Traditional

Let it go
Albeit being a metropolis of roughly 37 million people in the whole metropolitan region, Tokyo has so many quiet and traditional spots that provide a nice, calm balance to the craziness of it all. Yesterday I went back to the Meiji shrine again and witnessed another traditional Japanese wedding. While certainly not alone (the guards had to […] Read More

Harajuku Girls

Let it go
It took some time to find them. The famous girls and boys from Harajuku. Dressed up to the nines. Every guide book claims that on sunday afternoon, the bridge between Harajuku Station and Yoyogi Park would be crowded with crazed Japanese fashionistas and girls and boys dressed up like Japanese Manga characters. Or caricatures. However, […] Read More

Ueno

Let it go
After Ameyoko, I walked over to Ueno Park, where I had been already a couple of days earlier with Brandon, Paul, Mike and Marco. This time I wanted to visit the National Museum of Western Art. Ok, it might be a bit weird to run into the one museum in Tokyo that has the exact […] Read More

Imperially quiet

Let it go
I paid a visit to the Imperial gardens today, the closest you can get to the Imperial Palace. The park is huge, and it must have been even bigger in ancient times, as several massive walls and moats are today located in the city. You can only visit the Eastern part of the gardens, the […] Read More

Overwhelmed

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I’m slightly overwhelmed by the first days in Tokyo. The city is everything, and all at once. From my quiet, more residential neighborhood with its tiny streets without cars to the mega-pedestrian crossings of Shibuya, the mega-shopping streets to tiny pedestrian zones, shrines and parks, hanami parties, fertility festivals and Japanese weddings… I met up […] Read More

Art, wind & politics

Let it go
Art, wind and politics would sum it up for me. Wellington is a nice town, the setting on the harbor is amazing…. the town itself reminds me of Seattle or Portland in the US… same style of houses, the street art, the slightly artsy, alternative feel. On Friday I went up to the Botanical Garden […] Read More

Pasifika

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This weekend Auckland was all about the Pacific Islands. Pasifika, a two-day festival was held in the Western Springs Park. Creating a parcours throughout the green and around the lake, the Pacific Islands presented themselves with numerous stands, stages, entertainment, food, information, arts and crafts… Held since 1993 it has become the biggest festival of its […] Read More

New friends (and food)

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I recently met up with Clint and his friend Nina in Grand Central in Ponsonby for an after-work beer. Ginger fusion, actually, something they had on the table and I joined in, not tasting the alcohol in it until it was too late…. Clint is a Pacific Islander through and through, coming from the biggest […] Read More

Muriel (…and then some art)

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The sun is back – for a day. Still, I followed my usual routine of blogging, sorting pics and booking stuff in the morning in my corner Café, cute Forbes&Burton on the corner of, you guessed it, Forbes and Burton Streets. After that, a stroll through the parks towards the Art Gallery of New South […] Read More

‘Straya Day

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Happy ‘Straya Day! Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January, commemorating the day in 1788 when, after arriving a few days earlier in Botany Bay with a number of convicts, Arthur Philip proclaimed British sovereignty over the coast of south-eastern Australia, formerly known as New Holland.   226 years later and a few hundred kilometers […] Read More

Arts & sights

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We headed for the Art Gallery New South Wales, to see their permanent collection of modern Australian art, and a current exhibition on American painting. I don’t think I have ever seen Australian painters before. In a continent in discovery, arts and paintings were not necessarily the first thing on the settlers’ minds. A great […] Read More

In heat

Let it go
Sorry to all of you wrapped in scarfs and gloves… I’m suffering from the heat! It’s too hot for my taste, to run around in a city. The Andes are hidden behind a curtain of smog, and I just don’t feel much like walking around. I went to a park on Friday and, like many […] Read More