First in a series (hopefully): things I'll miss about Japan

No. 1 Blossom-watching
I will have left Japan before the cherry blossoms come out in Tokyo. I going to make every effort to track the seasons a bit more when I get back to Ireland, and I think the odd 'ohanami' party will have to be organized. Though we'll probably all have to bring scuba gear in case the Irish weather doesn't play fair. When I was really in the depths of my despair last year, getting out and walking among the autumn leaves really helped. I think you can see why.











No. 2 Mount Fuji
Even though she may erupt and melt us all, she really is a fine looking mountain.




My favourite thing was to catch surprise views of her from the city on a clear day, like the one below.





No. 3 Tokyo Tower
Kind of the same as Mount Fuji, I'll miss the tower because I think it's beautiful, because it always seemed to just pop up out of nowhere, and because it helped orient me on my mega-walks around the city in the days before GPS-enabled smart phones.


An image that sends ice down my spine is this photo of the tip of the tower. You can see how the March 11 earthquake twisted that girded steel like a plastic straw.


As I've said a lot before, Tokyo really didn't suffer in the disaster, but this is a reminder of how much the city got shaken about, and how much more it may be shaken about in the future. I will not miss earthquakes.


No.4 Skyscraper living
I love a big metropolis. I got great pleasure going to restaurants and cafes on some dizzying floor and feeling like I was living in the clouds. This view from Shiodome can't be beat. I wonder are there any rooms for rent at the top of Liberty Hall (Dublin's fun-size skyscraper)?



No.5 The aesthetic of weird
I will miss how weird things are over here. I will also miss being allowed to be weird(ish) without the fear of being beaten up by youths! So much of the aesthetic over here is beyond explanation: I don't know what it is, but I know I like it. Take for example this ad. What this young woman has to do with fast-food restaurants, I don't know. But I like the ad. Also weird: the food combinations over here. They can be hit and miss, but the Japanese really give it a go in the kitchen. This burger with a half-slice of mango is a pretty big seller.

Twenty-Twelve: Year of Changes

So 2011 was pretty much shitehawkes.

Apart from the obvious national crappiness (3.11), it was my worst year so far, personally and professionally. I had an already bad work situation that turned really toxic, combined with terrible homesickness and a feeling of having really messed up my life. I spent the second half of the year depressed - being sick going to work, crying alone, hiding under the covers. It was not good. But I got to go home at Christmas, and the support of friends and family helped me take control. So come twenty-twelve, I've quit my job, I'll be leaving Japan in April and heading back to Ireland to (hopefully) do a PhD at my old uni. Better yet, on the way home I'll be doing a bit of a mini world tour.

2011 broke me down and made me feel worthless, but it's a new year now and I'm back in control and things are looking up.

Of course the past year wasn't all bad. When I had gone through the worst of my angst, I headed to Hawaii to figure some stuff out. It's not a bad place to try and get your head together. It's hard to feel that life is treating you bad when you're hiking Diamond Head in the sun or having drinks at sunset at the Sheraton on the beach.

Basically, I'm a whiny bitch who had a bad few months and is now going to spoil himself unnecessarily with more world travels. I'm luckier than I know.

So Hawaii...Freakin' amazing sunsets (and mojitos)...







Hiking this arid beauty...




I mean, c'mon, it's paradise...









And I know it's Tacky McTouristy, but you can't go wrong with a fire show and a bit of hula.



The state flower (yellow hibiscus)...


Love the natural air-con on this place, but if you lived there, you'd spend your life opening and closing windows...



I also just love the unusual perspective on this next shot - they look like "Angels of the North do the Pacific"...

And can we also talk about how much I love Honolulu's open-air airport and occasional ukelele concerts...



There are so many doves (when seen in nature) in Hawaii...


AKA flying rats (when seen sneaking in off the balcony into your hotel room - this guy broke in three times! Look at him giving me the side-eye)...


Finally, I kind of loved this couple doing paradise on scooters for two...


Although these mobility devices are way more popular in the States than in anywhere else I've been. You even get them free at Wal-Mart (surreptitiously snapped on a business trip to Kansas last year)...



Also, seen on my trip to Kansas, this welcoming sign on the door to my (soon to be former) company's premises...


And, of course, the ever-present tornado shelter. Dorothy wasn't kidding around!


Moral of 2012 - there's no place like home.