Christmas time in Japan

Although not a religious holiday by any means, Japan has adopted the decorative feel of Christmas.  Department stores play sappy christmas songs, downtown and neighborhoods are lit up with christmas lights and there was even a shop worker in a complete santa suit today! Stay tuned for more christmas-ness here! 

*More of the extreme photos to come...

Then to really get in the spirit, I baked very American cookies and desserts all day long with a few friends.  We were not messing around.  we made- thumbprint sugar cookies, pretzels with chocolate, peanut-butter cup brownie cupcakes, ritz cracker-peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate, and cake pops dipped in chocolate. 

I then shared the wealth with my Japanese apartment mates- they loved it! 

Excursion to Kamakura

Even though rain was predicted for Tuesday, I had to take advantage of my day off.  So armed with a new umbrella- much sturdier, and wearing a good many layers, I set off to Kamakura.  I enjoy taking day-long excursions outside of Tokyo, not more than an hour's commute by train (and only one transfer) I arrived in Kamakura at around 11.  The day was grey and cold, but I still got to see some wonderful tree foliage and I was lucky that it warmed up, and rather than rain, the sun came through in the afternoon. 

I started at the typical temple sites and shrines.  One thing I was looking forward to was the hour-long hike through the wooded mountain ridge-line to reach another large Buddha statue.  The trail was slightly muddy, very hilly and also completely empty! I enjoyed the wet-forest smells and the bird sounds and not another soul around! 

 At this particular shrine, there was a large stone surrounded by a pile of broken pottery.  On the side was this note, and a stack of new pottery plates.  So to overcome any obstacles in my life, I threw the pottery at the rock and it smashed into many pieces.

There were several middle-school student groups visiting Kamakura today!
Of course these students took tons of pictures, and anytime Japanese set up to take pictures the photographer will say "se-no, hai, chee-zu!" For 20 yen, you could go inside the hollow Buddha, slightly claustrophobic, and crowded, but worth the few moments needed to endure it!

Kamakura is near the ocean, so I walked down to the beach later that afternoon and felt like I was back in California- just like the Monterey beach-it was weird!!



I had a delicious tofu burger- girls, take note! There is a "Freshness Burger" cafe in Tokyo too!
Ingredients: toasted sesame bun (smaller than the burger), avocado guacamole, teriyaki sauce, tomato and a beef-steak sized slab of grilled tofu!

The last few weeks in photo form

Mike McGuirk and his frisbee friend, Rocky, made a trip out to Tokyo, and we spent Thursday night and Friday hanging out! They got me practicing more Japanese phrases with locals than ever before! We enjoyed beers and meeting friendly people at a bar.  The boys were staying in the lap of luxury in the executive suite on the 37th floor of a top-notch hotel! It was unreal! 

Whenever there's an opportunity, they pulled out the frisbee to throw!

Typical Japanese photo-booth- check out how big and animated our eyes are! The boys had fun 'decorating' and adding the icons.

We had a photo-shoot at work for new promotional materials.

6 of the 13 English teachers.  3 of the 7 Japanese secretaries and our boss, Tim.

Out on the search for fall color

On my two days off this week, I had a mission: search out the fall color!

These photos were taken at parks in down-town Tokyo!


Well, I wasn't alone in my quest either! My friend Kelly told me about Takao-san, a mountain about an hour's train ride outside of Tokyo with Shinto shrines and several trails up and down the mountain!  Tuesday was a beautifully brisk and cool day-even with some sunshine.  So I packed up a day pack and after transferring several times on the train, and even snoozing on one, I arrived at the base of Takao-san.

The fall color hit me with a bang!

To the left of the shrine was a cable-car and chair lift.  To the right of the shrine was a paved path leading straight up the mountain! As I walked with plenty of other Japanese pairs and groups, we gained elevation quickly and warmed up quickly too!  The main trail continued up and then flattened out and there were restaurants and snack shops and shrines along the way too.

These snacks were quite popular!

After about 3.5 km, I joined the hoards of people picnicking at the top of Takao-san.  Also incredibly exciting, in addition to all the amazing fall color, was a clear view of snow-capped Fuji-san in the distance! It was breathtaking!

After competing with the hoards of people on paved path all the way up, I decided to take the narrower, and more forested route down.  The crowds completely disappeared and I enjoyed the woods and steep trail all the way back to the base of the mountain.

Celebrating Halloween at my School in Japan!

Wanted to share some photos from our Halloween party at school last week!

Originally it was scheduled for Sunday, the 28th of October, but due to a wet and rainy day, it was postponed until the following Sunday! By that point, I was over it and was no longer excited to be celebrating Halloween in November! But we went all out, and the kids and parents loved it.  There is a park about a three minutes walk from the school.  Our boss and some helpers spent all day Sunday setting up in one corner of the park and they went all out! Smoke machines, tombstones, skulls, carved pumpkins witches and all kinds of creepy decorations.  The young students (between the ages of 3-9) all dressed in costumes, met us with their parents after we finished our work shift (at 4pm).  We paraded over to the park and the kids participated in a whole bunch of different activities.  We sang Halloween Songs, ('Who stole the candy from the trick-or-treat bag?') and games, and told stories, and we had clowns perform, and we served hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows and gave out halloween candy too!
Exhausting, but successful!

Sweet's Paradise

Katy, a coworker of mine, took me to the best food place in Japan!! For 1,450 yen ($18), you have 90 minutes to eat yourself silly at the dessert buffet!! A plethora of cakes, pies, and every sweet inbetween- even a chocolate fountain.  Not to mention an incredible coffee bar and even some lunch items!

Check out these photos:

Best name for an all-you-can eat dessert bar right?

We are so excited!! 90 minutes of paradise eating is about to commence!

 Check out these incredible delicacies!!

So many to choose from! (see the chocolate fountain in the back??)

Absolutely amazing!!

I'm so excited!  A full plate of sweets and cakes and a delicious cappuccino

Katy is eager to start!

To break up the sweets, we had curry, rice and noodles! check out the melon soda!! haha!

Dessert plate #2: still going strong!

More Japanese Gardens

I discovered another Japanese garden today: Kiyosumi Gardens.  It definitely ranks among one of the best in Tokyo.  I think the most amazing thing will be returning to these various different gardens in the months to come to see them change.  Autumn hasn't begun here yet.  So I am happy to capture the "end of summer" look and compare it with the changes that are sure to occur as the seasons change.  Although overcast, the weather was mild and there was plenty of activity in this park, as well as plenty of quiet peaceful places to sit and enjoy.  The park was filled with coy fish and turtles as well as an assortment of ducks.  Gardeners were busy pruning and clipping.  Friends and families were walking through, picnicking and snapping photos.  There were also several wedding parties taking portraits as well.

This is a carving of the poet Basho's famous Haiku:

"Furu-ike ya,
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto"

"an ancient pond
a frog jumps in
the splash of water"