Jeff Keller's Blog

Asia 2009: Day 4 (Kyoto)

We spent the first half of our day touring Kyoto some more, followed by a traditional Japanese lunch (maybe a bit too traditional for my taste). After that we hit the road for Kobe, to board the Volendam.

Asia 2009: Day 3 (Kyoto)

What more can you say about Kyoto? It’s an amazing city. At first it seems like just another big city, but almost everywhere you turn you find a temple, shrine, or park. And I only saw part of the city.  Here are the photos from my first day in Kyoto:

Asia Trip 2009: Day 2 / Part 3 (Osaka at Night)

In the evening, I took the train to Osaka to meet up with some of the marketing folks from Panasonic Japan. We had  a great dinner at a teppan/okonomiyaki place, then they took me into what I’d call a combination of Las Vegas and Times Square — Dotonbori.

Asia Trip 2009: Day 2 / Part 2 (Nara)

On our first full day in Japan, we headed out to the country, to the town of Nara. We visited Deer Park, a Buddhist Temple, and a Shinto Shrine.  After lunch I wandered around on my own, getting a bit lost in the process. While there is some English here and there, navigating both Nara and Kyoto on my own was challenging.

Asia 2009 – Day 2 / Part 1 (Morning in Osaka)

After a difficult night trying to sleep, I woke up and saw gloomy skies, and hundreds of suit-clad men and women streaming toward the office buildings that surround the hotel. I had an American-style breakfast and went outside for a few minutes, before we got on the bus to Nara.

Asia 2009 – Day 1 (Off to Osaka)

My first day was almost two days long.  My flight left SFO at 11:15am and we arrived in Osaka at 3pm JST, which is 11pm back home.  I then stayed up an additional 5 hours and then had a difficult time sleeping. We arrived at the same time as a typhoon, though it didn’t seem that bad, at least from my room in the amazing Imperial Hotel Osaka.

I didn’t get to see much of the city, but what I did see reminded me of Blade Runner. Lots of tall buildings, elevated roads, and neon. In some places the roads were three levels high — amazing for earthquake country.

One week to go

Exactly 7 days from now, I will be stepping off the plane at Osaka Kansai airport in Japan. From there I will spent a few days in Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka before boarding the ms Volendam for a 17 day trip toward Hong Kong. Along the way we’ll visit Nagasaki, Busan, Dalian, Beijing, Shanghai, Naha (Okinawa), and Taipei. As with past cruises I’ve been on, I will be posting photos as I go, so check back often for those!

Been a long time

Somebody recently told me that I don’t post any photos of Zoe and Flame anymore, so here are two recent shots that I took with the Panasonic GF1!