This past weekend marked the birthday of two of my best friends in Tokyo, Mitch and Aron. They once again got the celebration formula correct with good friends, good food and seeing as they are both DJs, outstanding music.

Many thanks to all the Cafe Kitch team for putting on a wonderful event and the folks at Cafe Cherir for being such excellent hosts.

While I’m usually hard at work all summer I do occasionally find myself needing to recharge and escape the stifling heat. Erin has also been away from home for a bit too long and was starting to crave empty beaches, good wines and chilli sauce covered chicken that you only find in Australia.

We were lucky enough to have the use of a house on the central coast with both outstanding views and easy access to several outstanding beaches.

While we spent most of our time relaxing and recuperating we also stocked up on some of those luxuries which are hard to find in Tokyo.

We had an awesome two weeks and we’re both enjoying a renewed spring in our collective step, enjoying the last days of summer and looking forward to the winter season…

This past weekend was a holiday here in Japan and so a group of us travelled south to stay at Shirohama Villa for the weekend. Between swimming in the ocean, relaxing in the hammocks and an awesome BBQ it helped reset the stress meter nicely.

Many thanks to Soma-san and his family for being such awesome hosts, and I’m looking forward to the next chance I get to head down and relax.

Maggie and Lorne definitely got their engagement party right by keeping it simple. Good friends, good food and plenty of great conversation.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing both Maggie and Lorne for several years and I can safely say they will make a wonderful couple.

I’m looking forward to using their wedding next spring as excuse for a visit to Thailand…

Spring is one of my favourite times in Japan especially early April when the cherry blossom or “Sakura” comes into bloom.

In fact I’m off out now to see if my local park has any blooms out yet…

Francisco Allendes is a Chilean DJ and producer who was in Tokyo as part of the Parties4Peace Patagonia project.

We spent some time hanging out and I took some portraits for him in and around Harajuku which gave us a lot of energy and character to work with…

Hope everyone has had a great holiday season, I have been taking things pretty easy for the past few days recharging my batteries both literally and metaphorically.

Back in the saddle from Wednesday though…