Angels and Others

Hey folks - thanks so much for following our little journey to Lotusland! These are a few images from our last day there. The above shots were taken at Daitokuji Temple, which is where I was allowed to attend an afternoon zazen meditation. In attendance was me (the lone westerner), about 7 women, 5 men and the resident roshi - who walked in front of us as we meditated, carrying his "encouragement stick" (a stick that is used to thwack you across the shoulders, thus "rousing" you in case you space out during the meditation). This temple features many varied zen gardens which are famous in their ability to recreate the idea of mountains and rivers. We also had last-minute shopping today (unphotographed) mostly at Kyotos' branch of Takashimaya Department Store, which is stupendously large and sits smack in the middle of town. (I love a store that has departments like "Floor 7 - Scrolls, Tea Ceremony Objects, Formal Yukata, Casual Yukata, Kimono"(!))....

We've one last lovely day here, but I did want to post these latest happenings. Directly above is where Bob and I had breakfast yesterday - at "Cafe du Monde" in Kyoto train station. If you look closely, you can see the lovely cans of Cafe du Monde coffee. Oishi des! (delicious), but only a C+ for the beignets, which were very small and not puffy and light, like back in the Big Easy (and how about reinstating that mayor, by the way?? amazing...). Anyhow - Directly above that are 2 shots from Nanzenji temple - yet another amazing and enormous Zen temple. This particular temple is very actively training young monks, and has a huge living quarters for them. Also on the grounds is a beautiful spot where you can have tea and Japanese sweet while viewing a waterfall (sorry, no waterfall shot because the camera wasn't cooperating when we had our tea). The camera awoke later in the afternoon, in time to shoot a few shots of Ginkajuki Temple - a very small, but histor...

Yesterday, as Bob and I searched a hilly area in Eastern Kyoto for a funky Japanese teahouse that I HAD to go to, this rickshaw dude offered his services. I said - "are ya sure you want to carry us?" and he replied "Oh yes, I am very strong". We figured it would be okay, since we had just seen a Sumo wrestler going around in one. The rickshaw ride definitely outed us for all of Kyoto; a few shopkeepers that saw us passing by lost their cool repose completely, hiding their laughter behind their hands. Ah well, at least we got to the teahouse on time. And then we left the whole experience behind by going to the Zen garden at Kohaiji temple.

We're back from Nara, we're we spent a couple of days in a traditional Japanese inn (it's called a Ryokan). I was in love with the idea of living life traditional Japanese style. I can safely say that, inspite of the beauty of the Ryokan - it's amazing sliding screens and gardens - that I found the whole thing a bit stifling - like being a bull in a china shop while you try to sleep. My other half - Mr. Bob - was very willing to go along, but we both totally lost control over our last dinner there, which featured curiously edible things of which we know not. Otherwise, Nara is a terrific place - much smaller and more manageable than Kyoto. Nara's chief attraction is Nara Park, which is filled with deer that are supposed to be sacred. We had an absolutely fantastic guide there, (ask me for her info if you're interested in going!) and she told us that the deer in Nara Park (which get fed by every tourist that goes by) live an average of 10 years more than the ave...

These Tori gates are part of the Fushimi-Inari Shrine in the mountains of south Kyoto. The gates are prayers to the gods for a good rice crop and many of them are provided by the sake makers who operate in this part of town.The vermilion color is for protection from evil spirits and any of you who ever had too much sake know that it can be one evil spirit. Sorry kids I just had to.

We're back in Kyoto and will have some new posts later today.

As we will be making a short trek into the deep rich heart of Japan there will be no posts until Thursday. Apparently 16th Century Japanese inns don't have high speed internet connections.... or non-squat toilets for that matter. See you on Thursday. Kisses

As we were walking in a huge Kyoto shopping arcade we fell victim to the intoxicating siren song of a giant plastic crab. In an atempt to lure customers many restaurants in Kyoto employ the talents of singing plastic food all of whom have childlike voices and big round eyes. I'll post more Japanese singing entrees as I find them.

The photographs above are of Saihoji, the Moss Garden, also known to most Japanese as Kokedera. It was this place, above all others, that most made me want to come to Kyoto. The garden was created in 1338 by Muso Kokushi, a distinguished Zen priest. More than 120 varieties of moss grow here, and the garden is best viewed in May and June (a little luck and good timing!). Because hoards of tourists started trampling the moss in recent years, you may now visit only by applying a month or two in advance. Once at the temple, you are asked to pay a $30 entrance fee, as well as copy sutras and listen to a brief taisho (speech) by the resident roshi. The whole temple experience took about one hour, and then we were told "please see the garden by yourselves". It was all well worth it - I can't imagine a more beautiful place.

This morning, Bob and I headed for nearby To-ji temple, as this was the day of the Kobo-san market fair, held at To-ji only once a month. If you've a taste for all things Japanese (as I do), then this is a Nipponese orgasm; Kimono, scrolls, pottery, lacquerware, all manner of food, on and on and on and on till your wallet is empty and you stagger out (as we did) with so many packages that getting past the other shoppers was nearly impossible. Some of our important acquisitions? An ancient lacquer box, a 100 year-old cape made for men, a wonderful painting of a Boddhisatva, a beautiful (and extremely affordable) kimono, and a few others as well. Luckily, we arrived at the market early - by 10 a.m. you could hardly move through the crowd.

J.G. snapped this picture of Pontocho one of Kyoto's party streets where the tea houses are still closed to most westerners. Just as he took the picture this woman in her beautiful white kimono stepped out into the street and brushed past a business man with his briefcase. Japan in a single shot.

I'm a big guy. At 6'2, 220 I'm big by anyone's standards. But in Japan I am BIG . Too big. Too big for the bed in the hotel and like wise for the shower. My feet are too big for the special slippers you have to wear when entering certain temples and many bathrooms. My butt is too big for some of the chairs and my legs are too long to fit under the table when I sit on the floor. I feel like Godzilla on a three day pass. And while I haven't crushed any buildings or brought down any high tension lines yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time. I've always liked being tall. It has it's advantages. Like being able to get things from high shelves and never missing the best parts of a parade of play due to someone with an unusually large head. But having a mother snatch up her pointing children as you lumber past would take the wind out of anyone's sails. So if you happen to see on CNN images of a large awkward creature dressed in black and being fired ...

We were also very fortunate to be taken to Daikaku-Ji - also in the Arashiyama area. This extraordinary set of buildings functioned first as a palace in the 9th century, and was later converted into an important center for Shingon Buddhism. I've been fascinated by the scale of all of these incredible structures, because they tend to be small; Bob and I had to duck to get through various walkways that were part of this temple (and in special temple slippers that were a wee bit small for our big American feet).

This morning, Bob and I were lucky enough to have a lovely lady named Hitomi take us as a "goodwill gesture" to the somewhat remote neighborhood of Arashiyama. Her tour there included Tenryu-Ji, which is a major Zen Rinzai temple that features a famous moon-viewing garden. See above.

Hey kids. We made to Japan just in time for the annual Kyoto humidity festival which runs from mid-May to late September. In between periods of sweating like Whitney Houston going through customs we managed to get a little sight seeing in. Our first stop was an early morning ( yes I got up early, blame jet lag and J.G.) visit to the Toji Temple complex in downtown Kyoto. It was very beautiful and very closed. We're going to the temple market on Sunday and we'll give it the full tourist treatment then. J.G. my partner in travel and life will be shouting out to his peeps on the blog from time to time so be nice. I know how you children can be. Fear not I'll be right beside him through in a snarky comment when needed. Kisses speck

And how many Chihuahuas does one have to milk to make this much cheese?

After watching a disturbing 9/11 documentary send by a friend we needed a musical pick-me-up and this did the trick.