Goodies from Japan

I saw the poster. Later, I bought the zippered bag. I love you, unnamed japanese stuff.

Japan.....treasures

I wanted to share with you one of my most delighted shopping moments. I was in a train station when I stumbled on to this store, Lunch. It was small and mostly clothing but they had these little patches set up in the very front. And you must know that I have had patches on the brain for a few years, anticipating their come back.

And if that wasn't enough, I was utterly slayed, when they packaged them up in the little white bag with the gold printing (And that amazing logo) and sealed it with a clear honeycomb piece of tape. The Japanese tape everything!

The question remains: Will I ever actually iron them on? Am I capable of committing them to shirt or bag? Pant or sock? Sigh. We shall see.

Japan...speechless

I'm about to attempt the impossible and that is, to summarize the trip to Japan. Clearly, we are going to have to do more overseas traveling in general, but really all I want to do is go back. How can that be when there's so many places I've never been? I don't know but it BE.

Japan exceeded 40 years worth of expectations - we had a great trip. On a basic level, everything was perfect; the weather (!!!), the logistics, the places we stayed, what I packed, etc. No one got sick and the long plane ride didn't kill us. Did I mention the sunny/cool weather? Traveling is a funny game of combining a lot of little things and you have to celebrate when you pull it off.... through good planning or luck.

Anyway, on to the details..... Well, first off, remember that moss garden temple that I wrote to and got a ticket for? Yeah, well I left that ticket right at home. Which I was ok with because as it turned out, there was moss everywhere. And also, that temple was about a 40 minute trip on the western edge of Kyoto and we ended up not making that trip after all. We were having too much fun just enjoying Kyoto and leaving for an excursion, just didn't seem necessary. Besides, good to save some stuff for next time.
 
Truly, the seven days we spend in Kyoto on our bikes was a luxury. Kyoto is enough of a big city but still easily navigated by bikes (which we did lots of). They have a big, tasty fish market (went there 3 times I think)  and plenty of shopping. And with the Kamo river running through it and the temples, you also get a big sense of nature here. It's an ideal combination of elements if you ask me and we had enough time to get a taste of it all.
 
I guess it's good to be back but a bit sad too. Riding bikes everyday, exploring a city and always turning a corner to something you've never seen before -- that's really living. I'll be posting more pictures soon as I savor the aftermath of an amazing experience -- food and things we bought are foremost in my mind.

IN!

Permission to enter Moss Temple granted! I am going to see the garden. All is well.

Land of the rising sun

Despite how long we have waited, hoped and dreamed, Japan is not getting any closer. Nope. I keep checking.

There's nothing to be done about it, but hop a long wonderful flight and get it done! And 2012 is as good a year as any.

The calendar is marked for May and there's been furious google mapping, flickering, and pinteresting since we declared this trip a go. Because there's so darn much to see, my husband and I decided to make a list of our goals for this trip. That way, when we return, we can say, Yes... we did that!

My list:

-Visit the Moss Temple. (You have to write the monks a letter, using paper and pen and handwriting, and put it in the mail, with a stamp, to get an invitation to attend! How exciting! Paper!)

-Walk down a crooked narrow street with hanging lanterns and little antique shops. 

-Spend some hours in a stationary store squealing and drooling over tiny papers and packaging.

-Miss breakfast tacos.

-Browse some high-end ceramics shops like this one.

-See Lady GAGA concert in Tokyo.... (bonus points)