Back in CO!

My first homemade meal in Colorado! Mom rolled out some Italian pizza rolls to remind me that I should stay in Colorado longer...

Look delicious don't they?
Artistic presentation of an Italian pizza roll about to be devoured.

some stats

Some travel stats from traveling around Asia:

677 hand written pages in journals.
161 blog entries.
4234 photos, about 10 good ones.
4 countries - Japan, Thailand, Lao PDR, Nepal.
417 days = 1 year, 1 month and 20 days.
9991 hours from Denver takeoff to Denver landing.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki has become one of my favorite foods in Japan. I was trying to learn how to make it on my last night in Japan. Quality okonomiyaki is all about the facial expressions.

. . . . .

enoshima

Some photos from an afternoon in Enoshima with Mariko.

Tsukiji Market

The world famous Tsukiji Seafood Market with warehouse after warehouse of Styrofoam boxes of fish and row after row of fishmongers. Rubber boots, fish saws and the smells of fresh fish abound. Mariko took me there later morning so the craziness of the morning shipments had worn off and the vendors were happy to chat with us.

There is some political pressure to move the market to a new location so I was glad to see it before it moves.

As anyone who has been to the Tsukiji Market knows, the real beauty of the market is the sushi shops nearby with the freshest sushi in the world. So of course we stopped for lunch. Amazing doesn't do it justice. Wow that was good sushi.

A great way to spend my last full day in Japan, thanks Mariko.

Yokohama Triennale

Went to the Yokohama Triennale - Time Crevasse modern art show that Mariko had suggested. Modern art exhibits are very much hit or miss affairs with me - usually miss. Artists need to explain why the did something or what it was they were trying to accomplish or what limitations they were imposing on themselves. Give me a little explanation and then I've something to judge otherwise I usually just find it odd.

So I entered the show with apprehension that, with limited ability to read Japanese, the show would be less than exciting. But my apprehensions were soon replaced with curiosity and wonder, it was a well put together show.

There was an animatronic marching band that was quite swell as was the hall of broken mirrors.

Hama Rikyu Gardens

The Hama Rikyu Gardens are a beautiful Edo style garden surrounded by skyscrapers from the futuristic Shiodome business area.

Formerly the personal hunting ground of the Tokygawa shoguns, the gardens are now a haven for ducks, herons and cranes.



In the middle of the main pond is a teahouse that offers Japanese tea and sweets in traditional tea-ceremony style.

A peony garden, plum tree grove and cosmos fields have flowers for every season.

Respect for the Aged Day (keiro no hi)

The third Monday in September is keiro no hi, a national holiday to celebrate long life, and show respect for the elders of society.

The community meets at the local temple to invite the spirit into the mini shrine. The door in the mini shrine is opened to let the spirit inside and given gifts. Once inside, the yukata clad lads from the neighborhood bounce the shrine around on their shoulders while chanting.

At night paper lanterns are strewn across the square and everyone eats and drinks. Men and women take turns playing the drums and everyone dances to thank the spirits for a good harvest.

Japanese men at an intersection

Who says Japanese people are shy?

haha, I love this photograph.

Shinto Festival

Today was the carry the mini shrine around town shouting and cheering without your pants day. Every neighborhood has their own mini shrine to carry around and their own color scheme, but I haven`t seen a costume yet that isn`t missing the bottom half of the yukata...

Tomorrow is a national holiday and I have seen festival booths set up all over town. I can only imagine what the day has in store for me... And the important question, should I wear pants?

Clearly, I am still trying to figure out what this festival is all about...

Kamakura

Spent the day in Kamakura, a city known as "Little Kyoto" because there are so many temples and shrines.

Tokeiji temple was founded in 1285 by a nun named Kokusan. In those days a woman did not have the right to seek a divorce. But in the temple women could live for 3 calendar years and then obtain a divorce. Tokeiji is nicknamed the Divorce Temple. The joke in the town is that if a woman is running in town she must running from her husband and she is kindly directed to the temple... In 1873 the temple law was adopted by the national court of justice.

Next was Jochiji Temple with its celebrated nectar well and wooden Buddha statues of past, present and future. The trail that winds through the cyprus forest that leads to a special cave. If you are brave enough, the cave leads to happiness...

Tokyo Science Museum

Spent all day playing at the Science Museum in Tokyo with Mariko. A mirror room for making full-size kaleidoscopes. A bowling ball roller coaster room. Dry ice vortex. Riding bicycles on a wire.

Onegiri and inarizushi for a lunch snack and introduced me to sukonbu. Yum.

Thanks for a wonderful day Mariko! It was fun to be 7 years old.

Rikugien Gardens

The name Rikugi-en means six elements of poetry and scenes from famous poems are reproduced in the gardens.

Rikugien is quite a beautiful garden with a central pond, islands, forested areas, man made hills and several tea houses are hidden amongst the forests and hills.

Only the Japanese could successfully fit such a peaceful oasis into the middle of a noisy metropolis. Rikugien Gardens was exactly the peaceful escape I needed. Time to decompress from being in Laos and Thailand and think.

Dinner with friends in Bangkok

Not really much happening in Bangkok, just a stopping place between Laos and Tokyo for a couple days for me. Met some Japanese friends for dinner that are studying Thai here in Bangkok. They took me to a famous restaurant named SomTam not far from the Siam BTS station.

Thanks for a wonderful evening of laughing! hahaha Hope to see you again in Thailand or Laos or Japan or America...