Yoyogi park and bugs

I saw this little guy amidst a rose bush and gazebo in the middle of Yoyogi park and laughed at how he reminded me of the little RAID bugspray cartoon ad from about about 12 - 15 years ago. Apparently, this is a very powerful and deadly insect (to other smaller insect). I was lucky for this shot since he patiently waited for me to adjust my camera to the right settings and find a comfortable way to part the thorny rose bush, straddle the small gate, contort my upper body and zoom in. All of this took about 4 or 5 minutes. The passersby were all thinking that I was a nutcase. I could tell, it showed on their faces. I think that a few others with impressive looking camera lenses wanted to come over and take a snap of whatever it was that causing me to show such interest, but probably felt a little uneasy doing so in such a tight space. You see I had to keep the thorny rose bush leaves away from me while I was taking the photos. The thorns actually do deter the sensible; it's just the crazy and dedicated that like to do stupid things like risk their eyesight and a mean looking bug sting to get the closeup. This was by far and away the most time I had spent while in the park looking for something interesting to shoot.
Don't get me wrong. The park in the middle of the summer on a Sunday afternoon is very interesting. There are tonnes of buskers, artists, sports enthusiasts and photographers and many photo ops if you are patient enough. I just think that in terms of risk factor and excitement, the bug closeups were the best I had done to warrant the curious glances my way. Everything else seemed so low key by comparison.

Other things that caught my camera's eye ...

- the water fountains

- drummers
- a dancing caricaturist

Walking to Yoyogi Park

Last weekend, I was in Shibuya. We walked through Omotesando street and Harajuku to get to Yoyogi Park the long way. At one point, we climbed up to a pedestrian overpass to get to the other side of the street. This was the view looking northward. This is one of my favourite streets to walk on. You can't see the eclectic mix of small up-and-coming shops, high end brands, and down-right-tourist-trap stores from this photo, but basically this street will give you a mixed bag of clientele and personalities. I love walking on this street. When it's not so hot and humid, I'll have to head back there and take my time with the smaller nooks and crannies that I have yet to explore.