Buddy our dog "enjoys" the New Year fireworks from a safe spot.

Happy new year everybody!

http://www.amazon.com/Clemens-P.-Suter/e/B005C1GXTE
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ClemensSuter

Getting some help from a kind person in Tokyo

Night View in Tokyo

http://youtu.be/pnCbZ-yFzTw

Vegetarians in China ? I presume the number is limited.

The ground stewardess already asked incredulously whether we wanted the special meal. On board, the veggie dish, though colorful, turned out to have the consistency and taste of cellulose. I tried it out in some impromptu wallpapering with the napkin, and that worked splendidly. Only after adding the salad dressing and the marmalade did it gain some taste. It was easy enough to digest. Zero stars.

Traveling back through Beijing airport - what a difference to Japan.

Transit of 2.5 hours at Beijing airport. Passengers use their elbows to get off the plane, custom officers look sad and don't greet, security allows a line of 200+ passengers to build up before finally opening up an additional counter, and we have to pay for the food in advance, the waitress disappearing with my credit card. Yes, we have left Japan and we are getting closer to home.

A guard house at the imperial gardens in Tokyo

It was a pretty cold day with a biting wind blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. I can imagine the imperial gardens full of tourists in a few weeks. But readers of my books http://www.amazon.com/Clemens-P.-Suter/e/B005C1GXTE will know that at times I like it quiet and devoid of humans disturbing the scenery.

Funny little bird squeaking in the gardens if the Emperor's Palace in Tokyo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOSLFrBgDoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOSLFrBgDoQ