Dancing in the Rain

A sudden down pour has ruined a lot of festival events around Tokyo area yesterday.

The thunder and rain can wash away the crowds in seconds, can wasted the effort of school's children who practiced hard for the dance; but the rain can't wash away the spirit of the people. 

The scene of crowds rushing for a shelter is noting pretty. Not for this 2 girls. They were dancing in the rain - enjoying themselves.

When we were caught in an inevitable situation, instead of complaining, why not embrace yourself into it?

Life will not be interesting without bumps, right?  

Have a nice weekends! 

夜・夜・叶・叶

最近怎么都对工作提不起劲。。。

一整天都被初夏的闷气搞得心烦意乱，昏昏欲睡。

迷糊。郁闷。

如何才能找回那股原动力？谁来给小弟指点迷津？

聆听着 《夜夜夜夜》

---
想问天你在哪里
我想问问我自己
一开始我聪明
结束我聪明
聪明的几乎都毁掉了我自己
想问天问大地
或者是迷信问问宿命
放弃所有
抛下所有
让我飘流在安静的夜夜空里
你也不必牵强再说爱我
反正我的灵魂已片片凋落
慢慢的拼凑 慢慢的拼凑
拼凑成一个完全不属于真正的我
我不愿再放纵
我不愿每天每夜每秒飘流
也不愿再多问 再多说 再多求
我的梦

I wish to be a child again

Looking at these photos, I really wish to be a child again. Throwing oneself into the snow and playing a full out of it. Life can be so simple and so much fun.

Looks at the girl, the smile, it was so pure and genuine.

I still remember when I was still a toddler, how much I wanted to be a grown up,  to be strong and to be independent. And I have to admit how naive I was, not to see the "dark side" as an adult.

"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable."   - Madeleine L'Engle - 

Although the quote sounds sad, but it perfectly sum up the differences in a few sentences. 

Life can be tough, road can be bumpy, grown-up can be vulnerable, but don't forget that we used to be children and they always live within us. Let's always keep the little child inside us alive and be happy :)   

Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year to whoever bump into the blog!

I know, today already the 3rd, but late better than none ~

2013 will be another year of self-searching. I set a 3 years time limit when I decided to stay back at Japan for job after graduated. This will be the final year for me to once again rethink what I want to do with my life, should I keep the same career path, should I go back home for good or should I... ya. A lot to think about.

I usually set a lot of target in new year and regret at the year end realizing how little I had done. So this year I will keep the target simple.

1. Read more books
2. Do more exercise (Jogging & Hiking)
3. Be more socialize
4. Letting Go

And the most important ~BE HAPPY~

Wish all of you have an awesome year ahead!

Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine＠Kamakura (鶴岡八幡宮＠鎌倉)

Even  the 3rd of January, there still a long line of people waiting to have their first prayer in the Japanese shrine, a tradition called Hatsumode  (初詣)

28

"When we were children, we used to think that when we grew up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability, to be alive is to be vulnerable." - Madeleine L'Engle

"Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different, yet, tomorrow is too often a repetition of today." - James T. McKay

28...

6 Months Journey.

6 months ago, the engineering team and I were on a mission - to build our first mobile client, an search application for iPhone. We dream big. We don't want to rush something out, or settle only for something good enough. We want to build something matter, something we ourselves do want to use.

Every day was a baby step for us, engineers getting their hand wet with the programming language, guided by a newly hired iOS programmer. Me, myself start to explore the task of a project planner and product/UX designer.  

Brain storming, planning, benchmarking industry leaders, stealing ideas, saying yes and no to a long list of features, sketching wireframes and mockups, building prototypes, toss them off to the trash and start from scratch again. The cycle repeats till we had a solid vision of the final product. 

Moving things forward, and connecting the dots was the most challenging part of the project. To share the thought and describing the aesthetics goal with visual designers. To explain each screen transition, animation and UI decision with the engineers. To listen to their feedback, to admit that my idea sucks, and also to insist on what needed to be done.

The journey was bumpy, internal security team caught some critical bugs, the first application to the app store was rejected by Apple and many minor episodes. But luckily at the end of the day, we managed to pull the project off and had it on store in time for the holiday season.

The feeling was great, and we really think that we had something solid. And personally one of the best from Rakuten. Although the search engine is target on Japanese market, we did make the app international with English support. You can get the apps on the App Store worldwide. Please check it out here, or visit our website (only in Japanese)

**I was pretty helpless when getting the apps  programed except being a cheerleader to the engineers. Oh, ya! I did have a chance to code some CSS and they did shipped in the final products. At least some minor contribution. :)

And sorry readers if you are looking up for a photography post, NEXT post will come with pretty photos. Finger crossed!!



   

Lost...

Getting lost in the nature.

Which path should I follow?

Untitled

夏終わりだ

1st September. The old standing fan constantly sending out a stream of breeze that try to take away any stagnant heat trapped in the room. The motor is making a low pitch noise with cicada taking the leads in their last performance before they were force into the ground again.

Then the rain came out of no where. The dripping added a nice touch to the symphony; the scent of rain provide another layer of sensation.

........

I'd jail myself up in a prison.

Life is a mess and sometimes shits happened. And when you can't take it anymore, you just shut yourself down, pretending that nothing had happened. You build walls for protection and never realized that it's the prison you end up with.

........

I need a fix.

.........

Sun do shine after every rain.

Happy Mother's Day

Ever since I left home for Japan 8 years ago, family gathering became once a year event, and I never had a chance to celebrate Mother's day with my mum except a Skype call. So please treat everyday like mother's day and express your gratitude to her whenever you can!



Last year, we welcome a new members, Happy mother's day to both mom 1.0 & mom 2.0.  :-)

Emptiness

A feeling of emptiness slip-in silently, without you even noticing her existence. Not until the light go off, when you put your head under the blanket trying to get enough rest for another busy day.

She will whisper into your ear, she will break into your dream and laugh into your face, questioning your decision, your purpose of life, trying to deny everything that you fighting for. 

4 walls and a empty soul. 

What am I here? Why SHE keep holding me back? 

And the only sound that draw me back to the reality is the alarm clock. **ck. I'm going to be late again.....

Autumn is here

Living in Tokyo, autumn can just slip past without noticing. Trapped in the concrete forest and office floor, one can't even notice the leave had turned red. Argh... I need a long vacation!!!

Photo taken at Okutama 奥多摩 

More to come soon !!

Be Happy

I don't know what the artist trying to tell when he decide to put a bunch of alphabet on wasabi powder. He even set up a board to warn visitor to be careful after touching the card. But that warning did not scare away the visitor to arrange some positive and meaningful phrase. I spot one that is the most simple and common - "Happy".



Be happy! Be graceful.

Another piece of artwork, in Japanes - "まけるな" which I prefer to translate it as don't be settle and don't be compromised. The kind of attitude that I hope I can hold firmly on, both in life and work.



It sounds contradictional, how can ones be graceful but at the meantimes challenge the status quo?

I don't have the answer, but I guess the following quote from Steve Jobs will be the best approach - "Stay hungry, stay foolish."

 Both photos taken at Yokohama Triennale 2011

Tokyo, after one month.

A quick hit and run post.

Striking for work life balance is a difficult task in Japan. Or my poor time management?

Both of the camera and this blog are covered with dust. Bad sign...

I should be controlling my life and not letting the life consuming me. This is the state of art that I must master.

Under the sakura. Praying hard.

Photo Taken at 青物横丁

Spring is here. Life goes on!

Hardly find a time to write a blog post. I'm not that busy, just still trying to adapt to a new life here in Tokyo.

Spring is finally here, despite all the disaster that struck Japan last month, life does goes on. Tokyo is dimmer than usual due to electrical shortage. Street is more quiet than usual. Some supermarket still run out of mineral water. Other than that, everything seem to be perfectly normal.

The earth plate still move from time to time. The crippled Fukushima plant still make headline here and there. People still concern how the incident will cost their life, their health, their wallet, and some are getting numb with all the dramas.

Whatever it is. Spring do come.

Am I making the right decision?

I have been asking myself repeatedly for the past 2 weeks the same question. Is my decision to head to Tokyo a right call. The Fukushima incident see little progress, the drama will be going up and down for another few weeks or even month, and to be honest I have loosing my hope on TEPCO. Don't get me wrong, I highly respect the people on the ground, risking their life to save the world.

Let's talk about Tokyo. 200km from the nuclear plant. Food and water are contaminated partly depends on the wind, rain and all sort of external factors. Some said the figure is too low to cause any health concern. Some predict the incident will cause thousands of cancer patients in the near future. Some argued that this incident is worst than Chernobyl, some said even the worst case scenario, a complete melt down, direct impact on human health is minor.

Some people trying hard to get back to normal life, some are leaving for good. Some assured me, you worried too much. Some beg me to go back.

Again. Am I making the right decision? Leaving behind my family with worrying news? Am I risking my health for a payroll? I don't have the answer. I really don't.

I hope I won't regret.

Random Update

My camera is covered with dusk. So do I.

Crazy season, rushing for thesis. Facing something I worked for 2 years, pale result and I am running out of words to conclude it. I'm really a bad, shitty researcher.

A fullstop. Soon, I hope.

Photo taken at Vienna, City Hall- "The Rathaus"

Crossing the bridge

I'm crossing a bridge. Try to cross over to the other side.

Will the scenery be better? No one can promise that.

But I just need to cross over, and the hassle on this side will come to an end.

Photo taken at Chain Bridge, Budapest

Happy New Year 2011

The clock struck at 12, midnight. Along with the temple's bell rung 108 times, marks the end of year 2010. A decade had past since 2000.

Happy New Year! 2011. Had a small gathering with some friends just now, but with the unusual cold weather outside and thesis deadline ahead, we canceled the routine visit to a temple. After wishing everyone a prospective new year ahead, here I am, sitting in front of my computer screen, writing the 100th post for this blog.

2011 will be a challenging year. I need to let go of something that has bother me for a long time. I need to fully prepare myself for a new life approaching in 4 months. Plans needed to be made and targets needed to be set. 加油！！

Good Luck! And Happy New Year!!

Your image has been judged.

Enter a photo contest for some professional feedback.

The result came in today: " Your image has been judged, it received a total average score of 67. "

3 points lower then the target I set for myself. A bit disappointed, but feel good to get some comments and will try hard to polish up my skill.

Here is the entry, and the judges comments:

Judges Feedback

• Color Balance - Most people are very sensitive to colour, but only when it's not quite right. Your entry when viewed on our judge's calibrated monitor appears to have an unwanted colour cast. There could be many reasons - you may like that colour cast (but the judge doesn't), your colour management isn't quite right, or the white balance wasn't set correctly on the camera.
  
  
• Technical Quality - Technical quality in a competition is expected by the judges. When viewing your entry, they may have seen some issues in terms of colour, contrast, brightness or even unwanted spots or marks that have let your entry down. Presentation of your work and correct post-production is so important for a successful competition entry.
  
  
• Lighting - Often the difference between a good photo and a great one is the light. This is a big subject and covers many issues, but the judge is indicating that better use of light may improve this image. Is the subject over lit? Is the light too contrasty or too flat for your subject? Is the light helping or hindering the subject.
  
  
• Framing - Just as important as what you include in a photograph is what you leave out. Your subject may be great, but there could be other elements in the photograph that are distracting and unnecessary, or it could be that your subject is too closely cropped. Have a look and see if different framing could improve your work.
  
  
• Composition - Composition is a big subject and very personal. The judge believes this image could be improved with stronger composition, which can be as simple as where your subject is placed within the frame, to more complex interactions of various elements within the composition. Have a look at your image again and see how a different camera angle, framing or subject arrangement could make the image stronger.
  
  
• Post Processing - Another highly subjective subject. It is not how much or little you process that matter, but how effective it is. Does it enrich the message and storytelling? Or does it detracts? Be ware of halos dodging & burning, artifacts from over sharpening. Try to maintain details in the highlights and shadows. Successful post processing just glues the eyes the image. Some liken post processing to cooking. When it is done right it is just heavenly.

Din't make it this time. But a lesson has been learned. 加油！

26

26. Second half of my 20s is counting down to 4.

I have a friend who turned 26 a few days back, and he tweeted:

"i'm 26 y.o now, and so does Mark Zuckerberg. But he created FB and TIME's Person of the Year 2010. and me, what have i done? nothing *sigh"

Me neither.

But deep down in my heart, I believe I will find MYSELF, and my PURPOSE and fully dedicated into it, someday - even though I still don't have a clear idea where am I heading to, even though the journey will surely be tough.

4 months before I graduate. BIG changes is approaching, and I am looking forward to it.

Wish me luck for my graduation thesis!!

Journey on route 26