New Year Picture Post

We're back from a pleasant, balmy New Year in Bangkok. After a week in the warm sun the apartment feels colder than usual; so much so that we're considering getting ourselves a kotatsu again, floor heating notwithstanding.

Today is the first working day of the year — and of course the last working day of the week. It'd be an understatement to say things are quieter than usual; the morning train didn't even fill all seats, and while the office isn't empty, things are very quiet throughout the building. Half of Japan is probably taking an extra vacation day today.

Anyway, I've only barely downloaded the pictures I took on the trip, so a real post about our trip will have to wait. Here's a monthly pick of pictures for the past year. As usual, the actual date taken may be earlier than the post (film shots may be a month or more before I get around to posting them here). Also, due to time constraints and other issues I really don't have a lot of pictures to choose among for many months, and the quality unfortunately reflects that.

January

People queue up to celebrate the new year at the local temple. We didn't do it this year for obvious reasons.

February

Going to work on a cold, miserable Osaka winter morning.

March

The Robot Revolution is here, and we got ourselves a Roomba. Never got around to post about it, but the short take is, it doesn't replace normal cleaning, but works OK as a complement to it. If you normally vacuum three or four days a week you may now have to do it only once. And it's great for cleaning under beds, couches and other hard-to-reach places.

April

Everybody enjoys balmy spring weather after a cold winter. Including stylish, well-dressed — for Osaka that is — young punks on a sunny morning.

May

I went on a business trip to Tokyo, and shot this distinguished-looking gentleman on the subway on my way back.

June

Still no time to play. So here's Shinagawa from the same business trip.

July

Tuna and cheese cooked in the can, just as nature intended it. Unexpected new menu item at one of our favourite eating place, and really tasty, especially with a beer.

August

Things were finally calming down a bit, and we went on a day trip to Akashi, down the coast from Kobe. Here's Akashi Kaikyō Õhashi. And it's just insanely big close up.

September

We tried to escape the Osaka summer heat with a three-day trip to Hakodate in Hokkaido. Unfortunately, we arrived in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave. Oh well, the trip was a success anyhow. Here one excellent seafood restaurant.

October

I left Kyoto university and NAIST, and started a new job at OIST in Okinawa and AICS in Kobe. Here's some of the grad students at NAIST preparing for the Ekiden footrace. I miss having students around; they were by far the best part of working at NAIST.

November

Kobe Port Tower and the Maritime Museum. We go to Kobe every other week to eat and walk, and from November, Kobe is also my place of work. Nice town, within easy commuting distance from home.

December

Another business trip to Tokyo. Here's a wintry evening along the Yamanote line in Hibiya.