Waking early is never easy, especially as the nights get longer and the temperature cools. But nature sometimes does its best to reward those who drag themselves out from under the covers as the birds begin to sing. The photos here come from one of those times.
It’s been a strange old start to the year, really, mainly because Kangaeroo is strange and old. Tokyo has been experiencing a mild winter. So far there has been no snow and daytime temperatures have been closer to what you’d expect in March than the opening month of the year. That’s been perfect for walking, which allowed for the capture of the shots in this post. Kangaeroo was helped deeply by being able to use cameras and photography to seek out the beautiful things around us. Though he didn’t really do a great job of it, sometimes he would snare…
For Kangaeroo, 2019 was a year in which cycling played an influential role. This was the first year for Kangaeroo to commute daily by bike. Apart from a week overseas and a couple of weeks recovering from an injury incurred while slipping off the bike, the yearlong commuting mission was accomplished. It was only fitting, then, that the year ended with a concentration of cycling. And that’s exactly how it panned out, averaging more than 100 km/day for the nine days from the end of work on December 27 to the end of the year four days later. These are…
Mobile phones were starting to become a reality when Kangaeroo left Australia around this time of the year back in 1988, a year when the bicentennial of British colonization was marked. It was supposed to be a six-week holiday in Japan. Some 32 years later, that trip effectively hasn’t ended. Japan was in the news in Australia at the time of departure. Then Emperor Hirohito was in a critical condition (he would die shortly into the new year). The Japanese economy was booming and Japan seemed poised to take over leadership of the global business world. But, the more things…
The Izu Peninsula about 100 km southwest of Tokyo is a sheer delight in many ways, not the least of which is that there’re plenty of kangaroos there at the moment! Not that they’re real roos jumping around here and there on the peninsula. Some of the zoos and animal parks in the area, which is blessed with glorious coastlines and numerous mountains, do have their marsupials. But the kangaroos that stand out most to the ordinary visitor are the life-sized PVC statues plugging Izu Shaboten Zoo (notable for its various different types of cacti). The zoo is located at…
Perhaps not surprisingly in a land ruled by middle-aged and elderly blokes and the fax still a crucial communication tool, mightily impressive dinosaurs have taken over a part of Japan not far from Tokyo. And despite being equipped with apparently razor-sharp fangs, the dinosaurs in question are actually toothless. They’re part of an amazing display at the Izu Granpal Amusement Park. The park is located in Izukogen, a town about 100 km southwest of central Tokyo. And the dinosaurs are part of an illumination display presented with a Cool Japan Matching Award. Both the dinosaurs and the illumination display were…
Kangaeroo was once an almost ubiquitous presence on the Internet. That was, of course, back in the days before the likes of Facebook, Twitter and other social media dominated online viewing. Even blogs were in their infancy and Google still provided results for terms that people searched for and not for the highest payers. But that all changed. Decades have passed since Kangaeroo posted a portrait online. But that has changed with this post. These are photos of Kangaeroo now. Definitely wasn’t worth waiting for! Not that I think anybody actually waited….
Buggered if I know what to write for this entry. Got to head out to a farm near New Tokyo International Airport, better known as Narita Airport, and was fortunate enough to see a number of planes passing by the moon on a glorious winter afternoon. Not really a plane fancier, but felt the images were quite nice with the moon as a backdrop. The ANA plane in the photo had a special livery that made it look like a turtle. A glorious sunset topped off the day.
Boosted by a blessing, inspired to take more photos and now hoping not to be a pretentious dick On a bleak and wintry December morning with conditions ideal for moaning and a terrible start to the day, Kangaeroo got a boost with an unexpected plug for the site’s photos. Coming totally out of the blue, it was a sheer delight and anything else that happened in the day suddenly became irrelevant. But more was to come. The praise led to an unexpected connection. And a reminder that the darkest part of the day is always immediately before the dawn. I…
More Shots Snapped During a Lunchtime Stroll Late autumn/early winter can be a wonderful time in Japan. The typhoons of the early to mid-autumn are gone and the rain stays away for most of the time until June of the following year. (Leaving aside the fact that October and late November were wet and sodden this year). The bitter cold of winter doesn’t really show itself all day until after the new year, and days are generally bright and sunny. Added to that, the fiery reds and yellows of autumnal leaves can create some gorgeous scenes, even in central Tokyo.…
