Greenery at Komyozenji (and some food)

I have been to Dazaifu (city just south of Fukuoka) a grand total of 5 times in the last 10 months, and every time except one, it was PERFECT weather. Dazaifu seems to be one of those Magical Places where the sky is just a little bit closer to the earth. Well, I went again in April and experienced yet another breathtaking day. I went to the Tenmangu Shrine again, as well as Komyozenji (a zen temple), which I took lovely photos of back in THIS POST. This time was very different, as it was the perfect time of year to witness the 新緑 (shinryoku, "new verdure"). The garden was the same, but the scene was completely different. My favorite shade of green!Everyone in Japan who owns a home has some kind of flowering/fruit-bearing tree growing in their yard. Jealous! Though I think I am most jealous of T from Hawai'i, who says she has an avocado tree in her yard that bears more fruit each year than her family can eat themselves. WHAT.
Ever a beautiful sky over Dazaifu.
So green!
I don't really have anything to say except, I love this garden and I love this green!
Green green green.
A "National Geographic" shot from inside the temple, in case you weren't convinced how green the garden was.
Dazaifu is famous for it's plums. This is an umegayamochi (I think I've written about them? famous piping-hot red bean-filled mochi cake in Dazaifu...) and homemade plum juice.
The tiny, amazingly constructed garden behind the restaurant.
Katsudon. Enlarge this picture and you will be very, very jealous that I live in Japan.
Saw this salon walking back to the station. I'm not sure I want my hair to be cut/styled somewhere called "Medusa," if you know what I mean...

Perfect day on Nokonoshima

I know I should post my farming-adventure pictures, but I would like to keep this blog somewhat chronological, so I will update with a series of catch-up posts starting from several months back (beginning of April, I think).

I went to Nokonoshima, the island in the middle of Hakata Bay, when a foreign student came to visit and it was my responsibility to show him around the city. I had never been to Nokonoshima, so it was nice to have an excuse to go (during work hours especially, haha). The island is especially famous for "Island Park," a Wonderland of landscaped gardens and seasonal flower displays. We happened to have a gorgeous day when we went! The whole place felt very Dr. Suess-esque, in many ways.View of Fukuoka City from Nokonoshima. The ferry only takes ten minutes! From left to right: Yahoo! Dome, Sea Hawks Hotel, Fukuoka Tower... and then way to the right is one of the biggest ferris wheels in all of Asia that is being disassembled and shipped to Taiwan :(
Funky little cafe right near the ferry landing on Nokonoshima.
Take no ko, also known as bamboo shoots, which look terrifying but are secretly delicious.
View from the entrance to Island Park. See why I used the Wonderland/Dr. Suess analogy?
So much color! It was actually really chilly that day, hard to believe so many flowers were already in bloom.
Weird knobbly trees. Awesome!
Beautifully planted flower beds. I have zero interest in planting flowers, but I like to admire the hard work of others.
Another weird, otherworldly scene.
The PINKEST, most densely grown azaleas I've ever seen in my entire life. Barbie approves!
Six Jizo figures. Jizo is the bodhisattva I studied for my senior thesis. (LINK)
This stunning flower field overlooks Umi no Naka Michi ("The Road in the Middle of the Sea"), the thin strip of land that connects Shikanoshima (once an island) to the rest of Kyushu. This is a field of rape blossoms, called na no hana in Japanese. They are such a cheerful bright yellow and have a lovely fragrance. I was grateful to not have pollen allergies, because otherwise I probably would have died. We were COVERED in yellow pollen after walking around/through this field.
Late-blooming cherry trees and na no hana. I really like this shot.
You can eat the dark leafy green bottom part of this plant. It tastes like spinach and is super healthy and delicious, of course. I like it in udon!
One can never have too many pictures including cherry trees in Japan.
A really beautiful trip! I will try to go back for the sunflowers in the summer and the late-blooming cosmos light-up in October/November!

What you can expect

So I'm back from my not-so-relaxing-yet-fun belated Golden Week break. I have loads of things to post about and upload, some of which I will get to this weekend. This post is more a personal reminder of how lazy I am, and what I need to just GET DONE:

* Trip around Fukuoka City with the visiting kid from Oakland (Dazaifu, Nokonoshima, Rakusuien, etc.)

* Dontaku Parade

* Minami Aso Village farm experience

Hey, that's actually a really short list (though I know there are a lot of pictures involved). I guess I will have to check my iPhoto to see what other unposted gems are lurking around...

THANK GOD/BUDDHA/ETC. IT'S FRIDAY.

Quick food update

I don't have a picture, but I can add raw chicken to the list of relatively strange foods I've eaten. In some places here you can even eat it as sashimi/sushi, but my friends and I ate it marinated and wrapped in lettuce at a restaurant last night. Japan is big into "course" meals, where everything is set before you get there and they just bring the appropriate amount for the number of people.

Apparently raw chicken is safe to eat if it's incredibly fresh (Kyushu is famous-ish for it's yakitori, skewered grilled chicken, so I figure there are a lot of chickens in the neighborhood to eat at a moment's notice?). It wasn't chewy as I was expecting it to be. The marinade was very yummy (though the lettuce wraps were too wet, ew), but I don't think I would choose to eat it again.

I did like the raw cow liver sashimi I had a few weeks ago... more so than the grilled liver.

What food adventure is next??

My soul slumbers in Kyoto

This may also be referred to as "What is probably Emily's longest post to date." It can't be helped. It involves Kyoto, which will forever hold a very special place in my heart. Ohhhh there just aren't the words. It was the best year.After 10 miserable hours of non-sleep on the night bus, we rolled into town and of course, the first thing I see is Japan's Most Iconic Pagoda (Toji). Ohayo gozaimasu, Toji!

Definitely one of my top 2 favorite reflective buildings (along with Time Warner, though Fukuoka Tower and the Kyushu National Museum are tied for 3rd)

Over the river and into the hills, to host fam's house we go! Hello, my beautiful city, I've missed you so.
I LOVE THIS VIEW FROM MY HOST FAMILY'S HOUSE. I SAW IT EVERY MORNING FOR EIGHT MONTHS. I love it.
I took the old bike (a lot rustier than when I used it) out for a spin that first afternoon, and the sakura were blooming in the south up until Gojo Avenue. After that, they weren't really blooming along the river, but randomly in all kinds of places.
Nice! You can't beat the pink shidarezakura that hang over the river. No sirree.
When I got there, it was raining. Then it stopped. Then it rained when I went out. Here I am at Shijo Ave. in the rain.
Looking towards Gion and the Higashiyama, still raining.
But look over yonder! (It's still raining)
Holy crap, now that is PINK. You go, girl.
And then the heavens smiled down.
I think I should get an award for this photo. Still heading north to Kyoto University, along the old everyday route.
Approaching Kyoto U. and Yoshida Shrine. Do you SEE the color of the SKY??
KyoDai!!!
You're not the most beautiful campus ever (in fact, far from it) but I still love you!
The J-Pod! Our tiny 2-room sustainable cedar building. It was only used by KCJS for 3 years (KCJS was in Okazaki near the zoo for 17 years, and now it will be at Doshisha probably foreverrr), and I was smack in the middle of those 2. Mysterious, life.
Oh, nostalgia.
Even the crappy empty lot behind it looks good against that sky. Oh, Kyoto, you break my heart.
... And then it rained again. Hailed, to be more precise. Here is the absolutely hideous student union and the super-cheap cafeteria where I ate many a lunch with my classmates.
A most adorable cafe, and look who's chilling underneath! (Staying out of the rain, UGH)
Oh look, it stopped raining.
Aaaah, Kyoto!!!
The delta where the Kamogawa splits. This is the best place to watch the fires on the mountains in August, so I'm told. I am SO GOING this year, miserable heat and humidity be damned.
Entrance to Shimogamo Shrine, one of the few Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage Sites I hadn't yet been too.
The orange and the blue. How gggorgeous.
It's a shrine.
A shrine and the sky.
Daimonjiyama!!!!!!!!! I think this mountain is the symbol of my year abroad. I love it.
Ohhhhhhhh, Kyoto.
Isn't this kind of redundant?
Bamboo shoots are just coming into season! They look creepy, like they have gills, when you cut them open. But are pretty tasty!
The sakura were blooming along Kiyamachi-dori, which is the seedy-ish part of Kyoto (where we spent a lot of time as students, of course).
Obligatory passing-by shot of Ponto-cho, one of the geisha districts.
Hi, my name is Kyoto, and I'm GORGEOUS.
Unspeakably so.
MY ROOM! They let me stay in my old room since I was the first of the host students to stay. They finally took the funeral photos of all the ancestors down. Whatever, I totally got used to chilling with the ancestors every night.
The view from my room! How nostalgic!
Ok there's a roof in the way, but there's a temple in the distance! And the hills! Ohhh!
The host fam and their 3 host daughters. I was first. I will gloat about it until the day I die.
Kiyomizudera light-up with Kyoto U. friends (aka many blurry pictures to come)
The mmmoon, I mmmean.
ALIEN INVASION OF KYOTO! As you can tell, the Kiyomizudera sakura light-up FAILS EPICALLY because it turns the white flowers the same colors as the maple leaf light up in the fall. Which is unbelievably stunning, btw.
It's just kind of artistic and cool, ok?
The reflecting pool, ooh.
It was still nice though. Kiyomizudera is Kiyomizudera.
Sakura blooming in the Imperial Palace Park.
WOW.
The super duper pink ones are actually peach blossoms, which follow right after the sakura.
Yesssss. Think pink!
Imperial Palace Park, with Daimonjiyama!!!! peeking from the background.
Kyoto also has some truly fabulous pine trees. Well, Japan in general has kick-ass pine trees. Look how green it is. The colors here are just AMAZING. I think it's because the weather is so nuts.
Hi, I'm sakura, and everyone loves me!
I only bloom for one week out of the year! Do you feel the transience of life? DO YOU?
Bees. In late March? It's Kyoto. No explanation necessary.
A cute sakura tree.
With unusual but beautiful flowers!
This picture represents the gloom in my soul at having to leave Kyoto once more. I will be back soon, I promise, my beloved.