New theme!

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I guess you were a bit surprised to see the new theme.  I decided to change it after 1 1/2 years on the Ocean Mist theme.  This new theme, Pilcrow, is very customizable.  It’s simple, I can change the background colour (or even use a background image), change the header image (as usual), and even have custom header images for different pages (which I will take advantage of).  I think my background will match the header image for now.  Lots of bamboo and green.  I hope you like the way it looks!

Picture of the Week 29 – Yellow Ginkgo Trees

Around where I work, there are many ginkgo trees. They have distinctive fan-shaped leaves and a small fruit. The ginkgo nut is an expensive food to buy, but every autumn, after they fall to the ground, many people will gather them. They’re free ginkgo nuts! Unfortunately, whenever they fall on a sidewalk or street, many will be stepped on or driven on. Ginkgo nuts stink. They smell bad. But people seem to like eating them. This photo was taken today, showing the various autumn colours. Some trees are still green, but most have become yellow. All three of these trees are ginkgo trees.

This post has been added to a great new photo meme called “Show Me Japan,” hosted by the Japan blog Budget Trouble.  Check it out!

I’m moving! (plus holiday notice)

I’ve been living in Kamakura for more than 4 years now, but in 2 weeks, I’ll be moving to the Shonandai area of Fujisawa.  It’s not far from where I live now, but it’ll be a lot closer to where I work.  I currently live in company housing, but will be moving to a very nice apartment.  So, for the next 2 or 3 weeks, I’ll be busy packing and cleaning.  Then, at the end of December, I’m going to Canada for a holiday.  I intend to continue posting the Picture of the Week the entire time, though.  If I can, I’ll post more, but I won’t guarantee it.  But keep checking back!  In the new year, I’m going to do some major work on transfering all my photos from my old computer to my current computer.  This means I’ll have easier access to the many hundreds of photos I’ve taken up until the end of last year, and I can finally get some good work done on this blog.  This is only the beginning!

Picture of the Week 28 – Mt Fuji Sunset

The sunsets this month have been incredible. I’m very lucky to be able to see the sunsets, which feature Mt Fuji. In this picture, you can see Mt Fuji in the middle. This photo doesn’t do it justice. It was an amazing sunset to see. Mt Fuji actually looks bigger than in this photo.

Picture of the Week 27 – Red Leaves

I think this picture sums up fall in Japan. The colours are amazing. In the Yokohama area, the trees are at their best in late November.

Picture of the Week 26 – Queue for Tea

A very common phenomenon in Japan is the queue. People will line up for anything, especially if there’s a sale or a new shop opens. Today, I took these two pictures of people lining up for tea. It must be good tea. The sale is for 3 days.