A more abstract shot than most of the ones I put up here, this is pebbles and shells from the Eastbourne beach, right next to Gemma and NN241.

During the summer, this boat ramp is used to load tour boats from the beach, thereby preventing wet feet. In the winter, there’s not much call for boat tours so this ramp sits idle, pulled high up on the beach out of reach of the tides.

A little further west along the coastline, between Eastbourne and Brighton, is Beachy Head. Despite some impressive cliffs, and that very tourist-oriented website, not everything associated with Beachy Head is as pleasant: the site is also popular with those wishing to end it all, and has been for centuries, as this report states.

The photo, taken from perilously close to the edge (I wonder how my photographers have fallen from here while trying to get shots of the cliffs?), shows the high point of the cliff and the lighthouse.

The other boat from the beach at Eastbourne; this is Gemma.

From the same beach as yesterday’s photo of NN241, this is one of the breakwaters stretching out into the English Channel at Eastbourne.

This small boat was sitting on one of the (pebble) beaches in Eastbourne, East Sussex. This beach was our first stop of a day sight seeing on the south coast; the boat was one of two on the beach – the other one will appear on the blog later in the week.

The final photo from my Japan trip at the end of last year; this is the sun setting over a Boeing 747 aircraft at Narita airport.

Akihabara is changing. Sure, the electronics stores are still there, including the amazing collection of small passageway stores under the railway lines just there at the station and the stores selling PC parts and duty free electronics. But there is a new game in town: entertainment. The stores along the main street now sell DVDs and video games. You need to venture down the side streets to find the hardcore electronics places now.

The other new thing is the French Maid cosplay cafe. I didn’t know about it until after I’d been this time, and I didn’t see any of them, but it seems that there is a definite transformation taking place.

Along my walk from Harajuku to Shibuya I passed through a complex that included the NHK broadcasting facilities and a large open area that would probably be called a county fairground in the US. There was an event going on that day with lion dancers on a small stage area, and drummers like the one in the photo all around the area. Of course, there were also the numerous food and beverage stalls that one would expect from any outdoor event like this, anywhere in the world, and plenty of people walking around watching.

The scene on the Jingu-bashi bridge as I was leaving to walk over to Shibuya. In addition to the crowds of Harajuku Girls and tourists, you can also see some more evidence of autumn in Tokyo. Everywhere I went there were trees showing their autumn colours. It really was a beautiful day too – mostly clear skies and sunny, but still relatively cold.