Saturday 31st March 2007
Mum arrives bright and early. She's determined to spend our inheritance by travelling as much as she possibly can, even though she really doesn't like long-haul flights. However much she detests them, they seem to do her the world of good by making her sit still for 12 hours – something she never does at home – and she arrives looking fit and well. OK, she obviously doesn't travel dressed like this! This is a photo of her at our wedding in 2006!
We pour plenty of cups of coffee down her, then to stave off the effects of jetlag, take her off to her favourite place, Shinjuku Gyoen for fresh air and flower viewing. 
As it's the weekend, there are many more people here today and most are on show, wearing their best outfits. Even the dogs 
are dressed up - we saw one dressed as a ladybird.
Some hanami parties have started and the gardens are quite crowded. It's a bit cloudy today and a slight chill in the air sends us into the big greenhouse for the first time.
What a wonderful place! Full of some of my favourite plants; food trees. Cacao trees are sprouting their fruit, banana plants showing their alien-like flowers, and some incredibly huge citrus fruits the size of footballs are there too. Unfortunately, not many of the plants have labels giving their Latin name, which makes it pretty hard to identify many species. Luckily, Mum the Botanist recognises most of them.
Yet more photos for this post! Yes, I bought a new camera yesterday!
This gives you an idea of Hanami. Find a cherry tree, set up your tarpaulin underneath it, bring your food and drink and spend the day picnicking with friends.
We were also delighted to spot this Great Egret posing beautifully next to a pile of turtles (you can see them on the left if you look carefully. If you click on the picture it will enlarge). 
As well as photographers, artists were out in force too. Mum, being a professional and award-winning artist herself had no qualms about going up to them and, although having no Japanese at all was able to exchange positive sign language with this one. He was very pleased and, I think, incredibly embarrassed!
A cute pair of ducks. I don't know what sort they are but they sport yellow tips to their beaks making them look as if they are wearing yellow lipstick!
I am most intrigued by the way cherry blossom bursts from the tree trunk itself. Very striking and extremely beautiful.
Another thing I found absolutely enchanting was the violets hidden shyly away in nooks and crannies. This one, however, must have been placed there and it looked fantastic peeking out of a hole in a tree.
These photos are a selection of plants inside 
the greenhouse.
One in particular had me transfixed as I have long wanted to see this for real and even though I have travelled extensively in South America, it's only in a greenhouse in Tokyo that I finally got to see the giant Amazonica waterlily!
Mum went into raptures about this peculiar looking plant. I 
think she said it was a Jade Plant and the photograph certainly doesn't do the colour justice at all. She plans to return to the greenhouse at some point during this trip in order to paint it. She made me take lots of pictures in case her "old fashioned" 35mm camera film didn't come out.
Finally, I have no idea what this one is, but thought it spectacular and a good test of how close my new camera will focus!
