family time

my sister chose her time of coming because i'd let her know my father and her best friend were coming at around the same time. my father was only supposed to 'drop in' and take the car to see some friends a couple of hours south of here, but that party got cancelled so he was in fact around for 3 days and the 3 of us had some quality time together - the first time since Xmas! it was great. it really was. they're both gone now, but i think we all got what we needed from those few days.

swimming in the lake

this summer has so far been exceptional - well, it's been nice and hot, which is how summer should be, but hasn't been in years... my sister's come over from London for a much-needed break and with the great weather, we've been able to take a swim in the lake a few times. and it's been absolutely lovely. definitely refreshing (25°C in the water vs 38°C out of it)!

girls' night

not only is my sister around, but so is her best friend (all the way from NYC). so i thought a dinner with friends would be nice. in the end, we were just 4 girls, but we had a lot of fun catching up. everyone's life is going well and everyone is 'growing'. it was a pleasure.

matcha pudding

have i mentioned i LOVE matcha? probably. anyway, i got served this lovely matcha pudding in my favourite izakaya. on top is a heart-shaped lump of anko (sweet red bean paste). another delivious dessert...

cute food

in Japan, presentation is everything. below is the on-the-house appetizer we were served at a restaurant on Omotesando. and just look at that tomato-mozzarella man! if you click on the picture, you'll be able to admire it, big size!

matcha tiramisu

i love matcha (Japanese tea ceremony green tea). and what i love even more, is that the Japanese have made it into loads of different types of desserts. this one below was matcha tiramisu and it was absolutely delicious! the cheesecake wasn't too bad either...

3 things a night

normally, i keep evening activities down to one, so that if i'm having dinner with a friend and someone else suggests meeting up later, i decline. i think one thing is enough. but then last night, i actually did a lot. first, i met Mr. J. for dinner. i had planned on going to the open-air concert later on, but i knew dinner would this time be over rather quickly, so it wasn't a problem. but then S. asked if i wouldn't join her and another friend to go dancing later on. i explained i was going to the concert, but as she rightly pointed out, it'd be over by the time the dancefloor opened. good point.

i thought about it for a while. on the one hand, it was the end of my first week back at work, and while the first day had been nice and easy, things started piling up very quickly after that. and it was hot. and i was exhausted. but on the other hand, that 70s/80s music was an attractive proposition... in the end, i decided to make up my mind at the last minute (something i normally hate doing), and i ended up joining them. and it was a fun night all round. but man was i tired this morning!

the student who knew me

it was my favourite student's last lesson. he was my favourite student simply because we often ended up having quite deep conversations and every time i came out of there, i felt happy. on bad days, it cheered me up no end.

anyway, afterwards, we went out for a drink. and we talked. and it was weird, because we don't actually know each other very well (we saw each other kind of weekly the first few lessons, but then there would often be a long break in between) but he nevertheless seems to have understood me better than pretty much anyone, considering the little time he's had. and while he made statements about me that other close friends have also made, the way he did it was so unjudgemental. he was just stating facts and trying to figure out the deeper reasons for the way i did certain things. and i don't think i felt defensive at any time during that conversation - then again, as he absolutely wasn't attacking me, there was no reason to be.

it was, in fact, one of the most interesting conversation i've ever had. i unfortunately had to head home at some point, so we had to stop in the middle of it, but it was still enlightning.

shinjukugyoen

on my second full day, i met up with my old uni friend, AD1, whom i inspired to move to Japan - amazingly, 6 years ago now. anyway, after the haggling for a camera in Akihabara, we decided a bit of greenery was on the menu, so off we went to Shinjukugyoen. another place i'd never been! it was great. well worth it. but as my newest possession wasn't charged, i had to make do with using my keitai. still, not bad!

fuji terebi

here's a picture of the Fuji TV (fuji terebi) building in Odaiba. it's a really nice building, and i took LOADS of pictures of it.

a real holiday

my holidays have always consisted of me going off to see family and friends, so it's generally been hard to get more than a couple of days' real rest. but this time around, visiting my father was bliss.

for once, the weather held clear most of the 10 days i was there. and for once, there was no other family visiting, and my sister not being there (although that was quite sad), meant i didn't have to go walking with her or have the emotional strain of feeling guilty because i wouldn't. also, my father's 'new' girlfriend works, so she won't be the one to suggest we go and do stuff and it being at least the 4th summer i go, i've seen enough of the area not to need to go an explore.

so basically, i woke up when i did, ate, read, sunbathed and swam. it was great. i'd been there for 5 days before my father suggested going someplace, but even that ended up being easy as we basically went, dropped off what he had to drop off, had lunch, a very short stroll and then back home we went. all in all, a good relaxing time.

gundam

i believe it was some kind of anniversary or something because there was a huge (18m) statue of Gundam in the park in Odaiba. quite impressive. and surrounded by loads of people who'd come to see it. i saw a season of Gundam 7 back at uni, when i was part of the Anime Society. it was fun to see a 'real-life' one. although i frankly couldn't see myself get scared if one was really in operation.

Yokohama

this time around, i didn't have a hell of a lot of personal time, seeing as everyone had time to see me. not that i'm complaining! it was great to be able to spend so much time with friends i hadn't seen in 2 years. anyway, Yokohama is one of my two favourite places on earth, so i had to go. here's a picture of the skyline seen from Osanbashi, the pier.