Disneyland!

Friday we got up VERY early – like 4am – to catch the bus, train and the shinkansen to head up for Disneyland! Books in hand we braved the crowds to enjoy the ambiance, the aura, the magic of Disneyland. I never tire of the place and it seems that I’ve passed this on to the girls. Believe it or not, while we were enjoying ourselves in Tokyo Disney, Twyla was enjoying herself in California Disney. The lines were LONG – longer than anything I’ve seen in California but our trusty books and a bit of storytelling carried us through. We all were disappointed not to be going back the next day…I don’t know that I’d want to endure 3 days, but 2 days would have been great.
Tokyo Disney is a great place to visit…”the happiest place on earth”…only in competition with the other Disney’s around the world but hey.... There are some definite differences though…the menus are all fish biased, though ice cream is easy to find. They only have one restaurant with a true “vegetarian” option (and it was quite good). Can’t say that’s much different from California Disney…don’t remember there being a lot of options there – though probably more salads at times other than breakfast.

Disneyland...continued

Cinderella’s castle is more like the one found in Florida (so we are told) with more of a surrounding wall and it seems a bit larger. We came through the entry arches (more rain here so the World Bazaar (our Main Street) is covered) and had the view of castle in front of us. It took walking until we were quite close to realize that the castle is being worked on. They had taken the scaffolding and painted on the castle. From a distance, you had no idea that the castle was actually covered up.
Another interesting item…they, of course, have the Haunted House here and it's set in the same gothic style house as in California. However, it is placed in Fantasyland because the Japanese believe ghosts only exist in fairy tales. There’s also no train that runs around the entire complex, though there is a monorail that will transport people outside the complex to Disney Sea as well as various resorts in the area.
We weathered it through, marveled at the crowds and the sea of umbrellas that burst out in the rain – certainly adds a lot of color to the landscape. Fortunately the rain was infrequent, the visiting and reading enjoyable and the day just delightful. We had a spectacular time, whizzing around on the fast rides, enjoying the shows and just relaxing. After the fast pace, this was a nice, slow day.

Asakusa Shrine - and Shopping

We headed out for Asakusa the next day, ready for some typical shopping in Japan for the girls. The shrine is flanked by streets of vendors in small stalls, all ready and willing to sell their wares to the tourists – and there and thousands of tourists filing by on this tiny street. The sakura was out, making it a festive occasion for both Japanese and gaijin. The shrine is approached through the Kaminarimon gate. This gate is guarded by two Kami – great carved gods with hideous faces designed to scare the intruders. The long walkway up to the temple’s second gate is where the many shops are located. They do have a wonderful collection of inexpensive souvenirs as well as some pretty nice quality Japanese arts, pottery, metal work and such. If not for the crowds, I could happily spend quite a while checking out some of the fabulous crafts.
Didn't get pictures of the shops but did find great shots of sakura. If you click on the title of this entry, it will take you to a website with pictures of some shops...and more information.
The vendor was interesting. He was selling some kind of food. He would pick up the "stand" and carry it around. When someone asked for food, he'd stop, set it down and sell to the person. When the sales dropped in that area, he'd pick it up again and move on.

Shinjuku and Mexican food

Most of our time was centered around Shinjuku. Our hotel was fairly close to the station – with an underground path making it convenient in the rain. We went searching for the Metropolitan Building because the girls had found a reference for tourist information. In the process of searching for it, we stumbled upon an opportunity to go up to the top of the building for a fantastic view of the city.
This is also the location of one of the El Torito restaurants - a definite must whenever we visit Tokyo. I do miss mexican food here.

Yokohama Bay with Kaz and Kazumi

We met Kaz and Kazumi in Yokohama the next day for a delightful, if a bit wet, cruise around Yokohama Bay. The cruise line is offers a number of trips around the bay, including luncheons, dinner, tea as well as just the roughly two hour tour. Being the brave and hearty souls that we are (and too late to register for the lunch or tea – and SPENDY) we took just the cruise. Now that’s fine…on a sunny day. We got what I would consider to be the best view – outside, looking over the Bay, great visibility – except for the rain, and the wind and the tiny blankets. Ah well…we were enjoying nature. We did have a lovely time visiting with Kaz and Kazumi, enjoying the scene – it is a nice bay and the suspension bridges are very pretty. It will have to be something to try again on a warm, balmy, summer day.
While the girls spent the next day shopping (did I mention they like to shop?) in Shubuya, Jeff and I were back at work. It was really sad that their two weeks were over.

Mount Aso on Kyushu

It’s amazingly simple to travel in Japan on the airlines. We had been told we only needed to be at the airport 20 minutes ahead of time – and at Oita – it would have worked! We, of course, didn’t believe them and arrived early…to wait. Ah well…at least we had our books.
Our first flight was to Kumamoto where we joined a tour out to Mount Aso. This is a bit of a misnomer…there really is no “Mount Aso”; it’s actually a caldera that is about 12 miles in diameter. Inside this huge caldera there are numerous volcanoes and cinder cones, one of which is still active. That, of course, is the one the tour bus took us up to – Naka-dake. There is a cable-car running up to the summit where we enjoyed a Japanese style lunch and a walk up to the rim of the 100m deep crater. Did I mention it was chilly up there? (freezing) And the wind was howling? (even colder) And the gases stank? (and no gas masks). Needless to say, we went back inside to find the kerosene heater to warm up while we waited for the cable car to return.
Click on the title to go to a web page with more information about this area. It looks like a place to visit in the summer - wonderful camping I'm sure.

Sanai Kogen Hotel

We traveled through the caldera to the Kurokawa onsen area – a very popular place for onsens – or hot spring Japanese bath house. This is apparently a very famous area. We stayed at the Sanai Kogen Hotel – a large but very modest looking hotel with fabulous service. They came to pick us up at the bus stop – and took us to a gorgeous room overlooking the caldera and the bath houses. We decided to use the outdoor one – despite the cold weather. I must admit, I wore my pj bottoms under the kimono – it seemed a bit too breezy to me. Now why I worried is beyond me – the bath house is outdoors. In this delightfully cold weather, one takes a shower in a very cold room (it was inside but only because it had a roof and 2 walls) and then quickly heads outside to sink into a nice, warm, pool of water. You have your tiny little towel with you – dish-towel width and probably twice as long. This doesn’t go it the water but it serves for “modesty”. It is so cold out of the water that the towel is frozen by the time you pick it up. It crackled. Ah yes, the things we go through to experience “the nature”.
It was a nice view – you could see the volcano across the way with wisps of steam and lots of brown hillsides – it is still winter over here, and it proved it. Great sunset in the deep, dark cloudy sky. We woke up to a white landscape – with wind blown walks. Gorgeous, but rather cold. If you look at the snowy picture, on the right side you'll see the roof of a building...that's the outside onsen the place is famous for.

Dining at Sanai

We had the most exotic dinner imaginable. We had a small tatami room reserved just for us. When we entered, they had laid out the table with 7 or 8 dishes - the hors d’oeurves. They had a selection of sashimi (some sushi with fish, some without), tofu dishes and various vegetables. Then they brought in another collection of dishes – again a mixture of fish, beef and veggies. This went on for 3 or 4 more courses. They also had rice and a couple of kinds of soup. We began by eating most of what was served on each plate to having a taste of things because we were too full. It was unbelievable. The service was spectacular!!!
The next day we went back to the bus stop where we were picked up by a different tour bus. The woman guide was wonderful – she didn’t speak a word of English but made sure we knew where we were going and found English brochures for us everywhere we went. This bus was posh with wonderful seats and even a tiny chandelier! Big change from the day before.
We also visited the home of a famous Japanese songwriter, Rentaro Taki. He was a young man who was a musical prodigy, writing songs particularly for children – and still famous today. The guide sang one of his songs – and though it was new to us, all of the Japanese knew the piece.

Stone Buddha's

We also visited an old samurai home - amazingly located in the middle of the city. We walked in through a gate and wound our way through a few gardens until we came to the old style home. It was fascinating to walk backwards through time. The house was expansive (given that we’re in Japan) and tucked away so neatly. It was a warren of small rooms – not even sure how you’d wend your way through the place if people were actually living in it. The garden would have been really nice had it been spring time. Oh well…..did enjoy a nearby waterfall. The walk around it was nice. Didn’t really like sitting in the bus all the time.
We took a trip to visit The Usuki Sekibutso or Stone Buddahs, National Treasures of Japan. (Basically, these are important cultural items that are considered to be exemplary of Japanese culture.) These stone images were sculptured from the Heian era (794 A.D.-1192) to the Kamakura (1192-1333) era. There are fifty-nine images here that have been designated as national treasures. Sadly, nature had taken over many of the sculptures and they required some major restoration. They are now protected by wooden awnings and caretakers who work on removing plant growth that continues to creep back. Sadly, no one knows exactly why the Buddha’s were sculpted here.
We spent that night in another onsen in Yufuin, this time with a view of Mount Yufudake (another mountain in the Aso chain). This time we had our meal served in our room – the woman bringing tray after tray of wonderful delicacies. Once again we finished up VERY full.

Ferry to Oita Airport

The trip the airport was extremely interesting. We were told to take the train out to Oita and catch a bus to the ferry that would take us to the airport. We can do this. The train was a breeze to catch and we headed out toward Oita. We took off to find a restaurant for lunch and then went to locate the bus to the ferry. Well…that was a little more difficult. First, we were in the wrong spot. Then, we found the right spot, could even read “airport” and the timetable so we were fine. We were a little confused about the “Ho-va” they had marked on the sign (in Japanese, of course). We just thought it was the Japanese way of saying harbor (you know …ha-ba). It seemed close enough and the driver accepted our mispronunciation so all was fine. We arrived in time, bought our tickets and got ready to board the ferry…then we walked across the concrete pad to the “boat” sitting on the pad. It was a hover craft that we were riding on to the airport – and what a ride it was. This thing lifted itself up (lots of air under it) and it proceeded to travel across the concrete and down to the water. It was FAST! But also very bumpy. The craziest part was our arrival at the airport. We could see the concrete pad coming up…we traveled up the ramp and then we kept going and going and going…sliding around corners, until we finally arrived at the airport. It was really a cool ride!!!
They have little brochures on the ferry - complete with some English entries including "What you should know about hovercrafts". It includes information about it being "fast and cool". They also assure you that safety measures have been taken (it can stop in 10 seconds- unbelievable!) and that it has been "carefully designed".
There is a link from the title of this entry takes you to the Oita Airport. There's a box on the map that shows the hovercraft ferry boarding area. You can see the concrete "road" we traveled from the water.

On to Singapore

We spent the last few days of our vacation in Singapore, a fabulous, if not tiny, country. We had a wonderful time!
We spent a day wandering about different parts of the city. Orchid Road is a large shopping area with thousands of shops – including a couple of great book stores – in English! Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time there. Then we wandered about the downtown section of the city – location of the famous “Singapore Lion”. The name Singapore came from a prince, long ago, who, upon landing on the island, saw an animal he thought was a lion (never has been a lion on Singapore). Anyway…he called the land “Singa Pura” which means Lion City and it stuck.
We went to the National Museum of Singapore (to escape the rain for a while). It was absolutely a fantastic place to visit. They had a lot about the history of Singapore, its discovery, early years, how it evolved, but the most spectacular part about it was HOW it was presented. They had two parallel histories presented at the same time, one track from the perspective of industry, the state, the “official” tract and then the personal tract, stories about the people alive at the time, how things affected them, how they lived. It was fascinating and very well done.

Raffles Hotel

No trip to Singapore is complete without a visit to the famous Raffles Hotel, home of the famous Singapore Sling. This hotel started out as 10-room colonial style bungalows on the beach. Interestingly…the hotel has not moved from its original site…but the ocean is now some 500 meters away. It has enjoyed popularity throughout its history and has been THE place to stay in Singapore. You’re definitely paying for the atmosphere!

Singapore Zoos (note the plural)

Finally, I’ve made it to my favorite place of all here in Singapore…the ZOO! Actually, they have 2 zoos here – one for during the day and one for the night. Night Safari was spectacular.
First, a bit of information about the zoos. They have created the enclosures in the zoo very creatively, using the natural flora and fauna throughout to support the jungle environment – very effectively I might add. Natural barriers abound and, at first glance, it looks like there are only trees separating areas, keeping the animals apart (and secure from the people). Actually, there are walls there but they’re totally disguised. The walls are built to look like jungle and then they’ve allowed the jungle to grow right up to it. It’s hard to notice the wall unless you actually look. Deep and wide moats are also used, with brush growing up, disguising the fact that there’s a 20 some-odd foot canyon in front of you – it appears that there’s nothing between you and the animals. As an added precaution, electric fences are in place also but again, you need to look (especially in the night zoo).

BATS!!!!

The Night Safari has over 900 nocturnal animals living with the wildlife park. There are 3 different walking trails you can take, meandering through the Himalayan expanse to the plains of Africa. The views were spectacular and while it was dark, there were plenty of lights available to see your way and view the animals. The highlight of the whole trip was the bats (you knew I was going to say that). This exhibit was contained with giant nets surrounding the enclosure. No glass, however, was included. Instead, there were triple doors, inviting you into their night world. You stepped inside to whirring wings and chirps as the bats swirled above you on their search for food. I loved watching them fly about, squabble with others over a choice fruit and then settle down to clean themselves or watch us wander about. You could feel the air movements as they flew past – nothing short of breathtaking.
I must admit the picture leaves much to be desired but it was the only one that even remotely came out.

Singapore Zoo - during the day

The Singapore Zoo during the day is also a rare treat. The jungle environment is used to the fullest extent, to give wonderful enclosures for all of the animals. They have quite a few areas that you can walk through, getting very close to the animals. The Australian one had you right up next to the animals – I’m afraid it’s one that would never make it in the states – someone would step over the small fence for sure – or feed the animal some plastic something. It was pretty special to be so close to kangaroos and emus. The round fence pole you see in the picture is it...that's what keeps people out and animals in (for this exhibit at least).

Begging Otters

The river otters were precious – they looked like they were one moment away from starvation! They put on a great act.

Elephants, in the rain

They put on a huge show with the elephants but once again it was raining and raining and raining (it’s that darn season again, told you they need to change the name) and they cancelled the show. We did get to see a bit of it, the animals worked together to move some of the logs about. The funniest bit was when they were cleaning up when they called it quits – one keeper was working with an elephant to move a log and the elephant dropped it in a particularly large puddle. The keeper was soaked (not that he wasn’t already but this was pretty muddy). Not sure if the elephant had a motive or not…

Candi Dasa

Candi Dasa is a small fishing village on the east coast of Bali with delightful ocean views and plenty of places to take in. We stayed in the delightful WaterGarden Bungalows, the place with the pond right outside our door. Talk about relaxing!! It was heavenly. The bungalows were arranged in such a way that while you could see the one next to you, there was an aura of privacy with all the plants found in between. The deck out front was wide and spacious – delightful for doing yoga – calm, pleasant, relaxing. The place came with our own geckos for keeping the bugs down and koi in the water. If you’ve checked out the pictures of Bali I’ve posted, you’ll see some of my koi along with the wonderful four-poster bed!

Water Palace

We took a tour the first day we were there. They have lots of guides available to take you anywhere you want. We took off to visit a few of the landmarks in the area. One of the stops was the Taman Tirta Ganga – a “resting place” built by one of the Kings. It is now referred to as a water palace with traditional Balinese architecture with the influences of both Chinese and Western design.
The most famous pool is filled with warrior statues and pads you can walk about on, weaving through the various statues. The water is unbelievably clear and the surrounding area is picture perfect. People come and spend the day here because there is also a swimming pool that anyone can use. It’s also the location of many weddings, what with the gorgeous views, fountains, pools and a fabulous bridge.

Ujung Water Palace

Seems that the kings (or rather raja) of the time absolutely loved water palaces. This palace was the one that was actually lived in by the last raja (and his 20 some-odd children – quite crowded I’m sure). Unfortunately, the palace was almost completely destroyed when the volcano erupted in 1963 but the palace was rebuilt. It’s again in a gorgeous setting, sitting on a hill, overlooking a beautiful bay. The palace itself must have been gorgeous in its time. It’s interesting…for privacy they met out in the open. One of the constructions was a covered but completely open room, located in the middle of the “ponds”. There was only one narrow bridge out to it, and it was easily guarded at its entrance. It allowed the raja to meet with other, being secure that no one could overhear their discussions.

Rice Field Hike

The next day we took off on a 4 hour trek through the rice fields. Our guide picked us up at our bungalow and drove us up into the mountains where we would start our hike. Our guide was delightful with stories to tell and an amazing amount of knowledge of the area, rice farming and the people. We wove our way through the fields, walking between paddies and along the water ways. The people of the area used the same tracks and we often ran into women carting large loads on their heads. Why is it that the women always seem to be the ones that carry these loads?
The labor to keep these fields going is intense. It was amazing, watching the man wrestle with the ox to plow the field. It’s such a small field, the animals are huge, yet they move them from one plot to the next without destroying the dirt-made retaining walls.
Our trail took us through small communities. The family compounds were generally small with everyone working on something. Children helped the younger ones bathe, washed the clothing and were frequently found following small animals around. We stopped at one single home where the guide knew the people. They had a snack for us, drinks as well as some things to buy (of course). We did get a mat the woman had made. She worked on one while we were there and the man played one of their xylophone type instruments. A pleasant place to relax from the hike.

More on driving...

I realize I spend a lot of time talking about driving in all of these countries we visit. We honestly don’t realize how good we have it until we start seeing what other people live with all of their lives! It’s honestly unreal.
To begin with, they don’t have the tire-width ditches that are found in Japan…but they do have huge ones, usually covered with a walkway, sometimes not, and generally full of trash (I also take back what I said about being clean. It really depends on where you are.) Remember…we’re in the tropics…includes tropical rains… even more than the storms in Japan bring… now, they have great ditches designed for carrying away lots of water but... they don’t work because they’re full of... right, you’ve got it - Trash!!! The streets are always flooded when it rains (bad for driving AND walking). Let me tell you, it rains A LOT in the rainy season (might have something to do with the name, maybe they should rename the season). I sometimes thought that the car/boat thing would have worked well here.
The drivers are crazy. If you want to go somewhere, honk your horn and go. The laws are different in Bali. If someone pulls out in front of you, it’s YOUR job to stop. If you hit them, it’s your fault. If your gaijin, it’s your fault. If they hit you, it’s your fault. Thankfully the roads are so awful that everyone has to drive pretty slowly. I think about 50 km/hr (roughly 30mph) was about the fastest we ever got up to. Now, add some motorcycles/scooters to the mix. They go WHEREVER they want to. If you leave a 5 inch gap between you and the car in front or on the side, they go through it. At every intersection they all weave up to the front of the line then start out en-mass!!! It’s quite a sight to see. Add the water they’re dodging and you have quite a field of bikes to dodge.
They also have interesting roads. I don’t know why, but u-turns are built into the system all over the place. It’s one of those things about going when you want to – if you’re on the main road you wait forever for the cars doing the u-turns. You learn NOT to be in the middle lane unless you’re wanting to make a u-turn yourself.
Thankfully, once you’re out of the main towns, the driving becomes much easier and closer to normal. We took off to Candidasa, a delightful town, off the beaten track, away from the tons of tourists making the scene on the beaches of Bali. Granted, there weren’t as many shops to visit or bars to go to or people wanting to sell you something, anything, as you walked along the beach but somehow we managed to find plenty to keep us busy.
And the picture...it's a 2 lane street.....

And yet some more on driving...

Driving in town is absurd. We had a navi system with a very bad map of Bali. We ended up in strange places. Maggie (the navi system has a name) said to turn left. OK, it looked a little narrow but, hey, we live in Japan, narrow is normal. We went by some houses and small plots and the road narrowed and we drove on. The walls grew taller, the road grew narrower and still we drove on until we reached a T intersection. OK…intersection is too grandiose a word…try our car-wide path joining another car-wide path at a 90 degree angle. I got lots of practice putting the car in and out of gear while Jeff kept letting me know I had an inch to go. It was amazing that we honestly made the turn. Once we got past it, 50 feet further on, we were indeed on the street in front of our hotel. Maggie was right on – it was the most direct way to our hotel. We chose to ignore that route in the future.
The picture of the exit hardly does the experience justice. The car filled the entire space - there was no opening the door, let alone getting out.

Kecak Dance

We had the chance to see some different kinds of Balinese dances and music. Out of all we saw, our favorite was the Kecak dance. It is considered to be one of the most stunning of all of their dances. I’ll start with a little background on this dance (at least the tiny bit I know about).
They have up to around one hundred men in this dance, men, young and old, who all live within the temple area. They wear only a sarong (a wrapped cloth like a skirt) and act as the living backdrop for the performance. The most amazing thing about it is the way they totally work in unison! They chant throughout the performance in a syncopated rhythm – it’s a kind of “chak-chak” sound they make (you’d really have to hear it). Now, add to this the choreography for the dance. They sit in a circle around the “stage” where the story is acted out. They move totally together, coordinating the movements of the upper body, heads, arms, position held, swaying back and forth. It’s amazing to watch…and even more so when you realize these men are volunteering to do it. They practice evenings to get the chant and movements down perfectly. They truly worked as one – as I watched I never saw the startled movement of someone catching up or realizing they turned the wrong way – they were in perfect synch! It was the most stunning part of the entire performance.
In the center of the circle, a fraction of the story of the Ramayana is acted out. It’s a Hindu story about Prince Ramayana and the endless struggle of good vs evil with many gods appearing to influence the humans in different ways. It’s well done and easy to follow but I honestly was most amazed at the men’s performance!

Trance Dance

Following the Kecak dance they hold a Trance Dance. They come out a light a large pile of coconut husks, allowing the husks to burn to coals. Then a man comes out on a hobby-horse made out of palm leaves and he tramples through the red hot coals, scattering them, snorting and neighing and not seeming to notice these hot coals he’s scattering about (the audience was also quick to scatter as we realized the coals were coming in our direction.)
I found a clip on YouTube that is of the Trance Dance…if you’re interested, click on the words "Trance Dance" in the title.
You’ll even get to hear some of the chanting, though the synchronized movements of the men isn’t included (they only chant during this dance).

Biking Bali Style

We did manage to find some days without rain – every once in a while the rain gods took pity on us and gave us a glorious day. We took advantage of it! They have Bali countryside cycling tours and we decided to take off on one. It was perfect. They picked us up at our hotel and took us up to a mountain top restaurant for breakfast. There was one catch…it was rather a later breakfast than we had anticipated – in other words, we should have eaten first.
Before we hit the mountaintop chalet, we enjoyed a tour of a coffee plantation, Bali style. The weather is so fabulous year-around, they can grow hundreds of different things. We visited a smaller plantation where coffee is harvested primarily by hand and the land supports many different crops. They had coffee, cocoa beans, vanilla, mango, pineapple and probably some more things I’ve forgotten, all growing in the area. They had samples of the various native fruits that we had a to sample. Some, like mango and pineapple, we’d had before but they also had some lychee, jack fruit, something with a pulpy mass inside…never did get the name of that one. Most were pretty good, some…I’ll let them keep.
Now…the picture shows the man roasting the coffee, along with the pole for grinding it. While I firmly believe that at one point all of the coffee was processed that way, I bet there’s a bit more of an automated operation going on somewhere behind the scenes. That said…you’d be amazed at the number of spread out plastic or canvas sheets with peanuts and rice and coffee beans drying out in the sun – in the middle of the road.

Mount Batur

From there we wound our way up the mountain to the restaurant overlooking Mount Batur. This is an active volcano that has devastated the surrounding area frequently, most recently in 1994. It is a sacred mountain to the Balinese yet it can be climbed. We settled for the scenic view of the mountain.
The best part of the journey was just beginning. We went over to a small, country road – well, it was all small country roads, this was just a smaller, more country road than some of the others. We all chose a bike and headed off downhill (yeah, just my style). We traveled through steamy jungles, hundreds of rice fields and many towns where the children ran out to high five the foreigners as we road by. We dodged potholes, dogs, kids, drying rice, coffee and peanuts as well as motorbikes and the occasional car. Kept you on your toes!
Our guide(s) stopped periodically to tell us about things we were seeing. We hiked through a rice field to learn about how they still harvest rice – by hand! It’s a reasonable source of living for many people, selling rice to the local hotels and stores for – we foreigners supporting them whenever we have a meal. They use nature whenever possible, bringing in ducks after harvest to eat off the bugs and to fertilize the fields, rotating crops (beans, peanuts, corn or chili) to keep the soil in good shape.

Balinese Families

Our next stop was in one of the community meeting halls. Every community has a leader who works to keep the community working together and running smoothly. There are many celebrations and festivals each year (the island is primarily Hindu) and the leader identifies who should do what so that everything is ready. We saw a number of communities getting ready for a holiday that was coming up – men and women were out decorating the gates, meeting halls and cleaning up everything.
Families are very close and live together in a single compound. The son will live there all his life, bringing his wife to live with his family. The compound is not very large, but will house 2 or 3 “houses” with outdoor verandahs, a cooking area, a garden area and the family shrine.
Naming your child is very important in Bali because it identifies the caste you are from as well as your birth order. Some of our guides on the trip were named Wayan, in fact, almost everyone was named Wayan. Turns out the first born is always named Wayan – doesn’t mater if it’s a boy or girl. Madi is the 2nd born (we also had 2 guides named Madi). There are other given names and nicknames but the order name is important here. It sure confuses the heck out of me.
We ended up at the home of Wayan, the owner of the business. There his family had created the most fabulous lunch – including delicious vegetarian options! We sat on the open verandahs of the various buildings, visiting with our riding buddies and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and great food.
You do need to take a look at the shot that includes Jeff sitting at the table. It’s not a great picture but…I have to share a story about the people with us. The two men were both from Portland, OR, in fact, there were 2 others also from Portland. The woman is from Hokkaido, another teacher at an international school. The thing is…she is a good friend of one of our teachers at school as was supposed to meet us all in Nagoya when she was on her way to Bali….small world.

Living it up in Bali

Accommodations in Bali range from the 5 star HUGE hotels to small, or rather large, intimate bungalows. We had the exquisite hotel with vast verandahs and gorgeous views onto the ocean or pools or mountains. We had the small bungalow with the open verandah and a view of the trees and flowers. One even had the open verandahs overlooking a koi pond – the pond was immediately off the porch…if you stepped the wrong way, you were in the pond. The most amazing thing was that the prices were a mere pittance of what you would pay for a dive in the states. It’s so amazing to be wrapped in the lap of luxury…a feeling I’ll never be able to enjoy stateside.
I decided to include a variety of shots for the “Homes (or rather hotels here) of the Rich and Famous” to quote a famous filming crew from long ago, though I’m afraid I’ve left out the personal facilities. Check out these places and dream of your next trip! Just imagine…we were at some lovely places…and there were MANY even nicer! You may note that I have included quite a number of pictures of our pond and you might get the idea that I loved this place (it’s also where the four-poster bed is). Well…you’d be right!

Monkey Park

Ubud is a small town that draws a lot of the artsy crowd. Many of the local craftspeople have shops here so the place is full of paintings; many quite gorgeous, carvings; gigantic, gorgeous, practical, tiny, obscene or intricate, pottery; practical, decorative and everything in between. It’s also the source of those huge rock sculptures you see in many places. It really does have the most interesting shops.
It is also the home of the Monkey Forest, a small preserve that is the home for hundreds of macaque monkeys. Let me tell you, they’ve taken the place over. The humans, who think they own the place, actually are there to serve the monkeys. First, they’ve been directed to sell bananas to the unsuspecting tourists. The monkeys are extremely perceptive, quickly identifying which tourists succumbed to the sales pitch and which failed to recognize the need to have bananas. Immediately identifying the correct humans, they gathered around the person, waiting for the handout. Each used different techniques…there was the pathetic hang dog look that let you know it was certain that the animal was going to die at your feet if you didn’t feed it. They also used the sweet and adorable routine…worked very well for the young monkeys capering around. The overworked mother also appeared with the younger crew clinging to her fur - and she rarely shared her haul with them, guess she figured they needed to learn the cute routine.
Now some humans, not being well trained yet, thought they could tempt the monkeys into performing for them…stand up, sit, roll over, and beg. That didn’t go over well with these guys. Their response was a very firm, jump on the person, grab the banana and beat it out of there. The human was usually left in a state of total surprise. Some monkeys preferred a bit more terror, scrambling up the leg or landing on the head. Either move was sufficient for them to get the banana – and sometimes the entire bunch.
People were also warned that they should watch their purses and glasses, monkeys had been known to steal anything they could (particularly from those people who failed to bring them any food).
Once you made it past the entrance (believe me, no bananas survived in a human’s hand past about 50 feet into the park), the monkeys became much calmer and returned to more monkey activities, chasing each other, grooming, eating greens, and mating. There’s a large temple in the center of the preserve. While it is still used by people at certain times of the year, it is not open to visitors (most of the temples in the country are closed the same way and if you do get to go in, you need to wear a sarong and sash – provided by the temple for a fee). It is remarkable how much the style of the temples is repeated in hundreds of the buildings and gates around the country.

Bali Rain

If I were to sum up our trip to Bali, I’d have to say it was wet, rainy, humid, hot, sweltering and did I mention it rains a lot? I must admit that the rain made the country gorgeously green, but I think it also gives everyone webbed feet!! While it always rains this time of year, even the locals were noting that it was raining a bit more than usual. We had a very atypical run of 3 days worth of non-stop rain. Now I do indeed love reading books but even I found that it was getting to be a little bit much. We finally started to wander out whenever there was a bit of a lull just to move around. This worked well sometimes and sometimes got us totally drenched before we got home. The locals were ready for the rain, having lots of HUGE umbrellas – and even our bungalow had large ones for us to use.
Even though the rain was almost never ending, the thousands of shops were open for business at all times – with no end of “great deals” for us to explore. They wanted to sell us absolutely everything – carvings, pottery, weavings, you name it, they had it. Some things were wonderful, absolutely gorgeous, some were just very cheap. I must admit, it didn’t take long to get tired of roaming through the shops.

Hanabi in Japan

Here’s one I forgot all about writing until I came across the pictures. The Japanese love their fireworks – especially on those warm, summer evenings. The word for fireworks, hanabi, means “flowers of fire” and they have truly developed gorgeous displays; the colors, the patterns, the size are all spectacular and are well worth seeking out. They have huge displays that would rival anything I’ve ever seen on the 4th of July.
We had the opportunity to watch a small, local firework display and I have to admit, the process of “shooting off” the fireworks was worth watching! Let me see if I can describe it for you (the night pictures, of course, did not do the process justice).
First, you must recognize that this was the local version…the small stuff. Our small fireworks that we purchase and shoot off in our front yards (with prominent caution warnings attached to each sparkler) seem SO tame. 2nd…don’t do this at home….
OK…imagine a small park..roughly the size of a small block. Trees around, open spot in the middle, bathroom on one side. The fire department (I’m guessing that’s who they were – they looked official) sets out a “runway” of some material that doesn’t seem to catch fire. There’s also a small, movable “wall” of the same material that is nearby (men kinda hang out behind it but ya know, they also just wander around it too). OK…now….imagine a woven basket…maybe it’s like 3 feet tall...with a handle on it. Yes, woven out of some plant – most likely bamboo since it’s available everywhere here (oh, it’s flammable you say…just wait). The audience (being smarter) sits outside this cleared area, perched on the outer edge of the park. Meanwhile…a group of men (remember the ones hanging out around that movable wall?) well…one of the fire type people walk over with a burning torch, poke it in the basket until it catches fire and then they run back over to the wall…one of the young men (in, of course, the very tight fitting outfit) walks over and picks up said burning wicker basket, set themselves into a very nice back stance, and hold the basket close to their side while the basket is spewing sparks, burning brightly, the sparkling fire cascading into the sky, complete with a deafening roar but the jock just stands there until it burns out. (Once again, I repeat, don’t try this at home.) They didn’t do this once or twice, they spent over an hour doing it over and over again. I think there might have been some competition…who had the best stance or stood the stillest or became the deafest or got burned the most (or least). Who knows.

Matsumoto

One of the benefits of working in an International School is the fact that we get quite a few three day weekends. Another benefit is that we actually GO somewhere on those three day weekends. On the down side…when it coincides with a Japanese Holiday…so does everyone else. However, unlike in America, we can travel almost anywhere on public transportation, meaning that when you wait in the inevitable lines and traffic jams, someone else is driving and you can all talk, visit, sleep or read while you're getting there – all of which were used during the trip.

We actually spent the first night in a moderate sized town called Matsumoto, located at the foot of the mountain leading to Kamikochi. Coincidentally, it is also the train stop closest to the bus to KamiKochi. It is a wonderful mix of the old nestled between the new...this book shop is a wonderful example.

Matsumoto Castle is one of the most complete "original" castles left in Japan – castles have a very short life expectancy here. It's called a hirijiro castle, one that is built out on a plain rather than up on the top of a hill or mountain – they like climbing hills here – all of the shrines are on top hills also. The castle has a wonderful open room for moon viewing – a very pleasurable place with wide opening windows overlooking both the garden and the moat. Now moats in Japan, at least these days, aren't the dank, murky things pictured in European picture books. These are wonderful, open, clean and full of koi (well….sometimes). This one even sports a floating garden!

Kamikochi

On to Kamikochi. After a delightful Japanese style breakfast – complete with breakfast fish, interesting vegetables (I love some of the pickled choices they have) , rice and tea, we took indulge in a Starbucks – yes, they've even made it to the train station in Matsumoto (McDonalds, not to be outdone, is across the street- and open 24hours - unheard of in Japan). A short train ride took us to the bus station for our trip up the mountain. It was at this point I was truly happy we were NOT driving our own car. First, the road is very windy and VERY narrow and EVERYONE is in a big hurry to get up the mountain. As we snaked around the severely meandering road we met hundreds of cars, all navigating the same path. There were also a large number of buses and trucks on the road, requiring very tight maneuvering every time they passed each other. To add to this, the Japanese realized much sooner than we ever did that certain places should be closed to cars because there are just too many of the required to get all the people up into the valley (it's similar to Yosemite – a smallish, closed area). So…roughly 20 minutes from where we started on the bus, all of these cars are sitting in lines on the road, attempting to enter the rather packed parking lots – also necessitating some more creative passing on the part of the buses (remember, this is the land of the tire wide, foot deep drainage ditches). At this point I was VERY happy to be merrily watching the scenery go by….

We took off for a hike around the lower area, hoping to spot changing leaves – they were indeed elusive but there were plenty of great things to see along the way. My favorite place was Myojin Pond – a relatively small pond with a meandering path that took you to scenic lookouts around the water. The paths were so convoluted you could even have moments when you were the only person in sight (though not many). We found our best shots of fall colors there – it would be wonderful to go up again in a few weeks…..

Kamikochi Ryokan

Our ryokan in Kamikochi was very modern and quite nice. Since it was a holiday for everyone, we were quite lucky to get this pretty expensive place up here in the valley – this is one of the first places in Japan that really had raised the prices. The 2 rooms were SO different – one western style, one Japanese. It really was interesting how the space was so totally different…the western style one was just the 2 beds with a small sitting area and no view to speak of out the window – you had to stand on the bed to see it. Right next door, it was Japanese style with the seating area right in the window - a delightful place to sit and enjoy a cup of tea and read a book!!!!

It included dinner in its rather steep price. It was, of course, completely Japanese surprise. We had NO idea of what we were eating and the young girl who was waiting on us spoke some English and tried to help us out. They have a bowl, filled with broth, vegetables and meat (which I quickly donated to Jeff). They light a sterno type thing under it and then you let it cook. I think we were supposed to stir it a bit more frequently than we did but, oh well…. They also had fish (of course), some sushi, and then bowls of various kinds of veggies – we tried guessing and identified, others are still in the surprise category. Breakfast in the morning was much the same – and still fun to explore (glad I had so many tasters to let me know what wasn't meat).

That night as we slept on our futons, we noticed a regular pitter patter coming from outside…very pleasant as you're snuggled up in bed, warm, cozy, comfy. Running water is just so pleasant…until you have to go out in it. Oh my gosh…it rained and rained and rained and rained. I had my rain jacket and my umbrella and I was soaked before we got to the plaza. It poured and poured while we tried to change our bus time. It poured while we went back to get our suitcases, it poured while we waited for the bus. We were drenched!!! Fortunately, the bus was warm and once again we could let someone else worry about the traffic, the weather, the rain, the passing etc.

Stay tuned…next week we're heading for another adventure -and if I knew where it was, I'd give you a preview but….it'll just have to be Japanese Surprise!!!

Rafting on the Nagara River

White Water Rafting!!! YEAH!!! I had a great trip on the Nagara Gawa! There were a dozen of us who took off from school to head out to the Nagara River for the day. All would have gone well EXCEPT – the lead car was FAST! We arrived just fine at the toll booth to get on the toll-way. Well, the driver hadn’t ever used it so I had to tell her what to do. When we got through – he was GONE!! And to make it worse, we had NO idea which way, north or south. Naturally, we chose the wrong way! Now, in the states it’s no big deal, go to the next exit, turn around and head back. Well….not so easy here. The next exit was like 10 miles down the road. Plus, just getting off and back on again going the opposite direction is NOT so easy. We navigated our way BACK to where we started and tried again, this time heading south.
The Nagara Gaway has many uses – not just river-rafting. We were quite surprised at how many fishermen were lined up along its banks. Now these men take their fishing quite seriously. They have bamboo poles that are roughly 10 feet long – and cost thousands of dollars. They frequently have woven, conical hats though we noted quite a few in more modern attire. I don’t they truly appreciated the antics of the rafters, though we did work at being a bit more quiet as we passed the.
The rafting was a lot of fun. It’s actually more difficult earlier in the season when the run-off is at its height. Right now the water was lower (late September) – they actually stop running late October/early November. There were actually 4 boats in our group – 2 with all Japanese and 2 for our group. You’d never have believed these were all “serious” teachers in these boats….absolutely crazy people. Our guide was from Costa Rica so we had a great mixture of Spanish, English and Japanese as we headed down the river. Check-out the pictures – we had a terrific time!

Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle is one of the most incredible places I’ve ever visited. Believe it or not, it started out as a wilderness where the family with friends went to “rough it”. Believe me…it was nothing like we would call “roughing it”. They had elaborate plans, tents, pavilions, cooks…He finally decided he was tired of camping out in the open so he thought he’d “build a little something”. That “little something” became an unparalleled exotic showcase.
We only completed one tour – there are quite a few you can choose from. The “Casa Grande” is the main house – a spectacular Spanish inspired cathedral. It is spectacular – from it’s elaborate entrance through the extensive front room, exotic dining room (complete with a balcony for the nightly music) and the men’s pool room where they could retire after dinner.
I would absolutely have loved to have stayed in one of the guesthouses. The one we went through was a “Mediterranean revival” style – the plush furnishings and most spectacularly – the views!!! Everything was designed to take advantage of the breathtaking views that are available.
The gardens were exotic. You could move from one to the other and encounter an entirely different style with different flowers and ambiance. The sculptures were representative of styles and periods of history throughout the world. Glad I don’t have to keep it up!!!! There were any number of pools available, though the Greek inspired outdoor one was my favorite.

Taos

While I was in New Mexico for training, the college arranged a visit to local sites – shopping for the most part but fortunately, there were some other options. I took the trip out the Indian village of Taos. It is another World Heritage site (we seem to find these all over the place). It’s completely built out of adobe and has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years! I didn’t think there was anything that old in the states.
The buildings are completely made of adobe (earth mixed with straw and water and made in sun-dried bricks). The walls are really thick – 3 or 4 feet!! They did use some wood in the construction, particularly for the support of and the building of the roof. Originally there were no doors or windows so you had to climb in from the roof. The homes now have doors and windows installed and people still live in them, many with the inevitable collection of tourist wares to sell. The silver jewelry made by the people was very nice.

Montezuma Castle

First stop this summer was a week-long training in Montezuma, New Mexico. Why Montezuma???? It is the home of a World College (International Baccalaureate), housed in the picturesque Montezuma Castle.
The Castle is a majestic structure, perched on top of the hill, overlooking a valley, currently home to the World College. It was once a hotel with a claim that a number of presidents and dignitaries slept there. It has been remodeled but they kept it basically true to the original structure. Well, let me clarify…the Hotel burned down a couple of times so it’s true to the last rendition of the famous hotel. They have wonderful spiral staircases, an ancient vault (so heavy it actually started sinking into the floor) and a fabulous veranda for attempting to catch the cooling breezes. The stained glass work is spectacular throughout the building.
You can hike up in the hills behind the castle, in fact you can stand on one of the original verandas…or what’s left of it. The weather was warm and pleasant – hiking was a great way to spend the afternoon especially after sitting all day long. The valley was a gorgeous green blanket of trees and grasses, though I imagine it dries out quite a bit once summer is around for a while.

Takayama

The kanji for Takayama means “tall mountain”, which is crazy because it’s not all that tall for mountains here (only 1420 m compared to Fuji’s 3800 m). Nevertheless, it is a cool mountain “village” with many hikes and some beautiful scenery.

One of the things that draws a lot of tourists is the fabulously preserved “old town”. They have entire streets that have been gorgeously preserved with buildings, shops and homes dating from the Edo Period (like around 1600-1868 - we have NO history in comparison). The buildings are wonderful to view and, of course, most are filled with handicrafts and other goods for the happy travelers to purchase. Rain or sun, this place can be packed. Last time we were here it POURED. This time we had fabulous weather!

Takayama Old Town

I think it’s time I described what an “old building” might look like. There were lots of examples here. These buildings are all wood construction and so close together they actually share the wall with the building next-door. You can tell the shop is open because they hang one of the fabric banners across it – if it’s not hanging outside, the shop is probably closed (of course an open door is also a good sign). (The banner is really common for restaurants even now). The door-way is almost always a shoji screen – the traditional Japanese sliding door with the small squares and rice paper on it. You come into what was once the genkan – the entrance-way where you would have removed your shoes before entering. Some places still have you remove your shoes. The genkan is generally some kind of decorative rock or stone, though it might have been wood or packed dirt at one time. There is generally a 2nd door into the actual shop itself.
The inside of the building is generally very dark wood. The original homes or shops would have had a fire pit inside, with the resulting smoke staining everything dark. Of course it also served the purpose of keeping the bugs out of stuff, thus preserving the wood, though I’m sure the lungs didn’t care for it too much. Generally, you can look up and see the rafters above, though some do have ceilings. Windows and internal doors in the buildings were also covered with the shoji screens. Some buildings include a small, internal garden, complete with the shoji around them. They would have been a place to relax and bring “nature” into the house. Some are quite wonderful to see.
Outside the buildings, some creative signage was included. Our favorite was a rather large ball of pine needles hanging outside that meant it was a brewery – generally sake. What the connection was is beyond me. Some had small shrines nestled just above the door – though it would have been quite a climb to have gotten it up there.
Since we’re already part way up to the roof, I might as well go there next. Most of these shops have ceramic tile roofs. Shingles were commonly used prior to the tile. In extreme cold, the tiles would crack, but the addition of zinc (I believe it was) solved the problem. Obviously, tile was a big improvement over the fire difficulties with wooden shingles. Fire was a constant threat to these old homes.

Sakurayama Hachimangu Gate

The gate to the entrance of the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine is a very unusual color. Most of these gates are a Bright Red color – and I do mean Bright. They’re typically lacquered and stand out. This one is quite unusual with the muted sand color. The shrine is actually down a long street and up the hill from the gate sitting on the river.

Hida no Sato

Hida no Sato is a “traditional house reservation”, located a bit south of Takayama itself. It is a village that has been constructed from various old (and I do mean old) homes in Japan. Some of the homes were built in the 1700’s and the floors were packed dirt. Most were constructed without any nails at all and they all had hand made shingles on the roofs. In fact, they still do. While fire is the bane of all wood homes, it also was a source of preservation for these old homes, keeping bugs and rot from ruining the roof. Some of the straw gassho style houses have roofs that last 60 years!!!
Suppose I should remind you what the gassho style house is. It is the same as the ones in Shirakawa (Nov. 04). They are made from thatch that is hand tied onto huge frames. In the very high attics, people often dried things or raised silkworms. The area was very poor and most farmers worked hard to make ends meet. Silkworms was a source of income though, according to the notes, no one remembers the task of caring for them fondly.

Children's Day

We may have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, in the states as well as in Japan, but the Japanese also celebrate “Children’s Day”. (I know, we say that it’s always children’s day but….) It’s a day to “respect the character of children” as well as to promote both their health and happiness. It’s also a very Japanese day for it is the day that children express their gratitude for the “tender love and care” from their parents.

May 5th is also the day for “Boys’ Festival” - celebrating, of course, the growth and development of the young boys. The coolest thing about this festival is the beautiful “Koi-Nobori” (carp) streamers that are made from paper or cloth (often nylon type stuff now). These things are hung on TALL poles (complete with wind (usually golden) pinwheels on the top). Now, at one time, traditional ones were bamboo poles, mounted on the house. Now they’re in the yards, on sides of apartments, ropes like clotheslines and more likely to be on a metal pole than bamboo. They always have one carp for each son…with the largest one for the eldest (sorry, if you’re the youngest, you get the small one). It’s always a carp because it symbolized strength and determination to overcome all obstacles.
There seems to be some disagreement as to where this holiday came from so they don’t settle on just the carp for strength. They also display warrior decorations, miniature helmets, suits of armor (Japanese, of course), a sword, silk banners with the family crest, and warrior dolls representing Momotaro (the Japanese “David”) or other important warriors from old Japan.