David Tsang

Leaving off from Kamakura the next stop was Asakusa. Given it was a public holiday during Golden Week the crowds were huge, hence the large crowds and slow movement through the streets.

One of the main attractions in my visit to Japan is a stop in Nikko. For those not familiar with Japanese history this is the locaction of Tokugawa Ieyasu's Mausoleum. Beyond that Nikko is just a beautiful place to visit.

A quick Shinkansen to Osaka for the second half of my Japan trip.

Osaka has one of the worlds largest aquariums. I was suprised how much I liked it. The largest tank holds a Whale Shark! That is impressive.

 

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And it's free too!

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After travelling +11,000km and too many sleepless hours on a plane I arrived in Tokyo 7:30AM Sunday 1st May. The flight to Singapore was packed however the following flight into Narita was very empty. A plus for me trying to stretch out and sleep but not a good sign for Japanese tourism. Taking the N'EX from the airport was nice and easy, heaps of space for each seat and info to let you know where you are.

Since my check-in time was not until 3PM I dropped off my luggage and headed to Harajuku and the Meiji Jingu shrine.

Me in front of a Tori at the entrance to Meiji Jinju (yes this is me smilling)

Sake Casks

Traditional Shinto Wedding Procession

Day two was just getting my bearings and exploring Ikebukuro (where I am staying) and Ueno.

View from Sunshine60 building, a large shopping mall

Day three was spent at Kamakura which is only about 1hr away from Tokyo and is the location of a number of important Buddhist and Shinto shrines.

Great Buddha (yes I am smilling)

Zeniarai Benten Shrine
It is said your money will double if you wash it in the water found in this cave.

To get to this shrine from the Great Buddha I trekked through a trail to get there.

This is a photo after climbing this particular hill (one of many on the trail). It is steeper than it looks. 

Here is a link of the path I followed. I got a bit lost at the beginning and the last bit is me leaving by train.
http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S1893159tcT

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Favourite version yet

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http://xkcd.com/radiation/

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How these people can say these things is beyond me.

http://karmajapan.tumblr.com/

http://ignorantandonline.tumblr.com/

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I wish I could pull this off (http://spirithoods.com/mens/)

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While reading some review of a hotel in Osaka I came across the following:

Regardless of last minute booking so lucky last Sun January 5 GW Ai Yet they - did. If we just found a place to set up a car navigation. 3 - eating place in the neighborhood convenience store may be lit: the four short walk (less than 5 minutes walk) Takoyaki Calle - La pubs shop - shop the other members there. The hotel looks really fly? This hotel? Naka Naka is a great feeling around, but just a business hotel. This child (age 5), semi-double bed had planned to sleep in how parents and children huddled in two single beds priced without the child could stay with his two single beds - there! I'm quite surprised about the price of two adult children breakfast too! Support really - I think it was good service! Naka Naka is good but just keep getting one hour of sex in the bath in the basement too. I was happy to enter children. I'll be there three types of business hotel in the bath! There is also room for toilet and bath unit. This support at this price - It is recommended that service. But with little room for the new facility could say. It is not recommended. 2000 yen per night in the parking lot must be able to go walking every neighborhood is a great deal. May be the next to go. It is recommended for families. 

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowOneUserReview-g298566-d1083635-r63205347&sl=ja&tl=en_AU&hl=en_AU&ie=UTF-8

 

 

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Just back from the Dali exhibition at the NGV. Meh is my impression. Some good works, but nothing that blew me away like Picasso. My mate I was there with quite enjoyed it though, each to their own. We almost decided to give it a miss as the entry line was massive, but it moved quickly in the end. Thank god we already had free tickets or else we would have had an even larger line outside the ticket counter. Anyway, I can't wait for La Roux tomorrow :-)

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It has been a while since I went along to a gig from my favorite Australian band Little Birdy. Originally from Perth and now calling Melbourne home (Yay!) this show at The Forum kicks off their tour for their latest album, Confetti. [flickr style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"]photo:3911666253[/flickr] This gig was supported by the Hungry Kids of Hungary and the Red Riders. I was early enough to see both and get a good spot in front of stage, or so I thought. I have heard music from both of these bands previously on my favourite radio station but I have never been that interested to follow their music beyond the radio plays. I quite enjoyed the Hungry Kids of Hungary but found the Red Riders boring to the point I was playing Peggle on my iPhone througout most of their set. Katy was looking as good as ever sporting a black and white outfit with some serious cleavage exposure. The set was high energy as always with the band fully utilizing the space on the stage as they kicked out some great music. They played all the songs expected however songs from the new album seemed to be outnumbered by those from past albums. This was not a problem for me as I found their first album the best so far and bought all of their early EPs. Certainly the main songs from the album, and certainly my favourites from it, such as Brother, Hairdo & the title track Confetti were played. I would have like more audience participation by Katy something I find lacking in many traditional bands. From what I can recall the set included:

• Come On Come On
• Beautiful to Me
• Hairdo
• Into My Arms
• Better Off Alone
• Andy Warhol
• Brother
• Relapse

I am certainly missing some songs. Update: Full setlist at http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/little-birdy/2009/forum-theatre-melbourne-australia-3d79107.html Thanks Krusty [flickr style="padding: 10px;"]tag:music+20090911@tsanglabs[/flickr] Overall the gig was good albeit short and mared by the bad behaviour of other audience members (see below). Videos to be added as soon as I upload them. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvKX-pEXhaE Negative There was one negative point about the gig and it was a seriously major one. It had nothing to do with the band and it is unlikely they could have done anything about it. I don't usually drink alchohol when going to gigs since I like to enjoy the music untainted or filtered by drugs. I have no issue with others doing so with one caveat, they don't negatively affect the experience for others who are there to enjoy the music not just get pissed. For me what tainted the entire Little Birdy show was the behaviour of a group of bogan drunkards decided to push through the pack to the very front of the stage and continue to be nuisances through the entire set. The arm/hands you see in my videos of the set are from the closest woman in the group. What you don't see is me and everyone around her trying to avoid her elbow from causing us a concussion. I had to move to the back of The Forum theater before the encore started as I just could not take any more. Maybe I'm just a sook, but that would then include everyone around me who also were not to impressed with their behaviour.

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Just watched the new Watchmen movie based on the Graphic novel of the same name. I read the graphic novel a couple years back and loved it. I found this movie Awesome! Even though I knew everything that was going to happen it was still so enjoyable. It was a relief that it was so well made given how some of these transitions turn out. It was funny with heart pumping action and sad. Really sad. Go see it.

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A great explaination of the credit crisis.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

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The Streets (aka Mike Skinner) was in town last Tuesday (10/02/09) to perform at Billboard the Venue. The support act was originally Muscles however due to the recent fires in Victoria he cancelled his appearance to help out family/friends affected. In his place the support act brought in was Pez, who cracked into the Australian music scene with "The Festival Song". I grabbed a great position right near the front, however I had an absolute tall pr**k push in front of all of us near the front. Lets just say that he was not a popular guy with all the punters he was blocking as he was not a short guy and he was wearing a puffy jacket. So I did not feel bad for him when he was pulled up by the bouncers when he lit up a joint. Back to The Streets. Mike really mixed it up playing songs from all four albums. Given the amount of material available to him many of the songs were mixed into each other. He also spoke to the crowd a lot, quite often refering to the Victorian bushfires and the lives lost. For me The Streets really delivered. Videos will be up soon. The Streets [flickr style="padding: 10px;"]tag:streets+20090210@tsanglabs[/flickr] Pez [flickr style="padding: 10px;"]tag:pez+20090210@tsanglabs[/flickr]

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There are two albums that I am currently listing to quite frequently.

The first is "Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future" by The Bird And The Bee. I have been listening to their LPs but this is the first full album they have released that I know of. What I love about the duo is the absolutely magical voice of Inara George which is layered all over each of the tracks. Many people would know the duo from their single "Fucking Boyfriend" that was remixed a couple years ago into a dance single. Most recently "Polite Dance Song" has been hitting the airwaves accompanied by a great video clip.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3g9RaVkdY

Secondly an album that is just fresh off the press is the new Lily Allen album "It's Not Me, It's You" which is the hotly anticipated follow up to her debut "Alright, Still". I am loving all the songs on this, especially the tracks "Everyone's At It", "The Fear", "22", "I Could Say" and "Fuck You" which was originally titled "Guess Who Batman" when originally released. As with "Alright, Still", Lily sings about some depressing subjects but with music and style that sugests otherwise. There is also a connection with The Bird And The Bee with the new Lily Allen album. Greg Kurstin, the other half of The Bird And The Bee is the producer for most of the songs.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-wGMlSuX_c

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It's been a whole week since I saw The Ting Tings (28/01/09), man I am one lazy bugger. This gig was at a different venue from the last few I have been to, The Pince Bandroom. It's been a long time between drinks since I was last at the Prince, the last time I saw M.I.A. (warning to epileptics that there are a lot of flashing colours) in 2006. It's a nice venue with a balcony allowing you to get some fresh air before the performance, this was important before the bans on smoking came in a few years ago. Now the Ting Tings... [flickr style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"]photo:3247338550[/flickr] I had a great position at the front of the stage, though occationally pushed out of the way by photographers. Katie and Jules played about 8 songs in the set, made up of: [flickr style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"]photo:3247336894[/flickr]

• Great DJ
• Be the One
• Traffic Light
• Fruit Machine
• We Walk
• We Started Nothing
• Shut Up and Let Me Go
• That's Not My Name (encore)

[flickr style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"]photo:3247337370[/flickr] This was most of their album, I'm not sure if they have any songs outside of these. Since they have only been around for the last year when they hit big with "That's Not My Name" and "Great DJ" it is not suprising. The Performance was short but full of energy with Katie running around the stage leaning over the crowd. The crowd was really into the performance as well with most of the songs accompanied by the sound of the crowd singing along. I took some great videos (if I don't say so myself) of each of the singles: That's Not My Name httpv://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EvXFXKydf54 Shut Up and Let Me Go httpv://au.youtube.com/watch?v=63MzUWXsY4o Great DJ httpv://au.youtube.com/watch?v=47CUXxyKzE0

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Another day another gig at Billboard (god I'm starting to dislike this venue). Camille (Offical Site, wiki), for those who do not know, is a french singer who is quite creative in how she creates her music. My first introduction to her was from her album "Le Fil", directly translated means "the thread", and that was represented throughout the album with the constant tone, a "B", starting at the very beginning to the end. Initially you would suppose that this would be quite limiting, in that all the songs need to be at the same chord, or or annoying but it works. It has been compared to Bjork’s Medulla. This was visible at the gig as the only instruments were a keyboard and a bongo drum I saw used once. Instead she has a group of 5 backup singers and two beat boxers proving the "instrumentation" for each song. Unfortunately I arrived a little late and was stuck behind a very large crowd so I could not take any good photos, I have some videos however. The first one she is performing "Au Port" and it gets quite funny when she tries to get the mainly English speaking audience to take part, check it out. Hilarious! httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkS0VSIV_Q See my youtube.com channel to see all the other videos httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePKOiwwOHo When she came out for the encore Camille was wearing a black dress with black elbow-length gloves. There was a surprise when she turned around though. Now I have heard of back-less dresses but I have never envisioned a back-less dress with crack showing. [flickr style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto"]photo:3216904226[/flickr] The best thing about the show was the energy of Camille and the back-up singers and I can't wait for her to visit us down under again. Here are some photos of the gig by from Flickr (copyright owned by the respective photographers) [flickr style="padding: 10px;"]tag:lastfm:event=826654[/flickr]

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