Fun with water!

The boys having so much fun in the water! Taken last December when I was back home.



Ethan loves the water and so does Dylan. I remembered when I was a child, I used to love swimming with my dad who taught us how to.



Haha....I have no idea what he was doing. Praying?



See that expression of pure joy!



Love this of Ethan!

Wisteria Lane

Springtime in Kyoto is delightful and not only because of the sakuras. While the sakuras hog the limelight in the beginning of April and then fade away as the rain and wind take over, the purple wisteria blooms quietly towards the end of April.



As you can see, it is already rather sunny and hot but thankfully, not humid. This was at the Kyoto water treatment center, miles away from the city center. Specially for the wisteria viewing in April, the center provided public buses to and fro from Kyoto Station to the treatment plant. Amazing isn't it?



Because of its location and the lack of publicity, there were not that many people visiting the place, which is ideal for flower viewing because really, who would want to see people's heads instead of the charming flowers? Which is the case everytime the sakuras bloom.



Thanks to my labmate, we found out about this place and decided to go during the weekend. The place was beautiful, truly, with rows of hanging purple flowers above and people relaxing, enjoying the day out with their families.



Now, if someone asks me where would be one of the best places to get married in spring, I would say this place. Although the surrounding view is not as romantic as say the sea, the mountains etc, the place where the wisteria grows is lovely. I can just imagine a wedding there.

Fire dancers

Just a couple of pictures of the fire dancers at Kamogawa-Sanjo. The pictures have been adjusted using Photoshop - levels, contrasts etc. So if you look closely, you can tell. Had to adjust the photos because they turned out too dark.

Can you give us a royal wave?

It was just wishful thinking. No one was there at Buckingham Palace that day - no Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles nor his royal pin-up sons. I even missed the Changing of the Guards ceremony because I went there too late.



Even though it was nearly nightfall, there were still plenty of tourists up and about enjoying the quiet evening. I must say that I was a little bit disappointed. I thought that the palace would be huge - but it turned out to be quite ordinary. In my imagination, I thought it would stretch out for miles! What is inside is probably breathtaking but what is on the outside, well, I have definitely seen more impressive facades.



The Victoria Memorial stands right in front of the royal palace and features the large, imposing statue of Queen Victoria and statues of the angels of Truth, Justice, Charity, Courage, Motherhood and at the pinnacle, the golden statue of Victory. Quite impressive.



Night fell and slowly, people departed. I too made my way back slowly to Trafalgar Square to board the Underground to meet my friend for dinner. Despite my initial disappointment about the size of the palace, I was quite content because this time, I managed to take pictures of the palace! Ah...the beauty of digital over film.