A weekend in Hamamatsu

Where: Hamamatsu (to visit the wonderful, super teacher, Becky)
When: April 8 & 9, 2007
Info: It didn't rain this weekend! And for the first time I got to see the beach in the daylight! Good company, good food, adventures on the beach and in a cave, zombie movie watching and Indian food = perfect weekend getaway

Warning: I was so excited to take pictures of the beach that I might have gotten a bit carried away with the digital macro and gone a bit arty. Oh, and it was kind of overcast so I decided to go black and white for some of it...



Becky had suggested we have a picnic on the beach so we picked up sushi and stuff at the department store and hopped on the bus to the beach. When we opened our lunches we found that it was quite windy...actually REALLY windy...yummy gritty sushi...


We packed up after a bit and walked quite a distance down the beach, just chatting, watching the parasurfer/boarder and me trailing behind taking pictures of things I found in the sand...


Do I really have that many freckles?
(Elspeth: sobakasu! And hey, I just realized as I am writing this that I no longer look like a kokeshi doll with freckles)


Look out! Here's comes the series of photos of what I found on the beach that day...let's call it 'Beach Stuff'...










Okay..enough with the arty photos, Laura...seriously. So we emerged from the beach, sandy but happy and headed back to the city to do some shopping. About an hour later I had new glasses (so cheap and done in 15 minutes)!

That night we met up with Becky's co-worker, Yuu and went for Indian food. Butter chicken, aloo-gobi, curry, mountains of naan and delicious chai were consumed. Back at Becky's spacious apartment we watched a really bad Johnny Depp movie (I don't even remember it's name) and then finished they night by introducing Elspeth to the world of zombie movies (we eased her in with Dawn of the Dead).


The next morning, after a relaxing breakfast of french toast and sashimi (I love how Japanese you are Becky!) we got on another bus and made our way to Ryugashi-do (the dragon cave).


I love how Japan loves the touristy 'stick your head in the hole' photo opportunities. I can't pass one by without taking a picture and this one made my day!


The helmets totally rock.

Inside the cave:

The picture of the alligator rock reminded me of one of my favourite kids books, "Bill and Peet". If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up, find it and read it...you'll laugh your head off.





When Yuu recommended Ryugashi-do to us, she didn't really mention the cave but she did remember the wonderful ice cream sold at the entrance. We couldn't go all that way and not try it...

It was delicious...home-made. I wasn't brave enough to try the wasabi flavour (the ice cream was kind of expensive) but the Japanese black sugar kind was de-lish!

We were sitting outside, minding our own business (wondering how one woman could walk through the cave in stillettos) when all of a sudden, the plant dragon started breathing steam and it's eyes lit up! How exciting...






Thanks Becky, for having us! I had a blast!

A huge post about Nara...oh deer!

Where: Nara and Yoshino
When: April 1 and 2, 2007
Why: To see cherry blossoms, silly!

NARA

This photo (above) was taken just as Elspeth was reaching to take off the pink, fluffy antlers because the woman who owned the store started yelling at us not to take pictures!

The sakura blossoms were in full bloom in Nara. So pretty and pink.


Nara Park





Goju-no-to (five-storied pagoda): The second tallest pagoda in Japan.

Note: Nara is famous for their deer (there are supposedly over 1000). They roam all over the park and because of some legend about a shinto deity arriving in Nara riding a white stag, they are considered sacred.

Remember Bambi, no smoking.

Now, deer in Nara are not stupid. At some point they realized that people would be more impressed with them, than say the deer on Miyajima if they could do some tricks...

Now, you're asking...'What kind of trick would a Japanese deer choose to do?' Why bow of course, and continue bowing until you give them a shika senbei, which little old ladies sell for 150 yen throughout the park! (If you continue reading this very long post, you may be rewarded with a video of these sacred deer)



There was a wedding taking place at this shrine (can you imagine a more beautiful day/time of year/location?!) but so many people were trying to see through the gates that I gave up and settled on the gorgeous weepy sakura out front.


To Christopher (and all other male readers): I tried to take a picture of the ninja display, I really did. And if you click on the picture and squint really hard, you might be able to see it. There were so many people crowding around, that I didn't realize the picture quality until later...

The road leading up to Todaiji Temple. It was swarming with tourists, kids with plastic deer and of course the smelly, sacred deer themselves...



Todai-ji Complex


Daibutsu-den (Hall of the Great Buddha): This is the largest wooden structure in the world. Originally built in the 8th century, it has burned down and been rebuilt a number of times. The current version, built in 1709 is only 2/3 of the size of the original!

Oh! Daibustu-den! Where did you go?? Are you hiding behind that massive sakura tree??


Daibutsu: The BIG Buddha

Random Fact #1: This big guy is over 16m tall and weighs almost 450 tons.

Random Fact: 14 adults can stand on his upturned left palm.

Random Fact #3: The statue, now blackened is completely covered in gold. The gilding technique used involved mixing the gold with mercury...not so smart as dozens of craftsmen died from the toxic fumes.

Random Fact#4: Behind the Big Buddha is a hole in a pillar, said to be the size of the Buddha's nostril (did someone measure?). Rumour has it, that if you fit through the pillar, you are guaranteed enlightenment. (Is anyone else wondering how many tourists they have had to pull out of this hole?)

Look Christopher - The Buddha Boutique! (below)


They were all just...lurking in the forest, getting ready to attack whenever a tourist walked down the road...


Nigatsu-do (February Hall): This is where the Omizutori ceremony takes place in, surprise, February. I really want to see this ceremony because priests run around the hall with huge flaming torches. Priests running with fire + really old wooden building + people wanting to be covered in the falling sparks/ashes (good luck) = a good time!







This shop is famous for their mochi and there was a constant crowd buying fresh, green tea flavoured mochi. I enjoyed watching these two guys pound the mochi...but I enjoyed eating the fresh, gooey, warm mochi more.

Lunch (below): the spring selection. I believe that the tiny pink shrimp are called sakura ebi. When I mentioned I was going to Nara, one of my students couldn't stop raving about them. Meh, they were okay...

After wandering around Nara all day, avoiding being attacked by bowing deer and crowds of tourists, we headed back to our luxurious hotel and both promptly fell asleep. I woke up to the tv playing a super creepy National Geographic type show about these parrot/crows that can open doors and solve puzzles...I decided to wake Elspeth up, tell her all about it and then suggest finding some dinner.

So delicious...so inexpensive...

So full...

Below is a photo of the amazing Hotel Nikko lobby. The room and bathroom were to die for.

YOSHINO

Quick history lesson: Nambokuchi Era = time when there were northern and southern emperors who ruled simultaneously. One emperor, Go-Daigo tried to get complete power, or something, and was forced to flee Kyoto and take refuge in the hills of Yoshino. He couldn't leave the comforts of the court behind, especially his sakura, so he planted them in Yoshino. 30,000 sakura later...we have the premier sakura viewing site in Japan.


Hmm...sakura blossoms suspended in some kind of gelatenous dessert...






To get to Yoshino, we had to take a series of trains, which took an unbelievably long time. But at almost every train station we stopped, there were sakura trees in full bloom for us to admire. The sakura in Yoshino weren't quite at full bloom, but the hillsides had a pink-ish tinge to them, which I enjoyed.





And of course, you can't go sakura-viewing without eating something pink.



Wow! You made it through the world's longest post! (Or you skipped down to the end!) As your reward, here's a video of the deer in Nara!