I'm hoping that as things settle down, I'll be able to get into a more regular blog-update pattern. I've not found myself having the time to consider taking my camera out with me (on rather mundane chores and necessary activities), but this weekend finally had a little bit of time to go for a walk with no particular plan in mind.
I'm still getting used to the long, long evenings—sunset is 9pm at the moment, and the light stays into the sky until at least midnight. Shops, however, are only open on Sundays until 4pm. This is almost the exact reverse of Tokyo, where shops are open until perhaps 10pm, but the sun has long gone. A change in routine is simply all that's required.
I always enjoyed photographing lampposts in Tokyo—but notice the red bricks!
I don't usually watch much by the way of news, finding it to be mostly tiresome propaganda. The news in the UK is (obviously) both UK and Euro-centric, and of course, broadcast in English. It's instantly accessible, and unlike when there's a murder in Japan somewhere and I have to decode the on-screen kanji and the words of the news anchors, here I am a superman. I can hear everything, and instantly understand it, right to the core. Unfortunately, the "news" is rarely good. just 10 days ago, flight MH17 was grounded on Ukraine soil, apparently having been shot down. I instantly thought of friend and fellow photoblogger Bjorn (go check out his site), who's moved from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Though air travel is statistically very safe, there are still risks. However, driving to work each morning is more risky, and millions do that each morning. The world keeps turning, we didn't start the fire, etc...
With the UK currently 8 hours behind Japan (though Britain invented time and Japan is actually just being cheeky by saying it's ahead—it's actually behind by 16 hours), the setting sun as viewed in England will be visible in Japan as the rising sun. How poetic!