Japan, through a new lens.

Hello, readers!

It's been a lovely, if insanely busy week here in Japan.  After a full week of classes and various other commitments, DW and I completed our long-awaited and much-trained-for-because-we're-out-of-shape "Ohori Koen Night Marathon" on Friday (which was not, in fact, a marathon, but a 6K).  Though we didn't set any land-speed records, we were both happy with our times and really enjoyed the event. 

"Hooray!  We did it!  Now, let's go home and get CoCo Curry delivered."

The very next day, Saturday, DW was dragged (and I mean that literally... he was blindfolded...) to a surprise birthday enkai, involving a dozen of my favorite, fun-loving coworkers.  Mostly, it was a surprise because his birthday was in October.  But it was crazy and amazing, and it was as close to the perfect enkai experience as I could imagine.

But that's not what we're talking about today on the blog.  No.  No.  Yes, I know you'd love to see drunken pictures of DW posing with my gloriously drunken coworkers, wearing giant foam hats in the shapes of cakes and pretending to be members of AKB48.  But, as the saying goes, "What happens at the enkai, stays at the enkai," and one does not anger the gods of the enkai.

As I was saying.  Today's post will be all about pictures!  (No, not those pictures.  Sheesh, guys.  Let it go.)  Recently, I've been wanting to get into photography, as a way to interact with some of the amazing places we've been visiting.  I mean, I love taking pictures, and I've really treasured the pictures I've taken with my iPhone.  But I've never had (what I would consider to be) a nice camera that actually could do the super-cool-camera things that I've been wanting to do.  So, after a week of secret shopping and obsessive online research, DW got me a wonderful present.

Ain't she a beaut?  Obviously, this is just a promotional shot I pulled from the depths of the internet, and not a picture of my actual camera.  But my camera is just as gorgeous, just as ruby red, and I love it to little DSLR pieces.  Full Confession:  I still suck at using it.  But, that's the nature of all new hobbies, right?  I've been doing everything I can think of to improve: Watching YouTube tutorials, playing with the buttons, considering reading the manual but then getting bored and playing with the buttons some more, and taking photos.  Lots and lots of photos.

So, today, I'm giving you a photo walk-through of the "Best of the Best... Sort Of," grouped by the three locations we went shooting.

KUSHIDA SHRINE.
Somehow, DW and I managed to miss visiting this long-famous Fukuoka City shrine, despite walking nearby dozens of times.  Armed with my new camera, and having no clue how to use it, we decided stop in and see what happened.

Discarded fortunes.

Dan wasn't satisfied with his, either.

Prayer plaques.

Lovely light and shadow.

AGOTO FIRE FESTIVAL.
DW attended this event solo, due to the timing and the lame, lame fact that I was at my lame (Note: not actually lame) job.  But, remembering how much we enjoyed the "Daizenji Fire Festival" earlier this year, and knowing we couldn't return, DW was determined to make the cross-city trek and check it out.  Here are a few of his favorite shots.

Priestess performs a pre-fire ritual.

Tending the fire.

Smoke, sky, and shrine.

Paper flames, real flames.

Priestly paparazzi.

Fukuoka City from the mountain top.

UMINONAKAMICHI SEASIDE PARK.
This is a place that's been on my to-do list since I arrived in Fukuoka.  But, being far out on a tiny peninsula in Hakata Bay (hence the name, which literally means, "The road in the middle of the sea."), it takes nearly an hour and a half to get to.  The good news?  It's totally worth the trip.

Waiting for our transfer at a tiny little station.

WR, about to ride a MechanoPanda. Really.

A shot from the Flower Museum.

The obligatory DW-WR selfie, now requiring 2 people to take it.

Plants, Genkai Sea in the background.

A big ole' birdie scans the beach.

Aaaaaand since we've inundated you with so many (hopefully awesome) pictures this week, we're going to leave the blog at that.  Rest assured, though, that we have many pics of delicious food and other epic adventures just waiting to be uploaded.

Thanks for reading, all!  Hope you have a fantastic week, and don't forget to feed the fish!
WR