Japan : 鎌倉大仏

En français
We then left 江の島 for 鎌倉 and stop there first to see the 大仏　(or big Buddha) in 高徳院 (Kōtoku-in).
The 大仏　was made of Bronze in 1252. Before the Buddha was made of wood which was damage when a storm destroyed the temple containing it in 1248. The hall containing the Buddha was destroyed by storms and rebuild several time until a tsunami destroyed it for the last time in 1498. We turned around it a lot and took picture, the day was really hot and we were looking for shadow.
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Japan : on the way to 鎌倉 tiny stop to 江の島

En français
And yes, not even one month and a half after going to 江の島 I was there again with a different party. This time, no walk  around the island, no eagle observation, we just walked to the temple door and went back down to have lunch in a restaurant on the other side of the bridge. Still I could find some interesting things to photography on the way.
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Japan : お台場 by night

En français
In the evening after the Vietnam day, we took a walk in お台場 toward the mall near the shore. The scenery is really romantic at night with the illumination of the bay on the other side. We found a "Hello Kitty" bus and entered a car park where we were not supposed to enter to photography it, hopefully without incident. Another particularity of お台場 is the statue of Liberty.
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Japan : Vietnam day

En français
Just the day after the UEC International day the Vietnamese community in Odaiba was holding a Vietnamese day. We arrived here early afternoon. The day was composed of presentation about Vietnam history and culture, Vietnamese traditional music by a Japanese band playing Vietnamese instrument, Fashion show of Vietnamese traditional outfit, presentation of a Japanese in Vietnam, dance and games and to finish Vietnamese typical food.
This was also a very interesting travel without leaving our sits to the completely rich and different Vietnamese culture.
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Japan : UEC International day

En français
My University held an international day back in June. International students were having stands to present their home country to other international students and Japanese student. At the end of the event there was some presentation of traditional songs and dances from Indonesia, India and  Bulgaria and a quiz about foreign countries. That was very interesting.
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Japan : 神代植物公園の薔薇と温室

En français
In Mai, the botanic garden in Jindaiji is under the roses season, with means that the hundredth of different species of roses in the garden are blooming at the same time making it a paradise for flower lovers. The perfume of the flowers are in the air as you walk along the long alley of roses bushes, looking at the roses of different shapes and colors and trying to remember the names of your favorites or if you are lucky to memorize it with your camera. After spending the first part of the day in the garden, I went to the greenhouse to have a lot at more exotic species. I took so many pictures that day that it was easier to put them in a video. The song is a Japanese song called Gerbera from a thriller called Synesthesia (or gimi hebun). I hope you'll enjoy.
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Japan : 生け花

En français
Still in Mai, I took some 生け花 (or 華道) classes. It was really nice to sit there with your flowers, listen to the explanation of the teacher on how the flowers should be arranged and then to actually make the composition yourself. I went to those classes three times, every time, the arrangement looked a bit the same as for the positions of the flowers in the plate. But the flower themselves were different and we needed to be careful about the color arrangement and also about the length of the stem. At the end of the classes we were allowed to bring the flowers home, that way I had flowers in my room all month making it very lively. I like flowers.
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Japan : 焼肉

En français 
On the eight of Mai, I went to my first 焼肉 restaurant。 A 焼肉 is a place specialized in meat (肉) which is like an indoor barbecue. You can get different type of meat, for example chicken, port, beef... and from different part of the animal body (even the inside which was hard to get over for some westerners). You order the meat you desire and you grilled it yourself in the center of the table. No to say that we share everything and it's very convivial. And on the top of that it's delicious, even for me with my vegetarian tendencies.
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Japan : 江の島 once again, part 2

En français 
For this trip to 江の島we stay a while near the sea, playing with the waves while trying to get pictures at the moment when they strike the rocky shore the hardest and looking at the eagle. I don't remember seeing so many eagles when I went to 江の島 the first time but this day there were a lot of them flying in circle in the sky, playing with each other and chilling on the rocks. I like eagles.
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Here is a little Native American legend about the eagles :

When the earth was created, a great thundercloud appeared on the horizon. Flashing lightning and thundering it's call, it descended toward the treetops. As the mists cleared, there was an eagle perched on the highest branches. He took flight and flew slowly down to the ground. As he approached the earth, he put forward his foot, and as he stepped upon the ground, he became a man.
For this reason we recognize the eagle as a messenger of the creator, and rely upon him to carry word of our actions to God. When the eagle comes to where we are working, we know that God cares about us and is watching over us.
by D'Arcy Rheault

Japan : Photo expo and 原宿 by night

En français
Last week-end the UEC photography club (photo club of my university) was holding a photo exposition in 原宿, see more details here. So I went there with a friend. It wasn't so easy to find and we were a bit lost walking too far away from the site but we finally made it there. The DESIGN-FESTA GELLERY was presenting art from different universities including ours. The pictures, paintings and drawings were exposed on 3 floors. A small room was designed to show a typical traditional and modern Japanese style bedroom with optical effect art (more on optical effect art here). We then had a early night walk in 原宿's streets eating crepes, the local specialty.
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