GOOD MOOD MONDAY

On a rare rare Monday, I got out of the office at one, and these were what I saw.

Pretty but a-tad-intimidating-to-enter shops.

So I took peeps from their windows instead.

I took a long date at this bright white space with my book. I loved the many-sided issues that it discussed but it made me a little sad at what our world has become.

I highly recommend the bread, probably some of the best I've tasted here, but the supposedly roasted chicken... ...didn't quite taste like chicken.

Out of the cafe and wanting to finish my book, I headed for the Gardens. It's been a while.

And the smell of all that freshly-cut grass... ...a heavenly end to the Monday.

HELLO & GOODBYE

I can just imagine what it looks like in Tokyo right now. In the parks, by the rivers and even along the everyday streets where Japanese go about their usual activities.

This was the first photo I took on the first day of my life in Tokyo ages ago. I remembered spotting flashes of pretty pink on the train from the airport to the city, but imagine the catch in my breath when I opened the window of the room to be my new home and saw... ...this.

Coincidentally, on the day I left, the weather took a sudden warm turn, and I was greeted by the same scene again, the little buds coming into full bloom days earlier than expected.

It made it so much harder to say goodbye.

Everyone's been asking if we would be going again this year (yes we go almost every year, erm, sometimes twice) and to be honest, Kyoto was on my mind, but we've booked tickets for 2 weeks to the land of Lego, Finn Juhl and accordingly to the UN, the happiest people in the world.

We can't wait :)