Hanegi Ume Matsuri

I've got a new camera :-) I decided to go test it out at a Japanese apricot/plum blossom festival! It was SUCH a beautiful day for it and the camera is way better than I even thought possible, so I'm a very happy girl, unfortunately I wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't stay too long... I got enough photos though (this post is going to be mostly photos).

The photo above was by complete accident... I'd been pressing all the buttons on the camera and it did this - kinda cool... pretty much sums up the whole event in one photo.

There were so many people there, it seemed that this blossom attracted all types of people too, young and old, rich and poor. I love Japan for it's diversity... no one is judged, people can walk around wearing what they want and being who they want to be... it's rare and I love it! I am really looking forward to the cherry blossom in spring I think that this is just a warm-up festival!

In this park there were over 300 Ume (Japanese Apricot and Plum) Trees and a ridiculous amount of different types of this tree and flower, colours ranging from bright white, through to light yellow to bright pink (and reds apparently but I didn't see any here). 

There was lots of people having picnics and there were lots of food stalls.

 

There were rows and rows of people selling beautiful flowers and cuttings from the plum trees. I wanted to buy one and take one back to England with me, but apparently that's NOT allowed - how silly am I?!

Tokyo's Institute for Nature Study

Well we have both been SUPER busy - hence not much blog action! 

Fran is working very hard, he did a total of 205 lessons last month and is going for another 200 lessons this month! 

I am working at school and doing the odd private lesson here and there, practicing my wildlife photography (birds - they move so fast it's so hard... I think I'm getting there though) and visiting my Uncle and Auntie who have just had a gorgeous baby girl called Monique. 

So we are keeping ourselves very busy, having lots of fun and we will stop when April comes!!! 

We have an extremely packed month coming up in April and we want to make sure we have money to be able to do everything we want to! 

Mum, Dad, Nan and Arthur will be coming at the beginning of the month for 10 days then Fran's Brother and girlfriend will be coming out to see us for 10 days at the end of April! It's going to be a great month, we both are looking forward to it SO MUCH.

It's been pretty freezing the past couple of weeks and we've had a few snowy nights but nothing has settled. When I woke up on my day off and the sky was completely clear and the sun was shining, I decided to do something productive with my day! I headed off to the Institute for Nature Study in Meguro (after all it's the 50th best thing to do in Tokyo - hehe). It was really nice and warm in the sun but in the shade it was so, so bitter cold, you can see this in the lake...the half that was in the shade was frozen!

It was so quiet, people were just there to enjoy the atmosphere. It still amazes me now that one minute you can be in the busiest city in the world, surrounded by tall buildings and then you are in a peaceful nature reserve park the next minute. Incredible! There were people sat down enjoying the sun and the surroundings, reading a book or eating lunch! It was great. About 75% of people had proper cameras with them, taking photos of the beautiful scenery and the wildlife.

 Have to say though, being a foreigner in Tokyo with a camera around your neck... not so unique!

I started walking towards this wooded area and I spotted a group of birds (Great Tit - I'm trying to learn the names too) playing in around the trees. I stayed still watching them for a few mins but as I started to move, so I could get a good shot, they must have noticed me and flew away. I managed to catch this little one just before he flew off with the rest of them.

I did wait around to see if they would come back, whilst I was taking a look at some of the flowers, but there were some excitable kids running around, so I figured they wouldn't come back anyway. I went down this path with a steep stairway with tall trees leaning (and shading - bbrrrr) over the path. I could hear so many birds tweeting away... It took me a bit longer to spot them... but not too long :-)

Then I went to visit Dave, Kt, Kt's mum Olive and baby Mona. The flowers below were just decorations in flower pots at Yebisu Garden Place, Ebisu, Tokyo.

A clear day in Kita-Ageo

I've been wanting to take photos of these mountains for ages - but I always seem to either be in a rush or take the wrong bag, and don't have my camera on me. Anyway, I left for work in plenty of time to get a photo of these amazing mountains, which can be seen from Kita-Ageo Station in Saitama. Really amazing! I love them!!! All in all it was a good day for photography!!!!

These berries didn't stay here very long - the birds ate them pretty quickly!

As far as birds go in Japan, I think this is the scruffiest one I have seen! And YES! he did eat that!!!!

This was a handheld shot, so not as clear as it could have been, but not bad considering! The moon was sooooooo low and huge - and glowing this beautiful orange colour! It didn't last very long though, about 20 mins later it was the normal size, colour and place in the sky!

Japanese Nature in Winter

Haven't posted ANYTHING since Matt left... but we have both been very busy. We are both working SUPER hard so that March/April time we have money to do the things we want! So Fran is working 6 days a week - and doing a CRAZY amount of lessons may I add - last Sunday ALL his lessons filled up and he did 14! Really amazing! I've been working at school, teaching private lessons, and doing photoshoots with my friends to build up my portfolio! so when we HAVEN't been doing any of that we have been chilling out and been on a couple of really nice walks! So here are some of the nature picys I've taken (and some captions... for the birds I have named - I hope they are right, if they aren't please let me know!)...

 White Ume Blossom - Winter Plum Blossom

 I love this shot, purely because of the focus leading to and from the sparrow!

 The glistening from the sun's reflection in the water - it was only there for a split second... a complete contrast to the photos I took either side of it... they were all of the ducks but normal color and NO glistening!

A Water Wagtail

 White Ume Blossom - Winter Plum Blossom

 Here is a picture of a bug (or alien... we aren't sure!) Fran saw it... its about the size of a thumb (we have been back and it is still there we decided it must have died there)... Click here if you're feeling brave and want to see it! 

 2 Japanese White-Eyes (such a predictable name - hehe) I am absolutely fascinated by these birds... (there are a lot more picture of them too!) They seems to be so shy but sooooo inquisitive (you can see by the next photo), and more likely than not, there is more than one of them.

 A group of sparrows, enjoying the last bit of sun!

Pink Ume Blossom - Winter Plum Blossom, sooooooo beautiful!

Winter Sakura - light pink blossom

A stray cat climbing trees... he chased all the birds away, so I thought I would get a shot of him too!

Naumann's Thrush

 Sparrow... there are so many of them everywhere!

Another two Japanese White-Eyes, they were soooooo far away and Fran spotted them - Amazing eye sight he must have .... we were about 100meters away!!!!! So REALLY pleased with this shot! Thank you super amazing lens!