This wobbly little hobbit is a long way from home. I guess all those damn rowdy Hanami parties have been keeping him awake at night.

I'm sure that unless you have lived in Japan through a winter, and witnessed the joyfully debaucherous festivities that the blooming Cherry Blossoms bring, then you will be scratching your head as to why virtually every single blog in Japan has photos of Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) and Hanami parties this week. It really is something that has to be seen to be believed. Especially when the weather is great, as it was this weekend.

I for one am plum - or should that be all-cherry-tuckered out. All these drunken picnics 'neath Cherry Blossom trees, birthday parties, rock shows and a gorgeous weekend of warm, sunny weather have left me quite shattered. In a most happily satisfied kind of way.

Todays cold rain and accompanying TWO pretty big earthquakes kinda justified me staying in pretty much all day. CBC reported that this mornings quake (a 6.1) was the most powerful quake to hit Tokyo since 2001. The aftershock this afternoon was pretty big too. Had to get up from my book and make my third cuppa of the day, complete with shaking hands.

Anyway, I now have a dauntingly massive backlog of photos from 2 fabulous weeks to try to sort through and share at some point (on top of the sadly abandoned Fiji photos - damn, I'm a shocking procrastinator). But don't go holdin' your breath. My classes start in earnest at school this week.