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This is Page 2 of 2 - the best of May 2006!
posted: June 2nd, 2006
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The photos on this page continue, starting with May 8th - a 2 day trip with Kazuya, to Yamanaka Lake, and go through the end of the month. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

  On May 8th and 9th Kazuya had 2 consecutive days off, so we went to Yamanaka Lake. We have gone there several times in the past and stayed at Marimo Pension, so that was where we stayed again. We hiked during the day after our bus ride got us there at about 9:00 AM. The first shot is an unknown flower. The 2nd and 3rd shots show different Trillium smallii plants and flowers.
May08_YamanakaLkWhiteFlower02RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkWhite
Flower02RC
May08_YamanakaLkTrillium03RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkTrillium
03RC
May08_YamanakaLkTrillium05RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkTrillium
05RC

  The first shot is another Trillium and the 2nd and 3rd shots are on the side of Mt. Myoujin after all of the tall grass has been burned off. Looks desolate and barren - interesting shots with the clouds and fog.
May08_YamanakaLkTrillium07RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLk
Trillium07RC
May08_YamanakaLkMtMyoujinBurnedGrass_Dan17RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkMtMyoujin
BurnedGrass_Dan17RC
May08_YamanakaLkMtMyoujinBurnedGrass02RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkMt
MyoujinBurnedGrass02RC

  The first 2 shots here are the Marimo Pension - BRAND NEW - and on the opposite side of the lake from the old Marimo Pension. The first shot shows our cottage (on the left) - the cottages are new, before it was just rooms. The 2nd shot shows the entrance area and restaurant - where they serve us supper and breakfast. Supper is actually a course meal - and EXCELLENT! The 3rd shot is the next day - a small carpet of violets.
May08_YamanakaLkNewMarimoPension07RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkNewMarimo
Pension07RC
May08_YamanakaLkNewMarimoPension08RC.jpg
May08_YamanakaLkNewMarimo
Pension08RC
May09_YamanakaLkVioletsCarpet02RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkViolets
Carpet02RC

  This shot shows a white dandelion (Taraxacum albidum) - the first one we've ever seen in the wild. The 2nd shot shows a trail sign for the trail we hiked - I included it because it's very interestingly green. the 3rd shot is me at the summit of Mt. Ohira (1,296 meters = 4,250 feet). Notice the fog and clouds.
May09_YamanakaLkClimbWhiteDandelion02RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
WhiteDandelion02RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrailSign02RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
TrailSign02RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrailSignMtOhira_Dan02RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
TrailSignMtOhira_Dan02RC

  A bumblebee on a yellow dandelion. The remaining 2 shots are a mountain peony plant - the only one of these we've ever seen! Too bad it was not blooming.
May09_YamanakaLkClimbBumblebee06RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
Bumblebee06RC
May09_YamanakaLkMtnPeony03RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkMtn
Peony03RC
May09_YamanakaLkMtnPeony04RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkMtn
Peony04RC

  In this row you can see more Gentiana zollingeri - you saw some last month. The 1st shot shows more depth of field than we have ever achieved before - that's the reason for it's inclusion. And the 2nd shot's reason is that this little plant had more flowers than we've ever seen on one plant before. The 3rd shot is Mt. Fuji at 12:23 PM. We could only see the mountain for about 15 minutes for the entire 2 days we were there - and we were fortunate enough so that it was when we were at the summit of a small peak eating our lunch! How lucky could we get anyway?!
May09_YamanakaLkClimbGentiana02RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
Gentiana02RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbGentiana05RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
Gentiana05RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrailCloudsFuji16RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrail
CloudsFuji16RC

  Mt. Fuji at 12:24 PM! The 2nd and 3rd shots show some bush with the flowers in the centers of the leaves. This is similar to the Helwingia japonica which we found last summer, but it's not the same. We don't know what it is yet!
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrailCloudsFuji19RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrail
CloudsFuji19RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbLeafFlowers03RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
LeafFlowers03RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbLeafFlowers04RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
LeafFlowers04RC

  The first shot is a pink colored Trillium! Weird! Trillium smallii, but pink, don't know?! The final shot is at the end of the trail, where it comes down to a road - look at how the rich people live - and these are merely their summer homes.
May09_YamanakaLkTrillium07RC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLk
Trillium07RC
May09_YamanakaLkClimbTrailsEndRC.jpg
May09_YamanakaLkClimb
TrailsEndRC

  On the 14th Kazuya and I went to Jindai Botanical Garden. The first shot here is a Magnolia obovata - that's a huge flower, too bad there is nothing for scale. The 2nd 2 shots are what is known in Japanese as a Handkerchief Tree. Good name for it. The scientific name is Davidia involucrata. An amazing flower. We wondered why people were taking pictures of this particular tree - we couldn't see anything special about it, but then we walked over to it and found the "handkerchiefs"!
May14_JindaiMagnolia_obovata06RC.jpg
May14_JindaiMagnolia_
obovata06RC
May14_JindaiHandkerchiefTree05RC.jpg
May14_JindaiHandkerchief
Tree05RC
May14_JindaiHandkerchiefTree06RC.jpg
May14_JindaiHandkerchief
Tree06RC

  The first shot here is a Dragonfly - taken by Kazuya! Nice shot. The 2nd photo is a Blue Poppy Flower - ever seen a blue poppy? They had these growing in the greenhouse. Sorry, can't remember the scientific name. And that's the end of that outing.
May14_JindaiDragonFly04RC.jpg
May14_JindaiDragon
Fly04RC
May14_JindaiBluePoppy04RC.jpg
May14_JindaiBlue
Poppy04RC

  On Monday, May 29th, I was given the opportunity to fly as an observer in the cockpit of a Boeing 777. That goes along with my new assignment as an English tester for the pilots and their ICAO English testing requirements. I am expected to be able to listen to - and understand - what the Pilots and the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC'c) are saying, what they are talking about, and whether they are using internationally approved phraseology and vocabulary, whether the pilots are truly understanding the English spoken by the ATC's and so on. The first shot shows the Pilot and his instrument panel readouts. The 2nd shot shows both Pilot in Command and First Officer's instruments and so on. The 3rd shot is Mt. Fuji from about 25,000 feet (Flight Level 250).
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda_Osaka01RC.jpg
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda
_Osaka01RC
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda_Osaka04RC.jpg
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda
_Osaka04RC
FromCockpit_Boeing777_Haneda_Osaka_Fuji01aRC.jpg
FromCockpit_Boeing777_Haneda
_Osaka_Fuji01aRC

  The first shot here is a part of the instrument panel. The 2nd shot is me accompanying the pilot on his walkaround of the plane at Osaka Airport (we flew from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka Airport in Osaka and returned).
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda_Osaka09RC.jpg
Cockpit_Boeing777_Haneda
_Osaka09RC
Boeing777_Walkaround01bRC.jpg
Boeing777_
Walkaround01bRC

  The 1st shot shows the pilot "hiding" behind a side view of one of the engines. The 2nd shot shows the pilot looking into the engine.
Boeing777_Walkaround02RC.jpg
Boeing777_
Walkaround02RC
Boeing777_Walkaround06RC.jpg
Boeing777_Walkaround06RC

  This is a link to a separate web page showing a BRAND NEW photo of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our new Sharp Aquos TV. By the way - I just finished building a beautiful DVD Shelf - you can see it here.
April 1, 2006 DVD Collection - 1 NEW Photo,
Movie of Home Theater System
& New TV Pictures
(new window)

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