most impressive thing yesterday: the moss garden. An ENTIRE garden of 120 different kinds of moss. It was like being in a totally different world: a fairytale. So beautiful.
my favorite thing about moss, I realized, are the shadows that play on it. It becomes this carpet (in a way that grass can’t because it has too much tooth) for light to play on.
Today, four of us split from the group to go see katsura palace because only four slots were open at a time (it’s a very big deal, you have to apply). We missed out on going to Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan, and seeing Todai-ji, the biggest wooden temple with the biggest statue of Buddha in the world. And frankly, I’m not sure what the big deal is about Katsura. It’s supposed to be a good example of Japanese style, but it was free and probably because of this, not very well-maintained. Even if it had been as well-kept as everywhere else, I just was not taken aback by it.
However, the very good thing about the day was that we got to go to Fushimi-Inari Shrine, something that had gotten canceled due to a time restraint.
It is a 4 km long walkway lined with hundreds, maybe thousands of orange torii (the Japanese arch/gate) spaced only inches apart.
One of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I was really sad our pictures didn’t turn out better (it was dark and they were blurry without flash and the highly lacquered torii reflected the flash when it was on…), but, maybe it’s best sometimes because I don’t know if the pictures could have matched the experience anyway.
The way the Japanese design, or have designed, seems so natural to me. Everything is about the journey. The simplicity and the blending of indoors and outdoors – it’s perfect.
This afternoon I went out for a couple hours by myself. I took the subway up to the Imperial Palace gardens to stroll and read. It was so wonderful and lovely. I felt truly happy.
I keep hearing people saying they’re getting tired of Japanese food and I don’t understand! Firstly, we haven’t even been here a week – and secondly, it’s soooo good I could never imagine tiring of it. Wanting variation, yes, but tiring, no.
The ramen is my favorite I think.
I did order something yesterday that wasn’t so good, these grey noodles I kept seeing and was curious about. They ended up being cold and bland and the broth you dipped them in before eating did not help. I’m not sure I understand having cold noodles – I think maybe they were meant to be hot.
Also, FYI, there are TONS of pastries here. I end up eating them for breakfast in the morning because they are so cheap and plentiful AND delicious. Who knew?
Probably the funniest thing about eating here: there is plastic food outside of most restaurants – depicting the menu’s contents. Recently when there haven’t been English menus we’ve had to take pictures and show them to order, as opposed to our regular pointing.
(these are the cold soba noodles -- in plastic form).
Weirdest thing I’ve seen to eat: a noodle sandwich, unrefrigerated.
Tomorrow we are heading down around Kobe (as in Kobe beef) to look at some modern architecture: Tadao Ando.
It’s lightning and raining outside right now….and I’m kind of enjoying it. I miss a good storm!
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