Hey everyone……….Long time no speak, I know.

Not going to look for excuses as to why I haven’t posted in a while. If there is one excuse, it’s that I’ve been very busy. A lot has been going on at work and outside of work. Have been traveling a lot back and forth to Tokyo to see Junko. Knowing I’m going to see her every few weekends definitely makes the weeks fly past.

The Japanese Sakura (cherry blossom) season came and went very quick, the duration of the season varies from year to year and usually only lasts about 5 days. To be perfectly honest, it didn’t blow me away all that much. The Sakura tree itself is quite a old and dead looking tree. The colour of the flowers also vary year to year and range from white to a mid-pink and anywhere in between. The weather here in Maizuru during ‘full bloom’ was very poor. A fair bit of rain and lots of overcast days. The colour this season was mostly white and trying to get photos of them against a dull grey sky isn’t too inspiring. Anyway, the Japanese go crazy regardless and people travel all across the country to see different regions Sakura.

Back to Tokyo, a few weeks ago, Junko took me to Shinjuku botanical gardens (an area of Tokyo city). I never thought a city like Tokyo would have any parks, let alone botanical gardens. There are a heap of parks around Tokyo and make a great place to wind down after enduring the City’s chaos. Never did I think one of the nicest places I would visit in Japan would lie in a city of 30,000,000 people. It’s such an interesting city. People cram onto trains so much that the last 5 or so people board the train walking backwards so they can squeeze in. It’s hilarious. Shopping means every luxury brand you can think of. There are some great menswear shops. Brands that I have never heard of but very reasonably priced.The people here are so brand conscious its borderline sad. Coffee isn’t bad, but at about $6 a cup, I don’t indulge too much. So, as much as I hate to admit it, Starbucks is my new best friend when I go to Tokyo.

Have slowed down on the mountain climbing of late but instead have been out taking pictures of Japan of a weekend with one of our other teachers. Susan is an American in her mid 50’s and is a professional photographer in the making. Here is her website, http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.asp?memberID=130891 . I serve as her security as we head out of the cities deep into the country and she serves as my photography tutor. In only a few outings together, she has taught me an immense amount.

For those of you that I didn’t have a chance to catch up with, forgive me, but I came to Sydney from the 29^th April to May 6^th. Arrived back in Japan on the morning of the 7^th (my birthday). Japan has a national holiday week ‘Golden week’ , the first week of May. It was great to catch up the family and see a new family member for the first time. To be honest, didn’t really feel like I was home for a few days. A bit of culture shock. Seeing so many non-Japanese and hearing so many Aussies complain at the airport was a shock. Oh, and had completely forgotten about Sydney traffic. The week went way too quick. Flew back to Japan with Qantas via Singapore. Qantas’ new onboard entertainment is fantastic. TV’s on the back of every headrest. So much choice. Music (full albums), movies and TV shows, all of which you can stop, start and resume whenever you want. Believe it or not, my suitcase didn’t get put on the connecting flight to Osaka, but instead stayed on the Qantas flight and went to London. They found it which I was so relieved to hear, it came back to Japan on the Tuesday night and then got delivered to my apartment on the Wednesday morning. So my suitcase has been to England, but not me.

So back at work now and enjoying being back here. Summer begins next month, so plenty of hot weather coming up. Looking forward to getting back to the beach. I don’t start work most days till mid afternoon so I’ve got a few hours early in the morning to hit the beach for a swim. One of my students has a sports boat and has promised to take me Wakeboarding in a few weeks when the water warms up a bit more. Will let you know how that goes.

This posts photos : Kyoto tower, a local spring afternoon, a variety of Japanese maple, my usual dinner (fish,tofu,rice and salad), Hanami party with students, the view from a mountain temple back down on Nishi Maizuru, a good mates farewell party and another photo of Amanohashidate.

Take care,

Tim.