Elissa, Fraser, Darcy, Evie and my brother David in front of my fridge (I ran out of polaroid film)

me, Christian and Yuiko heading off on the birthday adventure. At this point, I had no idea where we were going and who was coming....

The view from the 25th floor of Oakwood serviced apartments where my family stayed.

My buddies Sekiden playing in Tokyo

In Golden Gai

Knock knock!
Who's there?
I'p.
I'p who? (I poo)?
Oh, you stink!
(guaranteed to produce peals of giggles from small children - try it some time!)

Hello there strangers! Coming to you live from the foothills of the Atherton Tablelands out the back of Port Douglas, North Queensland, Australia. The sun is starting to set over the mountains, casting a lovely light over everything, and the late afternoon cool is setting in. There is a cup of tea next to me, a fan overhead and a banana cake in the oven sending some mmmmm divine smells into the hills. Life has been dizzily hectic, to say the least, but I'm going to try to be as methodical as possible and make a couple of posts outlining (briefly) what's been happening in my world since my brothers family left Japan. Mostly in pictures....

Going to start with a few pics from the birthday week, and send you to the flickr birthday album I have finally finished.

I must make special mention of the lovely gentleman in Georgia, USA, who sent me (via Amazon) the magnificent "A Photographers Life" - a coffee table photo book by Annie Leibowitz for the dual birthday (me and frangipani). Such a great book and an amazing gift. Seeing as Brian and I have never actually met, I was particularly touched (cried and danced at the same time) by his generosity and was convinced further that what goes around, comes around. To be honest, the extraordinary events around the time of my birthday happened in just the nick of time. I was almost out of hope and faith in humanity. But then the great big hot pot of love got served up and now I have a full belly of goodness.

Thanks again to everyone involved.