In September, 2019, I traveled to Mongolia for two weeks to see birds and snow leopards (see photos from that adventure here)! By very good fortune, the Rugby World Cup began in Japan shortly after the Mongolia trip ended. Before returning to the US, I decided to see if I could get tickets to see some early games (I played rugby for many years and had always wanted to go to the World Cup). Also by very good fortune, two early games looked very exciting: South Africa vs New Zealand, and Ireland vs Scotland, and they were both in the same place (Nissan Stadium just outside of Yokohama), on September 21 and 22, respectively, so I was able to get tickets and see both of those games. Really fun experience. The two games I saw were quite good - very high quality rugby, of course - and Japan did a fantastic job of hosting.
I can't show videos in the gallery below, but I took one of New Zealand's "haka" (their ceremonial, intimidating challenge before the match), which I found to be very powerful when seen live. There are hundreds of great New Zealand Rugby hakas on YouTube, all much better than this one, but I posted it onYouTube anyway - take a look for fun:
https://youtu.be/3oScu2utBig
New Zealand and Ireland won the two games I saw, quite handily, but South Africa was the eventual champion, so I'm really glad I got to see them!
In general, the photos are mediocre - taken from nosebleed seats high up in the stands, and sometimes through pouring rain), but they are ok and not too bad for a little Panasonic Lumix bridge camera! Hopefully they may give just a little a sense of the intensity of the game and the fun of the event.
Between Mongolia and Japan, I spent five fascinating days in Beijing, China, visiting a friend. I include just a few photos from that segment here as well-- will add more later. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do all this just a few months before the coronavirus shut down all travel to the region, and eventually the whole world. I hope we will be able to control that soon without too much more loos of life - wishing everyone well as we all try to work through the pandemic.
I can't show videos in the gallery below, but I took one of New Zealand's "haka" (their ceremonial, intimidating challenge before the match), which I found to be very powerful when seen live. There are hundreds of great New Zealand Rugby hakas on YouTube, all much better than this one, but I posted it onYouTube anyway - take a look for fun:
https://youtu.be/3oScu2utBig
New Zealand and Ireland won the two games I saw, quite handily, but South Africa was the eventual champion, so I'm really glad I got to see them!
In general, the photos are mediocre - taken from nosebleed seats high up in the stands, and sometimes through pouring rain), but they are ok and not too bad for a little Panasonic Lumix bridge camera! Hopefully they may give just a little a sense of the intensity of the game and the fun of the event.
Between Mongolia and Japan, I spent five fascinating days in Beijing, China, visiting a friend. I include just a few photos from that segment here as well-- will add more later. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do all this just a few months before the coronavirus shut down all travel to the region, and eventually the whole world. I hope we will be able to control that soon without too much more loos of life - wishing everyone well as we all try to work through the pandemic.
