quicklizard: Belated update from Japan

Big spider...crap picture

I saw several of these on a walk in Busan, in the South of South Korea. Tricky to get a good picture without a tripod and with the breeze that was blowing.

My last night in Seoul

I wandered round with my camera for a few hours and then went to Hongik - Seoul's party district.

Things to do when you are out on the town on your last night in Korea

Make ghostly images of your beer. Hey, I was on my own and it was a quiet bar!

I can't believe it's not Buddha

I saw the largest wooden Buddha in Japan on my second day in Fukuoka at the Tocho-ji temple. He is a a very impressive 16.1m high. There was a small exhibition showing his construction, including pictures of a priest choosing and then blessing a tree trunk. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take the big fellow's picture.

I did, however, take a photo of his house...

...and his postcard.

Hello foxy

Just up the road from the large wooden Budhha is the really pretty Kushida-jinja (a jinja is a Shinto shrine) with some nice stone foxes wearing, for some reason, pink bibs.

Hello Kitty

I saw this shop in Fukuoka specializing in everybody's favourite cartoon cat. Jo, this one is for you. Do you forgive me for the snake and dog thing?

Sakurajima

At the bottom of Kyushu (one of Japan's four main islands) is the city of Kagoshima, whose skyline is dominated by a volcanic island called Sakurajima. Its only a 15 minute ferry trip to get to Sakurajima and I spent today touring round it.