Head in the Clouds – Feet in the Dirt

Hi there!
Yep! I am home… sort of lying low to rest.
Thought I might regale you with another adventure!

By one of those weird world coincidences, I happened to be in Japan at the same time a uni friend was!
I don’t think I’ve seen Grant for about 20 years mind you!!

So I forced him into a selfie!!
He was travelling in Japan with his best mate Paul to celebrate Pauls 50th B’day!
They changed some plans around to scoot down to Kyoto as I only had one more day left there, so that was fabulous

Since I hadn’t had a chance to do the hike I researched while Maureen was with me, I thought the guys might like to come along and do something a bit different.

We started the hike at Kibune, and walked up the road about 30 minutes to the official start point.

The road had plenty of nice things to look at on the way up as well

The little red bridge was our official start point.

So… the first half I mostly stashed my tablet away as there was a whole lotta up to deal with. I’ve got snaps on my ‘real’ camera but yet to download.
I was pretty tired and anxious as I’d been up at 4.30am the day before to get Maureen safely to the airport, then spent the day with friends in Osaka which was lovely but I was kinda dead tired by the end of the day! Not to mention a whole swag full of ‘stuff’ to stuff into my bags in preparation to haul it across to Nagasaki!

Probably all the donuts consumed on this trip didn’t help my fitness level on getting up significant hills in record time but it was really lovely country side… and with the added bonus of coming across lots of shrines etc on the way!

Lovely big trees! Probably cedar?

Interesting details if one looks around… or down!

Below the tree roots kind of reminded me of being on the track at Cradle!

We’d gotten to the point where we were mostly heading in a downward direction so I stopped being a woose and kept the tablet out.

When I read up on this hike, the information had indicated a 5 hour hike!!
We didn’t hurry and even with my slower uphill pace there was no way that took close to 5 hours of our time!

See? Lovely downhill pathways!

The other side where we came up had much narrower and less formed pathways

Quite an accessible track really

Always astounded by the Japanese women who always look well presented, cool calm and collected under all circumstances!! Even walking up mountains!!

Pretty sure my friend told me that was just a location marker

Another little shrine.

We were starting to come across a larger structure, but found a bell before we descended into the main shrine.

I love these giant bells

And fun to give them a (measured) whack with the log of wood

The main shrine was pretty lovely!

They were doing a bit of work out the front so I didn’t get a proper snap

Never mind! (And have no idea how the vehicle got up there!!)

It was a peaceful place with a few falling cherry blossoms still in the courtyard

We spent some time there enjoying the peace, the views and taking photos

The views were pretty spectacular! Such a lovely clear day!

There were multiple buildings and gardens

And places to sit

And guardians

I have a number of photos from the remainder of the walk down the other side that I’ll upload and get to soonish!
Until then…
Take care!

xx

I was going to write a story but now I’m not!!!

At Kuala Lumpur airport in the midst of a 6 hour layover.

This is me and Bun Bun hanging out!

Hoping all flights go and arrive on time!

Very much looking forward to seeing my Jeff although he might need earplugs for the drive home lol!!

Xxx

Last week I jumped on a few Shinkansen trains and took myself off to see my friend and her family in Nagasaki.

If you get a chance to visit Japan I highly recommend picking up a JR rail pass. I didn’t get one for Maureen as we were sticking to one area and it wouldn’t have been worth it. But once I started traipsing longer distances…it made sense.

The leg and bag room is more than generous and you can reserve seats for no extra cost using the pass. There are unreserved carriages too.

Me getting ready to crochet my way through the day. No sleeping as I had about four train changes.

I costed the trips I was making this week via the Shinkansen and if I paid for them each while I was here… the cost would have been over $700. The one week ticket was about $320 so no prizes for figuring out what was more economical.

Some countryside whizzing by.

Rice is well on its way up this end of Japan! They were only just prepping the fields around Kyoto.

Brand spanking new train!!

Fun as it was screeching through the countryside (smooth rides tho!) It was nice to reach my destination and friends.

Above, Tetsu and daughter Maruno. Below, Nozomi with daughters Maruno and Tsukino.

Nozomi stayed with us in Tasmania a few times and we really hit it off! She’s like my little Japanese Sister!

We saw them last visit but since then they’ve had a second daughter and now live on a mountain in a beautiful home!

Tetsu now owns and runs a ramen restaurant (more on that in a future post) but they’ve also just started taking on Work Away people to stay with them who help around the property in exchange for accommodation and food.

The steps into the terraced hills was one project done by guests

The view is pretty spectacular!

Even on a gloomy day!

I got fed so well!!

Home made okonomiyaki on the first night…

Sooooo good!! And edamame… one of Jeff’s favourites!

On the second night Noz made me karage! My favourite!! She makes it so well… marinated chicken that is then coated and fried along with some salads

Yummo!!

The girls loved their rabbits! (Hand made from the Arty Duck of course!)

Their scary but cool driveway!

Beautiful!

View from upstairs into the lounge room.

They haven’t established a lot of gardens yet but have a great herb garden and some excellent broccoli!

There are also a lot of established fruit trees on the property which is a bonus!

We did a bit of wandering around when the day was nice

Lots of bracken!

Sunny day views

And below green tea bushes!!

It was a wonderful three days in the country!! Really enjoyed catching up with my friends and experiencing a little of their life!

Xxx

Hi!! I am in Tokyo!! Actually technically I am in Omiya, Saitama, but it’s light years from where I was this morning… which you’ll see in next post. But now I am skipping all over the timeline.

I’ve spent about 8 hours on trains today to get from Nagasaki to Tokyo!!! So I did some crochet and took selfies to amuse myself.

I tell you what!! Lugging around approx 30kgs of backpacks on and off trains is not for the faint hearted! Esp when sometimes there is about an 8 minute window from alighting from one train and finding and boarding the next. I took 5 different trains today and didn’t get lost!

And thanks to my friends Yusuke and Megumi (who I plan to see tomorrow) I found my accommodation easily. They had pre scouted the location and sent me photos of the route!! Bless their cotton socks!!

I have a teeny tiny room but it’s got all I need…and what I need is a shower to wash off the travel grime and a bed to pass out in!!

I did go out into the neighbourhood and got some dinner etc.

It’s all crazy big and noisy. Unlike the little paradise I left this morning!

Anyway… this is the bed I plan to pass out in later! Better go sort out that shower and maybe return to blog about Nagasaki!

Xx

Hiya! Just some ordinary stuff! I am miraculously mostly packed to move on tomorrow. Booked on the Shinkansen to go to Nagasaki!

Above… me with a bag of my favourite donuts… Mister Donuts!!

Maureen left yesterday… twas a 4:30am start for us so I was a tad tired by days end! Anyway, Maureen is home safe. Above photo is her and Mikiko wrestling to get her suitcase shut!

Amused me… and maybe will amuse other Star Wars fans…

Mari loaned me her bike!!

Was so fun zooming about Kyoto on it when I had the chance!

Didn’t even crash LOL

A selection of our favourite sauce on its way home along with Jeff’s favourite drink, calpis!

Making good use of the bike by finding my favourite fast food… Mos Burger! Park out front…

Mmmm teriyaki chicken burger and chips!

Mari helped me order my super cool goat logo as a stamp!

So excited about this!!

Friends took me back to my favourite camera shop where I picked up a new lens and also a new camera!! A lighter one for hiking!

A sample of the shops near here so you understand how irrisistible shopping is! The cool artworks you see are on box lids. Below those and in following picture are samples of box contents. So… you choose a box with either tea, notepaper, hankies, cup, chopstick rests, sweets etc. Choose a lid…

And the grand finale is to choose your wrapping paper and a sticker! So. Much. Fun!

i better get some sleep! I need to haul a decent amount of luggage into the main station in the morning so I need to recharge my inner energy batteries! Will leave you with a selfie of me on today’s hike!

Xxx

Hey there! Been super busy here always something happening… so I am not running out of stories…just time/energy at the end of each day to upload and write!! I might skimp on details here as I have a 5am start tomorrow!!! Sob.

Last week Maureen and I went off and visited Fushimi Inari.

It’s such a stunning place…and so popular with the tourists of course!

I just love the colour.

We got treated to a ceremony… no pictures allowed.

And moved along with the throng of people through the tori.

This is just mostly going to be a sea of red photos… we are up early tomorrow because Maureen’s flight home is booked for tomorrow morning so I am taking her to the airport to make sure she gets there safely in time. I plan to meet up with friends in Osaka for the remainder of the day.

A brief lull and a photo opportunity!!

Hello…its me!

When you look back you can see all the names of businesses that have sponsored that particular tori etched into it. This is supposed to be a shrine of prosperity.

Me again…

Gosh! No people!

Sneaking a look out the side.

Going off the beaten path for a bit

There are always cats around here!

I do love the bushels of origami cranes found up here.

Even bottles of tiny ones!

It was such a nice morning out and an excellent walk. We even got home a bit earlier that day and enjoyed a bit of a rest!!

Okies…i better scoot!!

Xxx

Yesterday I abandoned Maureen (who had a perfectly lovely day in our local area now she is confident enough to get out on her own and explore and shop!!)

I went to meet Master and his family… you will remember young Jin who came to visit in Jan/Feb. (His Sister Meiru was busy yesterday.)

Master owned a small local pub (an Izakaya) called Hitsuji when I was living in Japan. I loved going down there to treat myself to dinner.

We started off in Nara where they picked me up and then drove to a park via my old school where I lived and the izakaya which is now an Italian restaurant!!

They picked up a pre made order from a sandwich shop then selected a place to sit and enjoy!

Holy Cats look at the size of that sandwich!!! That’s for one person!!

Yoshiko with one of her sandwiches! Comes in a neat little boat of paper to eat it in without making too much mess!

Once we were stuffed full of amazing sandwich we took a walk through the park.

This was a pretty area, but it would have been stunning with the cherry blossoms and tulips out!

Some senior citizen groups made their own display garden patches too.

From nature to not nature… we had a booking at an Izakaya in Tenoji, Osaka but before the scheduled time we wandered about in the overwhelmingly coloured street with sideshow carnival like shops and noise.

I’m just going to hit you with it… no need for me to say anything…it’s all pretty visual!

There is a slide down the side of the tower….see on right side in below pic.

You can even have a go at some archery if you want!

And then it was back out to some sensible coloured high rises!!

And on to the grand finale of the day with our dinner!

The atmosphere here was so energetic and noisy – but great fun!

Luckily I didn’t have to worry about ordering… left that in Masters capable hands.

All dishes come out one by one and we all share which is awesome as you get lots of great taste experiences.

The above plate had some Korean style noodles, slices of sweet potato and a pumpkin mash. All SO tasty!

A Ceasar salad

Sashimi.. raw fish that you dip in soy. Not a usual dish for me but it was really nice!!

Chicken with a creamy mayonnaise sauce…divine!

Chicken skewers…leg, breast, heart, stomach…?? Can’t remember the other one. But the ones I had were really simple and tasty.

Stopping for a fun people shot in among the food!

And don’t you love the plates??

This was also divine… kind of an olive oil base.. you dipped the bread in and added the prawns,tomato and broccoli on top!

Wait… there’s more!!! (Where is all this going you ask especially after that massive sandwich at lunch!!!!) (I asked this many times to myself but I soldiered on heroically)

Jellyfish! Because why not?? It wasn’t bad…the texture was a little weird to me. Kind of a mix between crunchy and rubbery if that’s even possible!!

Before you laugh… these aren’t your ordinary chips! They came in a bag and then you added the savoury powder to shake them up in. The seasoning was butter – soy!!! I don’t know how that’s achieved but they were fabulous.

These were several chicken dishes with different flavours… I had half the cheese one…some were spicy and one had to be dipped in the raw egg. And isn’t that plate cool?

And because you have a different stomach pocket for dessert… we had dessert!!! Jin had a kind of fried naan with ice cream, Yoshiko had ice cream,

I had a luuurevely choccie cake and ice cream and Master, like a seasoned pub owner, had his fifth beer and was as steady as a rock!!!

(Pub door handle)

All in all it was an amazing proper Japanese experience and I loved seeing my friends again. They are always so kind and welcoming when I drop back into Japan!

Xxx.

Good evening!

Today we went into central Kyoto and walked to Toji Temple where they hold a massive market on the 21st of each month.

When I say massive… I mean it. Around 1000 stalls!!! It bewilderingly big!

There are a lot of antique stalls with ceramics and heaps of second hand kimonos and fabric.

Lots of wonderful plants.

They had a lot of new ceramic stalls, craft stalls, jewellry and clothes.

Heaps of food stalls of course.

I set Maureen loose and by the time I found her again she needed a loan!!!

Last purchase of the day, a swish new coat which she plans to wear at markets!

I thought I had covered most of the area, then found two new areas to investigate!

Over a small pond.

At this point a stall holder had come running up to me. I’d just bought a couple of lovely hand woven items from her. She was waving about a couple of hundred yen… I finally sorted out what she was saying. Apparently she had short changed me by accident (about two bucks) and was SO embarrassed and apologetic. I think I reassured her enough that I wasn’t upset … I hadn’t noticed. On the whole Japanese people are painstakingly honest so I never double check. She was so sweet!

I found Maureen again at a fountain where we had planned to meet when we were done. She had been there a short while and the local ladies kept coming up to chat and feed her sweets!!

I bought the above iron teapot in Osaka the other day… I’ve always wanted one!

Today I found two more!! Much older ones! One is tiny and so cute!

The last thing I bought was some market food which we brought home with us so we could collapse in comfort and eat up and generally have a quiet afternoon!

And then we did Show And Tell with all our new treasures and lament about future packing problems!

Xxx.

Hey there!

Tonight it’s a continuation of the sights seen on our drive in the country.

Mari scheduled in coffee and cake at a quirky place full of interesting hand made articles with an outdoor nursery!

We each chose a different cake – and sampled each others.

They were all delicious and beautifully presented.

There was a viewing platform attached where you could sit and have coffee… or relax.

The steps up were treehouse like!

Next was a walk down an old street.

I didn’t catch the name and I am too lazy right now to heave myself back up off the floor to find the information sheet I was given…

We will just have to enjoy the aesthetics of it all without the background information!

I love the potted plants squeezed into the front here.

Traditional kitchen!

Nearing the end of our day, we swung by a shrine in a famous area for saki.

There was a small showroom/museum.

They have a big festival every year through the streets carrying a shrine.

I would imagine there would be some drinking too!

Love all the labels and old advertising posters!

This shrine is also popular at this time of year for the beautiful flower ‘yamabuki’ which is in spectacular form!

Picturesque!!

Giving the turtle a pat to bring good health.

Fortunes!

You buy a fortune from the shrine. If it’s a good one, you keep it. If it’s not so great you tie it to the rack provided and ask the God’s to spirit away the bad fortune.

I really liked these fish swimming up the mossy rock!

Saki barrels!!!

All empty though! I love the artwork on each barrel.

Anyway, I need some shut eye as tomorrow we plan on finding a nice big temple market in the morning!!!

Xxx.

Back to our day out with Mari and Koichi… they drove us to this really interesting thatched village in Miyama.

39 thatched roofed farmhouses have been carefully preserved as a cultural heritage site and is home to a population of around 3600 people. Most of these buildings have survived from the 19th century.

All roads are mostly for people to walk on without cars. (No tourist cars anyway)

Again a lovely peaceful place to walk around and admire.

Lots of gardens and fields are being prepared for spring planting.

Everything was so picturesque.

I liked seeing the gardens.

The fences are to keep out deer and wild boar.

We found ‘The Little Indigo Museum’ which was a place where a family still made the traditional Indigo dyed materials.

We met Hiroyuki Shindo who took up the art in the 1960’s.

He took the time to chat to us which was lovely. Apparently his son has taken on the art now. He also has a great little museum of Indigo dyed fabrics in the attic of his thatched house!

Following is copied from a printout he gave me which I thought was interesting to share.

The Japanese Indigo Tradition and My Work – Hiroyuki Shindo.

I first met Indigo when I was student of Kyoto University of Fine Art in the 60’s. I just happened to go to a field trip to a traditional Indigo dye house in Shiga Prefecture where I saw Indigo dyeing done the traditional way. I was terribly shocked to hear an elderly artisan say “with my generation a tradition that has been handed down for four generations will come to an end.”

At that time not only did the artisan’s son refuse to continue the tradition but finding other young people to take on this old fashioned and troublesome work was next to impossible. It saddened me to realise this traditional craft was disappearing from Japan.

I returned many times to the dye house to study the fermentation and dyeing technique. The more I studied the more fascinated I became with indigo.

Today we are profiting from chemical developments, living a life of ease. But environmental destruction is the other side of this development. One reason that I have been able to continue this work for more than half a century is that indigo does not damage the environment and is completely recyclable.

It is a traditional Japanese value to live as one with nature. I hold this value close to my heart – Hiroyuki Shindo.

Nothing more from me xxx.