Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Today we went to Shinjuku, primarily to visit the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, but we also made a small detour to one of the Ootori Banana stores.

Ootori make what they call banana juice but what I would describe as the most banana-y banana smoothies in the […]

[Original post on aus.social]

Photo of a side street in Shinjuku, Tokyo. There are many illuminated signs, a tall tower in the distance and a Kei car in the foreground.

Photo of the main Ootori Banana store, painted bright yellow.

Photo of an Ootori Banana "banana juice" in a clear plastic cup.

January 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Chopsticks achievement unlocked: eating half a grilled fish (with spine) with square ended disposable wooden chopsticks.

Bonus achievement: not swallowing any bones.

Photo of half a grilled mackerel on a long rectangular plate, with a bottle and cup of sake next to it.

January 6, 2026 at 10:44 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Ah, the famous Japanese Public Transport Ceremony. Going to an ATM to use my bank card to get cash so that I can go to a cash-only ticket machine to add credit to my Welcome Suica card so that I can tap the IC card only ticket barriers at the train station so that I can catch a train.

January 6, 2026 at 2:17 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Fascination with the Tokyo Skytree tower continues. Today we went inside and watched the sunset from 450 metres above the city.

View of central Tokyo as the Sun sets behind the mountains to the right of the frame, as photographed from the upper observation deck of the Skytree tower.

Tighter view of central Tokyo as the Sun sets behind the mountains to the right of the frame, as photographed from the upper observation deck of the Skytree tower.

View of central Tokyo shortly after sunset, as photographed from the upper observation deck of the Skytree tower.

View from the Azuma bridge towards Sumida, showing the Asashi and Sumida City Office towers in the foreground, and the Toyko SkyTree in the background.

January 5, 2026 at 1:36 PM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

We're in our third Pokémon store in 3 days and the kid is adopting a "gotta catch 'em all" approach to Pokémon plushies.

Photo of the entrance of the Pokémon Centre. Skytree Town.

January 5, 2026 at 5:48 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Went to Tokyo, saw some cool birds.

#bird #birdsofmastodon

Photo of a pair of Oriental Turtle Doves

January 4, 2026 at 1:11 PM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Everyone said I was daft to build a tenshu in feudal Japan, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But […]

[Original post on aus.social]

Photo of a sign on the Edo castle site in Tokyo, Japan. The English text reads:

"Tenshudai, Base of the Edo Castle Keep. This was the site of the keep of Edo Castle. The keep tower was the tallest ever built in Japan. After the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki destroyed the third tower to stand on this site the fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641-1680) immediately began work on a replacement, completing this foundation by 1658. Construction of the keep was abandoned when Ietsuna's uncle pointed out that a stable and peaceful Japan no longer needed such an enormous, awe-inspiring structure. The foundation for the unbuilt tower consists of two rectangles. The larger one - measuring 46 metres north to south, 42 metres east to west, and 10 metres tall was for the tower itself, while the smaller one was for the entrance slope."

Photo of the tenshudai (keep tower base) at the site of the former Edo castle in Tokyo, Japan. It is a low structure of huge stone blocks.

January 4, 2026 at 9:27 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Went to Tokyo, saw some cool birds.

#bird #birdsofmastodon

January 4, 2026 at 1:11 PM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Everyone said I was daft to build a tenshu in feudal Japan, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But […]

[Original post on aus.social]

January 4, 2026 at 9:27 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Well the timelapse of the view out of our hotel window worked out pretty well. The timing was good, as it started shortly before sunset and continued just log enough into the night to capture the arrival of the snow that obscured the view. It's now snowing steadily.

Avoiding reflections is […]

Original post on aus.social

aus.social

January 2, 2026 at 10:43 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Staying on the 19th floor of the Asakusa View Hotel does indeed grant you a good view of Asakusa. We've got the Tokyo Skytree tower and the Sensō-ji temple and pagoda. I am attempting a timelapse with the Go Ultra.

View of the Tokyo skyline from 19th floor height, in the late afternoon light. Amongst the general high-rise are some ancient temple buildings, and a very tall modern tower.

Close-up view of the Tokyo skyline from 19th floor height, in the late afternoon light. Amongst the general high-rise are some ancient temple buildings, and a very tall modern tower.

Photo of an Insta360 Go Ultra mounted on the inside of a hotel window, pointed towards the Tokyo Skytree.

January 2, 2026 at 7:36 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Staying on the 19th floor of the Asakusa View Hotel does indeed grant you a good view of Asakusa. We've got the Tokyo Skytree tower and the Sensō-ji temple and pagoda. I am attempting a timelapse with the Go Ultra.

January 2, 2026 at 7:36 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Paolo Melchiorre

@paulox.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

I suggest you support Standard Ebooks 📚

“Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces new editions of public domain ebooks that are lovingly formatted, open source, free of … copyright restrictions, and free of cost.” ⚖️

See what’s free to read […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Various electronic devices showing the same ebook on the screen.

January 1, 2026 at 9:11 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Sitting in the SkyTeam Lounge watching the comings and goings outside in the rain.

It is possible to fly direct from Sydney to Tokyo in about 8 1/2 hours but, at this time of year at least, those flights are all very expensive. Similar in cost to flying to Europe […]

[Original post on aus.social]

Photo of several planes at the terminal at Sydney Airport on a rainy day.

January 1, 2026 at 12:06 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Xmas holiday in Brisbane over, now it's back to Sydney for one day before heading off again on New Year's Day for our holiday in Japan.

Front on photo of a Qantas 737-800 parked at the gate at dusk.

December 30, 2025 at 9:05 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Went for a mildly transonic walk near our hotel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjhUE4LOKQ

(This was me trying out the "TimeShift" moving timelapse feature on my new Insta369 Go Ultra)

December 29, 2025 at 6:19 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Moth!

iNaturalist leads me to believe this is a Granny's Cloak Moth, Speiredonia spectans.

https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/332559180

#mothstodon #moth

Photo of large moth testing on a white painted brick wall.

December 29, 2025 at 6:55 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Went for a mildly transonic walk near our hotel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjhUE4LOKQ

(This was me trying out the "TimeShift" moving timelapse feature on my new Insta369 Go Ultra)

December 29, 2025 at 6:19 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Ant Mastodon, can you ID this little lady? Spotted in the Glass House Mountains, south east Queensland.

I'm fairly sure it's a Spiny Ant from the genus Polyrhachis, but not sure if the species is P. ammon, P. brisbanensis, or something else.

@futurebird

#ant #antsofmastodon #ants

Photo of an ant on a wooden surface. The ant has spines protruding from its third, and a golden sheen to its abdomen.

Photo of an ant on a wooden surface, with its mandibles agape. It has spines protruding from its thorax and a golden sheen to its abdomen.

December 28, 2025 at 4:44 AM

Reposted by Anthony Horton

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Sketchers very consciously targeting the "Ow, my back!" demographic, and I'm totally on board with it.

December 27, 2025 at 4:18 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Because of her limited chopsticks skills I suggested to my wife that she get one of these high performance aircraft grade aluminium alloy long handled sporks (with carabiner) to carry with her during our imminent holiday in Japan. She was not impressed.

December 27, 2025 at 4:26 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

Sketchers very consciously targeting the "Ow, my back!" demographic, and I'm totally on board with it.

December 27, 2025 at 4:18 AM

Anthony Horton

@spacelizard.aus.social.ap.brid.gy

My strategy of choosing wine based on the animals on the label seems to be working.

Wombats are excellent, and this wine has a very big wombat picture, so it ought to be good. In my opinion it is pretty good.