Rainy Season

It's the rainy season here which can make for some boring days inside.  But if you can manage to get outside during a break in the rain, you can see some beautiful Japanese countryside.  The rain has cleared the air so you can see all the way to the mountains over the new fields of rice.  Here are some shots I took recently on a walk (but they don't do it justice).

Geocache 'Til You Drop

This past weekend we all went to Tokyo to get flu shots.  We spent a night in a hotel so we would have time to eat some good food and do some sight-seeing.  While we were there we did some geocaching.  If you don't know what geocaching is, stop right now and go read this.

Alright, so we headed for a cache located in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.  This garden used to be the home of a feudal lord in the 1600's- 1800's.  It eventually became Imperial Gardens for the royal family of Japan and then after that became a national garden open to the public for a small fee.  It's about 140 acres, very wooded and well-landscaped.

taken on my iPhone, hence the quality

we will refer back to this picture later

So we went to the cache location and it turned out to be one of the best kind of geocaches in that it was located exactly where you thought it would be.  It was in the edge of the woods near some old concrete rubble.  It was big enough to hold items and we dropped off a trackable travelbug that we had picked up in a cache near the Tokyo SkyTree.  We picked up a new travelbug to take to the US over the holidays.

And now....for the rest of the story.  You didn't think this was just a nice, boring tale about a garden and a geocache, did you?

As I walked out of the woods after replacing the cache, I banged my knee hard on a piece of the concrete sticking up out of the ground. I hit it riiiight on the bone but it was a small gash with minimal bleeding.  I came out onto the path and told Chad what I'd done.  And then I tried really, really hard to walk it off.  I'm a big fan of  "walking it off"......in theory.  I thought I was fine and over it.

And then.... I had this really good dream that I can't remember.  I was very confused when  I woke up on the ground with Chad holding me and yelling at me frantically.  I was cold and wait....oh, yeah...I'm in this park. Fortunately Chad had caught me before I hit the pavement in a dead faint.

Now those of you who know me very well said "Uh-oh." two paragraphs ago.  For the rest of you, well....I pass out easily.  Blood, needles, childbirth, intense sharp pain of the funny-bone type or any combination thereof and I will keel over in a second.  It's very annoying and seems to be getting worse as I get older.  At this point I've had enough "episodes" that I know I'm supposed to lie down.  But the park was chilly and there was no place to lie down (refer to the photo above) so I was just going to walk it off.

As Chad was trying to get me to wake up a nice man came by and tried to help.  There was a language barrier but he was trying.  I told him I was fine (in Japanese, no less!) and sent him on his way.  Because clearly I was fine, right?  I was just walking it off.

Chad left me kneeling on the ground and went to see to poor Cora who by this time was crying in her stroller.  I was drinking some water and then....I had another great dream that I can't remember. This time when Chad woke me up I was much less confused and Chad was much more frantic.  Let's stop here and appreciate his dilemma.  He didn't want to leave me lying on the ground and go for help yet he couldn't move me and handle the stroller.  And I'd sent away the only person who had offered to help.

At that point I managed to get it together and get up and walk out of the park.  We took a taxi the half mile back to where we'd left the car and just went home.  I'd like to say it ended there but apparently my digestive system had been compromised and I polished off the morning with some carsickness on the drive out of the city.  And now Chad I both have bum knees because he wrenched his catching me as I fell.

But now we're home, safe and mostly sound with another geocache found and a (hopefully) entertaining story to tell.

The end! :D

Neighborhood Shrines/Temples, Part III

Way, way back I launched a post "series" about little local shrines.  And then I promptly quit going little local shrines for a variety of reasons, most of them related to laziness.

But yesterday I made up for most of it by making an impromptu hike up a large hill over in the neighboring city of Ashikaga.  This hill is very near the houses of two other American expats  so it's someone's neighborhood shrine.  It was a bit more of a steep trudge than I  had been anticipating.....my city stroller (which I had been advised would be fine) was abandoned half-way up the hill and I toted my 17 lb. permanent barbell the rest of the way up.   I was nearly hyperventilating by the time I reached the top. 

Anyway, as you can imagine, there is a small shrine at the top and a lovely view of the city of Ashikaga.

I have no idea what this shrine is for and I'm not particularly motivated to look it up.  I imagine it has something to do with good weather/business/crops/luck.  Pick one.



and then I had some photo editing fun-time

Ashikaga and the Watarase River

tippy-top (huff, puff, huff.....)

right in the middle of this photo is another large
shrine that will hopefully appear in the series soon

more of the Watarase River



and...back down the hill

Water Gardens

One of the things I enjoy about Japan are the water gardens you see everywhere.  This post may be the first in a series of them, as I've started taking photos of all the ones I see.  The ones below were all on the streets around our apartment in Tokyo.

I really want to grow one myself, but I have a feeling all I would end up with is dead plants and mosquitos.  ;)

this one was in front of a little shop

this one is in a lovely styrofoam cooler-type thing....

....but if you look close, it has goldfish in it.

this one was in front of a medical supply company.
 it also has goldfish in it, which I saw at a
later point when it was pruned.

See How My Garden Grows

Awhile back I bought some corn.  As in tiny corn stalks.  Three for about $1.50.  They're planted in my front yard.    You don't see much corn growing around here and the ears they sell in supermarkets taste like plastic.  If I get so much as one ear I will be thrilled.  Heck, at this point, if I can just get it to grow to a respectable sized stalk I'll be pretty happy.

I'm much more confident about my cucumbers, although this is also my first time growing them.  They're growing as fast as the baby.  Is this not the prettiest little cucumber you ever saw?

Tomatos and I are old friends.

And my herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) are doing nicely, except that the empty space on the end has had a couple of cilantro (called coriander here) seeds buried in it for almost two weeks.   The other herbs were bought as tiny plants.  I don't do very well with seeds for some reason.  I always thought you just put some seeds in dirt, watered them and set them in the sun but apparently I'm wrong. ;)

Rainbow Garden

Today I drove back out to the Ashikaga Flower Park to try to catch the last of the famous wisteria blooms.  I already did one post about the park at Christmas when we went to see the lights.  Today I caught just the last little bit of the wisteria, but they actually do different flower themes throughout the year.  So right now it is headed into the "Rainbow Garden" theme which includes a lot of roses, clematis and Japanese azaleas.  You can read more about the different themes here.

I almost called this post "Japan Shows Off" because the park is a really good example of how beautiful this country is......when you find a spot where they've laid off the concrete in favor of flower seeds.  :)

I had to get in a really awkward position to get this photo

the flower pyramids

see what I mean about showing off?

the last of the yellow wisteria

bridge over calm waters

small shrine in front of one of the wisteria vines

I found a tiny turtle.....there were lots of turtles in the ponds.....

.....and I ate vanilla and "wisteria" swirl ice cream, 
which mostly tasted like vanilla.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that they have a plant nursery onsite.  Which, for me, is pretty
 much like finding a crack dealer.  I managed to not go too crazy but I did buy a pelargonium.  I had never heard of it either, but I could tell from the picture on the tag that it was supposed to keep mosquitos away.  So I looked it up on my phone.  Sure enough, Wikipedia confirmed that it is believed to deter mosquitos.  It's closely related to a geranium, apparently.  If it really does seem to help with the mosquitos on my porch, I'll probably end up planting them all over my yard.  (In case you're wondering, I haven't found any citronella plants, but if I do, I'll be all over them.)

Peekaboo

betcha didn't know that frogs grow in Japanese roses

The Great Outdoors

Since this is the time of year in which we first arrived in Japan, many things are reminding me of that time.  Things such as the deafening sound of a bajillion happy frogs in a rainstorm, the state of my yard, and the merchandise being offered in stores.

One thing I did not know before I moved here is how much Japanese people love to camp and cook out.  And they have the cutest, tiniest camping paraphernalia here.  In Aeon there is currently a display (the exact same one that was there last year) of camping equipment complete with mannequins.

they look like they're having a good time, don't they?

the telescope is a nice touch

In the first photo, see if you can find the teeny tiny grill. 

Don't see it?  Here.

This is pretty much the only style of grill available here.  Charcoal only, from what I've seen.  I actually finally bought us one yesterday (after eyeing them for a year) but I got the deluxe model that is twice as wide and has a tray attachment for small food.  But it's still a teeny tiny grill.  Hopefully we'll get around to actually using it.

Update 6/22/12: I saw big American-style grills at Costco recently.  But the Japanese people weren't paying them that much attention.  You can also get other large camping equipment (i.e. tents) at Costco in early summer.

I also purchased another thing that I have been eyeing for a year.  The company sends some dudes to mow our yard twice a year, but it just hasn't been quite enough.  By the end of last summer my front yard was a mosquito-infested jungle.  So I bought a lawn mower.  Not just any lawn mower, but a Japanese lawn mower.  It may be the most awesomely ridiculous and adorable thing I have ever purchased.

In the photo above are the two styles of lawn mowers available here.  One is old-school manual, but another expat got one of those with her house and reported that it wasn't that great.   So I bought the yellow electric one (approximately $175).  It's child-sized.  And it plugs in.  Like a vacuum.  It's awesome.   (It really bothers Chad when I talk about it like that so if anyone else out there thinks I'm a moron, YES, I realize it has a blade in it.  It's the same as the manual mower, but with a tiny little motor in it.)

yes, I scalped it a little

And you have to squeeze the handle to make it cut--because it's a toy--so I think it would be really hard to cut off an appendage.  I think the biggest problem I'll have is keeping the cord out of the way--because it's a vacuum cleaner.  In fact, I'm probably going to call it the yard vacuum, because "lawn mower" is pushing it a little.

The only bad part about it? 

It terrifies my frogs.

he's not too alarmed, because he's up high, but his friends on
the ground were freaking out

An Afternoon Constitutional

Since it was a beautiful day and I needed to pick up some butter at the local convenience store, I set out for a walk.  I took my camera and went by the scenic route.

I checked out a mystery tree in my yard that began unexpectedly blooming recently......

and I checked on my funny-colored petunias....

and then I enjoyed a neighbor's cherry tree.....

and another neighbor's cherry tree....

 and another neighbor's pink dogwood, masquerading as a cherry tree....

 and yet another neighbor's wall of white dangly flowers......

 and a nearby field of daffodils.

And I admired this yard, which I wished was mine.

After buying my butter (and some spur-of-the-moment olive oil) I moseyed over by the comic book/stationary shop that sits incongruously nearby.  I didn't take a photo of the shop---I thought I had one.  But it appears I don't.  Maybe one day I'll post about it, but not today.

Today I'll mention the ice cream vending machine that sits in front of said shop to lure children.  Ice cream vending machines are wonderfully common here, especially at places that children frequent.  I had always known this machine was there, and that one day I would buy an ice cream out of it but I had no intention of doing so today.

That is, until I inventoried the flavors.....chocolate chip mint....chocolate ganache.... and raspberry cheesecake.  Raspberry cheesecake, for heaven's sake!  There's only so much a pregnant lady can take.

 And then on my way back in I admired the one lonely, sad tulip that has appeared in my yard.  Coincidentally, also raspberry cheesecake flavored.

The end. ;)

Spring is Here!

It's official---spring is here!  Why?  Because my frogs have finally come back!! 

the first frog of spring--he looks a
little peaked, poor guy

and his friend nearby (there was a third
but I got so excited I accidentally
chased him under a bush)

a family of lizards were nearby too--there are two in this photo, can you spot them both?