hours ago, a considerable amount of snow had collected.

Sneaking out from the classroom after leaving my stuff there, I took a walk around the campus. Students were arriving for classes. Mostly sombre, with that damn-why-does-it-have-to-snow-at-this-hour look on their faces. Well, some people can be such wet blankets, can't they?

Putting on the hood, I didn't bother to use the umbrella. I was probably grinning like the Cheshire Cat because a few people stared at me, wondering if I had a loose bolt somewhere in between my ears.

Well, who cares? It's snowing! Whee!

In the end, I skipped almost half of the calculus lesson, wandering in winter wonderland before returning to the class. And when I came out of the class again 40 minutes later, it has turned into rain.

The sleet continued till slight past noon. A mixture of rain and snow - pretty funky! Then, the rain eventually took over completely.

Until now, the excitement isn't totally over yet. This is the end of my second year in Tokyo. It was very disappointing last year because it didn't snow. But now, all the sufferings in this cold winter has finally paid off. The snow made everything worthwhile - the astronomical bill for using the heater unsparingly and the frostbites from cycling in the cold.

Oh god, I can't wait for it to snow again!

At least just one more time, pretty, pretty puh-lease?

Attack of the Tanpopo

If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn. ~Andrew V. Mason

5.30am, May 15...

Warm rays of the morning sun breaks into the room. It's a fine weather despite the usually-reliable weatherman's gloomy forecast - a whole week of cloudy, rainy days. Standing at the balcony commands a full view at the airfield, even though the reluctant earlu mist still refuses to give way to dawn.

Then - horror of all horrors! They're everywhere! The legions of relentless paratroopers, like a plague of locusts, come in swarms, carried by the wind. Sound the alarm, sound the alarm!

Don't let this nasty things fool you. From a distance, these dandellion seed balls do look like snow. But they're actually fluffy balls of wool that, somehow, always seem to be able to find a way to enter your room, even if you shut the doors tight enough to intoxicate yourself with the carbon dioxide you exhale. They are so abundant that you can live through the whole summer if you make them your staple food.

And, what the heck, whenever I clean my room twice a week, these nasty thingies account for 99.5% of the dirt; the other 0.9% due to hair loss and 0.1% because of stardust.

Soon enough, these beautiful flowers will turn into the fluffy, woolly balls that will invade your rooms!

Hmm.... Admittedly, it looks kind of curious. And it has a curious Japanese name too. Tanpopo, it is called...

Ahh, shut the door, shut the door! One just got into the room!

Ten hours later...

Battlefield report - Still floating around in the air, the unrelenting legions of tanpopo show no sign subsiding. The weatherman was right, it is raining. Raining tanpopo.

Cherry Blossoms

And, now, photos of cherry blossoms （桜, sakura） which everyone goes crazy about. The Japanese go to parks for cherry blossom viewings （花見, hanami） during spring when they're in full bloom. Unfortunately, we're too late for that. Nevertheless, cherry blossoms can still be found everywhere; they're ubiquitous.

Cherry blossoms in the campus.

Cherry blossom trees lining the street just in front of the campus. Note the designated pavement on the right side for pedestrians and bicycles. (It's totally safe to cycle along the streets; while it is suicidal to do so on Malaysian roads.) The yellow path is specially built in such a way that the blind can feel their way along the pavement.

Photos taken in Nogawa Koen （野川公園）, which is about 10 minutes away on bicycle.

This is Tama Reien Hinami Sando （多磨霊園南参道）, the street which leads to the Tama Cemetery. Well, I didn't know that a reien is cemetery until I cycled in! It's looked like a beautiful park from the entrance! I didn't take any photo there, though. Oh yeah. This street is pretty deserted and scary at night, if you dare to cycle there alone... Rest assured that the streets are totally safe though; the police patrols around the place frequently.