Early Cherry Blossom in Berkeley

Got distracted by the row of cherry blossoms while biking down to the marina. Some other popped up further down the hill. Sure is a nice change of scenery after the miserable rainy weekend last week! (Experimenting with pencil instead of pen drawings)

Displays from Oakland Museum of California - Natural Sciences Gallery

Sutter Buttes: The mini mountain range (in Central California Valley) formed by volcanic activities 

Sandhill Crane (migratory bird)

American Bittern (migratory bird)

Desert Cottontail (hiding from predators in the undergrowth)

Yosemite - Alpine Zone

Coyote vs. Wolverine (battling for a marmot, which I was too laze to fill in)

There was "pencil only" signs in front of all the galleries, so I had to ditch my beloved pen for pencil. But the results were much better than I thought! (The colours and energy definitely stood out more!)

Scenes from Tokyo: Train stations

Tokyo station sketched in the wind (before the pending rainstorm). I was exhausted having to hold my sketchbook flat against the raging wind for close to 1 hour. I also uncovered the amazing truth that Tokyo station is asymmetric! (The tiny windows on the roof count as 4-5-center-4-5 from left to right) The station itself celebrated its 100th anniversary last December, which is why I got the special commemorative stamp on the left (styled to the similarly-shaped ceiling of the 2 domes)

Asakusa station (and the adjoining mall) in the afternoon sun.The weather was great when I went. Apparently the building was restored back to its original appearance when it first opened in 1931 in an effort to promote its historic roots and...well, impress the tourists coming to see the Skytree (on the other side of the Sumida river)

Scenes from Tokyo: TV Towers

Night view from main observation deck of Tokyo Tower (direction North-East) Having been to Tokyo Tower 3 times during daytime before, I have to admit, the view does look nicer at night when the buildings look more uniform in colour (aka. all dark except for the warm lighting)

And I thought it would be nice to pair it up with...

Night view from Tokyo Skytree (direction I-don't-know because I switched views to squeeze Tokyo Tower in) The difference in view does say for itself. And since Skytree is in a relatively residential neighbourhood, the difference in atmosphere is also quite startling. "Oh my god, I'm surrounded by all those intimidating buildings" vs. "Yo I have the entire Tokyo under my feet" 

Plus it's always nice to show off your knowledge of Tokyo by pointing out Sumida river in the foreground~

Scenes from Tokyo: Kanda

New Year prayer crowd for Kanda shrine (the queue behind where I was standing wrapped around more than 2 blocks...) All the salarymen were probably out to enjoy their only idle afternoon in the sun of the year

One of the two staff/cook at Kikanbo Ramen. Delicious spicy ramen!

Scenes from Tokyo: Tsukiji

I half-heartedly followed my buddies on a early morning trip to Tsukiji. The lines for both in-market sushi bar were overwhelming, but we settled in to wait for our breakfast-turned-brunch. While waiting for my own line, I was observing the insane queue next door for Sushi Dai. The people in front of the door was just the tip of the iceberg, a whole crowd was waiting around the corner.

Sushi chef at work while I wait for my sushi brunch. I think I was way too hungry to judge the quality of the sushi by that point lol. After gulping down my plate of sushi, I then suffered from an extremely heavy stomach (consequence of eating too fast) throughout our afternoon stroll in Tokyo. 

Lady praying at the main shrine (and unofficial guardian) of Tsukiji: Namiyoke (Protection against the waves) Inari Shrine. The crowd in front of the shrine made it almost seems like a wedding is going on! 

Golden Gate Bridge at sunset

Was showing a few friends around the city and somehow managed to reach the bridge before sunset (walked all the way from Fisherman's Wharf!). Two of the three stamps on the left dissolved with the watercolour _(:3」∠)_ all the work for nothing ;A;