The food is wonderful–feeding body and soul. I’m sure there is some exceptions somewhere here but we have not found them yet. We have not been able together into our neighborhood sushi restaurants for supper. They are full or ready to close when we are ready to eat. We will try harder. Ramen, however, is an easy find.
Ou first ramen restaurant:
And more last night:
My food photography needs work. If I promise myself to post more, I may get better.
This is a city of such contrasts. All cities, all places are but perhaps because this time has been so multi-sided for me, the contrasts I see here are particularly tender and touching.
This small cemetery, tucked into a corner of Yanaka was surrounded by a wall with an open gate.Some of the graves were very old, some from earlier this year. A few had an announcement tied onto the stone which said that it was suspected that this grave had been abandoned and the upkeep was unpaid. If someone did not come forward to claim the space, the remains buried would be dug up and respectfully burned, and the space made available to another family. I wonder if this was just the reality of a city where all real estate is valuable.
I can’t work this into a chatty post. I can’t make light of it. No pictures can tell the story. I have believed firmly that traveling with Julia was incredibly beneficial. Of course, we have not done any since moving to Boston, but this was going to be doing something we loved together again. And possibly better because Ed was with us.
We’ve hit some bumps, some limits and a bunch of my assumptions have been dashed. We had a very hard 24+ hours over the last day and a half. Julia was angry and lashed out at us. She had melt downs in public and was very difficult to handle. She cursed and swore and talked under her breath until she was raging. She could not be brought down to a calm and rational state. She didn’t want to be.
Shibuya Scramble Crossing stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to inundate the entire intersection. Large video screens mounted on nearby buildings overlook the crossing, as well as many static advertising signs. Honestly, it is just about a recognizably large amount of people crossing the street at one time and I didn’t expect to be impressed. However, to look at it from above and then walk in it (twice) felt magical. It was participating in some daily ritual that blessed or cursed the events of the day. It was being a molecule in the veins or arteries of a huge body get where it needed to go. It would lose its magic if it was a crossing on the way to work every day but the first time . . . Ah!
Almost no matter where we have been in the city, pictures and ads pop up that are of interest to the anime lover. Julia has asked me to take quite a few pictures. I had also read that everything in Tokyo has a face and a cuteness and we see that all the time. Drawings in ketchup on an omelet and pastry named after pets. All of this without going into the heavy anime sections of the city. Here are a few.
Breakfast at Higurashi Garden, bakery with a book store behind it.
It was delicious. The little dog was full of chocolate, made and named in honor of the owner’s dog, and the eggplant tart was to die for. Plus ice coffee for me and fresh lemonade for Julia and Ed. We are ready to explore.
Our first beer and snacks after a very long travel day. It was a long travel day; however, it was also relative smooth going.
Friday. Sheets of rain are falling outside my living room window. Julia is in New Hampshire at sleep-away camp and I am so glad I packed some warm clothes, her rain jacket and a long poncho for her!
I has been lovely being a grown up for the week. I’ve not really cooked a single meal—lots of breakfasts out and left over freezer stuff popped into the microwave. I’ve eaten supper at 10 at night when I finished my work, and I’ve written long overdue emails although I’ve just gotten to a few today that I thought I’d write a few days ago.
I’ve printed out about half the memoir pieces I’ve written and pinned them up on a wall in my study with the hope of finding some order for them. Right now, the pieces are in rows but I am imagining changing that to be a winding path up the office wall. Pretty appropriate considering my story—absolutely no straight lines!
I’ve booked places to stay in Tokyo and the first week in Hanoi. I need to get serious about making notes of places we can visit and restaurants we can go to.
The rain, as quickly as it began, has abruptly stopped. And for a moment there is a breeze.
This weekend is FanExpo 2023 (formally known as Comicon). On Friday evening, Julia wore fetching a new Jedi uniform. We walked around the Expo taking in the sights, posing as part of the Jedi attendees and sitting in on a few panels. The last one about the Kawaii culture of Japan—a topic that may be useful in another few weeks.
We worked the Expo on Saturday. Last year, Julia was placed as a room monitor on a very slow floor. There were panels every hour but there were only 30-40 people who came to any one of them. It made for a pleasant 2 days of work that Julia could actually handle pretty well by Sunday. This year there are less panel rooms and we are on a busy hall of three panel rooms. We are two of six people working the rooms and sometimes it was too much for Julia. Still, she was willing and relatively focused. She gave some wrong directions when asked but I’m sure she is not the only one doing that.
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Our final morning here, we drive the 10 mile Ocean Drive and look for a beach to visit for a few minutes before driving home. We get to see another side of Newport. Big and small, mostly modern beach homes with wonderful views. It is quiet here—and I have no idea if it is the middle of the week quiet or just the nature of this side of the town. No restaurants, no where to tour. If I was to live here, this is where I would find home. This area is still not far from where the cottages are and we pass a few former carriage houses and footprints of old green houses.The surf is very small here but it is the ocean sounds in miniature. The beach is a rocky and coated with a layer of dried sea weed but there is some sand in which Julia can play. How many times, we have travelled to lovely beaches without sand toys! Forgotten at home, or impossible to carry. This time, she has her pails and shovels and there is little to use them on. No matter, she is happy wading in the surf, picking up and discarding rocks and letting hand fulls of dry sand pour through her fingers.
When ever I am at a beach, I wish hard to live by water. Listening to the smallest of waves brings me home, home to a place I have never been.
Chasing Joy 