Consistent clothing sizes: an utopia 😑

Date:  Dec 15, 2019

Finally, it is our turn to go to vacation.

We will spent 3 days in Tottori, 3 days in Osaka and 2 days in Kyoto.

The following few blog entries will summarise our trip and itinerary.

This is the first time I get to test out my AirFly too.  A bluetooth device that will pair with your new AirPods 2.0 with noise cancellation feature.  For full review of this AirFly, search on my blog for the keyword “AirFly”.

We took the red-eye flight.  So, when the sun just come out, the moon is about to go down.

Zoom in.  I can’t see the moon.

This photo is taken at the Kansai Airport terminal when we touched down.

A security guard quickly walked towards us and demand me to “Delete” the photos that I just taken few secs ago.

Without arguing, I did so.

Few minutes later, Jay said: “Daddy, you know you can recover the photos from the Recent Deleted folders, right?”

I pretend I knew and actually I forgot totally about it.

So, I did so, recover the following photos.  Yeah, we arrived at Kansai Airport.

There is a small Pokemon shop at the Kansai Airport.  Don’t miss it.

We are taking this Airport Train to Shin-Osaka JR station.

After I changed my JR Pass (Kansai Wide 5-days Area Pass) which I bought it from Klook.  Very convenient.  You can walk to the JR office and change the pass.  They even print out the travel itinerary for you.

I didn’t even bother to take the reserved seats as I knew it will be quite empty the train.  Cart 1 and 2 are the free seatings.

And from there, we took the JR train to Tottori (鸟取).  Why tottori?  Well, I found out that tottori and surrounding is famous for it’s Sand Dunes and Starry night sky.  That is why I allocated 2 days to try my luck during winter time to see if I can capture the Starry nigh sky.

And off we go.

Took a we-fie before we board the train.

Got to take all these happy big smile photos.

OK, one thing in Japan is … the bento set meal are very popular.  Make sure you get a few of these from Shin-Osaka station before you board the train.

We have the Sukiyaki Bento of Omi beef, one of the three best beef in Japan.

It sure looks delicious.

I am having this.

Also very nice.  Got a “fake egg” too.

Happy face!

Very tasty meals.  But the one we took is cold meal.  Some meal have the heat pack underneath to heat it up.  Will introduce a few days later.

Lim ah….

Wow, along the way, Jay was shooting time lapse using his iPhone.

See what we found.  A “San Francisco Golden Bridge” look alike.

Frankly, I have not researched where we want to visit before booking the trip. I only know I want to see the Sand Dunes and the Starry sky.

So, mind as well take this time to serve the Internet on the things to see in Tottori.

Look what I found…

One of the largest Astro Observatory has a very big telescope lens.

Too bad, we not visiting there.  Not enough time.  Next trip perhaps.

Judging from the amount of clouds in the sky, I think my chance taking the photos of the starry sky is very very slim.

This is how many stop we pass thru to get to Tottori station.

Actually there are quite a number of places to visit in Tottori.  But because I only allocated two nights here with the first day being the traveling day, so, we won’t cover all these places.

And the Tottori state is really big.  From here to our hotel is 1 hour drive.

My mistake.  I thought it is very near, from the map, that is why I booked that hotel.

It is the most nicest hotel of the whole trip.  🙂

I have arranged a rented car from Nippon Rent-A-car.  The office is just about 700 meter away from the Tottori station.  So, we will be walking there with our luggages.

Along the way, we saw some flowers.  Or rather, cabbages.  hahah

It looks so pretty.  I already like this place after seeing these flowers on the street.

Nice.

And don’t forget that you need to have a International Driving License so to drive in Japan.  I didn’t get a chance to do mine, so, I will just use my wife one.  Means, my wife is the only driver for the journey.

You can rent a car any where, and it is good choice because you can see more things when you drive.  Instead of take buses, or trains and walk.

The only thing is we are lucky enough to fit those two big luggages into the car boot.  So, all these factors needed to be considered before you drive in Japan.

Rent a Prius is a good choice as it is hybrid.  For 3 days, we only uses 1000 yen of fuels.  Our hotel is 1 hour away and all point of interests is 30 min and 1 hour away.

We found AEON and of course, let the kids play the Pokemon arcade machine.  For 30 minutes.

Kids are good at gaming.  Even every thing is in Japanese, the kids some how will learn and know what to do in playing it.  Cool.

They played this 1-2 years ago and they remembered to bring their Pokemon cards along too.

Haiz.  Look at the sky.  Not much chance to see Starry Sky tonight.

Here we go.  The serious looking driver wife, and 3 happy boys.  Hahahaha

Oh ya, there is this App I strongly recommend.  But only will work on iPhone XR, XS, 11 and 11 Pro (i.e small and Max).

This app will take videos and photo using the front and rear camera at the same time.  Very cool.

Using Dualgram, I can make comment, see my own face and show you what I see in front of me at the same time.  Very cool.

Actually this program was written by one of my business partner during my Mediaring days.  And I found it a great idea and I have been using it ever since.

Passing by White Rabbit beach.

An hour drive to hotel and the view of sun setting is nice.

We driving on the coastal road.  So, being able to see the sea is very nice.

Look at the waves.  I bet you there must be people surfing the wave here.  And my hunch was correct.  See tomorrow blog journal to see the surfers.

The sunset is spectacular.

Sunset.  Without using the Dualgram.  Not so nice ya.  Better use Dualgram again later, so that I can see my own face and expressions.

Almost reaching hotel.  Driving on small roads now.

And we finally reach our hotel.  望湖楼 (See Lake building).  i.e. Hawai Onsen Hotel Bokoku.

It’s 5pm plus we reached the hotel.

Look what Kay Kay found.  A crab hat.

And this is our room.  Japanese style room.  And there is a window to look at the lake.  So, it is Lake view room.

There is a lake in front, so, we suppose to see stars.  But just too much clouds in the sky.

Hey, onsen is there.  The male and female onsen.  On the lake itself.

Since the weather is quite cold, I decided not to bring the kids out to that onsen.  We stay inside the hotel onsen.  Only mommy go to the outdoor onsen.

This is what I can see from the hotel.

And I can either open the windows to take photo or I can close the window to take photos.  Later I tell you how.

The scenes and the Japanese room.  And Jay is counting the ducks on the lake.

OK, getting darker.

Without delay.   Let’s go do Onsen.

Kay said the onsen is very nice as 1) it does not have very strong metallic taste and smell, 2) the temperature some how is around 37-38 degrees.  Not so hot.

Here comes mommy joining us.  She went outdoor to do the outdoor onsen.  There are 4x onsens in this hotel.  2x indoor and 2x outdoor.

As we ordered two nights of Kaiseki Dinner.  Better go to the restaurant on time.

And the dinner room has already been waiting for our arrival.

Let’s eat.

This is the menu.  Prepared by the master chef of the hotel.

Wow.

Everything simply looks delicious.

Some fusions.

This is the Tottori beef.  We going to grill it.

Another type of beef awaits for steaming.

The sashimi.

Chawanmushi.  So smooth.

The side dish.

Ordered this Sake.  Very nice.

Happy face.

We all wearing our onsen sleep wear and kan-bai!!!  Cheers.

Ya, Young Kai Kai also wants to cheer with me.

More food on the way.

This is the correct way.  Put the flowers into the soya sauce.

Here comes the tempura.  Very nice.

Start to grill my Tottori beef.

A bit over cook.  85% cooked.  But still taste nice.

Will not let that happen to my sukiyaki.

Wow, the beef onion soup.  That’s french.

Very nice.

The oden.  Not so fancy about it.

I guess we all are hungry.

Got jello too.

I guess we are thirsty too.  Ordered the second bottle.

After a full meal, let’s take a stroll.  Actually, I did that before the dinner with the kids, now, walk with my wife.

Sky is cloudy.  Could not see a star.

That’s our hotel.  Night view.

Before go to sleep, hang around at the lobby area, reading the magazine.  Wow, it seems like we going to miss all these point of interest.

So, we pretty much have in mind what we going to do tomorrow next day.

3PM in the morning

Somehow, my instinct woke me up at 3pm.  I move my lazy body and open the curtains.  Wow, there are some stars.

So, in the dark, I slowly bring out all my gears.

As it is cold, so, I intended to take the photos inside the room.

See that big huge rubber thingy?

That is the ULH.  Ultimate Lens Hood.  by Josh Smith.

What does it do?  See for yourself.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jsdesigns/the-ultimate-lens-hood

Yeap, I am taking photos from inside the room, using the ULH.

See how big it is?  It reduces the reflection to almost zero reflection.

No joke.  The sky is full of stars.

Mis-calculated my shuttle speed.

500 rules.  I am using the 9mm lens on Fujifilm X-H1 with crop factor of 1.5.  So, the maximum time I can expose my photo is 500/(9×1.5) = 38.46 seconds.

Why did I have an impression I can shoot for almost 60 seconds.  See, my stars are trailing inside the photos.

Our well, let’s process it anyway.  hahaha  This is the best photo I taken that has these stars.

So, imagine, if the clouds are not there?  What will you see, a sky full of stars.

This is another photos I take which is nice.

About to sun rise.

Playing with the settings.  Lights become stars.

That concludes our first day.

2nd day coming up soon.

  Japan 2019 – Tottori (Day 1) Date:  Dec 15, 2019 Finally, it is our turn to go to vacation. We will spent 3 days in Tottori, 3 days in Osaka and 2 days in Kyoto.

Ask me! I’ll answer honestly

Nabbed from @nachosforfree​

1: How tall or short do you wish you were? I’m okay where I am, maybe a smidge taller. 2: What’s your dream pet? (Real or not) A Charizard, but one that’s lovable and thinks it’s a dog while aware of its tail. 3: Do you have a favorite clothing style? Not really 4: What was your favorite video game growing up? Pokemon Crystal 5: What three things/people do you think of most each day: Wrestling stuff, what I’m gonna do going forward in life, and how much of a liar I am. 6: If you had a warning label, what would yours say? “Be aware of being unable to hear him. It’s okay, you’re not the only one. If he gets mad, stay calm about it.” 7: What is your opinion on Disney remakes? Fuck it, I already sold my soul to them long ago. 8: What is your Greek personality type? [Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, or Melancholic] Dunno, don’t feel like looking those up. Sorry. 9: Are you ticklish? [Oh god, I don’t wanna say yes, then I’ll get tickled, but if I say no then they might get suspicious and tickle me anyway so I don’t know.] 10: Are you allergic to anything? Failure...but not really 11: What’s your sexuality? A human 12: Do you prefer tea, coffee, or cocoa? Cocoa 13: Are you a cat or dog person? Cat, but still love dogs 14: Would you rather be a vampire, elf, or merperson? Elf 15: Do you have a favorite Youtuber? Right now it’s probably Everglow 16: How tall are you? 5′ 9″ 17: If you had to change your name, what would you change it to? Officially to Joshua Meredith Spicer, but probably something like Joshua Meredith Crumpton-Spicer to keep the Crumpton name going 18: How much do you weigh? 220 lbs.-ish 19: Do you believe in ghosts/spirits? Yes 20: Do you like space or the ocean more? Space 21: Are you religious? Yes 22: Pet peeves? What does my pet peeve? 23: Would you rather be nocturnal or diurnal [opposite of nocturnal]? Noc 24: Favorite constellation? Stars 25: Favorite star? Brian Blessed 26: Do you like ball-jointed dolls? I like vagina-jointed dolls 27: Any phobias or fears? Advanced darkness, being completely alone, the undying pressure of living my goals but settling and giving up and making my mom disappointed. I don’t know why, my mom means nothing to me beyond a base level of love and care, but she just won’t shut the fuck up. 28: Do you think global warming is real? Of fucking course. If you don’t you’re well and truly an idiot. 29: Do you believe in reincarnation? Yes 30: Favorite movie? Christopher Robin 31: Do you get scared easily? Jumpscared usually 32: How many pets have you own in your lifetime? 6 orange cats, one was officially ours named Festus. Keeshound named Hunter. Calico cat named Callie that we saved from the vet. Black cat named Borus. Husky named Rory/Aurora that we red to get eight puppies. We kept three of them named Stitches (mom tried to eat her at birth but my mum saved her), Tiki/Tikitus (dumb as fuck, and I do mean dumb as fuck, the guy was a literal moose), and Brutus (most loving dog ever but will force his love on you god dammit.) Two terriers named Sophie and Charlie that my mom kind of adopted from her current husband. 33: Blog rate? $75 a night for a double 34: What is a color that calms you? Couldn’t say 35: Where would you like to travel and/or live? California, Vancouver, Toronto 36: Where were you born? Mason City, Iowa

37: What is your eye color? Blue 38: Introvert or extrovert? Intro by design, extro when needed 39: Do you believe in horoscopes and zodiacs? Yes 40: Hugs or kisses? Sure 41: Who is someone you would like to see/visit right now? My sister 42: Who is someone you love deeply? My sister who is the only relative I trust wholeheartedly 43: Any piercings you want?  No 44: Do you like tattoos and piercings? I can 45: Do you smoke or have you eiver done so? No and no 46: Talk about your crush, if you have one! God she’s so amazing. Big dork but a hell of a smile. So shy when she does’t need to be. 47: What is a sound you really hate? When a tree falls in the woods. 48: A sound you really love? I dunno 49: Can you do a backflip? No 50: Can you do the splits? Poorly 51: Favorite actor and/or actress? Ryan Reynolds and Emily Blunt 52: Favorite movie? Christopher Robin, didn’t we already--yeah, #30 53: How are you feeling right now? Alright 54: What color would you like your hair to be right now? I’m okay 55: When did you feel happiest? Couldn’t tell ya 56: Something that calms you down? Can’t think of anything right now 57: Have any mental disorders? None that are diagnosed 58: What does your URL mean? Name I came up with when I first joined the internet. An OC brother of Jack Spicer from Xiaolin Showdown that I used on an old XS RP board. 59: What three words describe you the most? Kind, empathetic, stubborn 60: Do you believe in evolution? In some ways yes 61: What makes you unfollow a blog? If they’re too hamfisted in their belief/opinion to the point that it contradicts something so blatantly that they don’t realize it OR if they blatantly post a cheating/NTR fic/art with no remorse or with enjoyment. 62: What makes you follow a blog? Fun opinions, great art 63: Favorite kind of person: Someone who appreciates you for who you are and won’t judge you for your interests or dislikes. Kind and sweet, trustworthy, able to talk to. 64: Favorite animal(s): Cats, dogs, foxes 65: Name three of your favorite blogs. Nah 66: Favorite emoticon: Nah 67: Favorite meme: Right now it’s still surprised Pikachu. All time it’s probably the flagging ref 68: What is your MBTI personality type? Dunno 69: What is your star sign? Cancer 70: Can your dog roll over on command, if you have a dog? No 71: What outfit out of all your clothes do you like to wear the most? T-shirt, jeans, converse rip-offs, white socks, and my blue Menards jacket 72: Post a selfie or two? Yeah sure, see down at the bottom. 73: Do you have platform shoes? No 74: What is one random but interesting fact about yourself? This question is always asked and I never know what the fuck to post. 75: Can you do a front flip? No 76: Do you like birds? All but geese and Pidgey 77: Do you like to swim? Not particulary 78: Is swimming or ice skating more fun to you? Swimming 79: Something you wish didn’t exist: Teeth diseases 80: Some thing you wish did exist: All my hopes and dreams 81: Piercings you have? None 82: Something you really enjoy doing: Sitting here at the computer and coming up with film plots and characters that will probably never be made. 83: Favorite person to talk to: My sister or Dawn 84: What was your first impression of Tumblr? Good site in concept with a nice structure that holds up when it works but shit-tier communication from the top down and a tendency to break 85: How many followers do you have? 200+ 86: Can you run a mile within ten minutes? Maybe if I actually gave a shit about a mile I would but the mile was the stupidest fucking thing in gym class 87: Do your socks always match? Yes 88: Can you touch your toes and keep your legs straight completely? No 89: What are your birthstones? Ruby 90: If you were an animal, which one would you be? A house cat 91: If a flower could aesthetically represent you, what kind would it be? Dunno 92: A store you hate? Salvation Army 93: How many cups of coffee can you drink in one day? None 94: Would you rather be able to fly or read minds? Fly 95: Do you like to wear camo? Not really 96: Winter or summer? Summer 97: How long can you hold your breath for? Dunno 98: Least favorite person? My mom’s husband 99: Someone you look up to: Dunno 100: A store you love? Hot Topic or Video Games Etc. 101: Favorite type of shoes Tennis shoes, converse 102: Where do you live? Denver, CO 103: Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, why? No 104: What is your favorite mineral or gem? Not particularly 105: Do you drink milk? Yes, I’m grown up 106: Do you like bugs? Eh 107: Do you like spiders? No 108: Something you get paranoid about? The weight of pressure ever expanding on me 109: Can you draw: Not well. I can doodle decently. 110: Nosiest question you have ever been asked? Nothing I can think of 111: A question you hate being asked? “What was that? Why can’t you slow down? Why can’t you speak up” 112: Ever been bitten by a spider? Maybe once 113: Do you like the sound of waves at the beach? Yes 114: Do you prefer cloudy or sunny days? Cloudy 115: Someone you’d like to kiss or cuddle right now: Couldn’t tell ya 116: Favorite cloud type: Blonde, long-ass sword 117: What color do you wish the sky was? Warm orange/yellow 118: Do you have freckles? Yes 119: Favorite thing about a person: Their laugh (usually), their voice 120: Fruits or vegetables? Fruits 121: Something you want to do right now: Nothing forever 122: Is the ocean or sky prettier? Ocean 123: Sweet or sour foods? Sweet 124: Bright or dim lights? Bright 125: Do you believe in a certain magical creature? Maybe 126: Something you hate about Tumblr: @staff​ 127: Something you love about Tumblr: Everything else 128: What do you think about the least? All the friends I’ve left behind 129: What would you want written on your tombstone? “This bitch empty. I’m ash so let the world turn to me.” 130: Who would you like to punch in the face right now? Myself 131: What is something you love but also hate about yourself? I can give advice and feel emotion for anybody but lack the ability to practice what I preach. 132: Do you smile with your teeth showing for pictures? No 133: Computer or TV? Computer 134: Do you like roller coasters? Yeah sure 135: Do you get motion sickness or seasickness? Only when I’m cramped and already have a headache 136: Are your ears lobed or attached? Lobed 137: Do you believe in karma? Yes 138: On a scale of 1-10, how attractive would you say you are? I’ve been told I’m a 7 by a gay guy when I was in high school and wasn’t fat or hairy. I’d say maybe a 5 now-a-days. 139: What nicknames do you have/have had? McLovin, Toad/Toadman, Crumpton 140: Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends? Yes 141: Have you ever seen a therapist/shrink? Yes 142: Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others? Good with what they know of me 143: Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts/help? Receiving gifts, giving help 144: What makes you angry When people can’t hear me despite speaking clear as possible. When people go through my shit without my express permission. When people disobey people’s trust and relationships. 145: How many languages do you speak fluently? English. Really wanna learn Japanese. 146: Do you prefer boys, girls, and/or non-binaries? Females for the most part but I’m coming around to males 147: Are you androgynous? No 148: Favorite physical thing about yourself: My hair when it’s not bed-ridden 149: Favorite thing about your personality: Empathy boiiii 150: Name three people you would like to talk to right now in person. Dawn, my sister, Caroline 151: If you could go back into time and live in one era, which would you choose? Post-WW2 152: Do you like BuzzFeed? Neutral 153: How did you meet your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner? I time warped to the future and decided I’m good. 154: Do you like to kiss others’ foreheads or hands for platonic reasons? Not really 155: Do you like to play with others’ hair? Never tried 156: What embarrasses you? My stutter. My internet past, much to my chagrin. My likes and interests to somebody new. 157: Something that makes you nervous/anxious: Introducing my likes and interests to somebody new. 158: Biggest lie you have ever told: “Yes I’ve totally been going to football practice for the last two months.” “Yes I’ve totally been going to school for the last two months.” 159: How many people are you following? A lot 160: How many posts do you have on your blog(s)? A lot 161: How many drafts do you have on your blog(s)? None on purpose 162: How many likes do you have on your blog(s)? Not a lot 163: Last time you cried and why: Infinity War on its third rewatch because Peter 164: Do you have long or short hair? Longer 165: Longest your hair has ever been: Probably now 166: Why do you like, dislike, or have neutral feelings about religon? It gives me hope that everything will be okay when I die. It also gives me hope that people can be good. There are bad people within this sect, yes, but there are good people out there. Genuinely good people. I’ve met them. 167: Do you really care how the universe and world was created? Not really 168: Do you like to wear makeup? No 169: Can you stand on your hands or head for more than thirty seconds? No 170: Did you answer the questions you were asked truthfully?  Mostly