Lost in Japan

So, Friday was just me and the camera. I headed to place really pretty close to where I was staying. Every time I drive down here I see it from the motorway, and every time I make a mental note to get my arse over there, and every time I manage to not make it. But not Friday; Friday I went to Saw Mountain (Nokogiriyama).

On the north side (the side I see when I'm driving down the motorway), is the famous sawtooth-tipped sheer cliff face, the various viewing promontories strewn along it's edge, the most precarious of which is graphically, beautifully, named 'Looking Down into Hell Viewing Point' (seriously). It's why people come here. These well-quarried cliffs of pyroclastic pumice tuff are an extraordinary sight to look at, and to look from.

But there's more to this mountain than a cable-car and a spectacular view. In contrast to the sheer face on the north, the south side of the mountain rolls gently away in a series of flats and drops, and is host to the impre…

So, finishing early on Thursday and with a day off on Friday, I headed down to the beach straight from work, making it just in time to watch the sun go down. It was nothing too spectacular, but it didn't need to be; the changing sky was a joy to watch. And I did, beer in hand, for well over an hour. The breeze meant that the temperature was perfect and, I thought to myself as I sat out the light, I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed. Oh, hang on, it might have been the last time I went to watch the sunset...

I had the day off yesterday and, despite the weather being decidedly average (rainy season sucks), I headed for the park. I wanted to take a couple of snaps of the new hospital (for the previous post), but it was also in my mind to get some much needed exercise.