holidays then and now

great ocean trip + dog (july 2013)

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japan 2008

was clearing up space in my com so i could download new stuff and came across these photos where i was starting to learn how to use a camera. i took a few sets in japan and then stopped because i sold my camera, and recently just started again. these were taken in tokyo, sapporo, and niseko - one of my favourite places yet. these photos bring back lovely memories of our family vacation. that was an especially wonderful trip where everything came together so nicely (or perhaps better so in memory): food was great, the amount of time spent in each city was perfect, and we had such great fun as a family in niseko eating buffets all day, having the ski stop literally at the foot of the hotel, and having onsen baths every night outdoors with mt yotei in the background. basically everyone was in such a good mood and i really liked that vacation. we really wanted to go back to japan this december to relive our niseko memories! but with the radiation i think we probably won't for some time. i guess this is why i really like taking photos, sometimes i go through them, like i did tonight, and remember good times i've forgotten for whatever reason. 

this sounds really morbid but i'm pretty sure i'll do this many more times in my life. as in, come across photos i've stored online and just reminisce times gone, and how things have changed or people have left. i mean, im pretty sure one day when my parents are gone i'll look at photos like in this album and feel really appreciative for the chance to have such a nice family trip with them. my dad really likes japan. it holds special memories for us because it was also the first place we've ever gone on holiday together. when i think of that trip i think of us walking through the underground passageway at night, i was six, and my younger brother and i are holding the first green tea ice-cream cone i've ever eaten in my life. my parents carried us all the way home while we intermittently fed them ice-cream from our spot on their back. a little cliched but it just reminds me of how the simplest things brought us great pleasure. also another scene that stands out:  i'm on a dumbo the elephant disneyland ride, and i was holding out my orange mickey mouse popsicle so i could watch it as i went round and round. and my mom was far down below waving at me the whole time....in that moment there were 3 thoughts in my head: my mom was near me so i was safe. i felt bad eating a 7 dollar popsicle (stupid disneyland prices) because i knew that was expensive for my parents. but i felt happy my parents bought me the popsicle anyway, and i really liked that ice cream.