The end of the year is always a busy time for me (and everyone else, it seems).
But last Thursday, I woke up tired after another night of nomikai (which was really fun!) and needed some time to myself. So I went to the one place I can always count on to calm me and at the same time fill me with energy…Shinjuku Gyoen.
I was pretty sure all the leaves would have fallen by now and I would just be seeing branches against the blue sky. That would have been enough for me.
Well, I was wrong.
Even though the ginkgo trees had started to loose their yellow leaves by the dozen, the Japanese maple trees had just started to change color everywhere. Spots of orange, red, and purple could be seen throughout the park paths, lit up by the rays of sunlight. And it was beautiful.
This is the one place. The one place I know where I can always come to relax. To hear myself think without the chaos. And always leave feeling refreshed, even if it’s during a short lunch break.
Hope you have a moment to of quiet or calm during this busy season, too! x
Kaori Square Feet 
Wow. I should remember next year that Shinjuku's maples are on Africa time. 🙂
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what a beautiful serie !! 🙂
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Maple always tends to be later than gingko here ;D
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Thank you Babzy! It was so pretty, I couldn't stop taking pictures 😉
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I love Shinjuku Gyoen!! And these photos are just amazing. The colors just take my breath away 🙂
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What a lovely set of photos. I have thankfully not been very hung over so far this month. My season started last weekend and I'm worried. ^^;
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I was in awe, too. Especially the leaves with the light filtering in. It looks pretty in the photos but was even more amazing in person!
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Tis the season, eh? (Did that sound Canadian?) I think this week was my peak…only two next week. Gambaro! ;D
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That Canadianism sounds forced. 😉 It was on the ball though. I'll be throwing my eh's on Monday night. When I drink, I say it a lot more. My American friend makes fun of me for it and I can only respond with more eh's. 😡
It's all fun though. 😀
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I was in a park near the ocean watching a juggler around which a small audience had gathered. He tossed a ball in the air then as it came down he let it travel just behind his head. When the ball reached his neck he snapped his head back catching the ball in the crook of his neck. He then bent his head and neck forward so that the ball travelled back up his neck the way it came. He then snapped his head again throwing the ball straight up into the air whereby he continued juggling with the ball. There wasn’t the slightest reaction from our little audience to this impossible feat that must have taken countless hours to perfect. The juggler, miffed, if not angry, said, “You don’t know what I just did!” To which I replied, “It’s just that we are all speechless with awestruck disbelief.” This is how I feel about your photos of Shinjuku Gyoen in December: awestruck and wordless.
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Bahaha! Well, I tried. I guess I just need more practice, eh? (Couldn't help myself!)
With my foreign friends, they actually speak a lot more Japanese when the alcohol starts flowing 😉
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I was so drawn in to your story that I forgot that it was a comment! And i will agree with you 100 percent 🙂
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I should have said, “I sound more Canadian with English speaking friends” but I do speak more Japanese with Japanese friends. ^^
If you hang with me when I'm drunk and I actually speak English, you'll hear how to use eh properly all the time. You might actually start using it when you talk to everyone! 😛
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