Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks — The Brunettes
1960s bubblegum pop meets modern retro stylings with a New Zealand indie vibe. And if you understand that sentence then you’ll enjoy this album. I did. Link to website Continue reading
Auckland
Still green, beautiful and mad-keen on sailing, just as I remembered it. Continue reading
Blue Mountains — in NSW, Australia
The 11-month drought started to break while we were there. Everybody was a bit confused at all the water that was falling from the sky. Still lots of nice sunshine though. Continue reading
Mount Fuji
Fuji is visible from central Tokyo (e.g. from my office building), but only on clear days. In January we went to Hakone, near Fuji, to stay in a Japanese inn and soak in hot pools. Riding a cable car and … Continue reading
Moral Hazard — Kate Jennings
A wry look at Wall Street, told in the voice of a outsider who has a much bigger problem than mere money to deal with. The world of investment banking may be even more dodgy than we thought. Now they … Continue reading
Lorem Ipsum
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor … Continue reading
Gosford Park
A rollicking English country estate whodunit. Great fun. Stars more famous actors than you could poke a cloak and dagger at. Link to website Continue reading
Amrita — Banana Yoshimoto
The story of an extraordinary few months in the life of an unusual family in Tokyo. The narrator is engagingly curious, with a tendency to wax philosophical; the plot starts off conventionally but then comes over all mystical. Quite fun … Continue reading
Hakone — near Mount Fuji
Stayed in a ryokan with an onsen (spa), fabulous food and, marvellously, good heating. And the view of Mount Fuji from the aerial cable car was stunning – no fog, no obscuring cloud, just a magnificent white mountain. Link to … Continue reading
Sasebo
We spent the new year in Sasebo, a town outside of Nagasaki. We stayed there with Joanne’s host family from when she was an exchange student here. That was fun, though it severely tested my rudimentary Japanese language skills. I … Continue reading