Final Thoughts /Japan
And now the Japan portion of this little blog ends. Its well over a year after the fact now. Now that I have the time I can finally close the book on it.
First and foremost, thank all of you who were good enough to read it. It was a wonderful to write, and gave me a reason to record all of these memories. It allowed me to communicate with those I cared about, and share what I could of this crazy adventure. Truly I wish you were all there with me, and I was thrilled to share everything I could. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
A couple of thoughts before I conclude - If any of you (of all of the 3 who read this) are going to Japan, talk to me first. As Allon can attest to, I made an enormous guide of all of the Japan do’s and don’ts, how I survived there, and every single fun thing I could remember from every place I’d been (or heard others had gone), where they are and how they were. Its written substantially like this (forgive me) and I would be more than happy to share it with anyone who is interested.
I couldn’t be happier about the photos on this blog - and its all thanks to my Casio Exilim EX-Z1080.
While, not the slimmest point and shoot (and certainly not the slimmest Casio), it had that essential quality - it was pocketable. I carried it 24/7, no exceptions, and really put this thing through its paces. It took long drops, it took severe knocks. I frequently used it in the rain and numerous other counter-indicated conditions. The battery would always hang in there despite relentless use, and it never missed a beat.
Plus, it really performed - It was fast to start up and shoot (VERY important for this trip). The controls gave quick, intuitive, one-handed access to the controls you needed, plus allowed decent manual control. The wide-angle to zoom range covered all of the bases, and the metering never let me down. The screen belies this camera’s phenomenal picture quality. It blows away any other point and shoot I’ve ever used. Low ISO pictures are razor sharp, its very decent up to ISO 800, and it snowy ISO 6400 there just in case. Its rare that I have ever squeezed this much satisfaction out of a piece of consumer electronics. Thank you Casio.
As for my final thoughts on Japan…Well, in one grand semester I had the best vacation of a lifetime, fulfilled a childhood dream, broadened my horizons, re-kindled my love of photography, and took enough unique courses to a get a couple of legit resume pieces. In so many ways, it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done, and the coolest thing I may ever do. As sad as that is, and as sad as it is that its now very over, the overwhelming feeling I walk away with is delight that I was able to do it at all. I made memories that can never be taken away (and if they try - its all on livejournal anyway). It’s a joy I wish on all of you.
Most importantly though, I’ve made excellent friends, the kind of friends that only this kind of experience (and incidentally drama) can bring together. There is a holiday romance aspect to all of it, they are friends I don’t think I would have made during the normal run of life, but now ‘we’ll always have Roppongi’. And thankfully, many of these friends I HAVE kept (our exploits in Miami chronicled on facebook).
(Not my plane)
All hail Shogun Vader (covers the bizarre crap quota for my last day)
Then back on a ANA 777 from whence I came. The movie selection being sad as ever - I ended up watching ‘jumper’ a few times. As bad as it was, it made me intensely nostalgic for Tokyo already (why else would I subject myself to that more than once). I was thrilled to go home to those that I loved and missed - but I knew I was really going to miss this place.
Then to O’Hare
There is one cliché closing lesson. Do these things. Don’t wait - go out, see stuff you want to see. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but take the time off, spend the money. Right now, in this world, the much obscured reality is that there is really very little stopping us. We really can make it work. There are so many things we do to build a ‘better’ life, but I’ve found the real value is in experiences, and no one can ever take them away from you.
First and foremost, thank all of you who were good enough to read it. It was a wonderful to write, and gave me a reason to record all of these memories. It allowed me to communicate with those I cared about, and share what I could of this crazy adventure. Truly I wish you were all there with me, and I was thrilled to share everything I could. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
A couple of thoughts before I conclude - If any of you (of all of the 3 who read this) are going to Japan, talk to me first. As Allon can attest to, I made an enormous guide of all of the Japan do’s and don’ts, how I survived there, and every single fun thing I could remember from every place I’d been (or heard others had gone), where they are and how they were. Its written substantially like this (forgive me) and I would be more than happy to share it with anyone who is interested.
I couldn’t be happier about the photos on this blog - and its all thanks to my Casio Exilim EX-Z1080.
While, not the slimmest point and shoot (and certainly not the slimmest Casio), it had that essential quality - it was pocketable. I carried it 24/7, no exceptions, and really put this thing through its paces. It took long drops, it took severe knocks. I frequently used it in the rain and numerous other counter-indicated conditions. The battery would always hang in there despite relentless use, and it never missed a beat.
Plus, it really performed - It was fast to start up and shoot (VERY important for this trip). The controls gave quick, intuitive, one-handed access to the controls you needed, plus allowed decent manual control. The wide-angle to zoom range covered all of the bases, and the metering never let me down. The screen belies this camera’s phenomenal picture quality. It blows away any other point and shoot I’ve ever used. Low ISO pictures are razor sharp, its very decent up to ISO 800, and it snowy ISO 6400 there just in case. Its rare that I have ever squeezed this much satisfaction out of a piece of consumer electronics. Thank you Casio.
As for my final thoughts on Japan…Well, in one grand semester I had the best vacation of a lifetime, fulfilled a childhood dream, broadened my horizons, re-kindled my love of photography, and took enough unique courses to a get a couple of legit resume pieces. In so many ways, it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done, and the coolest thing I may ever do. As sad as that is, and as sad as it is that its now very over, the overwhelming feeling I walk away with is delight that I was able to do it at all. I made memories that can never be taken away (and if they try - its all on livejournal anyway). It’s a joy I wish on all of you.
Most importantly though, I’ve made excellent friends, the kind of friends that only this kind of experience (and incidentally drama) can bring together. There is a holiday romance aspect to all of it, they are friends I don’t think I would have made during the normal run of life, but now ‘we’ll always have Roppongi’. And thankfully, many of these friends I HAVE kept (our exploits in Miami chronicled on facebook).
(Not my plane)
All hail Shogun Vader (covers the bizarre crap quota for my last day)
Then back on a ANA 777 from whence I came. The movie selection being sad as ever - I ended up watching ‘jumper’ a few times. As bad as it was, it made me intensely nostalgic for Tokyo already (why else would I subject myself to that more than once). I was thrilled to go home to those that I loved and missed - but I knew I was really going to miss this place.
Then to O’Hare
There is one cliché closing lesson. Do these things. Don’t wait - go out, see stuff you want to see. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but take the time off, spend the money. Right now, in this world, the much obscured reality is that there is really very little stopping us. We really can make it work. There are so many things we do to build a ‘better’ life, but I’ve found the real value is in experiences, and no one can ever take them away from you.