2015-11-23, Eibisu-ko Matsuri, Hikone

It was supposed to rain today, looks like it will soon, and I think I'm coming down with a cold, and leaves still aren't at their peak in Kyoto so I decided to stay in Hikone today.  I met Cindy and Shinsan and we had a nice time at the Eibisu-ko festival walking around, eating, and playing.

The street looks empty but the stalls are facing the covered sidewalks (in case of rain I guess) and the people are on the other side.

Kids can fish for a toy in the moving water.

We stopped to play.

And watch a little break dancing.

We even found a little ikebana display.

This is one of my favorite flowers.  It's a Japanese quince.  It doesn't get fruit similar to Japanese cherry trees.  Isn't this a beautifully simple but elegant arrangement?  Nicer in person than in the pictures actually.

And of course, the best part of any festival - we ate!!!

They are now making candy everything!  Grapes, tangerines, pineapple, strawberries.  Some seem to be covered with the regular candy that we know but others look like they're dipped in white chocolate and other things.  I didn't try any.

Cute character lollipops.

Really delicious yakitori - I tried one and then went back for more.

Cindy and Shinsan eating udon with Omi beef and takoyaki.

It kills me when I pass these persimmon or mikan (tangerine) trees with all the fruit still on them, going bad....  It really bothered me when I saw that in Davis, CA as well.  A group in Davis goes around now and will pick the unused/unneeded/inaccessible fruit and leave a bag or two with the homeowner and give the rest to a local food bank.  Great idea!!!

It's only 3:45 and getting dark already!  I'm snuggling down and I think I'll make some soup.  Maybe I'll finally move my futon into the living room too.  Then I can have heat if I want it.

2015-11-22, ABC Sports Festival & Nagahama Ikebana

  I'm so tired.  As usual!  It's been another busy weekend and there's one more day - it's a national holiday, Labor Day, tomorrow.  I should rest a little but I won't.

Yesterday we all had to work.  It was sports day.  I had a nice brunch - although I really do miss pancakes, waffles and that sort of thing on weekend mornings.... here those are desserts, not meals.  Maybe I'll make some chocolate chip banana pancakes tomorrow morning.  Anyway, I met a coworker - actually she works in the preschool - to talk about possibly transferring down there in the spring.  I really like the women who work there and I do like the younger children.  It would mean staying in Hikone for at least another year (from April) so I really have to think about it.  But I  have to decide soon so they can advertise either for my replacement or for a preschool teacher.  

Back to this weekend.  We all arrived at 12 and went to work putting up decorations in the city gym.  At 1:30 the parents and siblings of the 30 preschoolers were let in and a little before 2 the games began.  As usual the kids were adorable and they did very well.

Comforting a friend while waiting for the next race.

These costumes were for a little square dance which was really cute!

There were a few events that the parents participated in too.  This is a 'delivery service' race.  They had to load the boxes in the carrying thing run to a spot then go back and unload.

The event was supposed to last 2 hours but went on for almost 3 so we had only 5 or 10 minutes to take down all the decorations.  We finished at about 5:30 - 6pm and then made our way through traffic to get back to school.

Today I went to Nagahama because Takako (with whom I went to Kyoto last weekend) had tickets to another ikebana show.  This one was much smaller but in a really nice old building with a garden out back.  It's a 'Lincoln slept here' kind of place.  It's said that an emperor, this emperor's grandfather I think, used this ? ((house, school, shop - we don't know) place to rest when he visited Nagahama.  It's also were a bonsai plum tree festival is held every winter.  

I passed him on the way to the station.

Changing seasons in Hikone at the Serigawa.

My bike parking garage where they always tell me to have a good trip and welcome me home in the evening.

Some interesting choices in the vending machine - a pudding (like flan) shake, corn soup and onion consume.
The soups come out warm.

Some other choices.  The ones with red buttons are warm, the blue buttons mean cold drinks.  Green and black tea, plain, sweetened, with milk, same with the coffee choices, sports drinks, water, juice etc.

I think this would be perfect fora Christmas or a New Years' arrangement.

Takakos' teachers' display.  

So elegant and graceful.

We were served tea (or coffee) and these two women (in the front) wanted to chat.

This is Takakos' teacher and evidently one of the top 10 teachers in the Ikenobo school of Ikebana.  Nothing like I would have expected.  He was so relaxed, constantly joked and helped me put this arrangement together.  There was an area where for $5 we could make and take home an arrangement.  So now, besides having a good time making it,  I have a vase!

The garden in the back of the 'house'.

ginko

camillia

We left our arrangements and went for a walk around town and lunch.

Cafe Caramel Papa - who knows how they came up with that...  good pasta though.

??????  I have no idea.

This is a giant kaleidoscope!  You go inside and look up while turning a wheel and the image changes.

It was too bright, the picture didn't come out but that bright spot is where the
different things are seen when you turn the wheel.

Back to get our flowers and then to the train with a lot of bags.  I bought a few gifts to take home, and a very heavy cauliflower, and Takako gave me a bag of persimmons and yuzu.   I made it home, made a drink with yuzu and am just thinking about what to do for dinner...

I'm so tired!!!

2015-11-15, Kyoto, Ikebana and Koyo

This morning I got up early to catch a train to Kyoto.  I was meeting Takakosan on the train as she lives north of Hikone.  We decided to meet on the last car of the train.  I said the first car would be ok as well but she said if there's an accident it's the people in the first couple of cars who are injured.  I thought she was worrying too much but just as I arrived at the station my phone rang and it was Takakosan saying we'd have to wait for the next train because the one we were supposed to take was in an accident.  I haven't been able to find any details but even when we went home in the evening our train was late due to the morning's accident.  So from now on I won't go into the first couple of cars.  My grandfather would be proud of me (we used to call him 'nervous Grandpa')

Anyway, we did meet on the train and had a busy day.  We started by talking to the information people about where the leaves had the most color.  They're turning much later than usual it seems and as it turned out their information wasn't all that accurate.  Then I wanted to show Takako the great bakery and tea flavored ice cream place in the station.  We bought some bread to take home and since the ice cream place was almost open we decided to wait and start our day on a sweet note.  While we were eating the sky started to clear.  

We took a bus to Ginkakuji, the silver pavilion.

I really love these trees with the twisty branches.  

There wasn't a whole lot of color, just little accents here and there.

We decided to walk to our next destination stopping here and there at some temples and shrines.

It was pretty warm walking, actually the weather was perfect but we had dressed too warmly since both of us would rather be too warm than cold and the day before had been cold and windy.

A family at the shrine for 7, 5, 3 day.  So the little girls must be 7 and 3.  Boys would be 5.

One gets reduced admission at many famous sites in Kyoto if you wear a kimono.  It's a great idea since it really adds to the 'old Kyoto' atmosphere for foreign tourists. 

The reason we went to Kyoto together on this day is because Takakosan had gotten tickets to a special Ikenobo ikebana show.  The show took place at 2 different locations.  We took the subway to the headquarters of the Ikenobo School of Ikebana where there were a few floors of exhibitions.  I'd seen this building from the outside when I visited the temple behind it with my friend from Tokushima, Noriko.  Takakosan had never been to the temple - Ryokoku jinja - so we stopped there too.

We walked through the famous Nishiki market on the way to our next location.  I haven't been there in years, well actually I think I went with Kathy when she visited in Tokushima.  It's really a fun place to see and smell all kinds of delicious foods but it's sooooo crowded and hard to get through.  We both bought some pickles to take home and as a result were pretty smelly for the rest of the day.  Despite the fact that the sales woman assured us that the smell wouldn't escape the sealed plastic packages.  Oh well.

All we had eaten up to that point was the ice cream earlier in the day and we were pretty hungry.  Takakosan spotted a 'hole in the wall' tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) place and we decided to try it.  

This is the entrance, little more than 1 person wide and it's all you see of the place.  But the inside was very nice.  Lots of wood.

Everyone gets a little bowl of sesame seeds to grind.  And then you put some sauce - there are 3 to choose from - into the sesame seeds.  Yum!  I've never seen this before but I think I might even do it at home.

I opted for the yuzu (citron) dressing.

They put a little barley in the rice, And it came with pickles and miso soup.  Delicious.

Another unusual feature was this communal table in the middle of the basement room.  Upstairs  was a counter, no tables.

After dinner we made our way to Takashimaya a very upscale and large department store on a main shopping street.  That's where the rest of the exhibition was being held.

Shijo dori (street)

Back to the subway, through Kyoto station onto a crowded train, both of us pretty exhausted.  I was not looking forward to my ride home but what can you do...  There really wasn't much color, just a tree here and there so I think I might go back on the 23 when we have a day off.  But Kyoto is always fun and it was nice spending the day with Takakosan.

Feeling better after a good night's sleep and trying to think of something to take for a picnic since it's a beautifully sunny day.  I think all I have is peanut butter and jelly...