You Can Take The Girl Out Of Japan, And You Can Take The Cherry Blossom Too

I suppose I should start here:

Sadly the dog stayed in Sendai.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon when I left work early to the new terminal at Heathrow. It's very aesthetically pleasing, with a glass frame. However, the actual arrival gate is terribly designed - there are two doors about 200 metres apart and no indication of which side the passengers will exit from. So standing at one end could mean missing the person entirely. In the end, I opted for somewhere in the middle and re-enacted an audience member at a tennis court.

I just about saw Keiko as she came out and ran over to meet her. A train ride home (delayed, of course - how does "imposing a 10mph speed limit" on a tube line as explained by the driver make sense?), dropping her suitcases (bigger than her) off at the apartment and then down to Pizza Express for a welcome meal. Keiko was jet-lagged so sleep beckoned.

The next day we went for a leisurely walk into High Street Kensington. Or Kensington High Street. I'm still not sure which one is correct because the Tube Station name is different to the street sign. Maybe I need an abbreviation, although I keep thinking it's High School Kensington.

On the way, we stopped at Holland Park - about 10 mins from the apartment. It's a lovely weekend spot with football pitches, dog walks, places for picnics, a peacock enclosure and much more.


One of the highlights - and actually rated the best place to go for a leisurely Sunday by one tourist website - is the Kyoto Gardens, based around a Japanese set-up. They have a rock feature, koi carp, and statues replicating any typical temple. It's beautiful and I can foresee many a lazy afternoon chilling out there.


There was one cherry-blossom tree, and I tried to take some arty photos. I'd like to theme this collection around 'focus', and pretend I knew what I was doing. Let me know what you think:


I was even really lucky with this one:


That's enough for today. The rest of the day, mostly in Hyde Park featured a pervy duck, a sandwich-stealing bird, a fearless squirrel, and some unsubtle pigeons. But that'll be available tomorrow. I've just introduced Keiko to iPlayer so we're going to start on The Apprentice. I thought this sign in a Chinese noodle bar in Leicester Squre was quite fitting - something Alan Sugar would probably order: