Tag: Japan

Travel

I have so many travel photos and I have over 25,000 photos on my iPhone so I can keep going for a while.

Japan was really special.
I saw this in a small village near Pamplona near the time of the running of the bulls. They had live bulls running too. I have to say that I felt sorry for the bulls as they seemed terrified rather than fierce.
Beautiful glass art by Chihuly in Seattle.
The Vessel in NYC.
The Eye lit up in London.
Monks in Conques on the Camino.

One Year Ago

One year ago today we were in Japan. We had such a good time and I loved it there. I’d like to go back again someday and see the northern part.

So, it’s hard to come up with much to write as the only time I leave our place is to buy groceries. I’ve almost decided to stop going to our local Monoprix as it is usually packed with people, something I’m trying to avoid. They always have the best selection of food though so if I go and there isn’t a long line out front I will run in and out as fast as I can.

In other news, the other day the rubber on the wheel on our little grocery cart came off. We were luckily able to get it home on the plastic that remained. We couldn’t find a new one in the Monoprix-they are all gone for some reason-so went to Amazon and ordered one and were told it wouldn’t arrived for three weeks. To our surprise, we got a call from downstairs and it was here three days later. The UPS guy brought it to our door and we left it in the hall to shed any germs or viruses. Then I sprayed the box down and opened it up out in the hall wondering if this was really necessary but afraid to take a chance. So we now have a nice new cart for our dangerous voyages into the shopping world.

We have started watching a tv series on Netflix called Money Heist. It is made in Spain with English subtitles and we watch two episodes every day-it has 26 episodes. It’s sort of a soap opera in a way with story lines of the police, the hostages and the robbers as the mint in Madrid is being robbed. I don’t know if I would watch it during normal times but these are not normal times and we are hooked and wondering how it will end.

Geisha

The last night of our tour we had a Japanese dinner and afterwards there was a performance by a geisha. She only danced for us, no singing or instruments. She answered our questions afterwards through an interpreter. She was only 17! It takes years of training and a lady who runs the business gets all money earned but her food, lodging and kimonos are provided. There are fewer and fewer girls becoming Geishas. They aren’t prostitutes but often entertain and cater to men. Dating isn’t allowed. It seemed to me to be the life of a nun in many ways.

A beautiful kimono.
Full view.
The back.
A closeup of her hair.
A fitting end to our trip.

Here is a list of some things I observed in Japan:

Many people wore face masks. Either to protect from pollution or to prevent illness.

Everywhere we went they were selling soft ice cream, rather like Dairy Queen but not as smooth. I was told they had been selling it for years. Matcha was a common flavor.

The toilet seats were always heated (only had two that weren’t) with devises for washing your bottom. If the electricity should go out I guess it would be difficult for the Japanese.

I never saw any grafitti. The teens seem to be becoming more westernized in their clothing and I saw some weird outfits but most were very well dressed.

There were cherry blossom products for sale everywhere including Coke bottles decorated with them. There was only Coke and Coke Zero for sale, never Diet Cole. If you had trash you carried it with you until you found a 7-11 store (which were everywhere) or returned to your hotel. No trash cans on the streets, which were very clean.

As you might expect, there were Hello Kitty products every where. Also Kit Kat candy but with 200 different flavors available if you can find them.

We found the Japanese so nice and kind and very polite. They were a pleasure to be with.

This and That in Kyoto

Our time in Kyoto was packed with activities. We usually walked at least 6 miles a day, sometimes more than 8.

We went to an arranged demonstration of a traditional Japanese tea. It’s so structured and full of meaning and tradition. They made us matcha tea which I didn’t like but I drank it anyway.
This couple might have been a bride and groom. They were posing for a photographer anyway.
Can you see the chopsticks taking noodles out of the bowl? I thought it was cool.
A famous white rock garden made with white gravel and fifteen boulders. It was very restful to just sit and gaze at it.
The Golden Pavillion which is actually covered with gold leaf.
We took the Romantic Train for thirty minutes outside of Kyoto then a boat trip down a river and sometimes over rapids. After a picnic lunch we walked through a famous bamboo forest.
Here it is. Note the huge crowd looking too.
I think every student from Kyoto was there. We tried to talk to these girls but their English was minimal. All of the many students we saw were wearing uniforms.

Shrine and Sake

We started our day with a visit to a World Heritage site, Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for the thousands of vermillion torii going up a mountain which, it turns out are individually paid for by people wanting a bit of blessings in life. They cost a lot and there is a waiting list. Their names are put on them too.

At the entrance. There were sculptures of foxes everywhere, the gods of rice as they kill mice who might eat the rice.
Minature torii for sale. The place was as packed as Disneyland and sounenirs were everywhere.
I did manage to get one photo without any people in it.
Food stalls lined the streets leading up to the entrance.
Sweets of course. I saw sweets for sale all over Japan, maybe as much as seen in France.
Afterwards we went to a sake museum and had a sake tasting.
This lady was pouring out sake to taste.

I walked around Kyoto hoping to spot a real geisha. I finally saw what I think was one as her kimono was embroideried silk and she had white makeup on. I couldn’t get my phone turned on it time to get her from the front. It was like a ufo sighting.

Trains and Beef

We next went by train to Kyoto, our final destination. The train station was new and a very impressive place. Our tour guide gave us fifteen minutes to go to the skywalk at the top via many escalators and back down.
Looking down.
Art work to see.
A view of the Kyoto tower. I wish we would have time to go up.
There were stairs lit up with decorative lights too.
We walked around a geisha area of Kyoto that night and saw some, we think, serving people through a window but they didn’t have the white makeup on so probably not.
We had the famous, and expensive, kobe steak with another couple. We arrived at a place with no reservations and they told us that if we left by 8:15 we could dine there. We had over an hour so said yes and got to eat in this private room which is pretty common in Japan. The beef was very good, tender and full of flavor, almost too rich. We had some red French wine too. There was Bordeaux wine offered, Chateau Lefite, at a huge price which we didn’t have. It was a lovely, once in a lifetime experience.
Through our taxi window back to our hotel.