October

October started off wonderfully! My first flight of the month: Tel Aviv!! I love it there! I decided to go to Jerusalem, because I didn't go last time. Unbeknownst to me it was a holiday, so no buses, no trains, only Shirooks (a transport van with 10 seats). It was amazing to walk around the old walled city of Jerusalem; to see the Weeping Wall, the room of the Last Supper, the winding stone laid streets; Solomon's tomb and the Mount of Olives. It was a mesmerizing day.



When I returned home, I had a great turkey dinner with the family, and off to work again. Or not. I was in a car accident (I was not a fault) I only suffered severe whiplash, but for my faithful Jimmy, it was his last drive; my car was a write off. It was a sad day to say goodbye to such a great car!!! I know, it sounds silly, but it was a good car to me. So i took two weeks off from work, in which either the pain or the boredom were killing me. I finally went back to work just so that I could see the sunrise over the Pink Ladies in San Francisco (they are the famous line of Victorian homes painted in various bright colours - you can see them in the opening segments of Full House).

September

September wasn't the best month for work. I had wanted to start Japanese lessons and arranged my schedule accordingly. However, there were not enough students signed up for the night I wanted, the class was cancelled and I was stuck with the not so great flying schedule. There were a few redeeming factors: I climbed Signal Hill in St John's; I went to Victoria, BC for the first time on a beautiful sunny afternoon; I was able to go for dinner and drinks (and more drinks) with Kat in Van city and I had dinner with an old friend while in London.


I sent my friend Katherine an email to see if she would be able to meet me while I was in London. She is living in London, and working as a playwright (she had just signed herself an agent!) and as luck would have it her apartment is quite close to my hotel. I had not seen Katherine since she left Osaka, so it was nice to hear back from her, inviting me for dinner. She told me of a great place to go for a walk in the morning, just follow the canal near my hotel and it will lead me to Camden Lock, a huge outdoor market area....and it did! It was such a lovely morning, and I didn't have to leave for my flight for a few hours, so I walked along the canal until I hit the market.

August

August was another good month for flying, did some LAs, Montreal where I got to spend time with friends, a Narita (Tokyo airport) and went to Tokyo for a few days to visit some friends at the end of the month.

Narita was really cool; very different from Tokyo even though they are in such close proximity to each other--worlds apart in terms of architecture and modernity. Even when I lived in Osaka, I had never really ventured to Tokyo, I went for one night to pick up my brother John from the airport when he came to visit, but we didn't stay for too long. Kasumi came with us and showed us the Mori tower in Roppongi with the the view of the city and across the river, over the Rainbow bridge to some beach. Tokyo is all modern, cutting edge, loud and bright whereas Narita, maybe an hour by train ( where the airport for Tokyo is located) is a quiet traditional village with a temple dedicated to the God of Fire. It does have one bar dedicated to flight crews, The Jet Lag Club, which has paraphernalia from over 50 different airlines, and you can find crews from just as many drinking late into the night (or at least until the last hotel shuttle is scheduled for pick up!)


I went to Tokyo a week later to meet up with Kasumi and Pieta, an Aussie who now works at S&D (Sam and Dave - a bar i used to work at while living in Osaka). Together the three of us explored, ate and partied it up in Shibuya for 3 days. Pieta and I spent one fruitless morning attempting to view Tokyo palace, but they have that castle so well hidden!! You can only walk a portion of the grounds (the castle and main garden is open to the public once a year, so says the guide book).

July

July was a great month. I started the month off in Vancouver welcoming home my good friend Ian and his fiancee Ulala, who returned to Canada (via vancouver) for three months before they were to set off for Argentina. We spent the night just hanging out, had a few drinks and then came back to my hotel room and watched, of all things, the Goonies. After Van city, I went to LA, San Francisco, and London.

LA was great, took the free hotel trolley down to Manhattan Beach, rented a bike everytime and just rode along the boardwalk.


It was my first time in San Francisco, and it was a city I had always wanted to visit, so I would make the most of my layovers, even if they were a little short. I would wake up early at 6am, and take the BART train into the city from the airport. It was great! I got off at Powell St. where the trolleys start and ride it all the way to Fisherman's Wharf. It was really beautiful in the morning, even with the fog still rolling in. The sun eventually came out 'round 11am, but I had to catch the noon train back to the airport. The next time I went, I visited Coit tower, named after it's benefactor, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, and it is in the shape of a fire hose (apparently Ms. Coit appreciated firemen!!). Unfortunately, because it was still fairly early in the morning, 10am, it was closed and I could not climb up the tower for it's scenic view of the city. That's alright, more too see, just keep walking. From Coit tower, we ( I was with a girl from my crew, Marcie Trudeau) made our way down the street and back up again to Lombard St. a.k.a. the zig zag street. That was cool; it was pretty neat to see cars driving down it.


London was great. My frist time in London was back in February, but I didn't get out much for photos or sightseeing, so this time I thought let's see it all. I spent the whole day ( from 1pm-10pm) walking about the city. It was a long day, but I'm glad I did it, now I know my way around a little better.

June I went to St. John's and Ottawa.....exciting I know

Actually, it was my first time to Newfoundland, and it was a little foggy, so it lived up to it's reputation!!




By contrast, Ottawa was such a gorgeous sunny day that I had to go outside for a walk. Unfortunately I arrived in the evening, so all the galleries were closed (the National closes at 5pm, a little early! and the Can Contemp Photogs has been under construction the whole summer!!!).

OSAKA 007

Here are a few more pics of my vacation in Osaka