Butterfly

...it's a huge metal butterfly!


There's a park near my school that has a butterfly museum. Or garden. Or whatever you call it. A big greenhouse-type building filled with butterflies.

I haven't actually gone inside yet, but I walked up to the entrance once and took a picture of their butterfly statue on the way.

Artistic

Flowers and a chain link fence in the tiny playground by my apartment in the rain at dusk.


Artistic or just blurry? You decide.

Encore

...I'm posting another sakura picture today. There are some nice train tracks in the background, though!

Hanami

Hanami (flower-viewing - which is an official spring activity in Japan) at Sakuranomiya in Osaka last weekend. It was crowded!

Night Sakura

A Very Pink Picture

Sakura at the local park :)


Practically every tree in the entire park is a cherry tree...

Temples and flowers...

It's spring in Japan. I'll probably be posting a lot of temples and flowers. (I'll try to add some variety every once in a while)


This was taken during the light-up at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto last week.

Even more plum blossoms...

This was probably the best Osaka Castle + plum blossom shot that I took :)


Ahh...I remember that day. The weather was so nice!
It's gotten a lot colder...

More plum blossoms...

So I'm still milking my weekend at Osaka Castle for pictures. (Why not - I still have the sunburn :p)


This is the (least crowded part of the) main plum tree field from above. So many trees! The crowds are mostly to the left, out of view.

Bonus!

So after talking about the plum blossoms yesterday, I figure I should actually show some.


Pretty, ne? I've left this one nice and big, since I feel like it could make a good desktop background. Maybe...it's kind of busy, with all the little flowers. Either way, feel free :p

Also - special bonus picture!
As a vegetarian, I have a hard time finding various foods in Japan. Some of them are things you wouldn't expect...like ramen. I ate ramen fairly regularly back in the states, but in Japan, it is *always* made with some sort of meat stock. Then last week, I found a vegetarian pack! I made it tonight - with lots of yummy veggies and tofu! - and I was so excited that I took a picture:


It was delicious :)

Now I just have to find an actual restaurant that serves veggie ramen. And maybe even gyoza!

I'm back!

It's late, so I'll make this quick. Here are pictures from my trip! I'll post five - one for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and today; and one extra! :)



This is Mount Fuji, as seen from the window of the shinkansen (aka the bullet train)...along with a nice selection of industrial buildings.






Yokohama is home to the largest Chinatown in Japan. I went there on Monday night.










Also in Chinatown - kitties! I think I took almost as many pictures of cats as I did of Chinatown.








This is the famous Yokohama waterfront area. The building on the left is actually a hotel attached to the conference center where the seminars I was attending was held.
(Added bonus: though you can't see it, the clock on the ferris wheel says 9:21 - translated to months and days, that's my birthday! ...I stood in the cold for several minutes to get that...)



The plum trees are blooming! I took this picture on the way home from school today.





That's all for now!