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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Hokkaido: Onuma Koen

Onuma Koen is a Quasi National Park. I wasn't exactly sure what a "Quasi" National Park is, but apparently it is just a nature area that has kind of been turned into a tourist attraction.

When I went there the weather was very cloudy which was very disappointing bc one of the best parts about Onuma Koen is being able to see Mount Komagatake.

If the weather is nice I can see this place being really beautiful and also it is a place where a car or at least renting a bike would be really convenient.

If you wanna see more photos, go here.

Hokkaido: Sapporo

I recently took a vacation to the northern most island of Japan, called Hokkaido. I learned a couple things on this trip:

1. Hokkaido is big, spread out and has a lot of nothing.... which translates into a lot of nature, beauty and delicious food (because of all the space for farms maybe??).

2. After being to Sapporo, I have found another big city in Japan that is more cool than the one I live in (next to) but maybe the grass is just greener...

3. Next time I go back to Hokkaido, I am not going to go by myself and I am going to rent a car (unless I go in the winter) bc while you can get to many places by train, once you get to the national parks or destinations, a lot times the good places are still spread out.

Anyway, Sapporo is a cool city and I am glad it is bc the weather wasn't as good as I hoped, actually it was pretty bad for the first 2/3 of my vacation, so I was glad that I liked Sapporo.

Sapporo has a lot of good food, they are famous for the miso ramen (Chinese noodles), seafood, chocolate, beer and something called Gengis Khan which is lamb. Also there are a lot of trendy and diverse places to eat, I even found a cuban restaurant! Like most Japanese cities, getting around using train and subway is really easy but a lot of the cool areas are within walking distance.

To be honest, bc of the weather, and not wanting to take a 6 hour train ride to go to some remote place that was raining, I spent more time than I would have liked to in Sapporo, but it was better than being in Sendai!


To see more photos, go here.

Monday, August 28, 2006

I HATE FIBA


***warning, beginning rant***

Now I know hate is a strong word and I have been told that hate and love are actually the same thing (think about that for a second) but I really HATE (not love) FIBA. As previously mentioned, I recently took a vacation to the northern part of Japan and the main reason why was to watch/photograph my favorite player D. Wade and team USA. However, as I was taking photos of Yao Ming (China was also playing) during warm ups, I was promptly told I was not allowed to take photos. Then I proceeded to watch as other security guards would tell the same thing to everyone they could find, including little children. Apparently FIBA has a rule that you cannot take photos.

Why? I have no idea and apparently either did the staff there know. Here is how a conversation I had with a FIBA employee that isn't too low on the food chain:

Me: Excuse, why can I not take photos?
FIBA: You can take photos outside of the gym.

Me: Right, well I would like to take some photos inside of the gym. Can I even take a photo of myself inside the gym?

FIBA: I'm sorry, you can only take photos outside.
Me: I see, well, why is that?

FIBA: Because that is the rule of FIBA.
Me: Yeah, but I mean, why is that a rule?
FIBA: I don't know.

I honestly cannot think of one good reason why you would have such a rule. I mean, can anyone really give me a good reason for this? Let's be honest, FIBA does not have the recognition of the World Cup or even the NBA throughout the world. Any photo that is taken would be FREE PUBLICITY for them which they could use if they want to get to that next level. I don't know if FIFA and the World Cup have a similar rule, but come on, when a security guard is tell a child that they cannot take photos of their favorite player that does nothing but put a negative light on FIBA. I know I left with a bad taste in my mouth mainly bc I am a photographer, but I am sure many other people were disappointed with such a stupid rule.

***rant over***

That being said, I was still able to sneak in a few photographs but I was worried that the first time I would be thrown out of a basketball game would be for taking photographs. It was really hard though bc I could not follow the action and pretty much had to really get lucky with focusing and anticipating.


Anyway, I enjoyed watching Team USA play and while they are no dream team it was really nice seeing D. Wade, Lebron James, Carmello Anthony and the rest of the guys play. BTW, I had 2nd row seats one game and 8th row seats in the other, not too shabby at all.


To see more photos, go here.

24


What a nice number. It only seems like destiny that on the same day, my favorite TV show, "24" won emmy awards for best drama and best actor in a drama (Kiefer Sutherland), I would turn 24. Even before that 24 has been a good number for me. It is my dad's favorite number (I think bc Willie Mays wore that number) and it was the number I wore throughtout my basketball days from middle school til high school. Anyway, I have been loyal to 24, the number and the TV show, so I hope it will do me good this upcoming year.

More importantly, thank you to everyone who sent my cards and birthday wishes. I really appreciate them all, especially being so far away from (most of) you. Thanks again and check back within the next couple of days for updates and new photos of Hokkaido!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Going on vacation

Summer vacation is almost over, but I am using the last part of it to go to Sapporo and watch team USA play in the FIBA World Basketball Championships. I will also go around to different parts of Hokkaido (northern island of Japan) which is known for it's beautiful nature and scenery. Coming back August 27th, my birthday, so expect updates sometime soon after that!


Saturday, August 12, 2006

Evan Pike: In Search of Japan

Here are the photos from my show with the shamisen music that was played. It is a little small but better than nothing!

Evan Pike's photographs of various parts of Japan. Shamisen by Rika Oba and Yuya Takahashi.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Photo Show

I was a little worried when the day before my show I had a temperature of about 101, but after taking some medicine and resting all day I was feeling good the morning of my show. Actually, it may have been just the stress that made me not feel sick bc a couple days after my temperature came back!
Anyway, the show went really well I think! Maybe about 30-35 people stayed the whole time and probably another 15-25 people came and went at different times during my 45 minute show. I am working on getting the video online and once I do you will be sure to know about it. Until then check out some photos from the event that my friend Greg took.

People at the begining of the show and my students playing the traditional Japanese instrument called the shamisen.
Nice crop by Greg.