Choeng Mon Beach

We visited one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. It was a nice half-moon of yellow, soft sand. The water was warm and calm. You could rent a beach chair and umbrella all day for 100 Baht ($3). 10 minutes into a lazy float, Nathan said “Have you been stung yet?”, which of course piqued my interest away from gazing at the islands on the horizon. Only 20 seconds later I felt the first sting, which was like a bee sting, but sharper. And within a few minutes I had been stung several more times. Even though it didn’t seem like the stings were doing any damage, I got out and sat on the sand.  Nathan stayed in the ocean, getting bit repeatedly. He tolerates pain better than I do. Those islands on the horizon looked just as good from the beach. (Don’t worry moms, we’re fine!)

Post-stings

Things that Remind me of Boulder

-An entire wall displayed with Crocs at the sporting goods store. And people wearing Crocs. And Crocs advertised on flyers.

-A really nice British woman I met was curious and maybe a tad envious of our trip around the world. She lives on a tropical island in the middle of the Sea of Thailand. She turned to her friend with a wishful expression. The friend said, “It’s the kids that make it so my wife and I can’t travel right now.” And Marie disagreed, saying that for her family, “It’s not the kids, it’s the dogs!”

Lamai Beach

Welcome to Thailand

The embarrassing news is that I am showering with shower shoes. The bad news is that I unknowingly showered with a cockroach in my shower shoe. The good news is that it was dead.

Cockroach

Hiroshima

We weren’t planning to visit Hiroshima but at the last minute we decided to do so.  We saw the bomb dome, the memorial gardens and pond, the peace flame (to burn until all nuclear weapons are destroyed worldwide), and the arch where the victim’s names are buried.  The museum was gruesome and powerful. [During a visit to Los Alamos, New Mexico (also an unplanned side trip while in Sante Fe/Taos) we saw a ‘scientific’ take on the atomic bombing. While we learned a lot at Los Alamos, it was completely void of feeling, of responsibility. Not surprising, but unfortunate.]

The part that most affected me was the story of the little girl who died from leukemia. She was two years old when the bomb hit Hiroshima.  She grew up, seemingly healthy, but then got sick at age 11.  She believed that if she folded 1,000 paper cranes she would survive. She tried to fold these in the hospital but died before she could finish. Her classmates folded the rest.  Someone wrote a book about it and then children around the world (including myself, including you?) read the book, folded more cranes, and sent them to Japan.  Kids still do this from all over the world.  Now they take the cranes and recycle many of them, turning them into postcards to go back out into the world.

Bomb dome, flame, arch with names

Children's Memorial

Osaka

The 3rd Largest City in Japan

We’re staying in an Osaka district that seems like every store is comic books, video games, other card games like Magic and Pokemon, and electronics.  It reminds me of Lima, Peru where literally dozens of the same exact shop - like eyeglasses - were side by side. An entire district of optical stores.  Sometimes what you see doesn’t match the economics you studied.

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

There are malls within malls here. So many shops. I read that by 2030 the largest middle class will be in Asia.  It seems like it already has risen! We walked down a 3.0 kilometer street where you could seemingly buy ANYTHING.

So many people shopping & eating

Life-sized food (but no veggie potstickers to be found)

Past & Present Museum

This was a small yet charming museum with a life-sized replica of an Edo-period Osaka neighborhood.  There was a drug store, a ‘curios’ store, the town hall, homes, outhouses, etc. The hilarious audio guide said things like, “The town gates shut at 10 pm so that people could go neither in nor out.  This prevented teenagers from carousing about like they do today.”

Outhouse replica complete with special shoes (more cleanliness appreciation)

Kinosaki-Onsen

Hot springs that don’t stink like rotten eggs are the best kind of relaxation. We spent two nights in Kinosaki-Onsen, a very small town built around seven hot springs.  It was delightfully relaxing. The tradition is to wear yukata (summer/light cotton kimono) and clop around town in Japanese wooden shoes. The shoes were not big enough but we did it anyway. We elicited a few giggles, which were as polite as giggles at others can be.  An equivalent might be a Japanese tourist walking around Vail with chaps, a cowboy hat, and stirrups (normal but not in 2016).  The onsen were beautiful and the water was h-o-t. Meals are served in the hotel room. The tempura vegetables, fried tofu, pickled veggies, salads, soups, and Japanese beer combined to make a delicious meal.  We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain where we could see the Sea of Japan, north just over the rolling mountains.

We "met" a robot designed to greet people at the visitor's center. Unorunately it did not speak English but it did dance. Since music and dance are theoretically universal, I decided to dance with it. I can't get the video working right now but here is a photo.

Welcoming robot

Sea of Japan in distance

One of seven onsen in town 

View of onsen garden obscured by steam

Koyasan: Buddhist Retreat

We traveled via bullet train, loop train, regular train, and cable car for many hours to reach Koyasan. Koyasan is a beautiful small mountain town surrounded by 7 peaks.  It feels like we’re at the top of the world but it’s only 800 m / 2500 ft.

Koyasan is the birthplace of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. We are staying in a temple - shukubo. We woke at sunrise to observe the morning prayer which was hypnotic chanting and gong-ringing. Although absolutely freezing, it was a great experience.  Although I respect the very little I know of it, we’re not here for the religion.

So what are in Koyasan for? We’re here for the food. It’s probably time to admit that this is a food stop-over. Not a foodie-vacation, but a food-cation.  We're not snobby eaters, we are wide-eyed and wonderous eaters. Seeking new, different, sometimes confusing foods is a hobby. Perhaps my favorite hobby.  The monks prepare multi-dish vegan meals. This is a delightful chance to eat things I cannot identify yet know I can eat.  Who knew you could cook tofu into a little bag with a bow made of tofu and then put more food inside the bag-with-a-bow? Or pickle horseradish? Or make amazing tempura? Well, that one is obvious - fried anything is a yes.

We also explored the cemetery.  It was absolutely stunning with Japanese Cedar trees reaching 150+ feet into the air, green dripping moss, and light shining through the trees.  Some of the headstones were almost 900 years old.  The whole thing is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Which made it that more confusing when we came upon headstones (sponsored? recognizing?) corporations like Nissan, OCC Coffee, and more.  So even an ancient cemetery can be commercialized.  We wondered if perhaps the patriarch (and likely a woman too who didn’t get any credit) of that company was buried there and so it wasn’t exactly as bad as could be? I’m usually down to ask any number of questions of whomever will engage in conversation but this one seemed like one we’ll just let be.

Things I appreciate about Japanese standards of cleanliness

• Clear instructions
• Hand wipes before every meal
• Face masks worn when sick ... and apparently taking selfies with a face mask on .. no big deal

Packing

Theoretically I am a packing expert.  I studied abroad twice, have traveled to almost 30 countries on on five continents, and was once told by a TSA agent, “This bag looks like it was packed by an engineer.” It was, perhaps, one of my favorite compliments.  However, a few mistakes have already been made.  Which is mostly bad for Nathan since he’s carrying both big bags, at least for now. He’s a champ!  The lesson? Take 1/2 the stuff and double the money like the old saying goes ... even if you're traveling for almost a year! Another tip: don’t leave a gifted Japanese phrasebook on the plane (sorry Kim K).

The tea ceremony & the karaoke bar

Today in Kyoto we were graciously hosted for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. I normally don’t drink caffeine because it makes my brain and muscles buzz. But in the name of cultural experiences, what’s some green tea? The history and process of the tea ceremony is very intentional, with pauses to reflect on and be grateful for the items involved - the tea spoon, for example.  There is also mutual respect for the host and the guest.  One way to show this by turning the tea cup (bowl sized) with hand-painted image out to show the host, so that the artistry can be appreciated.  The ceremony is usually quiet and done seated on the floor. Our host explained a wall hanging with painted Chinese characters. The symbol ‘5’ represents how when 5 planets align, it is the only time ever that it happens exactly like that.  And this was a metaphor for how this particular coming together of people -   the guests at the ceremony from various places around the world, and the host - had come together. And it would never, ever, be exactly the same, even if with the same people another day.  As they say, you cannot step in the same river twice. It evoked a strong feeling of gratefulness for the opportunity and the specialness of the host.

We didn’t plan to do karaoke immediately following the tea ceremony but it was just a few blocks away. What incongruence! As it was the late afternoon, there were mostly teens just out of school. The prices go up at night, and I imagine the crowd diversifies in age. You rent your own karaoke room with mirrored walls and food & drink on-call like at Sonic.  The room seated 12, but we were two, and thus needed to really fill the room with personality. Not a problem.  We couldn’t figure out how to turn the background music down so the solution was to sing at the top of our lungs.  Madonna, Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Wiz Khalifa, Journey, Taylor Swift, and Walk the Moon have never sounded so … unrecognizable.  But it was a blast and Nathan’s (singular) dance move somehow works for all of these songs.