The Eyes in the Sky above New Chitose @ Hokkaido [Japan]

Now's the time once for me to reduce the number of photos taken for Hokkaido and populate them into nugget-sized postings in this blog so that they don't go to waste! 

To be honest, i wasn't expecting much when the plane made its descent as there was a bloody thick layer of cloud with a possibly high chance of rain; which would have derailed any effort on my side to take photos of the land up in the air.

Thankfully, there wasn't a single drop of rain and lo and behold; right beneath me would be the land of the rising land and the fulfillment of a childhood dream to visit Japan. 

Unlike typical Southeast Asian landscape, it was a scene of tidiness with ample space and plenty of greenery. This differs from what i read in the history textbooks; i thought Japan would be super crowded. 

More photos; not many tall buildings (and rightfully so since they are near the airport) and it was pretty boring after a while as nothing much quite stands out to wow me from my airplane seat. 

Maybe this did make me turn my head a bit although it was just many lines of solar panels; eco-friendly no doubt yet again, unsurprising with a conventional layout. 

Taking off from the opposite runway at New Chitose Airport 8 days later was an entirely different view; much more greenery that made me wondered then if i was at a nature reserve! 

An oddity in the midst of the greenery - a pretty full carpark and it's one of quite a number surrounding New Chitose Airport. My assumption is that parking there would be much cheaper compared to the airport.

Golf courses! Guess a few things never change when it comes to airports all over the world; the potential noise pollution from the jets would drastically reduce the land value and a country club for the rich would make total economic sense. 

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Interested to check out my summarized 8 days, 7 nights itinerary to Hokkaido in summer (including a few days of self-drive)? Click here. 

The Eyes In The Sky above Bandung City @ Indonesia

It's no secret that i love taking photographs and my favourite spot is up in the air, within an aeroplane; that sensation of being on top of cottony clouds and peering down on land mass dotted with miniature structures across vast greenery broken only by bodies of water and mountains and hills is simply put, indescribable! 

As i can't have a good sleep on the plane (not with the economy class ticket that i could barely afford), i spent a lot of time looking out of the window and since cameras nowadays have digital storage, i happily clicked away.

The issue with being trigger happy is that i often have too many pictures that i couldn't all upload in any of my travel itineraries. It's a serious problem for me as i tried not to 'waste' my effort; hence, i decided to create a new label called "The Eyes In The Sky". 

I am not going to backdate all the pictures taken so far on my overseas travel (the ones that required a plane ride) and the first posting shall be the place where i recently visited; Bandung City! 

Now, Earth is 70% covered with water and unless i have supersonic eyes that enable me to see what goes on under the water, i am very much happier when i see land. 

Flying over Bandung City; i love technology as i can corroborate what i have taken with google maps! See that patch of greenery that looks like a keyhole? That's apparently a monument known as bandung lautan api (Bandung Sea of Fire)!  

Don't you think that Indonesia's third largest city is nicely structured and tidy from high above? Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of tall buildings although i might be unfair in my comparison since Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and i remember a time when the little red dot had the highest number of skyscrapers! 

Indonesia is a lot bigger and as an urbanite, i totally love the sights of modern structures side by side with agricultural land and untouched mountains / hills. 

There's no way you can have this in Singapore! 

More photographs for your viewing pleasure as i honestly don't know where i was at; the plane was asked to delay landing and it was just flying all over the city. If only i had brought along my Olympus camera as it has a GPS function! 

About to land after about fifteen minutes of wait; i should be able to see the Best Western Premier La Grande hotel from here as i can also see the same iconic bridge (center left of the first picture and centre of the second picture) from my room.

Cannot imagine i missed out the patch of green lung on the left as it appeared to be a rather large cemetery! Further checks revealed that it is the Ereveld Pandu Dutch Cemetery! Maybe i should check it out in my next visit given how close it is to the airport. 

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For the itinerary of my five days, four nights inaugural trip to Bandung, please click here.