Sushi Galore

Whenever one thinks of Japanese food, I think sushi will always appear on the top 5 of the list. If one hasn't eaten sushi on a trip to Japan, then the trip isn't complete.

There are many sushi buffet restaurants around in Tokyo or other parts of Japan. Most of these restaurants have them on conveyor belt revolving the plates of sushi in front of the patrons. One just have to pick up the sushi of one's choice.

Some restaurants charge by a standard price for eat-all-you-can buffet, but most of them price their sushi by the colour or pattern of the plates served.

However, one of the post-graduate students working in the same laboratory with me told me that eating in these restaurants won't be memorable enough. He recommended me the restaurant nearby our laboratory, so I tried.

There's no doubt that this has got to be the most memorable sushi meal for me. Although the price was a bit steeper at ¥1,600 for the 'Ginza Set' as how it was called, the sushi tasted much nicer than those sushi buffet restaurants. I think when it comes to sushi, you get what you pay for. The quality of the ingredients is just world apart!

Sushi are best taken with a cup of ocha or Japanese green tea, anytime!

The Sea of Flowers

On one of the weekends, I went to the Hitsujiyama Koen (Hitsujiyama Park, 羊山公园) at Chichibu (秩父) with one of the post-graduate students Lam to have a photo outing. This park is particularly famous for the colourful sea of flowers at the Shiba-zakura Hill (芝桜の丘).

After about two-and-a-half hours of train ride, we finally arrived at the Seibu-Chichibu Train Station. It was lunch time, so we decided to have our stomachs filled before the exploration.

The tickets to Shiba-zakura Hill were ¥300 each, not too expensive.

There were also free postcards to be picked up at the ticket booths.

It was a sunny day and really a good day for outing. Therefore, there were already many visitors there when we arrived.

It was an excellent day for landscape photography as the sun was finally shining after a long week of absence. The shiba-zakuras were in full bloom. Shiba-zakuras (芝桜) are flowers which look similar to sakuras but they grow on the ground.

The shiba-zakuras were planted to form patterns found on a kimono.

From another angle, they looked like the waves in the sea. It was really a sea of flowers!

It was a hot day, so we needed to replenish our bodies' fluid lost from time to time. The best drinks is non other than the Japanese tea!

The park is big enough to accommodate hundreds, if not thousands of visitors at any one time.

When we were tired, we lingered around, under the shades of the trees just like the other picnickers.

After some rest, we moved on to shoot more photographs.

These flowers should have withered and dropped to the ground by the time you are reading this post, but I have captured their most glorious moment to share with you.

天黑黑

当我第一次听到这首歌的时候，我就非常的喜欢了。我喜欢它那简单而优美的旋律，但是当时却没有去仔细的去留意它的歌词，只是当它为一般的华语流行歌曲去欣赏。过后也就渐渐地把它给忘了。

在启程飞往东京之前，我把大部分我所喜欢的歌都收录到随身播放机里。当然，这首歌也不例外。

上个周末，东京的天空每天都乌云满布，偶尔也下起绵绵细雨。当我漫步於正在下雨中的东京街头时，那熟悉的旋律又再次在我耳际響起。那时，我便仔细的去揣摩那每一句歌词裡的涵义。真的是意想不到，原来那么简单的歌词里，尽然可以道出那么多的辛酸，那么多的无奈。

成人的世界裡，总有许多残缺。这也许是因为当我们懂得更多，想得太多，不懂的就变得更多。在奋不顾身，横冲直撞之后，难免落得遍体鳞伤。

小时候，总是希望自己快点长大，快点去体验生活。长大后，才知道原来这个世界那么的不完美，又希望找回儿时那一份单纯。人生，本来就是那么的矛盾。可惜，岁月不留情。

家，永远是乌云背后的阳光。当心灰意冷的时候，它会再次温暖那颗冷却的心。阳光，总在风雨后。

东京天气预报：星期二雨天，星期三雨天，星期四晴天。

天黑黑
我的小时候
吵闹任性时侯
我的外婆
总会唱歌哄我
夏天的午后
老老的歌安慰我
那首歌好像这样唱的
天黑黑欲落雨
天黑黑黑黑
离开小时候
有了自己的生活
新鲜的歌
新鲜的念头
任性和冲动
无法控制的时候
我忘记
还有这样的歌
天黑黑欲落雨
天黑黑黑黑
我爱上让我奋不顾身的一个人
我以为
这就是我所追求的世界
然而横冲直撞被误解被骗
是否成人的世界背后
总有残缺
我走在
每天必须面对的分岔路
我怀念
过去单纯美好小幸福
爱总是让人哭
让人觉得不满足
天空很大却看不清楚
好孤独
天黑的时候
我又想起那首歌
突然期待
下起安静的雨
原来外婆的道理早就唱给我听
下起雨
也要勇敢前进….
我相信
一切都会平息
我现在
好想回家去
天黑黑欲落雨
天黑黑黑黑