Happy last day of the world to you! Today’s featured photo comes from Kyoto, a former imperial capital of Japan. Pictured here is an avenue of contiguous torii (ceremonial, vermillion-coloured gates) at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto.
This photo was taken during my visit to Japan in April 2008.
In the post that celebrated my first blogoversary earlier this month, I mentioned that I was looking forward to attending the latest Santacon as eagerly as I was awaiting any of my upcoming international travels. And this past Saturday, Santacon once again exceeded my expectations.
For the uninitiated, Santacon is an annual, all-day-long gathering of thousands of people dressed as Santas as well as an assortment of other characters (some of whom relate to the holiday season and some of whom have no particular connection to this time of year). The Santaconners run around throughout the city, pausing at various landmarks as well as watering holes. Santacon is held in dozens of countries around the world, but the one in New York City generally has the largest turnout. Ellen of the travel blog “The Time-Crunched Traveler” included Santacon on her list of “10 ways to celebrate Christmas in New York City”. (However, Ellen and I have a friendly disagreement about Santacon, as she doesn’t appreciate the event in the way that I do. In fact, she wrote, “[Santacon] is not really something I have a desire to actually participate in.” But as far as I’m concerned, she’s missing out! :))
My blog post about the 2011 edition of Santacon, which you can read here, provides more background on what Santacon is all about.
The 2012 Santacon in New York City got underway in Hudson River Park at Pier 84, at 10:00 a.m.
Some of the many assembled participants at the starting location: Hudson River Park at Pier 84. Of course, there were far too many Santas to fit in the frame of a single shot.
This is what happens when Santas start drinking at 10 a.m.
In the backdrop in these shots you can see the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a floating museum built on an aircraft carrier. The Intrepid was where I visited a Space Shuttle in August 2012.
Here I am at Santacon 2012, with one of the best Santas I’ve ever seen:
The guy standing next to me here looked the most authentic of any of the thousands of Santas in attendance, even though he wasn’t actually wearing a traditional Santa suit.
One of the things that makes Santacon so special is the boundless creativity displayed by the participants. Continue reading
Just one week to go until the Mayan apocalypse. So this might be the second-to-last H-Bomb’s Friday Photo ever!
The subject of today’s featured image comes from Hong Kong. Here we can see the staircase to the 85-foot Tian Tan Buddha on the Ngong Ping plateau on Lantau island. The road to enlightenment starts with a single step!
This gigantic bronze Buddha was completed in 1993.
To get to Ngong Ping I took a scary 3.5-mile cable car ride over water. Afterwards, to return to the station from which I would catch my train back to the city, I took the bus even though that was a much slower mode of transportation than the cable car. Plus, a man sitting in front of me on the bus vomited, so I had to deal with that stench for much of the ride . . .
This photo was taken during my visit to Hong Kong that took place from December 2009 to January 2010. (Yes, that’s where I was on New Year’s Eve to usher in 2010!)
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This past Labor Day weekend (a holiday weekend in the United States that falls in early September), I visited Los Angeles for a few days. Prior to September 2012, I’d been to that city four times. I therefore had already experienced many of the area’s signature attractions, such as the La Brea Tar Pits, the Griffith Observatory, the Universal Studios theme park, the Getty Center museum, and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. This time around, I focused on investigating some of L.A.’s lesser-known treasures. Of course, as with just about any H-Bomb vacation, I also searched for karaoke. 🙂
Somehow, even though over three months have gone by since that trip, I haven’t yet blogged about it. It’s time to get caught up already! This will be the first of two articles recapping that weekend.
I arrived at LAX late on Friday night and headed to my hotel in Hollywood, near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue. I really like staying in that area. In contrast to much of the sprawling, freeway-centric metropolis that is Los Angeles, that section of Hollywood is easily walkable — an important consideration for me, since I refuse to drive ever. Even in California. 🙂 It did help, though, that I have friends with cars who live in the area and were nice enough to take me around town. At the same time, it was good to be able to walk around on my own in the vicinity of my hotel.
The Museum of Death
On Saturday I began by hoofing it to the Museum of Death, which is located on Hollywood Boulevard. Continue reading
Happy Friday! It’s time for the first Friday Photo of this blog’s second year. Yep, in case you missed it, I celebrated my first blogoversary a few days ago!
This week saw the passing of the great Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, at age 104. One of my favourite Niemeyer buildings (and one of the few that I’ve been fortunate enough to see in person thus far) is the Contemporary Art Museum (Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, or MAC) in Niteroi, Brazil.
Completed in 1996, the MAC is known for its UFO-like appearance. Niteroi is a charming city just across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro; the view from the ferry that I took across the bay was spectacular.
In this photo, the MAC is on the right; at left is the distinctively-shaped Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) in Rio de Janeiro. If you look closely you can see the cable cars that take visitors to the top of the mountain.
This photo was taken during my visit to Brazil in September 2010. That was the same trip during which South America became the fifth continent on my World Karaoke Tour when I sang in Rio. 🙂
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One year ago today, I launched this blog by sending my first post into cyberspace. Having never operated a website before, I really had no idea of what I was getting into. But it’s been an incredible year. Portugal, Egypt, and Germany became countries no. 24, 25, and 26 on my World Karaoke Tour; I enjoyed writing about my international karaoke experiences and other travel adventures; and I discovered an amazing and inspiring community of travel bloggers. Along the way, I’ve connected with some very cool people. Learning from them has already helped to make my travels more fulfilling.
There was a rough patch during the early part of 2012 when I got sick and suspended my blogging for over three months. Let us never speak of that dark period again, except to say that getting through it provided me with a renewed sense of purpose, and even a sense of urgency. The realisation that I can’t take my health for granted now motivates me to enjoy life to the best of my ability, and to prioritise seeing as much as I can of the beauty and wonder in this world — while getting to know the people who live in it.
As I commemorate the first anniversary of this website (an occasion that’s also known in the vernacular as my “blogoversary”), I’m eager to embark on the next 12 months! I’ve got some exciting plans lined up for the second year of H-Bomb’s Worldwide Karaoke. I’m especially anticipating the following events:
One of the annual highlights of the holiday season for me is Santacon: a celebration held on the same day in various cities around the world, during which large numbers of people dressed as Santas and other seasonally appropriate characters cavort around town, make merriment, and (of course) consume generous quantities of alcoholic beverages. New York City’s Santacon is usually the biggest, featuring thousands of participants; and it’s just generally a really fun time. Here you can read my blog post about last year’s edition of Santacon. Santacon 2012 will be held on December 15 in at least 37 countries! It’ll be my fifth consecutive year of hanging with the Santas. (In case you’re wondering, I do not, myself, don a Santa outfit, beyond wearing the red hat with white trim. But hey, someone has to document the proceedings on the internet. So I still make a vital contribution. :))
I typically spend my New Year’s Eves overseas, and the dawn of 2013 will be no exception. On December 27 I’m heading to Istanbul, the only city in the world that straddles two continents; that’s where I’ll be as the world rings in yet another year! Continue reading
Hello there! I'm an attorney and worldwide karaoke singer who's based in New York City. I've sung karaoke in 77 countries around the globe, on all 7 continents, plus Easter Island - as well as all 50 U.S. states! This website chronicles my World Karaoke Tour as well as my general travel adventures. Learn more
H-Bomb's Worldwide Karaoke 