:)

綺麗でしょう？

kyoto (11.23.08)

well, its been getting colder here as of late, finally spurring the leaves into their magnificent color transformation. i am always amazed by this comparatively late change: in the northeast, we tended to play in piles of leaves toward halloween, as i recall; toward december, the trees would be bare. yet in japan, toward december is when they are reaching their peak...
so this weekend i decided to visit with my good friends in Gifu, and travel with them to different places--enjoying the crisp air and vivid colors.
saturday i went down to ise, which (for reasons i cannot recall) is one of the most sacred places in japan. i have always wanted to visit, and have a look. unfortunately, its so sacred that most temples are inaccessible, hidden behind tall fences. so while many Japanese seem to feel a certain amount of contentment by being close to such structures, i was silently wishing that my friend and i had chosen to visit elsewhere.
the next day, i went to kyoto with another friend; we ended up doing a lot of walking. (actually, we decided that perhaps walking would be faster than taking the buses--as it was a holiday weekend, it was farily crowded; the lines simply waiting for the bus were pretty crazy.)
still, we managed to make it to this particular gem--kinkakuji, or "the golden pavillion". though it had been a fairly cloudy day, right as we made it to the temple, the sun came out and really set the gold exterior beautifully alight, transforming it into a spectacular gem set in the middle of the pond.

aspara in a few easy steps

made this one tonight:
cut asparagus
coat lightly in margarine
sprinkle pepper/salt/oregano
wrap bacon
sprinkle with garlic and lemon juice
microwave for 3 minutes or so

11.17.08

.. either its his real voice or the train PA system's messed, but the conductor sounds like a Dalek... kinda want him to say, "間もなく上野。。上野です。EXTERMINATE!!"

6.18.07

6/18.07
sometimes while commuting on the train, something small and seemingly innocuous catches my eye; and for whatever reason it just resonates within my mind and soul, growing into a small ball of energy and tears. it's such an odd phenemenon...a most bizarre conflict of emotions. happiness. sadness. a kind of blissful melancholy for the moment... saudade.

my trigger this morning? hydrangeas. scores upon scores of this lovely flower sprinkled everywhere on the landscape outside: in between houses, along rivers..

anne frank house (6.30.06)

i wonder how many tears the staff see while working here...

protest video

tokyo demonstration 11.02.08

this was kind of bizarre to see... i dont believe i have witnessed as many protests in japan as in 2008. this particular one seemed to be calling into question the government's attitude toward the global financial crisis.
its odd because i so seldomly see japanese displaying a strong opinion in public... which leads me to think that these people must be pretty peeved to elicit such a display. and that the police donned riot gear was something pretty impressive in and of itself..