Lovely and haunting.

Where to begin?

I sure wasn’t wrong when I predicted adventures for 2017. Maybe they didn’t quite shape up to be the kind of adventures I’d expected, but they were god damn adventures.

I’ll start where I left off, and work my way there in time.

Last time I talked into the void, I’d just left Korea. Next I hit Japan for the sixth time. My favourite place in the world - the only place that feels like home the second I hop off the plane.

This trip wasn’t my best. Things felt strained with my husband, I felt like I was inconveniencing him by being there and it was pretty clear he didn’t enjoy my company anymore. That aside, I took some of my favourite photos ever. I explored on my own a little. I met up with my best friend and ate perfect trash pizza at Shakey’s. I ate an obscene amount of crepes. I bowed at the Deer. I saw the tiniest snowflakes fall.

I wandered back streets of Harajuku. I did an amazing job of keeping up with my Japan crepe rule. See a crepe stand? Gotta buy a crepe. Even if I just bought a crepe. Or 4 crepes. As you can imagine if you've spent any time in Harajuku, Takeshita Dori is a delight for me. About 8 crepes down I meandered around, looking through windows and catching tiny glimpses into the lives of people I'd never see again.

I spent half my time in Shinjuku, half in Kyoto. Shinjuku is second nature to me. Somehow, it was my very first time in Kyoto. Every morning I woke up to the chilly fresh about-to-snow-but-not-quite-yet air, wandered to the little cafe next door and had a slice of thick cut toast with an egg and some plasticky cheese melted on top. It was complete simple perfection.

The next time I visit Japan it will be just for me. I can't foresee when it will be, but I can't wait.

-Em

The quiet washed over you like white upon the wall.

Last week included a brief stopover in Korea for a quick cable car ride, a whole bunch of Hot Chocolates and a couple of Churros. As an avid reader of Wikipedia pages listing cable car accidents and fatalities, I'm surprised I got on one, especially one with such a steep incline. I happily discovered it was at least 30x less terrifying when looking through a camera lens.

The weather was around -10 most days, the kind I'm built for. Everything is better in the cold. We missed the snow by an inch. There was still slushy ice lining the streets but only blue skies to be seen. A blue sky is my mortal enemy.

 -Em

All the space that surrounds you.

My wonderful best friend visited from Australia over my very first Thanksgiving. It was such a welcome break from reality after a crazy year. He's a person who is happy to fly across the world just to sit in silence with me and play Pokemon on the couch. Sometimes Google Hangouts just doesn't cut it.

During his visit, we hunted for the infamous Golden Gate Buffalo (and much to our dismay, found them locked behind a tiny gate), ate an obscene amount of food, baked all the pies, and spent a whole lot of money on Uber rides. We made a trip to the California Academy of Sciences to visit the beautifully restored taxidermy, their displays so immaculate that my snaps almost look like posters.

 -Em

These city lights are too much for you alone.

It's been a full year and change since I packed up my world and moved from Western Australia to San Francisco with my little family. While it was a challenging year to say the least, the highlights were clear. Exploring a new place through my iPhone lens, and seeing a heck of a lot of live music.

With adventures afoot for 2017 I decided it was time to make a new space to hold my memories, old and new. Hey.

 -Em