CSI Tokyo

CSI Tokyo, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Tokyos finest were hustling around an apartment building when I walked past. No blue plastic sheets were put up at least yet, so perhaps no corpses inside. A burglary, maybe?

Yamanote Controls

Yamanote Controls, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

The lower right dial tells speed, not sure about the right one, The bright spot next to them is an inset , well lit old skool mechanical pocket watch for holding the schedule, the touch screen shows status for each car of the train (accelerating, braking, doors open) +other important stuff, and needed minimum interaction. The most used part of the UI seemed to be the brake lever, operated with the left hand. The driver didn't touch the right hand lever at all. Maybe it's there just for having something to hold on to?

Somehow observation habits from work die hard even when you're not on duty.

City Lighting Up

City Lighting Up, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Evening view from the Tokyo Metro Government building top floor. Best time to visit.

Tokyo Dusk

Tokyo Dusk, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Cue some Blade Runner music.

8mm Test Shot

8mm Test Shot, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

The kind staff at Yodobashi Akiba let me try out the new 8mm fisheye on my own camera, and here's what it looks like. I think I need to stay away from this lens, as I get a strange urge to go all Gollum on the shop staff and not return it as soon as I get my hands on one. This lens would be great out on the streets here in Tokyo. Too bad it has a pricetag.

Sky Tree

Skytree, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

That's grown out of the ground in the year since I visited last time.

Minami Senju Skyline

Minami Senju Skyline, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Tokyo signing off for tonight.

Ueno Evening

Ueno Evening, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Walked around a bit in Ueno park, and on the way back I was treated to this spectacular evening sky over the station.

Personal Touch

Personal Touch, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

JAL's very own Captain Hatanaka and Co-pilot Suzuki have my thanks for doing a textbook landing ahead of schedule at Haneda today. Haneda must be the busiest airport I've been to compared to how cramped the airspace is south of downtown Tokyo. Planes come in at 1min 30 sec apart over Tokyo bay, do a tight left hand turn over the local fishing boats right before the runway, touch down and move aside as soon as possible. About 50 secs after the plane is off the runway, the next one touches down, and repeat, and repeat all day.

Anyway, in Tokyo now, and cooling off a bit at the hotel before heading out into the +35 C late afternoon.

AKJ

AKJ, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Took the traditional Haneda hop today. Air Do was getting ready a few gates away (only a few gates there anyway).

Wagonload

Wagonload, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

That would get a pretty good party going.

Party

Party, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Seven Odd People Getting Drunk, by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). The people modeling for this piece must have had fun.

Old Skool Sake Ad

Old Skool Sake Ad, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

The brewery had a small museum too. The old print ads were pretty interesting, as was all the old sake brewing gear on display.

Fancy Sign

Fancy Sign, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

The Origin of Sake, Asahikawa

The Origin of Sake, Asahikawa, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Went down the main street in this part of town to visit the Otokoyama sake brewery. Apparently it was founded somewhere down south about 340 years ago, but relocated to Asahikawa because of the superior climate and water. Something the locals are pretty proud of.

Sapporo

Sapporo, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

A quick one day visit yesterday, seeing friends. Also got to try out the new Pana 8mm fisheye, which is indeed a nice piece of precision optics. A bit steeply priced at Yodobashi, though, especially with the strong Yen rates as of late.

Also ran into a Finnish guy biking around Japan with his pal for three months. His travel blog can be found here (in Finnish). Big respect!

Parting Shot

Parting Shot, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Asahidake (on the right) hovering over the new dam lake they made since I was here last time.

Reward

Reward, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Can of Asahidake Beer (I doubt they brew it anywhere near the mountain, though) in the afternoon sun while waiting for the bus. An OK pilsner type of thing. Glad they didn't put Sulfur in it to strengthen the mountain branding.

Natural Trailside Onsen

Natural Trailside Onsen, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Hot spring, which has been dammed a bit by some kind soul, creating a nice natural tub. Too hot day for dipping in, but I did soak my feet for a while. This would be a welcome feature on our autumn hikes in Lapland.

Flowers

Flowers, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Everyone else was shooting flowers around there, so I joined the crowd. Very Japanese, in a way.

Homemade Onigiri

Homemade Onigiri, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Salmon filling. Keeps you going, and going.

Roof of Hokkaido

Roof of Hokkaido, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

First time on the top of Asahidake in proper summer. Looking as good as ever.

Asahidake Ridge Trail

Asahidake Ridge Trail, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Perfect weather for going to the top, and detouring back the long way. Still made it with time to spare to the last bus back to Asahikawa.

Alive

Alive, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

It's supposed to do that, no worries. Luckily the wind blew most of the Sulfur smelling steam elsewhere today.

Into the Wilds

Into the Wilds, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Immediately after stepping out of the Asahidake gondola top station wild furry animals appear. Glad it wasn't a bear.

Sushi Screen

Sushi Screen, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

A new kaiten sushi place here sporting fancy touch screens for ordering beside the conveyor belt. The orders arrived on a Shinkansen-shaped mechanic tray sliding above the belt. Minimized need for interaction with the staff, but it doesn't necessarily make for a better experience. The sushi at Choice, our traditional kaiten place, is better too.

Asahikawa Suburbia

Asahikawa Suburbia, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Those kids just started a sand throwing fight, which naturally ended in tears. Otherwise it's really nice and peaceful here. Slept 13 hours last night, which finally took care of the jet lag. Wondering if we should take the dog out for a walk before dinner.

Elevator Door Warning

Elevator Door Warning, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

You get the point: It hurts.

KIX

KIX, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Got to Kansai international on time in the morning, and been taking care of a local SIM card for the phone, some sleep deprivation and lunch since then. Still an hour or so before boarding for Sapporo, but the lovely free WiFi helps kill time.

Good Morning Mongolia

Good Morning Mongolia, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Finnair has a seemingly more direct route to Osaka these days, going over Mongolia, China and South Korea rather than just sticking to Russian airspace. Didn't go any faster, though.

Product Segmentation

Product Segmentation, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Basically the same product sold as luggage scale: 35€, and as fish scale: 20€. Guess which one I bought.

Flying to Japan again later today, and will be over there for the next three weeks.

Tadpoles

Tadpoles, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Cute little fellows, busying themselves with getting bigger.

More Trail

More Trail, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Occasional speed bumps ahead every now again.

Trail

Trail, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Not exactly on the official maintained trail network, but sure beat backtracking.

Holiday Start

Holiday Start, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Took last Friday off too, and headed out to Helvetinjärvi national park for a two night hike with Mikko. It's was a new area for us, which meant more running around compared to straightforward motion. Nothing wrong with that of course; the weather was almost too hot, the local geography nicely challenging and the lakes were good for swimming. Might want to visit in the future as well.

Morning Coffee

Morning Coffee, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

With summer holiday around the corner it felt OK to take it easy this nice morning before hopping on the train to work.

Midsummer

Midsummer, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Fjord Summer Party

Fjord Summer Party, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Last night, in the Helsinki office. Thank's again for good food, wine and company!

Urban Forest

Urban Forest, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Local beer brand tuning a prominent tram stop downtown.

Symbol From the Past

Symbol From the Past, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Top row, second from right, the save-symbol. Represented by a format that's been deader than dead for a while now; the floppy disc. When will there be a new standard, instantly recognizable symbol? Or will there ever? Maybe the floppy disc could live on in symbol form representing something people do, rather than the tools and devices they use for it.

Artificial Reality

Artificial Reality, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Movie set down in the harbour tonight. It may look pretty rough on the outside, but you can make pretty nice lighting effects on the inside with this kind of setup. Here's an example of a production I was involved in as set designer back in 2004. The light coming in through the windows was created with a pretty similar setup as this, extending the time to shoot into the night, and giving creative freedom.

Jaguar

Jaguar, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Ardbeg Family Portrait

Ardbeg Family Portrait, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Not the whole range, of course, but still managed to display a nice variety.

Ardbeg Tasting @Punavuoren Ahven

Ardbeg Tasting @Punavuoren Ahven, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Rumors held true, and Ardbeg tasting was conducted. From left to right: Blasda, 10 yo, Supernova SN2010, Uigeadail and Single Cask n:o 1378 1975/2006.

The Single Cask was in a league of it's own, at least feeling-wise. Ardbeg has only a few casks left from the 70's before the distillery was closed for a long period, so there will be a long gap before whisky this old can be bottled again. The guess was that a bottle of this particular liquid gold would go for around 650-700€, if you could even find one. Luckily the local importer was present and wanted to give us something really good.

On a mere mortal scale, I'd pick the Uigeadail though. Surprising depth and character when you consider that the components of this particular bottling (2009) are at most 12 years old. Might have to get me a bottle, if I happen to come across one.

Croquet Ball Guts

Croquet Ball Guts, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

The season opening game got a morbid twist after a particularly good swing. Pretty low grade plastic there, so no wonder really, though usually it's the clubs that suffer.

Vandal Proofing

Vandal Proofing, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Spirit

Spirit, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Fallen Angel of Detroit, perhaps?

White and Chrome

White and Chrome, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

You'd need a tweed suit and leather driving gloves for this one.

Cruising Night

Cruising Night, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Heard it long before we saw it. Not that I'm much into old US cars myself, but I can appreciate the dedication some people show their rides.

Young Design of the Year

Young Design of the Year, originally uploaded by Rollofunk.

Most of the Young Designer of the Year award winners were still older than me. Am I still young, or does it tell us something about the state of Finnish design? Or about design institutions handing out these awards?

The winners? Aivan! and Imu Design. Congrats and big respect. Both groups do good work, that's for sure! Just wondering who's young and who's not?