Japan

The Korean government required foreigners to renew their work visa outside of Korea. The rules have now changed. However, I was able to get in a free trip to Japan, paid for by my employer, before the new immigration rules changed. So, I found myself visiting Japan once more!


OSAKA

A castle just outside of the city proper.

Zen garden in front of the castle.

Looking over the moat & through a willow tree.

I'm always amused by these convexed blind spot mirrors. If you look towards the top of the cement gate, you can see another mirror that showed me taking the picture.

Modern Japanese houses; and notice the size of these vehicles.

This is an area in the city called Namba, and it's the hub of activity in Osaka.

A common folding commuter bike.

A ship restaurant in the Dotonbori area of Namba.

Dotonbori River

I'm still not sure why these monks were so interested in this clown with glasses, but hoping someone might inform me. I'm guessing that they may have visited from China.



NARA

Todai-ji (Eastern Great Temple) is estimated to be the largest wooden building in the world. It contains a large bronze Buddha statue & is the most famous temple in Nara.

Yes, that's a real deer posing for the picture!

The deer walk freely amongst the tourists. They are considered to be either messengers from the Gods or heavenly animals to protect the city.

While they roam freely, they are not exactly tame, nor are they exactly wild. I was nudged by one; I guess I was on his turf and he wanted me to feed him some of the deer biscuits that are sold by vendors.

Nara Park

A different temple located above the city.

Lanterns outside of the temple.

The path to Kasuga Taisha Shrine.



KYOTO
Kyoto is an incredible city with an amazing amounts of temples & traditional housing.

Traditional housing & restaurant.

The eastern part of the city is filled with traditional housing & newer areas that replicate the same style.

A pathway through a Kyoto traditional area.

One of the main pathways or streets.

I'm positive these were not real geishas.

Although, I'm 95% sure that I saw one only minutes before!

She gently & delicately floated by me as she magically declined my gestured photo request with a gentle nod & subtle motion of her hand. I was only three or four feet from her! I've never been so impressed with elegance, grace, beauty, dignity, gentleness, softness or an appearance like this before! After she passed by, she made no signs of communication, but stopped all traffic on the street! It was as if time stood still for her... Ever so charmingly & wittingly, she nodded in an unimaginable flow of elegance to thank every man, woman, child, bicycle & car for stopping for her.

More of the traditional areas.

Alongside a stream.

A different region of housing & restaurants along the stream.

Wooden pagado near Gion Shrine or also referred to as Yaksaka Shrine.

The pagado stands five-stories tall.

Traditional men & womens' yukata.

Kamo River

Many restaurants line the river bank.

I think the older generation ride these style bikes, but I'll have to confirm this.

My Home in Seogwipo, S. Korea

Well, it's a little odd that I'm finally getting around to posting these pictures. I'm leaving this particular apartment/house in a few days. However, my year is over & it's time for me to move to another location. These photos have been accumulated over the course of a year. It was a great house & great location! I'll miss this place!

A zoomed in photo taken during the winter from my roof top.

It's on the busiest street in the town of Seogwipo. Despite the daytime traffic, I still loved this place. The house is basically split into four quadrants. The downstairs belongs to the family who run the mom & pop shop.

The store owners & their two children sleep on the bottom left section of the building. They run the store out of the lower right quadrant. My boss & his family live on the second floor, on the left side. The smaller building on the left side is a tarp/visqueen business. Between these two buildings are the stairs going to the top.

This is taken from the right side of the building. Yes, I live upstairs in this section, & you can see my three windows on the top floor.

The stairs leading to the second floor.

Once you get to the top, the gate keeper, Ludo, kindly awaits you.

Yet, if you're not Ludo's buddy, he'll bark up a good storm.

I'm standing on the tarp business' roof & looking down the walkway. My door is past the screen door you first see. This roof/patio is great for my boss & I to kick back on. My boss owns this whole building & another that you'll see in a later photo.

Looking back towards the patio & my bosses' front door.

Here we are, my front door & the stairs to the roof. Let's first take a look at the view from above.

Viewing west over the patio, you can faintly see a stream below.

When the sun is almost overhead, the surroundings become more visible. I don't think the building with the torn cloth on it will ever be completed.

If you look closely, you can see a group of people sitting under the bridge & enjoying a meal. During the summer, it's quite popular to find a place to sit on the rocks & cook a dinner on the river.

When looking north & panning down, you can see some of the traditional houses.

Weather permitting, this is what I can see every day from my north-facing windows.

Once again I zoomed in for this, so you can compare it to the winter picture above.

I decided to provide a 360 degree view & continued to photograph as I turned east.

My roof top that served as my deck! I'm standing directly over my boss' place & looking over mine.

Now, I'm standing over my place.

The street directly in front of my house.

The same shot at night.

A great duck restaurant across the street.

There's a large building that you can see to the left. It has two restaurants in it & my boss' parents live on the top floor. This building, as well as the duck restaurant building, are owned by my boss & his family.

My home! Well, my old home...

Dining Area

Omok, a common Korean game that involves placing five pieces in a row before your opponent does. It's similar to the free standing game called, Connect Four.

The dining area is directly to the left of my kitchen.

The island is well known for its incredibly sweet tangerines. During winter, everyone brings them to work to share or to send them home with others. The year before, I couldn't eat all that were given to me & I felt bad for letting hundreds go to waste. I tried giving them to other people, but everyone seems to have their own collection.

So, this last year, I bought a blender, peeled every single one & blended them into a juice. I drank all that I could, froze what I had room for in my freezer & gave the other bottles away. The juice was easy to give away! As you can see, I already blended about 60 tangerines & still have a night of peeling left. Despite the work it takes to peel them, I'll definitely miss the fresh winter fruit when I leave.

The bathroom floor wasn't properly angled so all the shower water wouldn't exit via the drain. This is what the brush on the floor came in handy for.

Hallway

Spare Room

Spare room , but peeking toward the hallway.

The other side of my spare room.

Yes, I decorated the whole place by myself! I was the first person to live here since they remodeled it. It's also why everything looks so new! I was lucky to live in this nice of place! Most times, teachers are not so lucky with their free living accommodations.

Opposite side of my bedroom.

You can see the washing machine next to my refrigerator in the back.

I haven't a clue what its name is, so maybe someone can inform me. Expand this photo for a better view!

Cicada, which are one of the loudest insects in the world! Look at the detail on the wings!

Expand this to see the raised bumps used for protecting the stamen.