Shakujii Park Run

I enjoyed two beautiful runs to Shakujii Park in the last week. There are two ponds there with nice trails around them.

This is the view of the east pond from its eastern edge.

This bridge is in the middle of the east pond.

Looking east from the western edge of the east pond.  Irises were pretty.

The west pond - covered with lotus.

A view of the west pond seen from the west edge.

There used to be a samurai clan fortress - Shakujii Castle at this location.

Close by is a nice Shinto Shrine - Hikawa Jinja.

A Beautiful Run in Shanghai

I was back in Shanghai - noticed that I have not been there since the Expo. That means it has been some two years.

My hotel was by the Bund, so the main part of my run was along Huangpu River.

Historical Waibaidu Bridge.

There is a very nice and wide closed-to-auto traffic strip along the river.

Buildings from the time of International Settlement are still there.

The memorial engravings at Monument to the People's Heroes.

The view of Pudong high rise buildings across Huangpu River.

A very interesting building of the International Ferry Terminal.

Shanghai Municipal Government Building.

A view of my hotel.

A complex pedestrian deck.

A new high rise residential building under construction.

Shanghai is a very vibrant city.

Himeji

I made a trip to Himeji earlier this week.  The city is famous for the castle which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The central castle tower building (Honmaru) was being repaired and is enclosed in a big box - seen from the moat on the south side of the castle ground.

A close up of the enclosure seen from the east side - at least its picture is drawn on it.

A picture of the inside of the enclosure.

The castle wall - magnificent.

A trail along the moat on the north side.

There were still some cherry trees still with flowers.

Replica of Shachihoko that are on the roof of the castle - 190 cm in height and 250 kg each.

Golden Week 2013 Runs and Walks

Today is the last day of Golden Week in Japan.  We were blessed with nice weather - I enjoyed running and walking in near-by parks and gardens.

Beautiful wisteria (Fuji in Japanese) in Koganei Park.

Woody area of Koganai Park.

A very popular restaurant in Inokashira Park.

Beautiful camelia (Tsutsuji in Japanese) in front of the restaurant.

Boys pose for a photo with Siberian iris (Ayame in Japanese) in Jindai Botanical Garden.

Unusual wisteria (Yaekokuryu in Japanese) in the botanical garden.

A jade vine (Hisuikazura in Japanese) in the tropical green house.

A soba restaurant was very busy at lunch time.

 Tama Monorail structure at Tamagawa-Josui Station.

White wisteria tree by the station.

After a total of 7 days off out of 10 days, it will be back to usual tomorrow.