Tyrone In Tokyo: March 2008

Thank you Kiiiiiii for that title. You were there for me when inspiration was nowhere to be found.

Apologies for the lack of posts lately - have had a hectic couple of months in which I had 3 different sets of visitors, saw 3 amazing concerts and travelled halfway across the country.

My last set of visitors were Mum and Ayla (or KK-LaLa, to continue with the Kiiiiiii reference which only Aaron and Ayla will understand). It had been over a year since I'd seen Mum and over 19 months since I'd seen Ayla (she returned to Australia from Singapore 10 days after I flew out for Japan), so I was very much looking forward to seeing them!

Day one - I made the trip out to Narita Airport for the first time since I came to Japan just over one year earlier. Dropped off my friend Simone at Terminal 2 (she'd been in the country for two weeks and was heading to Bangkok) and then met Ayla and Mum at Terminal One,

Hugs on the train home from the airport:

Ayla found a hobby in collecting Super Mario keyrings from the machine at my station. She managed to collect every one of the set except for the Black Bullet - when we returned from our gallavantations (I really like that word) around the country the machine had been replaced! Not a happy Ayla. Here she is about to hit the yellow box - what will come out?! A mushroom? An extra life? A coin?

I tried to take a candid shot but Ayla was too quick... Best random pose EVER.

Shadows at Meiji-jingu.

Lights in Shinjuku.

At the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building we found a photo booth (not difficult).

かわいい、ね？

Terrorising Tokyo.

Day 2: Mickey Rourke - take me to the Disneyland! (Many thanks again to Kiiiiiii)
Mary Poppins was American!! Sacrilege!

Riding the teacups - fun!

Sleepy - I was supposed to be asleep, but instead I just look drunk.

Riding the teacups again (actually, for the third time) - hey look, you can see my tonsils!

Ayla and her pimpmobile.

Mum and Ayla on Minnie Mouse's couch.

Splash Mountain - the wait was totally worth the photo.

Day 3 - trip to Omiya in Saitama to see the world's oldest bonzai.

Dinner - sukiyaki!! Of course nikku nashi for Mum... so not really sukiyaki.. Vegetables and sauce for Mum.

Bag lady on the train.

It didn't take long for Mum to develop the thousand mile (sorry, 1609 km) stare of the seasoned Tokyo subway rider.

Giant Panda - nuff said.

Day 4 - off to Kyoto:

Uh, I think it had just started snowing at this point, and we were trying to catch the snowflakes on our tongues. Yeah, that'll do...

It snowed! Heavily!!

Our first night in Kyoto was occupied by jazz and liquor (thanks Aaron!).

This was the first time Mum saw snow falling - she was very excited! (Ayla, Mum and Aaron).

Day 5 - 2nd day in Kansai. Nara!
Snow at 京都駅

Ayla facing off with a deer in Nara - I think she won.

When I bought some deer food they got a little rambunctious! Despite how this photo looks I escaped with all parts un-butted.

Sam feeding the deer - or is the deer feeding him?

Ayla decided the deer were now for riding. This deer took it pretty well.

The Daibutsu-den at Todaiji - the largest wooden structure in the world. Houses the Daibutso

Daibutsu - the photo doesn't really capture the grandure.

Day 6 - Kyoto. Kinkaku-ji. Still surrounded by a little snow. Every picture a postcard.

Astroboy at Kyoto Station.

One of my favourite places in Japan - a subtemple of Daitoku-ji. This is a photo I took when I was in Kyoto last May.

The path away from the temple last year (in spring).

Last week (in winter).

Monday night - seeing Bjork in Osaka with Aaron. Ayla lent me her scarf to add some colour, so I would fit into a Bjork concert a bit more. Aaron was doing fine on his own with his cowboy boots and NRA belt buckle.