Miniature world of Otaru-music-box shop

Otaru, one of the very romantic tourist centre in Hokkaido, is well known for its artistic glass works, music boxes, and seafood. I have the opportunity to visit this town via Autumn Trip 2008, organised by HUISA (Hokkaido University International Students Association) the last Sunday.
My intention of joining the trip is mearly to photography autumn scenary, but to my supprise, I ended out shooting the most the miniatures in this music box shop...


Here we go for series of shots I did in the shop (bear in mind that most of them are just about the size of a thumb)...






















Technical considerations:

f/2.8 (As I don't have tripod with me, this large opening is in order for me to use higher shutter speed in the indoor, dim light; Again, my investment in the canon EOS 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM II paid)

1/60 sec (so that I can shoot hand-held in closeup)

ISO1600 (noises reduced at 4 in postprocessing using Canon's Digital Photo Professional 3.4)

p/s: BTW, how about my autumn scenery! well, will create a post especially dedicated to it :) After all, it's the 1st autumn that I experience, so don't want it to be messed up with something else.

New apartment!!!

As you may already know that I've been kicked out from the Hokkaido University dormitory the end of last month, this blog is about my new apartment...
The move in begins with a total mess...
There are on toilet, kitchen, tatami room, and balcony. Tatami room is a room with Japanese style flooring (see following pictures). Long before I think of to pursue my phd (coming to Japan not even cross my mind at that time- life really unpredictable), I've been thinking of to create such Japanese style atmosphere in my Malaysia house, so now it's something like a dream come true...
At Hokkaido, room heating system (at the left of above picture) is essential, you don't need to ask whether they have heater, because it is there just like toilet. What you need to ask is what kind of gas they use, because that's what determine the amount of your bill during the 6-month-long winter. The white sliding doors (shoji in Japanese), can be opened to the left or right, freely. Shoji is used as room divider. The kitchen area (in the 1st pic) is right behind the 3 pieces shoji. While the area behind the 2 pieces shoji is a 'store room'.
[Note: Distortion in the above picture is a result of Photomerge process in Photoshop; this process combined 6 photos into one to produce such panorama image, as if it's captured using wide angle lens.]
See, futon and many other stuffs are hinding there:
BTW, futon is Japanese style bedings. You lay it on the tatami floor only when going to bed, and keep it away other times in order to empty the room for other purpose.
That means you'll have your room space if you can maintain the discipline of folding and unfolding the beddings - an extreamly challaging task for male... as for me, so far so good.

See, the room looks quite big when without futon:
Notice the lamp, also very Japanese; a shoji lantern!

Through the door-window is the balcony and night city view...

The toilet is like a hotel isn't it? It's located right behind the kitchen in the 1st picture, and at the left of the pic is the entrance door.