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It's the Christmas season.

Kids like to have fun. Parents love to see kids having fun. I was lucky to have a tripod not to miss this opportunity.

Christmas Tree Is Coming To Town!

Last weekend has been thickly foggy that turned mundane scenes into an utterly mysterious vibe. I had lots of fun shooting this opportunity.

Then I happened to encounter a Christmas tree set-up.

Day one - fixing the tree

Obviously, the Christmas season is coming and the town is getting ready to cheer inhabitants up.

Day two - decorating with illuminations

The following day I saw guys decorating over the ten-meter-tall tree with Christmas illuminations. Fortunately, it was not windy that night.

Note that these images are not hijacked by flares.  It was just plain foggy conditions.

This is Our World Tuesday November 18, 2013 entry.

Have a wonderful week.

Botanical Garden

I had a chance to visit Botanical Garden in Brno.

Don't ask me the names of these flowers as it was written in Czech...

This is an entry for Monday Mellow Yellows and Macro Monday 2.

Have a wonderful week.

Czechoslovak Independence Day

October 28th is the anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovak declared independence on the 28th of October, 1918, against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

When it comes to celebrating Independence Day, having fireworks is mandatory. I found info regarding the celebration in Olomouc and went downtown with a tripod.

I expected to see tons of national flags overwhelming the city but I was wrong... Rather I hardly see any national pride but the soldiers looked so cool.

The ceremony was solemn and took place at Žižkově náměstí.

View Larger Map

Since this was my first time to be there, my positioning for shooting fireworks was so bad...

This is Our World: 28 October entry.

Have a wonderful week.

Hradisko Monastery

It's time to post photos taken in Olomouc.

Taken by an infrared camera

It was my second visit to the Hradisko Monastery last weekend. The first visit was one week after my arrival in Olomouc (11 months ago). I had an appointment to see a doctor for a health check and I was taken to this Monastery... Hradisko Monastery has served as a Military hospital since 1802, according to Wiki. Now it's open to non-soldiers.

While wondering "A Japanese citizen visiting Monastery to see a doctor???", a doctor - aged over 80 with completely white hair - appeared and asked questions.

Doctor: How tall are you? 

Me: 173 cm

Doctor: Your weight? 

Me: 53.5 kg

Doctor: Oh, you are Bantamweight.  

He, who appears to belong to the WBC Heavyweight class, must be lefty as his slow jab came from his right hand and left upper with a pen...

Doctor: What is your blood type?

Me: O

Doctor: Do you smoke?

Me: Never in my life.

Doctor: Very well.

He opened a book for the color blindness test.

Doctor: Can you see the number?

I answered what was seen.

Doctor: OK, you can drive a car in the Czech Republic if you have a driver's license. Have a good day, Bye-bye.

He did not examine my heart rate, blood pressure, no blood and urine tests, no X-ray, nothing but I was proven healthy... It was a bizarre experience, though the building was awesome.

Since my current apartment is located just across the river, I decided to visit there again. With the camera not as a patient.

This is Our World Tuesday, 30 September, 2013 entry.

Trip to Brno Part Three - St. James Church

We then headed to St. James Church, where the second biggest European ossuary was rediscovered in 2001. Number of people buried underneath the Church was estimated to be over 50,000! We did not explore this as we were already fed up with corpses in the first place...

Please visit this for more information.

Seats

Trip to Brno Part Two - SPOOKY!

This is a part two entry of our trip to Brno, Czech Republic.

For those who are very sensitive and naive to explicit photos of corpses - mummies, this is the link for you.

For those who have a habit of browsing over eating, keep off from this entry. Instead, here is the link for you.

Our first destination was Capuchin Crypt in Brno and this was the biggest highlight of this trip (at least to me). More information in terms of this spooky place can be found here.

I was a bit reluctant to post photos I've taken there in this photoblog, however, I had to do so solely due to an enthusiastic request from Cintia - a visiting student from Argentina...

So here we go.

It costs 60 CZK (adult) and an additional 30 CKZ for taking photos there.

From young to old when they were mummified, 24 mummified bodies of Capuchin monks are laid out in rows on the ground.

with a pile of bones...

Some are kept in coffins with glass lids. So I had to attach the circular polarizing filter to the lens in order to reduce reflection and it really worked out fine.

This entry is dedicated to Cintia! I hope that she can enjoy the photos posted here.

To be continued

Trip to Brno Part One

Once again thanks to the everlasting hospitality from my colleagues I had a chance to visit Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It took us around an hour and a half to get there by train.

We've had a very startling experience there. Although I've taken quite shocking and explicit photos, I would post photos taken with a customized Infrared camera - Olympus CAMEDIA C-2020Z in this entry.

I bought it three years ago through the YAHOO auction. It cost 5 USD. As I mentioned, it was customized by the previous owner for taking infrared photos only. If you are curious about Infrared photos, please visit this and this.

The weather was beautiful and I like shooting plants with this camera when it's sunny.

To be continued.

A Visit to Moravian Karst Part Two

This is a part two entry of our Moravian Karst trip. For those who missed part one entry, here is the link.

Since underground rivers run through karst, the tour consists of a boat cruise. The sailor must be a great entertainer because all the passengers had a great laugh at it, except me:( So it appears that lots of Czech jokes kept going on during the cruise and I felt like an idiot not to get it...  But the colors of the water were just stunning!

At the next stop, you encounter terrific sceneries again and again. Simply stunning!

When your eyes are used to dim light conditions, Macocha Abyss comes in sight. What a drastic change!

Then we all walked home...

No no, we went trekking after the tour.

This is Our World: 19 August 2013 entry.

Have a wonderful week.

A Visit to Moravian Karst

I was told many times by locals here that visiting Moravian Karst is one of the "must-do things" while in Olomouc. Needless to say, trying the stinky local cheese, Olomoucké syrečky, is another one.

Zobrazit místo Moravský kras na větší mapě

Thanks to my colleagues with warm hospitality, the trip was well-arranged and all I did was just follow them and have camera gadgets with me. It is located nearby Blansko. Well, I'd rather say it is north of Brno in the eastern part of the Czech Republic.

Around the region, there are roughly 1,100 caves and four of them are open to the public, according to Wiki. We went to Punkva caves, the most popular one, and Macocha Abyss. In order to take photos there, you are required to pay an additional 40 CZK (equivalent to 2 USD) but it is worth it. I hope that my photos will be able to convince you to do so...

It's just a bunch of breathtaking sceneries coming up one after another!!!

The tour is available only in the Czech language, unfortunately.

As you can imagine, it's pretty cold there.

 I would highly recommend visiting there if you have a chance.

This is Weekend Reflection entry.

To be continued.

Trip To Shanghai

I had a chance to visit Shanghai, China. This was my first foreign country in Asia to visit.

Finančni úřad

One of the buildings in my neighborhood.

I did not use a fisheye lens or a special photoshop tool, but just a wide-angle lens. The shape of the building is just as it is shown.

This is a Skywatch Friday entry.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Wedding Ceremonies Part Two

Took place second ceremony at Town Hall, Olomouc. The ceremony seemed to be sort of casual probably because it wasn't in a Church. The expression on the girl's face says it all!

Wishing you everlasting joy and happiness!

Wedding Ceremonies Part One

One day before getting aboard the airplane for participating in congress took place two wedding ceremonies in Olomouc. It was my first time witnessing a ceremony in the Czech Republic. Well, it is likely that I am the only pagan in the Church but I can give my blessings to new couples.

Happy Ever After

To be continued.