Weekend trip to Nikko

One of our friends took us on a weekend trip to Nikko and Chuzenjiko to enjoy the beautiful nature and the water falls in the area. Yesterday was extremely tight fog so we could hear the water falls but couldn't see anything at all. Today weather was good and we had a nice walk along Chuzenjiko lake and we saw a few different water falls. The only thing that could have made the weekend even better would have been two goals for Japan in the game playing Holland.














Same waterfall, different haircut, almost 5 years ago. It feels like yesterday but man does time fly.

Tomorrow we will leave Tokyo for 5 days in Ishigaki island, Okinawa. If lucky we will see manta and in any way we should have a nice relaxing week. The forecast tells us we can expect 30 degrees and a fair amount of sun every day.

Kai 9 months

Today Kai is 9 months. Not yet walking but standing, crawling and climbing as soon as he get a chance. And for some reason he has got an unexpected interest in the keyboard to the imac. Part of the cyber generation or whatever it is called these days or just another apple brand fan?

Shikoku roadtrip

Last week we had a nice roadtrip from Hiroshima around north part of Shikoku island. Here are some photos, more on picasa webalbums at the link in the bottom of this post.

This week we will spend in Tokyo and maybe a short trip the coming weekend (Nikko area?) and next week we are going down to Ishigaki island in Okinawa.














First day on the trip we went to Naojima island close to Kurashiki. It's apparently a well known location in japan for this painted pumpkin.














Nice city environment in Kurashiki where we spent the first night.














The Seto bridge connecting main land and Shikoku. We learnt that Öresundsbron became a sister bridge to Seto bridge in 2008. Not that I would know what a sister bridge is or does, still an interesting coincidence..














The top part of the konpila temple. To get here we had to walk a mountain path with 1386 step,one of us carrying an extra 9,5kg.














In Imabari on Shikoku. Here we visited Maki's relatives and also we had time for a bi-cycle trip on the bridge. We only crossed the first bridge, 4km part of the 63km beautiful way across islands and bridges spanning from Shikoku to main land (Honshu).














Relaxing time in the hammock. It was the first time to try camping and stay in a tent with Kai and we had a very nice time. Picnic close to the water in the sunset and breakfast in the same way when the sun was rising.














Maki in front of the famous temple gate in Miyashima. We stayed here the last night and enjoyed some short hiking in the mountains and visited the temple built in the shallow water.














Sunset in Miyashima island.














The Kintaikyo wood bridge in Iwakuni. Nice area surrounded by the mountains and we stopped for picnic and ice cream.















Hiroshima is famous for okonomiyaki and of course we had to try it. Slighlty different from the okonomiyaki in Tokyo and very good.














The atomic bomb dome in the peace park in Hiroshima, the last stop on saturday before flying back to Tokyo.

More photos from our roadtrip on picasa webalbums.

Minor problem

We're now enjoying our holiday in shikoku and we've been sightseeing with car, ferry and bicycle and visited Maki's relatives and just had a relaxing time. No problems until this morning when an older lady decided to back into our car, despite us honking the horn for a second or so. It was the most harmless type of accident with the only damage being some scratched paint but we still had to call the police to come and fill in the report.

Now we have found a quiet and empty camping right by the sea. The tent is up and the food is cooking - just the way it should be on a summer holiday!

Last BBQ (for this time...)

The episode of working and living in japan for this time is coming close to an end. Last week was the last week in the office and now I will have paternity leave and summer holiday until returning to sweden early next month. The three of us will spend the remaining time in japan with a few trips as well as relaxing days in Tokyo. Starting tomorrow morning we will leave for a roadtrip in Shikoku, one of the main islands south of Honshu. We will fly to Hiroshima and take a rental car for 6 days and drive around Shikoku.














As a "see you again" party the friends in the office organised a BBQ in a park in Tokyo yesterday. A very nice way to spend a day with the people you have been working with for a long time. No doubt it will be very sad and strange to return to an almost empty office in Kista without all Tokyo friends.














The grills kept being loaded with various kinds of food and you could walk around trying all different things.














And we are fortunate enough to have friends that know how to cook real tasty indian food. Mmmmm!














Takahashi-san's, the main organiser, best trick: if the grill is not hot enough, just use a blow torch to BBQ the meat!














Kai got all the attention he wanted and it was no problem finding baby sitters volunteering for the job.














Part of the group that stayed towards the end.


















I went to Tokyo for 2,5 years and my best memory is this t-shirt. It's been a kind of tradition to give members a hand decorated t-shirt when leaving the team and now it was my turn to get it. Fun and heart warming messages, truly a great memory to keep. As a bonus it came with a bottle of single cask limited edition Suntory whisky including a certificate issued in my name :)