Harajuku: Bandaged Beauty

Harajuku is a funky part of town not too far from where I live. Young kids, mostly girls, gather on Sunday afternoons in costumes that represent everything from gothic-inspired, anime, Little Bo Peep, Lolita and everything in between. It's a great site to behold.

This girl here has dreadlocks, tattoos and bandages across her face. A very odd exterior, but soft features nevertheless.

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Ella hums...

Shelley and Ella share something in common - they both hum when they breathe in their sleep. This isn't an everyday occurence with Shelley, but Ella seems to be a noisy sleeper and hums quite a bit.

Dragonfly

This picture was taken on the same day as this picture of a drop of water, and this other picture of a drop of water. I was in the Imperial Palace gardens shooting for a good part of the morning on an extended business trip to Tokyo in October 2007. This dragonfly was just hanging out on this hedge and didn't seem to mind that I was following, watching, and shooting him. It was really cool. He was really big!

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Ella Smiles...

Ella is almost two months old. As Shelley noted in her blog, Ella is a few weeks away from travelling back home to see the rest of the family, including her two namesakes.

Ella is growing quickly and is starting to give us some smiles. We've taken some video of Ella starting to smile...click on the picture below to check it out.

Yet another water drop

You might think that I'm obsessed with water droplets, what with that other two shots of water drops that I've uploaded to the photo blog. Yes, you're right. But I couldn't help myself with my macro lens. It really does make it so easy to get up close to clearly see things like a drop of water. Anyway, the depth of field and the focus is the hardest part, of course. If you don't have a steady hand...which I don't...then it could make taking shots really hard.

Anyway, this time this photo was taken in Tokyo. It wasn't in a very peaceful place at all. It was along the side of the road on my way to the Imperial Palace...where I took this shot. It had rained the night before and despite the throng of pedestrians and the rumbling of traffic behind me, I was able to snap this shot. I promise this will be my last water droplet shot for a while...until the next time, right? This shot happens to be my background on my work laptop.

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

The Easy Bake Sushi Maker...or something like that.

So in America we have Easy Bake Ovens. In Japan? They have sushi makers for kids.

We found this at the local Toys R Us and to our delight that's not all they have! There's a donut maker, bread maker, shaved ice maker and rice ball maker.

It's 4:30 AM

Some people look forward to the weekend because they get to sleep in. That thrill doesn't exist for me anymore. Not because we have two kids and they wake up early...though I think that would be a factor if it wasn't already bright at 4 o'clock in the freaking morning. That's why I can't sleep. Japan doesn't have a daylight savings time, which is super smart for a country that is full of people who aren't morning people! So let's waste some sunlight so that when it's time to go home, it's already dark. That's good for the psyche.

Japan used to have daylight savings time after WWII and it was jettisoned soon after Japan regained its sovereignty in 1952. I say, bad move, Japan, bad move indeed.

In case you don't believe me, here is a picture I took after waking up at 4:30 AM one morning. It's cloudy, but it's bright.

The Big Buddha

On a recent trip to Kamakura, there stands what many consider to the be oldest outdoor statue of buddha in the world. Now this is a bit controversial, because I think every country boasts one of these. And until a few hundred years ago, it was an indoor statue. It would have stayed that way until some pesky typhoon came and knocked the enclosure over, leaving buddha exposed.

Anyway, this is kind of a cool place to come visit. I like this picture as I turned it into a black and white shot and blew out the white and darkened the blacks and grays. It gives it sort of a gritty feel.

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Realities of Ex-Pat Life in Tokyo

You know how you have friends that move - perhaps within driving distance - but are just far enough away that you make promises that you'll get together all the time but never do? Maybe some of you reading this are victims of my over promising. And for that I'm sorry! (Sam, I swear, we'll play golf next time we're in town. I promise. I really mean it this time.) It's funny, though, when we moved we didn't get many "we'll come see you in...uh...Tokyo." And rightfully, so.

Despite a desire to show people around our new home, Shelley and I have to face the sober fact that we won't be getting many visitors while we're in Tokyo. But that's Ok. Shelley and I have been really blessed nevertheless. We are starting our second month of a six month period where we get to see a lot of family and friends. In May, Shelley's Mom came for two weeks, followed by two weeks with my parents. We're picking up Shelley's sister Rachel at the airport on Friday and she'll be with us for a whole month. Then we head home to LA and Indiana and probably Utah for a month before coming back to Tokyo. And to top it off, in October my parents are coming back again for a week.

Just as an aside, I consider myself TREMENDOUSLY lucky that I get to visit LA for a month. Tokyo in the summer time becomes a three-month male pity party. All the women and children flee for their mother lands the very minute school lets out. The men are left behind to endure Tokyo summers alone. But I digress.

These visits have been special to us not because we're out seeing things, but simply because we're spending time with each other. The pictures in the gallery I've linked to are simply that - pictures of us spending time at the pony park, the aquarium, at restaurants, on the train and at home, etc.

Anthon, Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and Jesus

So Anthon and I are watching the movie Cars while sitting on the couch. Well, we're not actually watching Cars. We're pretending to watch Cars on Shelley's pocket sized electronic Japanese - English dictionary. It's pretty useful, not just for looking up words. Anthon also uses it to 'check his email.' Anyway, it flips open kind of like a portable DVD player. I typed in "car" into the search field and the resulting Japanese translation served as our movie. Anthon kept shushing me if I would talk. And it wasn't over until he said it was over. And so we just stared at the screen for about ten minutes...not talking for fear of being shushed again by my son.

The movie "ends" and it's at this time that Anthon sees a framed needle-point picture of Christ in our room and we have the following exchange:

Anthon: "Dad, I got so many presents from the Easter Bunny. I got so many more presents from Santa Claus. What does Jesus give me?"

Me: "Well, you can get Eternal Life."

Anthon: "I like Eternal Life."

Me: "Me, too."

Ella's Baby Blessing

Last Sunday at church we had Ella's baby blessing. I think cool that most cultures and religions have a rite they perform to celebrate the birth of a new, precious life. Even in Japan, you will see babies, dressed not unlike Ella here in these pictures, blessed at one month after birth in the shrine by a Shinto priest.

Certainly to us as Mormons, the blessing not only has meaning to the child, but it has tremendous meaning to her family. It's one of the great blessings of being a father to be able to hold your child in your arms and pronounce a blessing on this life that is so new and full of hope and promise. And to have my parents there, and my father to help me bless her, was a great thing. What a great reminder of the importance and eternal nature of families.

I should say a few things about the dress...because that too has a significant family tie. The dress was made by Shelley's Mom, Sally. As legend has it, the dress was made from 37 yards of lace. That's a lot of lace. And it was beautiful.

Here are a few pictures from that day. Click on any of the pictures to see the gallery.

Our Neighbors, the Harajuku Girls

Harajuku is quite a site and probably one of the most interesting places in all of Tokyo. On Sunday afternoons, girls (mostly) dress up in a variety of goth / lolita / anime-inspired costumes and hang out. In a country that's well known for their homogeneity, these Harajuku girls stand out as the antithesis to Japan's group-orienetd culture. You have girls dressed like gothic versions of clowns, little-bo-peep, little house on the praire, and adorn themselves with spiked piercings, tons of white make-up, massive hair, freaky-colored contact lenses, etc.

Certainly these girls come to be looked at. They come to hang out with their friends. Some are there as part of the "free hug club" and freely want their pictures to be taken. The more hardcore set, oddly enough, can be hostile to having their pictures taken. While they themselves won't stop you from taking pictures, they either turn away from you, decline a picture request, or have one of their old-guy fans (also a photographer) tell you that you can't take their picture. Let's see...public place, girls dressed to shock and get attention. Gee, sounds like people who don't want their picture taken! Though it's not made explicit, my Dad thinks that perhaps a few yen will increase their cooperativeness. Though admittedly, no one likes a gothic sell out. So I choose to grab a zoom lens and shoot from a distance. Click on any of the pictures to see the gallery.

This was actually my second time to Harajuku to see the 'locals'. The first time was when Shelley came to visit me in 2004 when I was here on an extended business trip. She arrived on a Saturday and I took her here on a Sunday - all jet lagged and tired. To say she was freaked out would be modest. Admittedly, it was probably a tactical mistake on my part to take her here so soon. We now live two stops on the subway from Harajuku, or about a 25 minute walk. Upon hearing that we were that close, Shelley told me, "I don't know if I want those girls to be our neighbors." She's coming around though. I don't know about you, but I think Shelley's search for a Halloween costume is over.

There will be more pictures to come. I'm certainly going back with Anthon to not only gauge his reaction, but to also see if he can't interact with some of them. Should be some classic moments.

Ella at one month

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Ella hits one month tomorrow and we've learned a little bit about her as a person during this time.

1. Ella's eyes are actually blue...my recessive genes are busting through.
2. Ella loves sleeping with Shelley...but sleeping in her her crib and with Dad? Not so much.
3. Ella seems to have a milk protein allergy...just like Anthon did.
4. Great eater.
5. Prolific pooper. And I mean forceful.
6. Can't stand the binky...much to our chagrin.

I've uploaded a few more pictures of Ella. Click on the picture below to see more.