Breathe

In the process of seeing people and packing as I belatedly informed all of my acquaintances that I am leaving in a week and it's been a rush to do everything. I feel especially bad about a few of my kids lessons as I wanted to get them some small presents. Not happening I think. In my mind, I used to bequite good at this kinds of planning things. Now everything in my apartment is a mess and I try not to let anyone in.

Anyway, spotted on Seen and Said

excerpt from The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff (apparently, I haven't read it before but looks like now would be a good time for it).

"What's this you're writing?" asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.
"The Tao of Pooh," I replied.
"The how of Pooh?" asked Pooh smudging one of the words I had just written.
The Tao of Pooh," I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.
"It seems more like the ow! of Pooh," said Pooh, rubbing his paw.
"Well, it's not," I replied huffily.
"What's it about?" asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.
"It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances!" I yelled.
"Have you read it?" asked Pooh.

Sorry for the picture-less posts. A bit busy to dig for photos but not too busy to procrastinate/blog-post.

South Korea

I went to Korea a few months ago and blogged a tiny bit about that. But I was struck with by a sudden memory after attempting (very briefly) to organize my books a bit. Since I hadn't planned on going to Korea, I didn't have an English guide book with me. There wasn't one in the shelves here either, (there are several Japan ones of course and one or two China ones) but none for Korea so I bought one at a bookstore here. English ones might have been available, but I figured with the proximity of the two countries and the frequency with which people from Japan frequent Korea (see previous entries on Korea), Japanese guidebooks would be more detailed anyway. More picture and photograph-filled with many more suggestions for souvenirs than one would find in typical American guidebooks. I digress though...

On the train ride to Gangnam one day to do some shopping (my trip pretty much consisted of eating and shopping) I was standing on the crowded train, trying to read my guidebook while keeping an eye out for my stop. As it was in Japanese (aforementioned), it takes quite a bit of time and effort for me to get through a page of the book and maybe I looked a bit lost because some Korean grandpas sitting opposite me asked, in Japanese if I need some help. Seeing my book, they assumed quite naturally that I was Japanese, and started asking me questions...where I was headed, if I was traveling alone, and had mini discussions amongst themselves as to which was the best stop for my needs. They appeared to be strangers but started conversing in Japanese to each other as they started one of those back-and-forths one sometimes hears in New York, where a small circle of city residents bicker over the best subway route to get to the MET from Times Square or some such. It was so friendly and surprisingly so for me, as I would have thought (cynically it appears now) that they would have been bitter about speaking this language but they were so nice and friendly in trying to help me. I think they thought I was Japanese the whole time but the Japanese mother and daughter pair behind me probably found me out as soon as I spoke more than three words. They shot me a few glances during the course of my conversation with the group of harabojis. It could have been because of the conversation itself, Japanese with Korean grandpas, rather than my Japanese but I think my accent must have contributed.

All of the lines that were crossing in this little international exchange really left an imprint on my memory. Throughout the whole trip most store people I met thought I was Japanese. Almost never Korean though...my friend suggested that it was because I dressed Japanese. Maybe. People do tend to think I am native here but that might have to do with where I am as much as general appearance.

Natsukashii Kyoto

I thought I'd do some retroactive posts about Kyoto since I didn't write much about my experience while I was actually there.

では、

This was taken in Kibune 貴船. In the hot summers of Kyoto (every Japanese person inevitably mentions the basin in which Kyoto is located, when you mention Kyoto and summer heat in the same breath.) wealthy people since olden times have found ways to escape the heat. Kibune is one such escape up in the mountains of northern Kyoto. During the summer, restaurants along this stream lay out planks across the small stream, crisscross lights overhead to create a unique alfresco experience. A highly recommended, if a bit pricey, experience.

Guess where I am going!

It was the inspiration behind the setting of Mononoke Hime!


There will be this,and this,
and I will be staying here: All photos courtesy of Kairakuen Minshuku.
楽しみです！

Monet in Japan

Monet is quite popular here, and impressionist artists in general I think. But I didn't realize how popular until I heard about the Monet Gardens. These are gardens that were created to imitate the ones that inspired some of Monet's most well-known paintings, like his water lilies series. Instead of being in Japanese and English, all of the signs and explanations were in Japanese and French. I went the same day I went to the Morning Market.

This is the Water Lily Garden, it was the right season for water lilies but unfortunately not the right time of day. By the time we got there the flowers had mostly closed up.

The effect was quite nice, and I imagine it is quite lovely when the water lilies are all open. I realized that such overflowing greenery is something I miss about home. Japanese gardens tend to be more trimmed down and spare. I suppose any Japanese gardening book could have told you that but I didn't realize it until these gardens. A bit slow on the uptake huh?

And some kittens up for adoption that we found at a rest stop...so so adorable. They were just left outside in a box with a sign. They were mewing and just begging that somebody pick them up. And I did, only to realize the signs instructed us not to do so unless we were taking one with us...I guess that explains why none of the elementary school kids I saw were playing with the kittehs. Oops.

Sunday Farmer's Market

One of my students offered to take me to the morning market in the neighboring prefecture. It's quite famous in these parts and is open pretty much the whole year round on Sundays. In the spring and summer it starts at 5am (they get an extra hour of sleep during the colder months). This is something that I have been wanting to do and I was really happy when they invited me. It also turned out to be a really good day to go, sunny and warm. The market is about 2km long so many pictures were taken.

We started out on the end near the castle.

The area is famous for knives and scissors so there were a few stores that extended their shops a bit and laid their wares out on the sidewalk for the day.

Many flower and plant vendors:


and of course, my favorite, food. Most of the vendors had fresh produce but there were also stalls selling homemade miso and pickles. Added to this were a few stores selling snacks meant to be eaten on the spot, like this one selling tempura.
The line at this stall wound around the side and looped around the back of the neighboring stall.

Mochi! Daifuku with different fillings like Buntan and Yuzu-flavored anko. Freshly made this morning.


Saba-zushi, also freshly made. I can personally attest that this was quite yummy with a strong sesame accent. But I still prefer the vinegary Kansai (Osaka?) battera.

Ke-gani (Hairy Crab). This is usually found in Hokkaido but was caught somewhere locally for reasons I couldn't quite make out from her explanation. Upon hearing that I was a foreigner, she said, "big crab" (in English) and let me pick it up so that I could pose with the local (?) seafood. I didn't see the picture my friend took but based on the way the muscles in my face started twitching and rearranging themselves, it was basically squeamish city girl holds large moving crustacean for the first time. The professional is holding crabby in this picture (she obligingly pulled out the stops for the international tourist)

Finally, the culinary highlight of my day. Tomatoes! Well, actually just tomato. This (that perfect red one in the middle of the tray) was the most delicious tomato I have ever had in my life. If the tomatoes mom tried to force on me as a kid tasted like this, I bet she wouldn't have had to force them on me. These were iced and thoroughly chilled for immediate consumption. I should also mention that they cost 100 yen for one large cherry-tomato-sized morsel or two small bites. If I wasn't with my student-friends I probably would have bought a few more but I was a bit embarrassed so I refrained. Then, a few yards later I encountered 200 yen tomatoes and wondered if it was possible that they tasted twice as good...

Breakfast

Here they apparently don't know that granola ought to be roasted with honey or some kind of syrup to make it hard and crunchy so every time I eat granola here I can really feel that I am eating grains. No wonder people here think cereal is like bird food.

Would like some Bear Naked granola and trader joe's yogurt please.