Ya, I let my posting lapse. It`s pretty easy to just let a month slip away, oh well..
A couple of odds and ends to talk about. Back in August holiday season, I needed a bit of POM so I was able (thanks to Ritsy's understanding) to book myself in a hotel for a night in Tokyo and just do some window shopping and I was able to catch up with my old pals Nik whom I had gone to high school with (and worked briefly with) and Makoto. Unfortunately, I couldn`t catch up with everyone, so next time I will catch up with Martin!
One of my recent new classes sees me travelling a bit into the country side, luckily though, not too far from my home. I was intrigued by this sign on the side of the road promising the remains of a castle, Oidaira castle. Images of something like a wall or some interesting points to see sprung to mind. So I took Ken out with me on one day where I was watching him.
Ken was interested in the rocks.
A sign pointed up a steep stairway.
And we climbed up the steep stairs to the top, pretty high up. (Of course I had to carry Ken)
To find only this. Hmm disappointing.
Back in September, we had a bit of a bonus holiday, a rare aligning of a number of holidays to make a long weekend. They name the week Silver Week and it only happens every 7 years or so. Ritsy and I had been planning to go to Adventure World in Wakayama, and her sister and husband decided to come along too- and drove us in the above mini-van.
After a long night of driving, we arrived at Adventure World around 6 am. We were able to sleep a little bit ( I think I did about an hour) before going in. I guess this is a very usual Japanese holiday style.
Ken was in poor spirits. Just before we left, he emptied the contents of his stomach all over his grandma`s floor. But he did manage to sleep most of the night (though the highway is annoyingly a little too bright for little sleepers), and though he had a bit of a temperature was actually interested in the pandas, etc.
He wasn`t coming around very quickly though.
Ritsy had a chance with the new camera.
And produced a pretty good picture.
A little bit of money goes a long way as he brightened up soon after.
