Sunday 27 March 2016

Day 86 2016: Normal programming...

Day 86: ...will resume shortly

Or something like that.  I very much appreciate that I am familiar enough with Tokyo so as not to be too overwhelmed by the experience of moving here to work. Still, this last week I've been over some new territory, and though not much of a problem, there were a few frustrations along the way. I have just a few more bits and pieces to attend to and then normal living, working, breathing can resume. 

Today though, I was able to get a bit of an insight into what a little bit of normal might look like in weeks and months to come. 

But first, the birds in my backyard and workplace back home have been quite a feature of this blog over the years. Here at my Tokyo home, we've taken to feeding a few apple pieces to the local birds. Now of course, I have to learn a whole new series of bird names and varieties. It was no surprise that the ones featuring here reminded me very much of the miners and mynahs back home...same kind of 'aggression' whenever other species appeared...they won.

The view from the first floor

Guarding the loot

Because camellias are pretty too


Then, in the afternoon, courtesy of a friend and colleague, he offered me a spare ticket to attend a concert by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, playing Mahler 6. A nice venue too, Orchard Hall. It is part of a much larger arts centre called Bunkamura, which just so happened to be showing a stunning collection of ukiyoe prints, all the way from Boston. And being the woodblock tragic I am, what was I to do? I even managed to find a print with a whale on it for good measure (for research purposes of course). 


Never shy away from a program or a catalogue

Well worth seeing. Art exhibition and concert in one afternoon? It's almost beginning to feel like home. Woohoo. 

[Camera : Canon EOS60D, 28-80mm, 9.00am-9.04am; 8.55pm, 26 March 2016]