This morning I discovered that one of my photos has been used in an online travel guide produced by Schmap:

They also have an embedded version of their guide:

A couple of weekends back we celebrated ‘Coming of Age Day’ here in Japan. During the day off, I visited Odawara — a somewhat faded tourist town near Tokyo.

As ever, I’ve uploaded a small collection of photos to the usual places:

• .Mac Gallery (Fast Computers)
• Flickr (Slow Computers)

Odawara Castle itself is a modern reproduction and hosts a small museum of Japanese artifacts. One particular display brought back a childhood fascination with pocket sundials, instilled after seeing a number in the London Science Museum:

As is becoming traditional (can one have tradition after only 2 years?), I returned to the UK over Christmas, spending a week in London and a week up North (no-orph).

Shockingly, London proved almost enjoyable this year and wandering around a Covent Garden decked out for Christmas was a pleasant experience. I tried to take a few photos but with a disappointing lack of success: the only one which came out was this heap of giant baubles:

Last weekend, I enjoyed my first snowboarding of the season, taking first a day trip to Gala Yuzawa and then spending three days in Shigakogen in Nagano.

Nagano is referred to as the Japanese Alps and, with all the intertwined slopes and beautiful scenery, it’s easy to see why.

This year I ventured out with my camera and took a few photos:

• .Mac Gallery (Fast Computers)
• Flickr (Slow Computers)

Mike has now posted yet more tales of our trip through the northern lands.

We came upon a street of innumerable tiny bars, and stopped in one after being harangued by a greeting-lady stood outside. The bar was the size of a large dining table, and could fit around eight people in, squeezed between the counter and the windows. Somehow, this tiny bar managed to provide us with delicious sake-spirit type drinks and the largest amount of raw squid I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming…

Read the full posting here.