Golden Week Visitors

I was fortunate to have a heap of visitors this spring! First up was Kym, whose bi-yearly photography tour in Japan is now up and running. This was the second one she's done, so we've been able to catch up twice in the last year.

Just like old times!

Then I headed to Tokyo for Golden Week, which is the name of the short spring holiday just one month into the school year.

On the first day, I caught up with my friend Jo, who was the manager of the Academic English program I used to teach in when I was working in Melbourne. She was a huge reason why I loved that job so much and often went out drinking with my colleagues on a Friday night. It was great to be able to hang out in Tokyo for a day!

 

This guy was doing some crazy balancing in Ueda Park. Four glass bottles sit beneath all those chairs.

We didn't go up Skytree (Japan's tallest tower), but enjoyed a drink nearby!

I also got to catch up with Winchelle and Chris - two good friends of mine who are now a couple.  We did a heap of stuff, including games...

...a maid cafe (with its cute meals and drinks)...

...normal dinner and drinks...

...and topped it all off with some terrible karaoke!

But the visitors I spent the most time with were Nicky and Beccy, my aunty and cousin. We did a fair bit of exploring for just a few days!

Nicky and Beccy clean their glasses at the free cleaning station

There were a couple of surprises, too. As we walked around Ginza, a famous shopping district in Tokyo, we bumped into a few marching bands.

We also ran into a Spanish festival - the Cinco de Mayo!

Uh, what??

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the big group of cosplayers we encountered.

I'm pretty well camouflaged here.

But this next one still kills me.

I don't even... What?