The High One

We wrapped up the trip with a day at Denali National Park and Reserve. The word "Denali" means "the high one" in the native Athabaskan language and refers to Mount McKinley.

Denali is different from other parks in that it is only accessible by bus. There is one road that this bus follows, and one can get dropped off anywhere along that road.

Unlike the other days, it was rainy, cloudy, and cold...

^can you spot the wildlife???

Caribou


Dall Sheep


We got off at Toklat, and hiked along the Toklat River...


Toklat River Valley with Divide Mountain on the left. On the way back, the rain stopped and it started to clear up.


The next day, smoke and haze from the Funny River fire arrived...



ANC was especially hazy, but it also had some pretty slick planespotting opportunities as it is a major air cargo hub.

If you notice, the Alaska Airlines jet doesn't have windows in the front of the emergency exit. This is a B737-400C, and is used for used for salmon shipments (and other stuff).

^relevant airlines...

A Cathay Pacific Cargo B747-8F sitting next to the EVA B747-400F


A Conoco-Philips B737-76N(WL). Ewww...


It was a hazy flight back to SEA.

The Last Frontier

So United operates flights to ANC in the summer.
They also had a fare sale, so I went.


Chasing the Midnight Sun






Anchorage at 11:41pm.


We woke up early for some suburban wildlife spotting

^the neighborhood moose... crosses streets safely...


Then we ventured off to the Matanuska Glacier






Did I mention the GREAT views?!


Next up, a flightseeing tour of Mt. McKinley courtesy of K2 Aviation!


I played co-pilot.


The Alaska Range






The smoothest landing. EVER.


Don Sheldon Amphitheater


It was a good first day.

Comfort & Kamakura

On Saturday I slept in, and took a day trip to Kamakura

^This guy was everywhere.

Kamakura was the political center of Japan until Kyoto was established by the Muromachi or Ashikaga government.


The first stop was Jōmyō-ji


Temple Neko, living the good life...


Kisen-an tea house and the Zen garden


Where one could enjoy the Japanese Bush Warbler's song



I then slipped into Hōkoku-ji right before they closed


Their lovely grove of about 2000 mōsō bamboo, and their Chashitsu to the right






Peace and quiet... exactly what I needed.


Momiji


The temple closed, and we were told to let ourselves out.

#trust


Sunday = American style BBQ and karaoke with Karen, Aaron, Joe and others! The venue provided all the chicken, beef, veggies, and even a beer can chicken kit! The bbq wrapped up with Yakisoba on the grill.



...annnnd I made one run to Harajuku before I left for the airport on Monday

Tokyo - Week 2

The second week was primarily spent working. I'm talkin' 12+ hour days... The cycle basically became:

- Wake up at 0700
- Eat
- Catch the 0800 Azusa Limited Express train to Tachikawa
- Start meetings at 0900
- Eat lunch at 1200
- Work until 2100
- Eat dinner/take the Chuo Line back to Shinjuku
- Catch up on other work.
- Sleep
- Repeat


On Sunday, I checked out of the old classy hotel


...and checked into the fresh new place where the rest of the project team was staying


1.5-years in the making...


Fried Chicken Ramen joint that I found near Shinjuku Sanchome Station


My favorite conveyor belt sushi restaurant (located under Shinjuku station's Central West Exit)


Catching the last Chuo Line train from Tachikawa


Shinjuku Station Tunnel to the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building. I've never seen it so empty...

IFE Madness

Many hours were spent on trains and planes, and Singapore's IFE system is LOADED with movies. Thus, many movies were consumed.

Despicable Me 2 – Fun!

Frozen – Poor communication results in good song and dance.

Lego Movie – Copious 80’s space guy nostalgia.

Elysium – Bald Matt Damon looks like Bruce Willis.

Die Hard – HOW HAVE I NOT SEEN THIS?!

Blue Jasmine – Sad Panda.

Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Iceland will be revisited.

Steal My Heart = Korean Cop Drama + Korean Romcom = BEST MOVIE OF THE TRIP

Tokyo - Week 1

The end of the Cherry Blossom Festivals wrecked havoc on hotel choices this time around, and we wound up in the Roppongi area for the first week of the meetings. The hotel was next to the US Embassy, and it was pretty nice. There were tons of special police (with reallly long batons) walking around and getting ready for the Obama-san visit...

Meanwhile, there were hundreds of small side streets around the hotel with cross walk signals, which made jaywalking very tempting. However, knowing that Tokyo Police had beatdown sticks, and did this, I ended up crossing streets only when appropriate.

^FACT CHECK - There were actually only three crosswalks...


The first week was spent witnessing some testing that our supplier was running. Somewhere in the middle of the week, my co-worker realized that there was a Yomiuri Giants vs Tokyo Swallows series in progress. We went to a Family Mart to get tickets, and luckily, the kid that worked there spoke Chinese. She helped us navigate the universal ticket machine at the store.

Thus, we ended up at Jingu Stadium, one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the world (Babe Ruth played there!). It was probably one of my most favorite things ever. Beers were had, and takoyaki and yakitori were devoured.

The left/right fields were reserved for the cheering clubs from each team. Each club would cheer when their team was on offense (think of a friendly European football chants). We chose the home side purely by accident, and it was fanfreakingtastic. All the cheers were in Japanese, except for the expat they got from the MLB. They reserved "LET'S GO, BALENTIEN!" for him.

 

Here's some footage from the stadium:



On Friday, my co-worker left for the airport to head back to Seattle. After work, I ventured off to Roppongi Hills to check out the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Mori Art Museum. Similar to other Japanese museums, photography was prohibited. They did allow shots of his BMW M1 Art Car, though, which made me very happy.

^hot stuff

dat wing.



On Saturday, I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market and had myself a little sushi breakfast. So oishi.


So oishi


Such oishi


Much oishi


Oishi



Afterwards, I visited one of my favorite photo stops, Yodobashi Camera. They have new lenses sitting around, so I tried out some of the new Zeiss offerings. They were alright..

^FE 24-70mm f/4.0

Then it was off to my favorite udon stand. There was a short line. I patiently waited.


In the evening, I met up with some friends in Northern Tokyo


For Jamie's shamisen recital and YAKINIKU!!!


Also, the star of the show!