the sun is shining brightly here too . . .

i think it may be a walk-to-the-beach day. all went as scheduled, as advertised, as planned. actually i made it home 30 minutes before i thought i would . . . and 5 hours before i left. it is still the 1st isn't it?

Happy Obama Day

home again.  nice and easy flight on Southwest Airlines, just under three hours.  we were early even with the extra 10 minutes of flying over LAX, over the ocean and then circling back around for a "second try".  apparently we were "too high" on the first landing "attempt".  i think i was able to take a few good photos of the Santa Monica coastline, Hollywood Hills, downtown LA as we circled around.  the ride to the airport was uneventful but there is a lot of traffic in San Antonio around 830a.  not so much traffic on my bus ride home.  now i think i will have a sandwich and then walk to the beach on this summer-like Inauguration Day.

more with photos from my trip later.

Loop 410 and I-10 interchange . . . after the traffic jam on the way to SAT

looking north towards Malibu after "not landing" at LAX

downtown LA heading east before turning back to land to the west at LAX

home again sunset

Home Again from my "akidakara" trip

smooth flight.  only 9 hours.  a wonderful German movie called Kirschbluten-Hanami. yes, Hanami as in the Japanese o-hanami (cherry blossom viewing). i was particularly moved by the last song featured in the moved coincidently called Hiko-ki but i could not see the name of the singer in the credits. i will try to find it on the internet. nothing special about EVA Air except that it is the only airline to fly non-stop from LAX to KIX (Osaka) and the price wasn't too too high.  met a nice girl named Ayako during the flight who lives in the OC (Orange County) originally from somewhere near Kyoto on the Keihan line ( i am more a Hankyu guy myself).  She went home to visit her family as well as her husband's family.  and was able to see some of the autumn colors (but she was hoping for more yellows). uneventful bus ride home.  all seems well at my place.  Daniel left my mail for me in front of my computer (which i really missed and am happy to be using again).  a big "thank you" to Daniel for checking my mail while i was gone. hopefully FedEx will return soon with my company ID so i can go back to work next week.  hopefully? Noriko wrote that i had her car key.  ahh, shimata.  i went back to the car on monday night and left the key in my coat pocket.  today (tuesday)(Japan's tuesday) was such a nice day after monday's all-day of raining, that i wore a shirt sleeve shirt (no jacket required)(Phil Collins reference). i will walk to the post office after FedEX stops by. luckily she has a spare as tomorrow she drives to work. ok, enough rambling. time for a wee nap.

oh, "akidakara" could translate to something like "it's autumn, that's why i'm here" (aki is autumn and dakara is therefor).

first photo from my trip.  this colorful image is from my walk to the waterfall last sunday which was my 6th and final momijigari (looking for colorful maples leaves) walk to the Minoh Taki (waterfall).  Noriko went with me this time and enjoyed "my autumn tour" to the waterfall.  it was her first walk in a long time. i think we took her Father there last May but we drove closer to the waterfall (hard to explain without a map of the Minoh Quasi-National Park) and then walked "down" to the waterfall...but this time we walked "up" the takimichi (waterfall trail) along with about 10,000 or so other autumn color enthusiasts.

another favorite moment from the Gion area of Kyoto.  geiko or maiko?

ochiba (fallen leaves) in and around a swift moving stream near Nazen-ji