Lunch 2 days ago. Total = $14.00 Lunch yesterday. Total is $43.00 Lunch today. Total is $25.00
Bathroom air dryers
Load of wash accomplished. This apartment in Fukuoka comes with a washing machine but no dryer. Not uncommon anywhere we’ve traveled (lack of dryer). Lack of dryer necessitates draping the damp clothes over every available surface and hoping they will dry in a day or two. Sometimes I get desperate and use a hair dryer…
More photos from Nirvana
At the General Head Temple of Sasaguri Shikoku in Nanzoin. The setting on the mountain was tranquil and beautiful. Read Grubb’s post “Nirvana” for context. I am enthralled with the “maneki-neko” (beckoning cat) which are believed to bring good luck and fortune.
Temporary place of suffering
After taking our train trip to Nirvana, we returned to Fukuoka to search out the Tocho-ji Temple. It sits, like the Little Temple That Could, squat among modern high rises in the middle of the city. Founded in 806 AD by the Buddhist monk Kukai, the temple is over 1200 years old. Enshrined near the temple…
Nirvana
This morning a thirty minute train ride from the Hakata station in Fukuoka took us into the hills of Nanzoin where we hiked across a bridge to the General Head Temple of Sasaguri Shikoku. “Melody Bridge” had metal strips set apart and a mallet to play them like a xylophone as you crossed. The temple was…
Shrine of the festival float
Every July in Fukuoka the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival is celebrated with towering floats (yamakasa) weighing up to one ton being hoisted by guys dressed in breechcloths racing around the city. The festival is 770 years old and is believed to have been started when a monk had himself carried throughout the town praying in an…
About those fast trains
Shinkansen might be fast but when you are in tunnels most of the time, it begins to feel a bit claustrophobic. I wondered why so many tunnels. See Google AI’s answer below. That “tunnel boom” is real! “Japan’s mountainous terrain and the need for high-speed, efficient rail travel led to the extensive use of tunnels…
From mochi mecca to ramen heaven
We left Kagoshima, home of jambu mochi, bound for Fukuoka, well known for its ramen and seafood. We are still on Kyushu but at the northern end. No more gorgeous view of the volcano from a fancy, schmancy hotel. Our pampered splurge is over and we are back in our budget lane at an unstaffed, eight…
Ginger + yuzu + beet sugar
I treated myself to a massage a couple nights ago. This hotel has a spa on the same floor as the Onsen baths so I thought heck yeah, let’s get this old body worked on. It was just the thing. Some Kumano Kodo kinks got worked out. After the massage I was offered an unusual…
Kagoshima photos
Post by Ella We stumbled upon the red light district Walked along the river
Pop goes the Kinutani color
This morning the weather was sunny and in seventies. We walked along a river path under the cherry blossoms and wandered through a flower market where the pink azaleas and deep red Japanese maple prepared us for the colorful art that was to follow in the Kagoshima Museum of Art. The big exhibit featured paintings by…
The last Samurai
And we’re not talking Tom Cruise, we’re talking Saigo Takamori, born in 1828 in Kagoshima, the son of a low-ranking samurai. After his military training he served under Shimazu Nariakura the local Satsuma daimyo. When Shimazu died, Saigo was disgraced and exiled. He attempted suicide, but maybe his heart wasn’t into it because he was reinstated and returned…
Dumpling dinner
Post by Ella Back in Kagoshima proper after our venture in Sengan-en, time for a real meal. While staring at our phones, a woman (let’s call her Mae) rushed over and poked her nose between the two of us. “I Help?” Or more like “I Help!” Demanding to help. Okay sure. We mimed eating. Mae…
Jambu mochi
Mochi, a no gluten, no cholesterol, all carb gelatinous rice ball. Plain, it tastes like you’d suspect rice flour would taste. With filling, like red bean paste or chocolate cream or matcha, it’s a one-squishy-sticky-bite with just enough sweet to call it a dessert. Sticky as in peanut-butter-sticks-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth sticky. The texture and stickiness varies according to…
More photos from Sengan-en
Post by Ella The day was beautiful. Temps in the high 60’s, blue skies The pair of Satsuma-ware vases (photo below)are an exact replica of the set presented to Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, by the 29th head of the Shimadzu family, Tadayoshi in 1896. The originals were made by the 12th generation…