Five Thousand Miles Feature

My Japan travel journal website, Five Thousand Miles, has been featured on Inside Japan Tours’ blog about Japan blogs! Top of the list too…

It’s always nice to hear about other people and their experiences in Japan. Everyone’s Japan experience is different. So, heres a few examples of our customers trips from over the last year, expressed using various forms of social media, sharing some great travel tales, tips and pictures.

One of my favourites was from Emma Prew. Emma put together this great blog which details her whole trip from place-to-place adding some great photos….at 4000 plus photos, she has more to show. Loads of great detail.

insidejapanblog.com/2014/06/13/blogging-about-japan-blogs

I have moved

I no longer live in Milton Keynes. I have now officially moved to Bedford. In fact, I officially moved to Bedford on Sunday.

I wouldn’t say I was glad to leave Milton Keynes – as you may be aware, I have grown to like the place somewhat since returning from university. But I am super excited to be living in my own place (well, half my own place – I’m sharing with a work colleague/friend) and pretty much starting a whole new chapter in my life. Unlike when I left home to go to uni, I don’t intend to go back to living at my parents’ house ever again. Unless I absolutely have to… and of course, I would be welcome back.

I have been pretty non-stop-busy since Saturday morning when I got my keys and started moving my stuff into the new place. It is now starting to look like a home and is almost looking how I want it… or we, I should say, for the lounge/kitchen at least.

I have a wardrobe (with four bonus drawers) being delivered on Thursday which means I can tidy away all my clothes and other bits of clutter that are filling my new room at the moment. We are also getting a sofa delivered on the same day… Then it will be home.

First car load packed up – sadly, Cleo couldn’t actually come with me.

Empty bedroom.

A work-in-progress.

Last night in MK, spent with Cleo-cat.

Milton Keynsian concrete cow, Batcow, has moved to Bedford.

When I was lacking in record player, speakers and Macbook…

It was warm. It still is. Ice lolly as viewed from lounge.

Well-earned/much-needed pint on Sunday night in the lovely D’Parys beer garden.

The view from the window in the hallway just outside my flat front door.

My very own Buddha that Mama-Prew gifted me.

Record player and general music space set up.

Poster framed this evening ready to go on the wall, along with others.

Yeah, the only photos I have so far are as-seen-on-Instagram photos and these don’t even show the actual flat much…

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time… when I did art.

It is happening. I am moving out of my parents’ house in one week – for good, unless any misfortune befalls me in the future (touch wood, hopefully not). I did the last bits of clearing out today and started actually packing things into boxes. I uncovered a load of artwork that I did several years ago – some college and/or university related, but mostly just things I did for fun.

I was going to scan some in, but I realised they were all hiding away on my external hard drive anyway. So I had a look on there and found some other gems too, that I’d like to share here and now… then maybe I’ll do some new art.

Thompson Puppets

I have been working on a logo design for Thompson Puppets on and off for a couple of months – I went on holiday to Japan after I’d started on the initial ideas and have been fairly busy in day-to-day life since then, as well. Thankfully, there was no definite deadline on the design and I think we both benefitted from that. Better that I took my time, rather than rushing to get any old logo drawn up.

Thompson Puppets make personalised puppet videos and have a YouTube channel with more than 1,000 subscribers. The final logo design features four of the puppets featured in the videos – it was great fun to create these!

Bank Holiday Shark Art

As I’m moving out of my parents’ house within the next month (more on that nearer the time), I have been trying to clear out my room of all the old junk I don’t need or use anymore. On Saturday, I was sorting through my school, college and university art supplies. I threw out a lot of old paints, pens and paper (I recycled the paper, of course) and set aside some things to go to charity.

However, I made sure to keep a decent amount of supplies for myself with the intention of actually using them. I’ve got a couple of pieces of lino and a lino cutter that I’ve never used along with some printing ink – that I have used before but only for mono printing. I’ll have to think carefully about what I want to do with that…

For today I just got out the ol’ colouring pencils (they’re actually the kind that you can add water to and turn it into watercolour paints, but I like them as pencils) and drew some sharks.

I’d like to say I’ll draw some more sharks but I’m not making any promises. I may move onto other sea creatures… or something else entirely! Either way, hopefully this is not the last art I do. I’ve at least got to try some painting – watercolour, oil, acrylic, whatever – and lino printing.

I tweeted something earlier that I think is worth mentioning here (a little elaborated as I can use more than 140 characters!): Drawing is fun but I always feel like I need to have purpose for my drawings. Like with these sharks, I feel like they should go onto an informational shark species poster or something. I guess my mind is very much a designer’s and not an artist’s.

Food Art

I have had Idafrosk’s Instagram profile and blog open in tabs in my browser for well over a week now but hadn’t got around to sharing until now – life is busy. I can’t even remember how I came to find her in the first place now…

Idafrosk, or Ida Skivenes, is a Norwegian food enthusiast and artist. She says:
“I believe that food should be fun, tasty and for the most part healthy.”

Now I am hungry. Are you?