Wednesday 4 November 2015

Shine on, you crazy mushroom

The final Hello Kitty of the trip, this time her clinging to one of Hachijojima's famous glowing mushrooms.

Still my favourite time of the year

Pumpkin and persimmon from the local supermarket.

Sacrilege?

Buddhism just doesn't seem to have it. Hello Kitty as the great Buddha at Kamakura.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Hello there

Another flight on the way to somewhere in vaguely the same direction.

Homeward bound

Beautiful sunset out the window of the flight from Helsinki to Zurich.

Thinking of you

You know who you are.

Monday 2 November 2015

Tasty erase

I needed a pencil eraser for my wonderful rewritable luggage tags. This was on one of the saner options at the 24-hour Lawson convenience store inside the hotel.

Celebration

We stopped at Haneda for some delicious soba and tempura before getting the coach to Narita and onwards to the hotel.

Filled with what?

On second thoughts

I could do without the video advertising inside the cubicles of the ladies toilets.

Return to civilisation

We made it! Back to Tokyo and all of its madness. The ANA flight got cheers and a round of applause when it landed, despite warnings just a few minutes before that it might be forced to turn back. Yay for ANA!

Thanks, I needed a laugh

Seen outside a car dealership.

Close call

The view out the window on the bus back towards the airport. The wind didn't seem to be dying down.

Last meal on the island

The outside of the wonderful fish restaurant.

Still stormy

Looks like the incoming flight from Haneda will take off, but ANA's site warns that there's a chance it will have to turn back.

Heading back from the onsen by bus, shouldn't be too much longer until we're at the airport and we might find out more.

If in doubt, eat and bathe

The second flight was cancelled so now we just have to wait and see if the last one goes or not. (If not, we almost certainly won't make our homeward flight tomorrow.) Takeshi took us to an amazing fish place that looked like the warehouse of a fishmongers, and then dropped us at an onsen with incredible views. There can't be much better ways to spend the time.

Stormy morning

High winds this morning meant that the first flight of the day was cancelled. Even though we're on an advance, no changes allowed tickets the people at the ANA desk put us on standby for the second flight - there's a chance that the third and last flight of the day, the one we're booked on, will also be cancelled which will make it a bit difficult to get to Narita in time for the flight back tomorrow...

Fishie fishie fishie

Delicious sashimi of local fish on our last night in Hachijojima.

Sunday 1 November 2015

My one a day

Pumpkin pudding!

Relevant to my interests part 2

Cocoa pods!

Relevant to my interests part 1

Coffee beans!

Aloha

Amazing hibiscus flowers at the botanical gardens.

Fields of paradise