summer trip to tokyo

So I just (this AM) got in from Japan. It's been over a month since I've been back in San Francisco (except for about 40 hours in between the NC and Japan trips) so it feels very good to be back with all my STUFF!

I missed you, stuff!
*Dav hugs his stuff

Ahem, seriously though...

I had a great time with Mie as usual. In fact because we always seem to have such a great together we decided to obtain more of it. The big news is Mie will be moving to San Francisco by the end of the year. Possibly as soon as mid august when she will be coming for Burning Man anyhow.

Briefly, here's my summer trip to Tokyo in a nutshell:

• Ate some fantastic meals.
  
• Had a party.
  
• Conducted the First International Love Hotel Moblogging Conference
  
• went to the First International Moblogging Conference (coverage [1 2 3])
  
• Met lots of cool people (links forthcoming after I collect them all)
  
• Got kicked out of a skatepark.
  
• Rode on a hydrofoil ferry to Niijima (New Island), a surfing island off the coast of Japan. Rented a surfboard but the ocean was flat the whole time :(
  
• Got to hang out with Mie's parents twice, and met her grandparents. She's got a fun and talented family.
  

My Kodak digital camera, an old friend, passed away in its sleep at the beginning of the trip. It has been showing signs of ill health for well over a year now, physically broken in several places and held together by neon green zip ties. It will be missed. So the only photos from the trip are from Mie's cell phone (which are posted on her website) and a roll of film that is being developed right now. Anyone have suggestions for a new digital camera model?

Comments

[Peter Beardsley]

There's a skatepark in Tokyo???!? Where??

I have fantasies of building a miniramp in my inaka village, but there is literally no place to put it.

[Shaun]

I really like my Canon S200. The only drawbacks are the proprietary battery (which I have never had a problem with) and the lack of big zoom (only 2x) but I LOVE the small size and the picture quality. Check out my boring travel pics if you like on my little website. They're all with my S200. Canon has a new model of this shape out now, not sure exactly what it is.

As for stuff... man, I've been away from my stuff for 9 months now! I miss my stuff too!

[Dav]

Peter, it's out the Shinjuku south exit. You go out and cross the street (let's call it South Street) and then turn to the right. After a couple of blocks go to the left one block and it's on a small street that is parallel to South Street. It's only a 3-4 minute walk from the south exit and surrounded by a tall chain link fence. Apparently they teach skateboarding classes there sometimes though. That's why I got kicked out. But the guy who had me leave said that after 5pm it would be open to the public...

[Dav]

Shaun,

Well I hope to have a camera phone from now on in order to take spontaneous photos. So the small size isn't too important to me, and having good zoom capabilities is. I'd like to be able to use focus to separate things from the background (I know there's a tecnical term for that, but I'm not really a photogeek).

Your photos look good quality though. I've looked through them before actually.

[Shaun]

the term you are looking for is "depth of field" if I'm not mistaken. And before you think I might be a photo geek, that's pretty much the only photo-term I know :-)

[Laura]

Yay! That's fabulous news that Mie is moving to SF. Hooray! Hooray! You'll be able to see her everyday!

[jeff]

D, you'll be so worthless once the chick moves to SF... :-)

The Olympus works well....

Jeff ps. congrats on Mie moving to SF

[Dav]

Yep, fabulous news!

[Gen Kanai]

Dav, the Canon Powershot S400 is your machine. 4MP, small, all metal, and just awesome. Really good picture quality and highly praised all over. Jake and I are both getting one this weekend in Akihabara.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons400/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S400/S40A.HTM
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s400-review/index.shtml
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/s400.html