Fuji-san

We came, we climbed, we conquered. What an experience. Fuji is majestic and unforgiving. Last Friday an excited and nervous bunch of teachers and parents from Tokyo International school dared to climb Fuji-san. After 8 hours of hard, hard climbing we barely limped on to the summit to be greeted by howling winds and rain. Not pleasant. The best part was the ascent up through the clouds and in to the stars during the night. It felt like we were climbing in to heaven and touching the stars. Looking down, the clouds nestled around Fuji and reflected the eery light of cities and towns below. What an amazing sight to behold. The climb itself was rugged, dangerous and limb numbing. Our reward - a huge red sun exploding through the clouds to greet the day. The four hour descent in wind and rain was a joy(???). We arrived back at the 5th station drenched, cold, weary and very elated. Definitely a once in a life time event. The reward was a blissful few hours at a nearby onsen, soothing the tired muscles in wonderful hot baths. It was so easy to fall in to bed on Saturday night.....

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what a view!

One of the big items on my list of things to do in life - climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In July I climbed with my god son Thomas and what an amazing experience it was! We were fortunate enough to see the mighty USS Kitty Hawk pulling out of Sydney Harbour on its return journey to Japan....and we got to wear very glamorous overalls and beanies.....









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things aussie..

Summer vacation is over... how quickly the time passed. It was so wonderful to be home again in Australia, even if it was winter! My bird friends greeted us daily on the back verandah, the kookaburras laughed, the last of the roses in the the garden bloomed, the wattle was in full flower and the gum trees smelled as wonderful as ever!. Blissful, lazy days spent reading the paper and catching up on all my favourite aussie magazines. Walks with Chester, savouring longed-for-foods again and special moments spent with friends and family.... all too brief!

turning three

The end of our first year here....we are off home to Australia tomorrow for almost two months....YAY!!!
It's been fun and we look forward to returning to a hot, sticky Japan in August. We are also moving house the first week back! Moving closer to a train station to make my new commute a little shorter and simpler.
This week I threw an aussie birthday party for the children at preschool. Seven of them are turning three over the next few weeks so it was a fine excuse to celebrate and finish off the year with a bang. The children enjoyed the 'fairy bread', 'butterfly cakes' and vegemite sandwiches along with the smarty topped chocolate birthday cake...













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stay tuned for a post from Australia....

Doggie style?

Here's the proof..... this week I visited one of the many dog 'boutiques' in this fair city and took some photos. You have to see it to believe it... there are dog clothes for every occasion... the sporty dog, the dressy dog, the denim dog, the japanese dog, the trendy dog, the 'baby' dog ; there's the get-about-town options....doggie bags and strollers, and of course, the doggie diapers!





















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Peonies

The flowers here are quite amazing. I bought some peonies the other day and when they bloomed I just had to take some photos....

Kamakura again....

Just can't keep me away from Kamakura! It is so nice to scoot down there for a day of wandering, temple gazing and people watching. Always fun!
This time I walked down to the beach, a 20 minute walk from the station...it's not the most attractive beach..... mmm, at least it gave me a new appreciation for the pristine shores of Jervis Bay.









Not far from the beach is Komyoji temple with a very tranquil Zen stone garden. Quite a lovely place to sit and ponder.... how do they get those stones so nicely arranged????









After that little contemplation I wandered the streets some more and found some interesting things to photograph - a japanese bride arriving for her wedding party at one of the many many "wedding centres" that are so very popular here....














and then for something completely different.... people love to take their dogs for walks in dog strollers! Sometimes I think they confuse their dogs with children....the dogs are often wearing clothing - ribbons, dresses, track suits, raincoats, sunglasses - you name it there is a dog somewhere in Japan that is wearing it. You should see the dog shops/boutiques/cafes!












and .... near the beach by the side of a road, fish drying in the sun....











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life is never dull!

Japanese baseball

We went to our first Japanese baseball game last Wednesday night (May 2). It was at Yokohama Stadium and the Yokohama Baystars played the Hanshin Tigers. Dean has now adopted the Hanshin Tigers as his team, even though they lost!
The Japanese take their baseball very seriously - the fans are rabid and very noisy. They sing and bang plastic baseball bats together the whole time their team is batting in every innings. The singing and cheering is led by special cheer people with little white gloves!
We were in the thick of it - two foreigners in a sea of black heads.
It was fun to see how they eat at the baseball - lots of Japanese food and beer. They have little bento boxes and japanese hamburgers (beef sandwiched between rice!). Even funnier were the uniformed men running around with big plastic bags collecting the rubbish from people - they are so obsessed with cleanliness. No rubbish, empty cans, nothing left on the ground....amazing!
More photos here.

Another month flies by....

April was a blur! I submitted some big assignments and felt very happy to have them behind me. We also had our first international visitors. Ken and Sue O'Neil came to stay with us for a few days in the last week of April. It was a busy two days - packed with activities and sightseeing at great speeds! Day One we visited Kamakura - an historic city by the ocean about 45 min train ride south of Yokohama.













We stopped at Engakuji Temple - a very serene Zen temple originally built in 1282 but rebuilt over the years due to war, earthquake and fire.




Between temple visits, Sue busily purchased gifts and souvenirs while Ken waited patiently! Shopping is always a big event in Kamakura.







Hasedera Temple sits on a hill overlooking Kamakura and the ocean. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens - the wisteria and peonies were in full bloom!










In the evening we dined Japanese style, eating shabu shabu.... lamb and chicken with vegetables and noodles cooked in broth at our table. Very steamy and delicious!




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Sakura

Cherry blossom time (or as they say in Japanese - "Sakura" time) is very beautiful. What an amazing sight to see all the trees. The Japanese love to celebrate cherry blossom time with flower viewing parties known as "hanami" picnics. They cram in to the parks and gardens and lay out mats and enjoy plenty of Japanese picnic food.

There's more photos here

This past weekend we had guests - Kimiko and Shihoko. Two very lovely girls who used to be students of Dean's back in Germany. They came for the night and we celebrated "Sakura" time at Sankeien Garden on Saturday.

There's lots more photos here

Catching up...

It's been a few weeks now since I posted, so I have some catching up to do...

We have just finished spring break - a rather quiet time spent at home. I had some assignments to get done and Dean wanted to relax and catch up with some work.
My studies are going well. I received my first assignment back - yay! Now I know that I'm doing OK!!!

Last Tuesday I had a lovely day in Kamakura with my friends from the Conversation Cafe. We hiked, had a picnic, and browsed the shops. It was a very fun day! For photos click here.



This very little car was parked nearby our apartment the other day and I couldn't resist taking photos. I've never seen such a teeny tiny car! The man who owns it has had it for 50 years! It is a german car so it was appropriate to have a photo of it next to a Mercedes! There are more photos here

little ones

I've been taking photographs of the kids at preschool so I can compile a little portfolio for each of them at the end of the school year.... here's a couple of my favourite shots....