Thursday, December 23, 2010
Eclipse
We are all frail creatures on a small blue planet in a vast blackness. On a rare, rare night, the sky is dark like the universe yet offers us the unifying cantaloupe image of our planetary neighbor.
In Park Slope at 2:30 AM a few nights ago, the streets were spotted with awe-struck people, bodies tilting towards the heavens.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Last day in Japan; Kamakura
There is a joy to traveling with friends, and there is also a joy to traveling by yourself. I guess you could say I like traveling, one way or the other...
Hiro had plans with friends and family during the day and for dinner, so I decided to take a day trip to Kamakura. It was rainy in the morning, and the forecast called for more rain, but I wouldn't let that stop me. Kamakura is the home to many interesting historical places, and is about an hour from Tokyo on the train. I decided to go there with only enough cash on me for trainfare on the way back for some reason - subconsciously, I think I seek novel experiences, and if nothing else, needing money when I arrived would encourage me to explore as a local would, and interact with people.
And so it was. In Japan, only 711 stores, Citibank and HSBC allow withdrawals from foreign banks, and after talking (in English; my Japanese was never good) to a rickshaw driver, I found there was no such place in Kamakura. So, I tried going to another bank just to see if it would work, and it didn't, but a nice guard there pointed me towards the post office. His broken English directions were sufficient, and I found that, indeed, post offices in Japan allow withdrawals by foreigners. Good to know for future reference. Once again Japan proved itself a great place to travel given its polite and helpful citizenry.
Now that I was loaded, I had lunch at a random place off the main, tree-lined avenue that advertised Crocodile over rice. Crocodile tastes like smokey chicken, and I was happy with my meal. The restaurant was a small, out of the way place on the second floor of a small building away from the street. I spoke there with the waitress and the chef. My impression was that they were married - the waitress was Japanese, and the chef was from Bangladesh, and we spoke about travels around the World. He was a friendly soul, which is always nice to meet anywhere you go.
My first destination was The Great Buddha in Kamakura. It's one of the largest buddha statues in the world, and stands freely outdoors. Hiro said when he was a kid you could walk inside it, but it was shuttered in the back when I was there.
The leaves on the trees had mostly fallen, but there was a still a brightness about the place.
To travel around Kamakura, I took the local Enoiden train line, which is an old electric train that has a fun nostalgia about it.
I walked around the area near the train station near the Great Buddha, and found a pretty temple with a view of the ocean. Hase-dera is on a hill, and to greet temple goers in the front were Buddha statues that looked to be made of brightly colored plastic from a distance, but were in fact made of cardboard with bright lights shown upon them.
I hiked around the temple area, up a hill and back, taking in what had become another sunny day in Japan. Above, Kites flew around, perhaps picking up scraps tourists left behind, but for me, signaling the proximity of the ocean. I had been to the ocean now from both the West and the East!
I spent a few minutes at various artist shops, then made my way back to the Enoiden, where I rode it to nearly the last stop at Enoshima. Enoshima is an island just off the coast of Japan. I spent a few hours walking around there, seeing how the place catered to tourists, though it seemed out of season. The rain started to pick up, so opening the transparent plastic umbrella I'd been given at the hotel, I walked back to the train. Legions of people used these umbrellas in Tokyo, which is a constrant to New York, where the cheap umbrellas are black and opaque.
After a quick dinner back at the hotel, I met up with Hiro, Yoba, Tomo, and Yosuke for one last night on the town. We had good food, and good drinks one more time before Hiro and I had to head back to our hotel. Our flight the next morning was at 11 AM, so we had to get up early to make sure we gave ourselves enough time to pack and get to the airport for check-in.
One of the few negatives about Tokyo is that there is no public transportation after 12:30. There is an entire industry built around this - small beds at, say, Internet Cafes are available for the weary traveler who can't make it home. Given the number of people who drink, this is amounts to a fair number of people every Friday and Saturday at least. Hiro and I, walking with Yoba, eventually found a cab and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning, we took a bus with the words "Airport Limousine" on the side of it to Narita airport, and boarded our flight.
I'll have another post or two about this trip to come. There are some pictures I didn't include anywhere before this, and some additional thoughts I have about Japan. Now it's off to my second day back at work. I hope the jet lag doesn't drag on me like yesterday!
Hiro had plans with friends and family during the day and for dinner, so I decided to take a day trip to Kamakura. It was rainy in the morning, and the forecast called for more rain, but I wouldn't let that stop me. Kamakura is the home to many interesting historical places, and is about an hour from Tokyo on the train. I decided to go there with only enough cash on me for trainfare on the way back for some reason - subconsciously, I think I seek novel experiences, and if nothing else, needing money when I arrived would encourage me to explore as a local would, and interact with people.
And so it was. In Japan, only 711 stores, Citibank and HSBC allow withdrawals from foreign banks, and after talking (in English; my Japanese was never good) to a rickshaw driver, I found there was no such place in Kamakura. So, I tried going to another bank just to see if it would work, and it didn't, but a nice guard there pointed me towards the post office. His broken English directions were sufficient, and I found that, indeed, post offices in Japan allow withdrawals by foreigners. Good to know for future reference. Once again Japan proved itself a great place to travel given its polite and helpful citizenry.
Now that I was loaded, I had lunch at a random place off the main, tree-lined avenue that advertised Crocodile over rice. Crocodile tastes like smokey chicken, and I was happy with my meal. The restaurant was a small, out of the way place on the second floor of a small building away from the street. I spoke there with the waitress and the chef. My impression was that they were married - the waitress was Japanese, and the chef was from Bangladesh, and we spoke about travels around the World. He was a friendly soul, which is always nice to meet anywhere you go.
My first destination was The Great Buddha in Kamakura. It's one of the largest buddha statues in the world, and stands freely outdoors. Hiro said when he was a kid you could walk inside it, but it was shuttered in the back when I was there.
 |
| Great Buddha |
The leaves on the trees had mostly fallen, but there was a still a brightness about the place.
 |
To travel around Kamakura, I took the local Enoiden train line, which is an old electric train that has a fun nostalgia about it.
 |
| The anti-Shinkansen |
I walked around the area near the train station near the Great Buddha, and found a pretty temple with a view of the ocean. Hase-dera is on a hill, and to greet temple goers in the front were Buddha statues that looked to be made of brightly colored plastic from a distance, but were in fact made of cardboard with bright lights shown upon them.
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| Blutu statue in front of the temple |
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| Side view of Blutu statues |
I hiked around the temple area, up a hill and back, taking in what had become another sunny day in Japan. Above, Kites flew around, perhaps picking up scraps tourists left behind, but for me, signaling the proximity of the ocean. I had been to the ocean now from both the West and the East!
 |
| The Pacific Ocean |
I spent a few minutes at various artist shops, then made my way back to the Enoiden, where I rode it to nearly the last stop at Enoshima. Enoshima is an island just off the coast of Japan. I spent a few hours walking around there, seeing how the place catered to tourists, though it seemed out of season. The rain started to pick up, so opening the transparent plastic umbrella I'd been given at the hotel, I walked back to the train. Legions of people used these umbrellas in Tokyo, which is a constrant to New York, where the cheap umbrellas are black and opaque.
 |
| Enoshima through the rain at night |
After a quick dinner back at the hotel, I met up with Hiro, Yoba, Tomo, and Yosuke for one last night on the town. We had good food, and good drinks one more time before Hiro and I had to head back to our hotel. Our flight the next morning was at 11 AM, so we had to get up early to make sure we gave ourselves enough time to pack and get to the airport for check-in.
One of the few negatives about Tokyo is that there is no public transportation after 12:30. There is an entire industry built around this - small beds at, say, Internet Cafes are available for the weary traveler who can't make it home. Given the number of people who drink, this is amounts to a fair number of people every Friday and Saturday at least. Hiro and I, walking with Yoba, eventually found a cab and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning, we took a bus with the words "Airport Limousine" on the side of it to Narita airport, and boarded our flight.
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| Goodbye Japan |
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| Hello Long Island, Hello New York |
I'll have another post or two about this trip to come. There are some pictures I didn't include anywhere before this, and some additional thoughts I have about Japan. Now it's off to my second day back at work. I hope the jet lag doesn't drag on me like yesterday!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Medidata Japan Visit; Night on the town in Tokyo
The following day I had plans to meet Bernie, Hiroshi, and Tong, coworkers from my company who were living in Japan. As it turned out, Bernie and Hiroshi had just recently moved to Japan, after living in the States for years. Hiro had a lunch with his coworkers also, so after a quick breakfast, we did our own thing. Of note at breakfast, I had a "Coffee Jelly" Starbucks Frappucino, which isn't available in the states. In Japan, many foods come in Jelly form, from sweet and sour candy jellies to delicate potato appetizer jellies to coffee jellies inside a frappucino. It was actually quite good - the gelatinous texture adding something different to the frappucino, and it added a nice taste to go with it.
I met Bernie one JR station away, and we walked to the office. There's around 35 or 40 people there, and space for more! I didn't realize how large our Japan office was.
I met Hiroshi and Tong there; all of the R&D people were sitting in the same section of the office. Unlike our development office near Union Square in NY, the office here was quite corporate, and destined for quiet, as the desks were quite low, and anyone speaking even moderately loudly could be heard by anyone else. One plus was that the Japan office had pretty, spacious conference rooms, though I'm definitely not one for unending meetings.
We went out to lunch and talked about life in Japan and a little about news at work, then we left. I said hello to a few other coworkers in the office and told them about my happy travels in Japan before Bernie walked me back to the train. More power to him - he said his Japanese is not the greatest, but he's getting by. The safety and security of the place is one big reason why he decided to move with his family from their former home in New Jersey.
Later, I met up with Hiro and his old friend Mash for dinner and drinks. Mash was a friend of Hiro's from high school; we'd be meeting up with other high school friends of his later. Mash pulled out all the stops in planning for the evening, and it was much appreciated. We had all sorts of small dishes for dinner at a fancy place - from mushrooms called Eringi to squid with Perilla, aka Japanese Basil, to sirloin and filet mignon. No holding back on the beer and sake too, of course!
As dinner ended, another old friend joined - a girl named Chako. Our next destination was a very impressive placed called Planetarium. It's a small, cozy bar with snazzy drinks (including a signature drink with a peach flavor made over dry ice), and true to its name, a fairly large digital projector that creates an image of the night sky on a domed roof above. Constellations are clearly visible, and it also has a "trip" mode where fantastical abstract patterns appear, giving it a very romantic feel. Nothing like being in awe of the universe and, perhaps, your date as well!
I couldn't get a picture of the night sky view, but I did get a picture of Hiro and Chako with a flash, though they were a bit surprised by the light:
After that, we met up with another of Hiro's old friends, Kuma, at another nice bar. We had the downstairs to ourselves, and ordered some appetizers and many more drinks. It was a pleasure to meet Chako, Kuma, and Mash, and we had a good time there as well.
Around 1 or 2 in the morning, we finally headed back to our hotel. There was only one more day left in Japan! I would have to do what I could to make the most of it...
I met Bernie one JR station away, and we walked to the office. There's around 35 or 40 people there, and space for more! I didn't realize how large our Japan office was.
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| Hello Medidata Japan! |
I met Hiroshi and Tong there; all of the R&D people were sitting in the same section of the office. Unlike our development office near Union Square in NY, the office here was quite corporate, and destined for quiet, as the desks were quite low, and anyone speaking even moderately loudly could be heard by anyone else. One plus was that the Japan office had pretty, spacious conference rooms, though I'm definitely not one for unending meetings.
 |
| Bernie, Tong, and Hiroshi |
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| Bernie, Tong and me |
We went out to lunch and talked about life in Japan and a little about news at work, then we left. I said hello to a few other coworkers in the office and told them about my happy travels in Japan before Bernie walked me back to the train. More power to him - he said his Japanese is not the greatest, but he's getting by. The safety and security of the place is one big reason why he decided to move with his family from their former home in New Jersey.
Later, I met up with Hiro and his old friend Mash for dinner and drinks. Mash was a friend of Hiro's from high school; we'd be meeting up with other high school friends of his later. Mash pulled out all the stops in planning for the evening, and it was much appreciated. We had all sorts of small dishes for dinner at a fancy place - from mushrooms called Eringi to squid with Perilla, aka Japanese Basil, to sirloin and filet mignon. No holding back on the beer and sake too, of course!
As dinner ended, another old friend joined - a girl named Chako. Our next destination was a very impressive placed called Planetarium. It's a small, cozy bar with snazzy drinks (including a signature drink with a peach flavor made over dry ice), and true to its name, a fairly large digital projector that creates an image of the night sky on a domed roof above. Constellations are clearly visible, and it also has a "trip" mode where fantastical abstract patterns appear, giving it a very romantic feel. Nothing like being in awe of the universe and, perhaps, your date as well!
I couldn't get a picture of the night sky view, but I did get a picture of Hiro and Chako with a flash, though they were a bit surprised by the light:
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| Planetarium |
After that, we met up with another of Hiro's old friends, Kuma, at another nice bar. We had the downstairs to ourselves, and ordered some appetizers and many more drinks. It was a pleasure to meet Chako, Kuma, and Mash, and we had a good time there as well.
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| Chako, Kuma, and Hiro at our second bar |
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| Hiro, Kuma, Mash and I happy after many drinks |
Around 1 or 2 in the morning, we finally headed back to our hotel. There was only one more day left in Japan! I would have to do what I could to make the most of it...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Autumn Train ride; Osaka
I'm back in NY! I will have some additional thoughts and reflections on my trip to Japan, but for now I want to describe the last few days in and around Tokyo.
~~
We had another good onsen breakfast in the morning, then said goodbye to Dave. He had to head to Osaka early in the morning, where he would later fly back to Beijing. We had a little time to spend that day, so after leaving the onsen, we decided to head to Osaka for lunch.
We took a local train to get there, and then took a subway to the downtown area. Osaka is a large Japanese city the likes of which we had not seen since Tokyo.
It had a distinct feel even in just a few hours spent there. There was an edge to the people walking around; piercings were prevalent, and we did not feel the same kind of remarkable politeness that we had seen in different places in the previous week.
For lunch, we decided to go to a Teppanyaki restaurant. It's kind of like hibachi in the USA, except here there were no frills - just good food! Everything was good, including the plates of Takoyaki, which are like octopus dumplings with a mildly sweet sauce. Tasty.
After lunch, we walked around Osaka for a little while longer and headed towards the Shinkansen station, where we were bound for Tokyo. The trip was fast and easy, as all of them had been, and on the way, the foliage was slightly darker than when we had previously taken the same line.
That night, we met Koba and Masumi for drinks. We went to a bar around Shibuya that had a deal on champagne - for a very low price, we got a bottle of 2002 Dom Perignon, and some tasty desserts, which Hiro decided to pay for himself. Everything was enjoyable. Adding to the feast of the senses was a nice view of the Tokyo night from fairly high floor. It was fun outing, and a nice way to end the night.
The desserts came on a plate with powdered chocolate...
...and the chocolate powder was good enough to taste, and good enough to etch!
~~
We had another good onsen breakfast in the morning, then said goodbye to Dave. He had to head to Osaka early in the morning, where he would later fly back to Beijing. We had a little time to spend that day, so after leaving the onsen, we decided to head to Osaka for lunch.
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| A line within lines. In Japan, people stay within them |
We took a local train to get there, and then took a subway to the downtown area. Osaka is a large Japanese city the likes of which we had not seen since Tokyo.
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| Fugu signs on a crowded street |
It had a distinct feel even in just a few hours spent there. There was an edge to the people walking around; piercings were prevalent, and we did not feel the same kind of remarkable politeness that we had seen in different places in the previous week.
For lunch, we decided to go to a Teppanyaki restaurant. It's kind of like hibachi in the USA, except here there were no frills - just good food! Everything was good, including the plates of Takoyaki, which are like octopus dumplings with a mildly sweet sauce. Tasty.
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| Hiro and JaneAnn's crazily enjoyable lunchtime cigarette |
After lunch, we walked around Osaka for a little while longer and headed towards the Shinkansen station, where we were bound for Tokyo. The trip was fast and easy, as all of them had been, and on the way, the foliage was slightly darker than when we had previously taken the same line.
That night, we met Koba and Masumi for drinks. We went to a bar around Shibuya that had a deal on champagne - for a very low price, we got a bottle of 2002 Dom Perignon, and some tasty desserts, which Hiro decided to pay for himself. Everything was enjoyable. Adding to the feast of the senses was a nice view of the Tokyo night from fairly high floor. It was fun outing, and a nice way to end the night.
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| Kampai (Cheers)! |
The desserts came on a plate with powdered chocolate...
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...and the chocolate powder was good enough to taste, and good enough to etch!
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| "Hiro" - yes, he wrote this himself! |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Nara and our final onsen
We took the JR from Kyoto to get to Nara. There were tame deer to meet us in Nara just as on Miyajima, but here, the deer were out in large numbers. One of the first things we saw were dozens of deer galloping in a large circle in an open field. We spent some time at the Kasuga Shrine, where we were accompanied by thousands of school children.
Many of the girls there very cutely said "hi!" to us as they passed, and were very happy when we responded, giggling and smiling. A few of them showed off their English skills by asking us "how are you?", or even "where are you from?" The kids seemed so happy to be outside, and were full of energy.
The Shrine itself was beautiful, but I found the surrounding area even more impressive.
All of this beautiful foliage in Japan! Even having gone to high school in Vermont, I was very impressed. Despite the number of people around, there was a distinct serenity to the place.
Finally, we headed to our final onsen, which was on a hill. I use onsen here because the hotel itself advertised it, but in fact, once again, there was no natural hot springs to warm the outside bath. This made a huge difference in the bath experience, buuuut, we still had a wonderful traditional Japanese meal, full of delicious courses!
Our meal consisted of mountain peach wine to start, followed by a crab/tofu appitizer, a small whole fish with bean dumpling and daikon, sashimi, shabu shabu with a miso paste sauce, nabe with chicken, tofu, and vegetables, crab leg tempura, rice with root vegetable, fruit, and Kuzumochi with soy sugar paste for dessert. Many things were very good, but the standouts were clearly the shabu shabu, the rice, which was subtly aromatic, and the sashimi, which was served in a bowl of ice! Fancy, fancy.
With plenty of beer to go along with the meal, we were a happy and stuffed bunch once again when we were done. But rather than sleep, which would have been quite easy to do, given it was our last night together, we decided to check out Nara before calling it a night.
Taking a cab into town, we found it almost empty, even at 11pm. We finally settled on a drink at a bar calling itself "scuba", which had a few ukuleles on display, but alas, they were out of tune and half broken, so Hiro and I couldn't play. Hiro had found a uke store previously on the trip; apparently the uke's warm, happy sounds is appreciated here too! We then headed to another place, a Western-themed bar, where I had a Leffe - my first non-Japanese beer of the trip. Without a doubt, I've had more Kirin and Asahi in a few weeks here than I've had in the rest of my life. Finally, we headed back to the hotel and got another night of well-earned sleep.
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| Shrine Entrance |
Many of the girls there very cutely said "hi!" to us as they passed, and were very happy when we responded, giggling and smiling. A few of them showed off their English skills by asking us "how are you?", or even "where are you from?" The kids seemed so happy to be outside, and were full of energy.
The Shrine itself was beautiful, but I found the surrounding area even more impressive.
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| Autumn House |
All of this beautiful foliage in Japan! Even having gone to high school in Vermont, I was very impressed. Despite the number of people around, there was a distinct serenity to the place.
 |
| Deer grazing as the afternoon ends |
Finally, we headed to our final onsen, which was on a hill. I use onsen here because the hotel itself advertised it, but in fact, once again, there was no natural hot springs to warm the outside bath. This made a huge difference in the bath experience, buuuut, we still had a wonderful traditional Japanese meal, full of delicious courses!
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| Initial place setting |
Our meal consisted of mountain peach wine to start, followed by a crab/tofu appitizer, a small whole fish with bean dumpling and daikon, sashimi, shabu shabu with a miso paste sauce, nabe with chicken, tofu, and vegetables, crab leg tempura, rice with root vegetable, fruit, and Kuzumochi with soy sugar paste for dessert. Many things were very good, but the standouts were clearly the shabu shabu, the rice, which was subtly aromatic, and the sashimi, which was served in a bowl of ice! Fancy, fancy.
 |
| Shmancy. |
With plenty of beer to go along with the meal, we were a happy and stuffed bunch once again when we were done. But rather than sleep, which would have been quite easy to do, given it was our last night together, we decided to check out Nara before calling it a night.
Taking a cab into town, we found it almost empty, even at 11pm. We finally settled on a drink at a bar calling itself "scuba", which had a few ukuleles on display, but alas, they were out of tune and half broken, so Hiro and I couldn't play. Hiro had found a uke store previously on the trip; apparently the uke's warm, happy sounds is appreciated here too! We then headed to another place, a Western-themed bar, where I had a Leffe - my first non-Japanese beer of the trip. Without a doubt, I've had more Kirin and Asahi in a few weeks here than I've had in the rest of my life. Finally, we headed back to the hotel and got another night of well-earned sleep.
Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Taisha
The last full day of the week long trip around central and southern Japan was spent in Kyoto and Nara. After a relaxed morning, we took a train to Fushimi Inari Taisha. The area contains a huge number of Torii (orange gates similar to the famous one in Mikajima) and countless pathways through beautiful forest.
The protector spirit of this place is a Fox, which is adorned in orange throughout the park.
We spent some time walking the many trails in the park. Along the main paths, there were a number of tourists, but there were also areas that were almost free of people. The placed seemed to have the perfect balance of Man and Nature: more Nature than Man, which made the point that Nature always wins in a relaxed, peaceful way.
As we walked through, we were passed a number of times by a man who was jogging. The pathways extend for miles, and there are many hills in the area, so he was in great shape, and I imagined his mind to be in great shape as well. The last time he jogged past, I managed to get a picture:
What a happy soul!
As we left, we picked up a local speciality - freshly-made rice cakes with various toppings, such as sugar, or soy. Crunchy and tasty!
The protector spirit of this place is a Fox, which is adorned in orange throughout the park.
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| Fox Overseer |
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| Hiro and JaneAnn along a pathway |
We spent some time walking the many trails in the park. Along the main paths, there were a number of tourists, but there were also areas that were almost free of people. The placed seemed to have the perfect balance of Man and Nature: more Nature than Man, which made the point that Nature always wins in a relaxed, peaceful way.
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| Stone steps in the forest |
As we walked through, we were passed a number of times by a man who was jogging. The pathways extend for miles, and there are many hills in the area, so he was in great shape, and I imagined his mind to be in great shape as well. The last time he jogged past, I managed to get a picture:
 |
What a happy soul!
As we left, we picked up a local speciality - freshly-made rice cakes with various toppings, such as sugar, or soy. Crunchy and tasty!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Kyoto
Kyoto is a Japanese city of 1.5 million that was taken off the list of possible targets of nuclear weapons because an American General had visited it and deemed it too culturally important, saying its loss would have too destructive an effect on the Japanese people. Perhaps it was for this twist of Fate that the beautiful history in the city still stands.
After an enjoyable breakfast, we took the ferry off Miyajima and made our way on the train to Kyoto. We visited the famous Sanjūsangen-dō first. Pictures were not allowed here, but I suggest you visit and link and see for yourself. Sanjūsangen-dō is a buddhist temple with one thousand Kannon statues, and some other buddhist statues as well. The statues are collectively a clear statement of devotion, and individually stand for compassion. It also houses practicing monks, as do all of the buddhist temples we've visited.
As night fell, we visited Kyomizu Temple. We had to wait in line for a little while as the daytime crowd cleared before we were allowed in. The recent weekend was considered the end of foliage season, so here in Kyoto, even on a Monday night, there were many people out.
Kyomizu is a Buddhist temple built on an impressive stage of wood. At night, spotlights are pointed towards the temple and surrounding trees, giving them a striking contrast, and an almost surreal feel.
Afterwards, we walked through Kyoto, including the famous neighborhood Gion where Geisha and Geisha-in-training (Maiko) live and work. Tourists, especially foreign tourists, were out in abundance here. We saw a Maiko walking with polite light steps through a cobblestone street; I did not get a good picture, but I think Hiro might have.
Given we were going to another onsen the following night, we initially discussed getting a light dinner, but it turned into a tasty Nabe dinner at a popular neighborhood restaurant. We had gyoza and a tasty cucumber pickle too for good measure. In Japan, traditional cuisine contains many types of pickles and seafood dishes. Of course, with our dinner, we had plenty of beer and sake.
Bars and most restaurants in Japan also allow smoking. I don't smoke, but everyone else on the trip took the opportunity to enjoy a few cigarettes before we left for our hotel.
After an enjoyable breakfast, we took the ferry off Miyajima and made our way on the train to Kyoto. We visited the famous Sanjūsangen-dō first. Pictures were not allowed here, but I suggest you visit and link and see for yourself. Sanjūsangen-dō is a buddhist temple with one thousand Kannon statues, and some other buddhist statues as well. The statues are collectively a clear statement of devotion, and individually stand for compassion. It also houses practicing monks, as do all of the buddhist temples we've visited.
As night fell, we visited Kyomizu Temple. We had to wait in line for a little while as the daytime crowd cleared before we were allowed in. The recent weekend was considered the end of foliage season, so here in Kyoto, even on a Monday night, there were many people out.
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| Steps up to the temple |
Kyomizu is a Buddhist temple built on an impressive stage of wood. At night, spotlights are pointed towards the temple and surrounding trees, giving them a striking contrast, and an almost surreal feel.
 |
Afterwards, we walked through Kyoto, including the famous neighborhood Gion where Geisha and Geisha-in-training (Maiko) live and work. Tourists, especially foreign tourists, were out in abundance here. We saw a Maiko walking with polite light steps through a cobblestone street; I did not get a good picture, but I think Hiro might have.
 |
| Typical Gion Lantern |
Given we were going to another onsen the following night, we initially discussed getting a light dinner, but it turned into a tasty Nabe dinner at a popular neighborhood restaurant. We had gyoza and a tasty cucumber pickle too for good measure. In Japan, traditional cuisine contains many types of pickles and seafood dishes. Of course, with our dinner, we had plenty of beer and sake.
Bars and most restaurants in Japan also allow smoking. I don't smoke, but everyone else on the trip took the opportunity to enjoy a few cigarettes before we left for our hotel.
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| Food Coma! |
Miyajima
The days on this trip have been warm and sunny. Perhaps because of the previous day's events in Hiroshima, I found the greatest peace on the trip on the island of Miyajima.
We took a train ride - our JR passes have been so essential to our travels - to the end of the line, where we took a short ferry ride onto the island of Mikajima. We passed its famous Torii, or traditional Shinto gate. The theme of hell and heaven has been persistent on our trip, so it was fitting. We arrived at high tide.
On the island, many people were walking about, as were many deer! The deer are tame, and spent their time wandering about like tourists. We checked out the temple at the base of the island, and Dave and Hiro took a bunch of pictures. I managed a few that came out pretty well too:
We then dropped off our stuff at our hotel. They claimed they were an onsen, but we learned their outdoor bath was not heated through a natural hot springs. We found that our skin became softer and smooth after Beppu; alas, here we were destined for chlorine and not sulfur in the water.
We hiked around the island a bit after that. As we hiked up, we found a large Buddhist temple constructed on a slant on top of carved rock. It was impressive. By this time twilight was approaching, giving the place a wonderful coolness that sunk in deeply. The air was crisp and fresh, and there were no tourists around. Peace was transplendent and complete. I could have spent hours there, but instead, we had a scheduled dinner to attend to. I decided I would come back the following morning and try to hike to the top of the mountain and catch the sunrise.
Hiro and Dave took advantage of a moment without hotel staff around for an impromptu "swordfight" when we returned:
Dinner was quite tasty one more time. The shabu shabu was phenomenal, and everything else was good. My onsen heart, however, was still in Beppu.
I woke up a little after 6 in the morning to the sound of my "bad to the bone" iPhone ring (needless to say it was quite out of place on Miyajima, but even on vacation you can't escape your normal life's eccentricities completely). Dave decided to join me with his camera, and we were off to hike the mountain.
We passed the buddhist temple, and walked up hundreds of steps towards the top. Cool morning air accompanied our way up, as well as the beginnings of sunlight on the colorful foliage around. The entire path was based in concrete and consisted of concrete steps. This was not the softest for our feet, but it did show an interesting balance of Man and Nature. A lot of work must have been put into carrying up all of the equipment and materials and crafting the stairs. In the end, however, Nature always wins.
We reached a sign that said there was another 1.8km remaining, but we had to turn back to go to our scheduled traditional breakfast. On this island, as, I would like to belieive, in life: the glass is half full. I viewed the remaining hike to the top as something to look forward to in some future tomorrow.
We took a train ride - our JR passes have been so essential to our travels - to the end of the line, where we took a short ferry ride onto the island of Mikajima. We passed its famous Torii, or traditional Shinto gate. The theme of hell and heaven has been persistent on our trip, so it was fitting. We arrived at high tide.
On the island, many people were walking about, as were many deer! The deer are tame, and spent their time wandering about like tourists. We checked out the temple at the base of the island, and Dave and Hiro took a bunch of pictures. I managed a few that came out pretty well too:
 |
| Torii |
 |
| Temple with pagoda in background |
We then dropped off our stuff at our hotel. They claimed they were an onsen, but we learned their outdoor bath was not heated through a natural hot springs. We found that our skin became softer and smooth after Beppu; alas, here we were destined for chlorine and not sulfur in the water.
We hiked around the island a bit after that. As we hiked up, we found a large Buddhist temple constructed on a slant on top of carved rock. It was impressive. By this time twilight was approaching, giving the place a wonderful coolness that sunk in deeply. The air was crisp and fresh, and there were no tourists around. Peace was transplendent and complete. I could have spent hours there, but instead, we had a scheduled dinner to attend to. I decided I would come back the following morning and try to hike to the top of the mountain and catch the sunrise.
 |
| Hiro lighting incense at the mountain shrine |
 |
| Lighting incense at the mountain shrine |
 |
| Cute Buddhas! |
Hiro and Dave took advantage of a moment without hotel staff around for an impromptu "swordfight" when we returned:
 |
| En garde! |
Dinner was quite tasty one more time. The shabu shabu was phenomenal, and everything else was good. My onsen heart, however, was still in Beppu.
I woke up a little after 6 in the morning to the sound of my "bad to the bone" iPhone ring (needless to say it was quite out of place on Miyajima, but even on vacation you can't escape your normal life's eccentricities completely). Dave decided to join me with his camera, and we were off to hike the mountain.
We passed the buddhist temple, and walked up hundreds of steps towards the top. Cool morning air accompanied our way up, as well as the beginnings of sunlight on the colorful foliage around. The entire path was based in concrete and consisted of concrete steps. This was not the softest for our feet, but it did show an interesting balance of Man and Nature. A lot of work must have been put into carrying up all of the equipment and materials and crafting the stairs. In the end, however, Nature always wins.
 |
| Temple from above |
 |
| Torii on my shoulder |
We reached a sign that said there was another 1.8km remaining, but we had to turn back to go to our scheduled traditional breakfast. On this island, as, I would like to belieive, in life: the glass is half full. I viewed the remaining hike to the top as something to look forward to in some future tomorrow.
 |
Monday, November 29, 2010
Hiroshima
Note - I haven't had Internet access for a few days, and the place I'm staying at in Kyoto now has access through its electrical wires. It's horribly slow. So I won't be able to upload pictures for at least another day. Stay tuned! :) Im going to post here about Hiroshima and add pictures and other posts later.
~~
Hiro, JaneAnn, Dave and I arrived in Hiroshima in the late afternoon and took a train to our hotel to drop off our stuff. We stayed at the Hiroshima Grand Intelligent - our room was small with a prefabricated bathroom and twin beds that were separated by a drawer that had knobs on the front for each of the lights in the room. The drawer also had an old looking analog clock with dials for minutes and hours, and buttons for 5 radio stations. It made me wonder when exactly the room was made, and if it was ever state of the art...it felt like it was prefabricated then plopped down in its entirety onto the 10th floor.
Hiroshima is known throughout the world as the first city that experienced the detonation of a nuclear weapon. Our first visit was the A-Bomb Hall, the only large structure near the epicenter that remained standing after the blast. It has been repaired over time to make it look like it did immediately following the explosion - a shell of a place. We then visited the Peace Park, and the Peace Memorial Museum. With such history, it's impossible not to pause and reflect about who we are. I've collected my thoughts and will try and capture them here.
We are in awe of beauty from disaster. It is something essential that makes us human - larger than the sum of our biological parts. Long before the age of 24-hour news channels, when something horrible has happened, our hearts have rushed to find out more, to understand how something so staggering could befall us. We cannot help but ask "why". Then, after the initial event is over, we show how strongly we want to persevere. Perhaps this is the best answer we can craft to the question. Disaster has always occurred in our universe, and is central to our existence. If not for the event that killed the dinosaurs, say, we would probably not be here today. Everything that we hold dear could be traced to this act of wanton destruction. There are other examples. One wonders what preceded the Big Bang; was something destroyed to make way for all of the seemingly endless space, including stars, galaxies, and planets, in particular our own pale blue dot?
One day, the life-giving star we call our own, that for so long our best minds considered the center of the universe, will fade. It will sputter and flicker and quiver into oblivion. But until the sun dies, this place will be our home, and our instincts will cry for beauty and see it in the face of horrible things. There will be no shortage of disaster in our future, but there also won't be a shortage of a beautiful shared humanity across culture and other boundaries. It will continue to make us wonderful, special creatures in the universe.
The Peace Museum in Hiroshima is a sad place. We spent a few hours walking its halls and looking at the videos, pictures, artifacts, and dioramas. In significant detail, the exhibit went over the history of the city leading to the event, the reasons Hiroshima was chosen to bomb by the US, and the effects of the bombing. It did not seek to address larger rationales about the war, and for the most part refrained from judgments outside of one major conclusion: nuclear weapons are almost unimaginably horrible, are an existential threat, and should be dismantled at any cost. They are a fundamental threat to everything we hold dear. Hiro said the new exhibition at the museum was controversial because it was much less gruesome than the previous version. The reality of what happened should not be lost on us, and sad as it was, the place is something everyone should visit once.
I may write more about this later, but I don't have time now. There's much to see and do today!
The rest of the evening was fun - we got drinks and Okonomiyaki at a popular place in downtown Hiroshima, and sang karaoke at a random small upstairs hostess bar. I sang "My Way", among other things, which seemed to be a crowd pleaser. All you can drink for 70 minutes served us well!
The following day, spent on the island of Miyajima, was wonderful in many ways...there's much more to beauty than sad contemplation. More to come later; I'm pressed for time now.
~~
Hiro, JaneAnn, Dave and I arrived in Hiroshima in the late afternoon and took a train to our hotel to drop off our stuff. We stayed at the Hiroshima Grand Intelligent - our room was small with a prefabricated bathroom and twin beds that were separated by a drawer that had knobs on the front for each of the lights in the room. The drawer also had an old looking analog clock with dials for minutes and hours, and buttons for 5 radio stations. It made me wonder when exactly the room was made, and if it was ever state of the art...it felt like it was prefabricated then plopped down in its entirety onto the 10th floor.
 |
Hiroshima is known throughout the world as the first city that experienced the detonation of a nuclear weapon. Our first visit was the A-Bomb Hall, the only large structure near the epicenter that remained standing after the blast. It has been repaired over time to make it look like it did immediately following the explosion - a shell of a place. We then visited the Peace Park, and the Peace Memorial Museum. With such history, it's impossible not to pause and reflect about who we are. I've collected my thoughts and will try and capture them here.
 |
| Timeless Lament |
We are in awe of beauty from disaster. It is something essential that makes us human - larger than the sum of our biological parts. Long before the age of 24-hour news channels, when something horrible has happened, our hearts have rushed to find out more, to understand how something so staggering could befall us. We cannot help but ask "why". Then, after the initial event is over, we show how strongly we want to persevere. Perhaps this is the best answer we can craft to the question. Disaster has always occurred in our universe, and is central to our existence. If not for the event that killed the dinosaurs, say, we would probably not be here today. Everything that we hold dear could be traced to this act of wanton destruction. There are other examples. One wonders what preceded the Big Bang; was something destroyed to make way for all of the seemingly endless space, including stars, galaxies, and planets, in particular our own pale blue dot?
One day, the life-giving star we call our own, that for so long our best minds considered the center of the universe, will fade. It will sputter and flicker and quiver into oblivion. But until the sun dies, this place will be our home, and our instincts will cry for beauty and see it in the face of horrible things. There will be no shortage of disaster in our future, but there also won't be a shortage of a beautiful shared humanity across culture and other boundaries. It will continue to make us wonderful, special creatures in the universe.
The Peace Museum in Hiroshima is a sad place. We spent a few hours walking its halls and looking at the videos, pictures, artifacts, and dioramas. In significant detail, the exhibit went over the history of the city leading to the event, the reasons Hiroshima was chosen to bomb by the US, and the effects of the bombing. It did not seek to address larger rationales about the war, and for the most part refrained from judgments outside of one major conclusion: nuclear weapons are almost unimaginably horrible, are an existential threat, and should be dismantled at any cost. They are a fundamental threat to everything we hold dear. Hiro said the new exhibition at the museum was controversial because it was much less gruesome than the previous version. The reality of what happened should not be lost on us, and sad as it was, the place is something everyone should visit once.
 |
| Diorama - Before |
 |
| Diorama - After |
I may write more about this later, but I don't have time now. There's much to see and do today!
The rest of the evening was fun - we got drinks and Okonomiyaki at a popular place in downtown Hiroshima, and sang karaoke at a random small upstairs hostess bar. I sang "My Way", among other things, which seemed to be a crowd pleaser. All you can drink for 70 minutes served us well!
The following day, spent on the island of Miyajima, was wonderful in many ways...there's much more to beauty than sad contemplation. More to come later; I'm pressed for time now.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Natural Beauty and Relaxation
Some interesting facts about the vents in Beppu. There are 2900 of them, but if you dig 500 feet anywhere, you'll reach hot spring. 137 thousand tons of water is spewed forth each day, which is second in quantity to Yellowstone National Park. Water has a 50-year cycle here; rain that comes down today will come back from the earth in 2060 or so.
Here are some pictures from the hells:
The vermilion color at Blood Hell made it my favorite. Hot springs run through ferrite, which creates the striking color. A volcano erupted after an earthquake some 400 years ago at the site of the Mud Hell, destroying a temple there and killing a monk inside it. The hells seemed tame, but beautiful, but our tour guide reminded us that at any time an earthquake could occur. Nothing sparks a touristic journey like the fear of death!
Our cabbie finally dropped us off at our hillside onsen. After a day of hell visiting, it was time to relax. We were greeted a kind staff, who served us tea and a Japanese cookie in our traditional room to begin our onsen stay.
After receiving our robes, we went down to the public bath. Following the tradition, we cleaned ourselves by showering while sitting on small chairs in a shared space, and then went down to sit in the warm, bubbling, sulfurous water.
Baths are traditionally separated by gender, but this onsen allowed women to bathe in the men's pool (which was much bigger). Tradition also dictates to bathe naked, which we did, so when JaneAnn came to join us, we looked away for a moment as she took off her towel and stepped into the warm waters. The spa was wonderfully relaxing. Our entire bodies were at peace while in the water and for hours afterwards.
After relaxing for a little while on our room's 16 tatami mats (room sizes are traditionally defined by the number of tatamis they hold), we put on our slippers and headed to another room for what was a marvelous dinner.
The courses were served at a leisurely pace with plenty of beer and sake, and a small glass of plum wine with one pickled plum to start. A list of things we had includes 3 types of sashimi, pickled vegetables, beef shabu shabu served in a bamboo box, seafood soup in milk broth, shrimp dumpling and eggplant tempura, simple scallion lemon broth with chicken dumpling, rice with salty seaweed and small fish, and a number of items steamed in the hot springs served in a small straw house - potato, chicken wing, potato jelly. Dessert was a tasty Crème Caramel-like pudding also cooked in a steam vent.
Such satisfying sustenance. While eating our food, we shared many "mmm"s, "oooh"s, and "that's so good!"s. There was a phone at the table that allowed us privacy, but access to service in case we needed anything.
We arrived back in our room with our futons ready for a long, happy night of sleep. The sound of the hot springs in the background was like running water. I woke up to the sun rise.
We were served a traditional Japanese breakfast that morning, which included horse mackeral terikayi sushi, and a salad with a very good miso dressing, among other things.
As we took a bus back to the Beppu train station after another trip to the hot springs in the morning, we spoke about the color of the hot springs that morning. Dave (who's working/living in China) thought of a Chinese word to describe the color, and after some discussion later, we finally came up with the word for it in English: celadon. We joked about learning new English while in Japan; we are certainly seeing new things!
Here are some pictures from the hells:
 |
| Spout Hell |
 |
| Blood Hell |
 |
| Mud Hell |
The vermilion color at Blood Hell made it my favorite. Hot springs run through ferrite, which creates the striking color. A volcano erupted after an earthquake some 400 years ago at the site of the Mud Hell, destroying a temple there and killing a monk inside it. The hells seemed tame, but beautiful, but our tour guide reminded us that at any time an earthquake could occur. Nothing sparks a touristic journey like the fear of death!
Our cabbie finally dropped us off at our hillside onsen. After a day of hell visiting, it was time to relax. We were greeted a kind staff, who served us tea and a Japanese cookie in our traditional room to begin our onsen stay.
 |
| Room entrance |
 |
| Slippers outside our door |
After receiving our robes, we went down to the public bath. Following the tradition, we cleaned ourselves by showering while sitting on small chairs in a shared space, and then went down to sit in the warm, bubbling, sulfurous water.
Baths are traditionally separated by gender, but this onsen allowed women to bathe in the men's pool (which was much bigger). Tradition also dictates to bathe naked, which we did, so when JaneAnn came to join us, we looked away for a moment as she took off her towel and stepped into the warm waters. The spa was wonderfully relaxing. Our entire bodies were at peace while in the water and for hours afterwards.
 |
After relaxing for a little while on our room's 16 tatami mats (room sizes are traditionally defined by the number of tatamis they hold), we put on our slippers and headed to another room for what was a marvelous dinner.
 |
| Dinner is served...peekaboo! |
The courses were served at a leisurely pace with plenty of beer and sake, and a small glass of plum wine with one pickled plum to start. A list of things we had includes 3 types of sashimi, pickled vegetables, beef shabu shabu served in a bamboo box, seafood soup in milk broth, shrimp dumpling and eggplant tempura, simple scallion lemon broth with chicken dumpling, rice with salty seaweed and small fish, and a number of items steamed in the hot springs served in a small straw house - potato, chicken wing, potato jelly. Dessert was a tasty Crème Caramel-like pudding also cooked in a steam vent.
 |
| mmmmm |
Such satisfying sustenance. While eating our food, we shared many "mmm"s, "oooh"s, and "that's so good!"s. There was a phone at the table that allowed us privacy, but access to service in case we needed anything.
We arrived back in our room with our futons ready for a long, happy night of sleep. The sound of the hot springs in the background was like running water. I woke up to the sun rise.
 |
| Sunrise from our Onsen Window |
We were served a traditional Japanese breakfast that morning, which included horse mackeral terikayi sushi, and a salad with a very good miso dressing, among other things.
As we took a bus back to the Beppu train station after another trip to the hot springs in the morning, we spoke about the color of the hot springs that morning. Dave (who's working/living in China) thought of a Chinese word to describe the color, and after some discussion later, we finally came up with the word for it in English: celadon. We joked about learning new English while in Japan; we are certainly seeing new things!
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