Maaaan I was such a sloth this weekend

...and I loved every minute of it!

Nerding out with my man like a boss. We ate crap food, sat on the central heating, watched a buttload of anime (while reminiscing about Japan) and napped. A pretty solid and successful pog of a first weekend back in fair ol Melbourne town. 

As promised, here's a summary our first week in Japan in absolutely no particular order:

Clockwise from top right: Night-time adventuring through Shinjuku; the famous Japanese toilet; crab hat; Ginza line subway

 

Little shiba me; cute schoolgirls at Sensō-ji temple, Asakusa; rooftop view of Sensō-ji complex and market from the tourist information centre; supermarket sushi 

Just your average little river friends; Evan at the ryokan in Takayama; Shibuya crossing; Giants game at Tokyo Dome 

 

Doting father with puppy pram; ticket machine udon in Akihabra; kimonos; very expensive samurai swords

 

Photo booth manga eyes; shopping; trying new drinks from vending machines; beautiful 5 story pagoda in Asakusa

 

Beautiful snow capped mountain views from Takayama; friendly little cuties that we met on the way to the Ghibli Museum; traditional house at Hida no Sato (folk village); one of the 5000 record digs which happened over the fortnight

One of many awesome bike rides; Evan looking pretty and me hugging a sarubobo (happy monkey baby) at the folk village; eating sundaes, looking cute and feeling like creeps at a maid café in Akihabara; puppies!!!!

Eating adorable kitty sundaes at aforementioned creepy cafe trying to be adorable too; tanuki; little shiba; friendly schoolgirls 

Yamakyu Ryokan in Takayama, the first place I've ever been publicly nude (well kind of...ladies onsen); forever stuffing my face; very cool samurai statue; beautiful photo of a beautiful boy

Me; eating hida beef sashimi, a moment I wish I could relive every minute of everyday; Ghibli Museum!!!; long armed, pot bellied little dude

 

Laputan robot at the Ghibli Museum; hydrangeas; the much coveted melon fanta; the priceless and unashamed happiness of a boy who lost his phone on a Shinkansen and had it miraculously returned to him a day later. 

Philippines!

I'm sipping away on a San Miguel listening to the thunder and rain roll in while burying my feet in the cool sand. Ev is working away furiously but seems very at home in this island paradise. Man, I love this place. 

We're on holiday in the Philippines, right now in Port Barton on the island of Palawan, disconnecting from the world (literally, the wifi has dropped out and there's no power until 6pm) and recharging the batteries before we hit the psychosomatic yet seemingly endearing obscurity of Japan. A place I've always dreamed of going. 

We're travelling with Evan's family for the Philippines leg of the trip and so far it's been awesome. It's been spontaneous, adventurous and hilarious with this silly bunch. The McLellan clan are a good sort with wicked senses of humour and have a unique yet harmonious way about them, hell-bent on sinking back beers, over-sharing travel experiences (Papa McLellan), accidentally tanning and learning everything there is to know about anything and everything. A particularly handy asset being Tagalog speaking Mama McLellan.

I'm having a wonderful time. I can't believe it's only the beginning. Here's a little a look at the rad adventures so far: