Andrew Parker’s Blog

Photos were taken December 2007.

Living in Tokyo has made me realise how many nice parks there are in Melbourne. There are definitely fewer in Tokyo, so we are quite lucky to live very close to one of the biggest - 新宿御苑 (Shinjuku Gyoen). The park has a few different styles, and is very popular on the weekends, especially during spring (cherry blossom season) and autumn (when the leaves change colour).

Here are some pictures taken in December 2007, when the leaves were changing colours. The rest of the photos are in this album (or click the photos).

Bron and I went to 高尾山 (Mount Takao) during autumn.
高尾山 is about 45 minutes west of Tokyo by train, so it’s really easy to get to. There were lots of people there, but most of them took the cable-car to near the top so at least the trail wasn’t too crowded. We took the side trail up and the main path down, which was a good move as the side path had some nice spots to rest and enjoy the view, and also has some variation in incline (the main path is uphill all the way).

The rest of the photos are in this album (or click the photo).

It seems that walking cats is a not-so-uncommon past-time in Japan.
First I saw the following (while walking in the forest down from the top of Mount Takao (高尾山) no less):

Then spotted in Shijuku a few weeks later:

Taken at the same location as my rickshaws photo, and also available in my redbubble portfolio.

This photo was taken at Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang on my (not-so-recent) trip to Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand in November last year. The blue color was created using the crushed petals of a local flower, in an attempt to match the original 19th century color. The mansion was recently restored, and is now a functioning guest house and is open for tours. It was also used as a setting for the movie ‘Indochine’.

PS: I know the photo is small. I will eventually get a photo gallery set up with a larger version (and some more photos!).

Update:A full-size version of this photo is now available for purchase!