You won't forget this Heyday Friday newsletter in a hurry

Discoveries aplenty, some jaw-dropping illusions, a recipe with an unexpected ingredient, and a mystery solved in this week's newsletter

Hello!

This week’s blog completes my Japanese trip download. I won’t lie, it’s a bit of a beast - in terms of length, not, I very much hope, readability. So you might want to make a cuppa before settling down to read it.

When you do, you’ll discover all the places we visited and things we saw (related with as much brevity as possible and with some great pics) which included a shrine surrounded by forest in one of the biggest cities in the world, an open air, world-class, sculpture park in the middle of the mountains, a parade of 2000 people dressed in costumes from ten centuries of Japan’s history,

a circular observatory suspended 40 floors up between two giant mirrored tower blocks, and an astonishing feat of balance performed by a very agile gardener.

You can read all of this and more by CLICKING HERE.

Whilst there are a couple more bits of Japan-related content below, that’s the last of it, I promise.

---

THIS WEEK I’M…. REVEALING

the secret behind this confusing video in THIS WEEK’S BLOG

How is it possible that you can see me and my lovely man apparently fully submerged underwater and yet seemingly standing and still dry?

I can’t resist dragging out the mystery just a little longer (sorry, not sorry), so I’ll tell you at the end of this newsletter.

---

Whist you’re trying to figure that out, here are some pertinent

WORDS OF WISDOM

from American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.

---

FRIDAY FUNNY

I couldn’t decide whether this staircase in a shopping centre of all places, in Osaka, was right for this spot or the Words of Wisdom one, but it made me laugh - whilst simultaneously providing a cleverly memorable reminder of the benefits of taking the stairs whenever possible - so I’ve settled for sharing it here (with thanks to my lovely fella for demonstrating such excellent stair-climbing technique).

---

I can’t deny it might be helpful to burn off a few calories after trying this week’s recipe, but it’s so moist and light it’s worth accruing a few

LEMON AND BLUEBERRY YOGHURT CAKE

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F and grease and line a 11x22cm loaf tin

Measure 180g plain flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp salt into a medium size bowl and stir until combined.

In a larger mixing bowl rub together 200g sugar and the zest of 1 lemon with your fingers until the lemon oil releases into the sugar.

Add 2 large eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract and mix together, then 150g full fat plain yoghurt and mix until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until just combined. Pour in 125ml olive oil and stir until completely incorporated.

Gently stir in 150g blueberries (or any other berries you fancy) and pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

---

WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

I flatter myself I’m a decent enough baker, but I’ve got a way to go before I could produce anything that’s even comes close to these astonishing creations from cake artist (who knew there was such a thing?) Jonny Manganello

---

That’s the lot for this week. Apart, of course, from the promised reveal of the secret behind that bewildering underwater video.

It was taken at the Contemporary Museum of Modern Art in Kanazawa where this permanent installation is one of the most popular attractions.

Whilst from the top it looks like a regular swimming pool, albeit with people appearing to be able to walk around in it under the water, when you go inside the building you discover you can, indeed, walk into the underneath of the pool, where it becomes clear that the water is, in fact, contained in a slim layer of glass.

How clever is that?

That’s enough illusion confusion for one week I think. Have you been to any great art galleries, or seen any particularly memorable installations? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear about them.

If you fancy dropping a little like heart before you go, as always that would be greatly appreciated.

See you next time