Parker’s Visit

For the last year or so, my dear friend Parker has been telling me he was going to visit Vietnam. I didn’t really believe him after he backed out to go to Texas to train and participate in the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 bike marathon ( an endurance race that pits cyclists against the elements of the hot and windy Texas summer). After that he had a paper to write and then perhaps more training to recoup strength following arthroscopic knee surgery. Then I think he underwent shoulder surgery and laser eye surgery. I heard he had even gone so far as to ask about whether or not he could be included in clinical trials on metabolic changes experienced by tall thin vegetarian Southern-born gents over 65 ... really, I had my doubts that he would ever get here! It reminded me of Errol trying to get out of going to office Christmas parties. People would place bets on what body parts he was going to have operated on or replaced in order to avoid attending the party.

However, a few weeks ago, Parker started making noises like he really was intending to come and then quite a bit of correspondence about dates and flights and air miles and what do you know ... he arrived last weekend! Saturday night at 11 p.m. And I guess you could call this his Saigon Marathon ... he was here just 6 days.

Parker had been here with the US Marine Corps for 13 months in 1967-1968. In fact, when I met him at the University of Western Ontario (he was my Philosophy tutor) in 1969, he had not been out of the service that long. I think he was quite surprised that our friend, Patricia, and then I came here to teach. Over my year and a bit here, he has often remarked on how different our experiences have been. I (and others ) have encouraged him to come and visit - to see the way Vietnam has changed in the intervening years, as well as to meet the wonderful people who live here ... under different circumstances. I am so glad he came ... better late than never.

So, what a whirlwind visit ... on Day 1 we spent a bit of time in District 1, sightseeing, shopping, and setting up a couple of tours. For sure we had to go to Ben Thanh market for nước mía. Jet lag eventually set in and we headed back to District 7, Parker amazing at the traffic all the while. Day 2, while I went to work, Parker went to the Mekong. I had recommended a private guide and it turned out to be a great idea. He got lots of 1-1 conversation with his guide, could leave venues when he felt like it, got back in time to avoid the rainy-season deluge and was happily napping by the time I got home.

That night we went to a unique restaurant, Cục Gạch Quán, which serves Vietnamese country-style food. It is set in a lovely old villa and the architect has designed many nooks and crannies and stairs and various levels and little bridges over a fish pond. Patricia and I went there last Tết and we really enjoyed it then as well.

On Tuesday, Parker had a bit of a chance to explore Phu My Hung on foot and met me at RMIT and off we went to the airport for our trip to DaNang. Parker was stationed near DaNang when he was here in the 60’s and he wanted to see if we could find Hill 55. Luckily there were blogs online by folks who had made this trip before and we had some ideas on how to get there. After checking into the hotel, we went off in search of dinner. We must have walked the only 4 or 5 blocks in Vietnam with no restaurant, so we ducked into a pharmacy and asked for directions and/or a suggestion. The pharmacist and clerk and customer all conferred and decided where we should go, called a taxi, and gave our driver directions. This was very typical of our experience in DaNang. People were very, very courteous and so kind to us. We ended up at a lovely seaside restaurant where we had a nice meal and 333 (ba ba ba) beer with ice.

The next day I enquired about whether or not our hotel could recommend two xe om (motorbike taxi) drivers to take us to Hill 55. It turned out that a security guard on his day off and a buddy were available. Off we went at about 9 a.m. Hill 55 is about an hour out of DaNang ... it is a big area and I fear we only saw a part of it. Parker did not recognize much, as the hill was totally barrren when he was here, while now there are lots of trees and farms and rice paddies down by the river.

There are a couple of war memorials as well as many many cemeteries, one of which seemed to be a war cemetery. Despite the remnants and memories of war, it was an absolutely beautiful day and we both enjoyed being on the back of the bikes.

After riding around Hill 55 for a while, we decided to go to Marble Mountains, a group of 5 prominent hills near DaNang City, where until recently marble was quarried and sculpted. Now I think they bring the marble from further up north or from China.

Our drivers wanted to take us to the shops where they sell all manner of souvenirs and small marble goods, but we decided to go up Thuy Son to see the sights ... Buddhist shrines and caves. First let me say, the stairs are very steep and they are not a uniform height, so it is hard going for the short-legged among us. Throw in overweight and out-of-shape and you can imagine how huffing and puffing was I ...

However, I did make it to the level with 4 Buddhist Shrines and a lookout. We met a very nice monk who was keen to sell us bracelets and encourage us to make donations.

We walked around the back of that pagoda and found more steps straight up. At that point Parker and I parted. He went up into a cave that took him to the summit of the mountain. He apparently had a great view of the surrounding countryside and of China Beach, which is about a 30 km stretch of stunning beach near DaNang. I will have to take his word.

I went into a cave, Huyền Không, which was huge. It was just beautiful, with amazing light streaming in from a hole at the top of the cave. Apparently the large hole was caused by US bombs and the cave had been used as a field hospital by the Viet Cong during the war. The cave has a couple of stalagmites and a number of Buddhist statues and guardian figures. It was cool and quiet and absolutely lovely. It was hard to imagine all that might have occurred within that cave over the hundreds of years it has been used.

We met up with our drivers at the foot of the hill, both of us feeling wobbly in the legs. So we went back to our hotel.

We went along the beach road for part of the way, which made us both want to eat at a restaurant on the shore. So after paying our tour-guides-for-a-day, we hopped in a taxi and headed to the water. We got dropped off at a place called Mỹ Hạnh, which is a seafood restaurant, but they were happy to serve ăn chay (vegetarian) food. We stayed for a while, enjoying the late afternoon light. The entire wait staff was amazed by Parker’s binoculars, which made for a lot of fun. We walked down the beach road a while and marvelled at how the kids could play soccer and high school friends could just wade in the water of the beach in peace, in contrast to how it was 43 years ago. 

Finally we decided it was time to go to the airport. We were quite early, so we upgraded and got into Ho Chi Minh City a couple of hours early. What a trip! We were so fortunate that the weather was absolutely perfect and we were able to see everything (pretty much) that Parker wanted to see.

The next day, I trundled off to work and Parker met my Vietnamese teacher, Thuy, and a Vietnamese guide to go to Củ Chi tunnels. The tunnels are a huge network of tunnels that were immensely crucial to the Viet Cong as there were hundreds of miles of tunnels, with hospitals, storerooms, weapons caches, and so on. Most of the tunnels were protected by traps and spikes and other assorted devices. It must have been hell to be in those tunnels with the rats, snakes, bugs ... I hear malaria was a huge problem in the tunnels. I think Parker was very surprised to discover how influential they were. After that tour, Thuy took Parker to the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. What a day! He got home in time to get ready to go out for Thangksgiving dinner at my boss, Linh, and her husband, Casey’s place. There must have been about 30 or 40 people there ... many of whom were Vietnamese-American or Americans married to Vietnamese nationals. So it was a chance for Parker to meet some different folks. And the turkey was pretty good as well. It was a lovely gathering and a new experience for me, as I have not socialized with those folks before. Then off we went so Parker could pack and get ready to leave on a 6 a.m. flight.

I am sure by now you have twigged to the fact that this is only Day 5 and I already mentioned that he stayed 6 days ... well it’s all about the international date line and 6’s and 7’s ... let’s just say we got up at 2:15 a.m. so Parker could get a 3:15a.m. taxi to the airport so he could get a 6:00 a.m. flight for NOTHING! Yes, upon perusal, his ticket did say Nov 27 not 26 ... so back to bed. I was up at 6 to get ready for school she said in a very tiny voice. Hard day. Parker took his lumps with grace. He walked around Ph My Hung and shopped ... filled my fridge with milk and juice and beer and wine. And slept, the bugger. We went to the ever so fancy schmancy Cham Charm restaurant that evening and did the night time routine all over again. This time he really did go and I just received word he got back to Connecticut safely. Alhamdulillah!

So, whirlwind visit or no, I was very glad Parker came to Vietnam to visit. I enjoyed his company and I am sure I talked his ear off. I think we both find it hard to believe that we have been friends for 41 years. That is a very long time! Sometimes we go for quite a while without contact, but our friendship is an abiding one and very precious to me. What a gift the visit was, lightning or no!

More photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/raven_chick

Korea Day at RMIT

Emcees for the Event ... 3rd Semester Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma of Commerce Students

RMIT has many, many student–run clubs and almost every week, there is at least one event put on by students .. this week it seemed there were lots and lots of events, as there were high school student tours guided by RMIT students who go out of their way to make the visit fun and exciting; Teacher’s Day where students were creating photo tributes, serenades and selling flowers and cards for favourite teachers (there's always next year), the campaign "Sympathy is Not Enough" to raise money for flooding victims in the Central Highlands, and the launch of a great initiative called IEU ... I English You ... to try and make our campus more of an English-speaking environment. And I know I have forgotten some ... really, our students are very, very active! But in this blog I am going to tell you about Korea Day.

Although RMIT International University Vietnam is comprised primarily of Vietnamese students, it does live up to its name with an enrolment of approximately 200 international students, about half of which are Korean. I think I may have mentioned that my neighbourhood, Phu My Hung, which was developed by a Taiwanese company, has a lot of Korean residents ... in fact many local businesses, stores, and especially restaurants in District 7 are owned and operated by Koreans.

Many of our Korean students have lived in Vietnam for 6 or even 8 years, and generally I think they like living here. However, they are extremely proud of their national heritage. A couple of years ago, there was a Korean Day at RMIT and it was a rousing success. This year's event followed that lead; Korea Day 2010 was a great initiative on the part of our Korean students, with help from the wider Korean community and the RMIT International Club, and it was a lot of fun!

Brian

Brian, a student in my WPP class last semester had told me about the event, so I had been thinking about it, but even if I hadn’t, the event was marketed very well. Signage, students with great T-shirts, and lots of energy buzzing about. I went to the opening ceremony ... a few speeches and then some entertainment. First was a pretty amazing taekwondo exhibition.

I guess taekwondo means the art of striking with the fist and the foot, and we certainly saw a masterful demonstration of that. 

Setting Up the Kick



Back Flip to Kick Both Apples

The Ho Chi Minh City Taekwondo Club put on the display, and I think the team has a combination of Vietnamese and Korean athletes. They hollered, leaped, kicked and punched, splitting boards and smashing apples to smithereens in the process. At one point Brian said, “I think it is a little violent.” But it was really very exciting. One of the most exciting moves was when one athlete did a back flip and kicked two apples that were suspended from a rod to bits, sending bits of apple all over the audience. Wow, it was amazing!



After the martial arts exhibition, a samul nori group from the Korean International School came to play. I was introduced to samul noli by my friend, Serin Hong, who is a composer and musician.  While he started out playing the traditional Korean bamboo flute, he has expanded his repertoire considerably and has a World Music Players playing an amazing range of music. At any rate, when I went to one of Serin’s concerts in Toronto, there was a samul nori group playing and I was an instant fan. Amazing what can happen with two kinds of gongs and two kinds of drums! So the kids from the KIS were great and so cute. There is such energy in samul nori music. As an aside, I saw part of a documentary recently on samul nori and it included the group, SamulNori, a well as shamans and other aspects of Korean folk music. In trying to find more information about that show, I came across reference to “Intangible Asset Number 82” so maybe that would be a good movie to see one day soon.

After the formal program there were various activities ... being photographed wearing a hanbok, having your name written in Korean, learning and playing some traditional games ... and then of course the food court! The students (and maybe parents or local restaurants) had all collaborated to put on a good spread and people could purchase lots of kinds of food. It was very well organized. Lots of evidence of teamwork and a cheery approach to geeting it all done! And the food was delicious.  Well, I can certainly vouch for the bulgogee and kimbap.

So, I take my hat off to the students who organized RMIT’s Korea Day 2010. I always tell students that to plan and pull off a successful student-run event like this requires a great number of skills that can be transferred to the workplace, so I hope many students will be adding working on this event to their resumes and CVs! Well done!

Of Tigers and Angels and Birthdays

Working in our midst at the career centre is a bona fide angel ... Miss Nguyen Thi Bich Nhi. She is our unfailingly sweet and positive administrative assistant who is an integral part of our team and helps us in so many ways. Besides other aspects of her job, she takes minutes at our team  meetings, which I am sure can be quite boring, but whenever we get together for a meeting, Nhi always seems so happy because our team is together, cooperating and planning. She sets a good example for the meeting-weary among us.  She is always excited to try the next new thing, like the video-conference with our colleagues in Ha Noi and we never hear her say ... do I look fatter than usual on the screen?  Did you see how my arm wobbled when I waved?:-) She is very nurturing as well, as evidenced by her care for our office garden - she is so disappointed if plants wilt over the weekend and does her best to restore them, just like she does with the humans in our office! She envisions our windowsills full of flowers and plants. 

The Compleat Office Gardener

Nhi is the youngest in the office, so most everyone is ‘chị’ to her; I love to hear her call Ha, Yen, Linh, and Phoenix “chị”. She has a great voice. I do believe that I am a particular challenge for Nhi, as I frequently lose receipts and fail to note where and when I did this and that and she has been extre-e-e-e-emely patient with me in explaining my cell phone issues and teaching me how to top up my account at the machine at RMIT. And she calls all manner of people to arrange or explain or apologize to when I cannot do it for myself. What a sweetie.

Despite Nhi being an absolute angel at work, she really loves to consider herself a tiger ... her astrological birth sign, I think. According to the Internet, Tigers are aggressive yet calm, warm-hearted yet terrifying, brave in the face of danger yet accommodating, gentle and mystifying in unexpected places. Tigers love challenges and surprises, like visiting strange places and meeting interesting people. People around the Tigers are easily captivated by the tiger's enthusiasm and way of life. Tigers find enjoyment in the unpredictable, and while other people would rather retreat, they are not afraid to move forward and explore the new and the unusual. Tigers are brave and courageous beyond compare and usually come out as winners in battles.
So, a whole new way of thinking about Nhi... I believe Tiger energy would be a tremendous resource and should be embraced ... and Nhi delights in being the “little tiger” in our office ... we apparently may have another unnamed one who might order bread and could have a position of authority, possibly. But I digress...

Bich Nhi's Festooned Desk

Nhi’s birthday is in May, but apparently her birthday was not celebrated at work due to oversights and an abundance of modesty and not wanting to bring attention to herself. However, with the motto, No Avoiding! We Will Track You Down and Celebrate YOUR Birthday, we decided to fete our sweet Nhi with a surprise half birthday party. Well, you can imagine how surprised she was, walking into the office on a Monday in November and finding her desk festooned with balloons ... she had no idea we celebrated half-birthdays. Now she knows better.

Nhi and Yen

Nhi's Birthday Arrangement

There were also flowers and a card and the pièce de résistance was supposed to be a cake with a tiger on it! Yay. OK, key words ... was supposed to be ...

As you may know, many businesses in Ho Chi Minh City operate their delivery services by motorbike and it seems miraculous that all those cake stores' goods get delivered without a hitch.  Unluckily, poor Nhi’s tiger came a cropper and met his untimely demise somewhere on Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard. Along with the cake.  And candles.  Dum-dum-da-dum, dum-dum-da-dum ... Luckily, the driver was unscathed and quickly delivered another one in time for our noon-hour party. Nhi may have been disappointed, but seemed perfectly thrilled to have the delicious, flowery substitute, which proves my point that she is really an angel. However, that is just my opinion.

The Tiger and Birthday Candles Were Vicitms of the Collision ... R,I.P.

Happy .5 Birthday, Bich Nhi!

Japan, Part 2

Traditional Wedding in Gion, Kyoto ... may have been for tourists

I left Hiroshima in the morning, feeling that having just one day to visit there was not enough. I think Kayo and Asuka were a bit surprised that I had planned such a short visit, but ... who knew? I took a bus to Kyoto. I think the trip was 3 or 4 hours. The bus was not crowded, with only 10 or so passengers; however, my assigned seat was next to someone, who kindly relocated. I had no idea if we were stopping and picking up others, so I was happy he made the move. Our driver was extremely formal and bowed and introduced himself and said some other things at every stop that we made. And wore white gloves, which many professional drivers (taxi, bus, and truck) tend to do. We did swing by a couple of other pick-up points, but nobody joined us and so we set off on a freeway that was well-maintained and not too heavily travelled. We made a pit stop after an hour or so and I was amazed by this. The folks who run the rest stops along the 401 should definitely come and see what the possibilities could be. First there is lots of food choice and it all seems quite healthy. Then there are the washrooms ... well, we stopped twice and both loos were immaculate, had fresh flowers, and had the snazzy toilets that I became so enamoured of. And the people were so friendly ... enforced hearty greetings aside.

Ikebana at the Roadside Rest Area

The ride on that sunshiney morning was great ... although my bus window was somewhat dirty, the fields and valleys, especially, were really beautiful.

The terrain was largely mountainous and hilly at first ... we went through many tunnels,.  Gradually it started flattening out. We made a brief stop in Osaka and I saw signs to Iberaki, a place where Fanshawe has a school connection. I was very excited to see the road signs, but couldn’t get a clear shot. Osaka is an industrial city and a financial engine in Japan, so it was pretty built up and urbanized for the rest of the trip. Some pretty incredible architecture in Osaka.

A Building that the Road Goes Through

We got to Kyoto Station in good time. I was a little nervous about getting to the hotel I had booked, but people were very kind and they pointed me in the right direction and off I went ... only one subway stop in fact and a few minutes to find my bearings and I got checked in. Kayo had arranged for her friend Akiko to meet me and take me out for dinner, but I got in earlier than expected, so I availed myself of the public bath down the hall from my room. I had never been in a public bath before and so I wasn’t sure what to do, but there was an information sheet and I followed it to the letter, so I felt good about following the rules and felt really good soaking my bones. In fact, I loved it so much I had one or two baths every day I was in Kyoto. Why? Because .......


You didn't really think I was going to show a pic of me in the bath, did you?

I walked my foofoos off in Kyoto. Omigoodness, I walked and walked. I had left my runners at Kayo’s, not wanting to take all my stuff with me on this jaunt, and I thought my walking sandals would suffice. How wrong I was ... but I digress.


Matsutake Mushrooms in Nishiki Market

I met Akiko at my hotel and we started walking to a restaurant she had heard about that served very traditional food. Kayo had told her I was interested in washi and chiyogami paper and so she took me to a store where there was some exquisite paper ... but it was made in a Chinese style and was not exactly what I was looking for and very pricy. But so gorgeous! And we strolled around some of the back streets, checking out the Nishiki food market, but it was largely shut down for the evening. We passed many tiny little places that Akiko mentioned were famous for tofu, or seafood, or some other specialty. Finally we arrived at our destination, the name of which I never learned. Akiko said it served traditional Kyoto food, and I think it was what might be called Kyoto soul food or comfort food - obanzai cooking. This type of cooking starts with Kyo yasai or vegetables grown right in or near Kyoto ... Akiko says the chefs go to the Nishiki market for fresh vegetables every day. It was a small restaurant, with a counter for six or seven people and just three or four tables. We sat at the counter and in front of us were about 10 or so large ceramic bowls filled with various dishes ... peeled eggplant in broth, yuba, carrots and daikon and ????

Traditional Kyoto Food

Akiko ordered for us because, in fact, I know very little about Japanese food, except for my favourite, umeboshi onigiri (and can you believe it, I didn’t take one picture of a rice ball the whole time I was in Japan ... and here is an even worse infraction – I didn’t take even one picture of Akiko!) The people working in the restaurant were very efficient and brought us numerous dishes ... one after the other ... each one so tasty and so beautifully served.



Fish, potato and lotus ... delicious!

I should also mentioned that this was the place I was intorduced to ume shu, a plum liqueur that is very delicious. Akiko, who is a university teacher with courses at universities in Kyoto and Kobe, is a delightful young woman and we spent a few hours chatting about travelling and teaching and about what to see in Kyoto. She told me what temples and shrines she would recommend and where the best gardens were. I found out later that she just made the last train to Kobe ... but she never let on that she needed to get going. I just don’t know many people who would spend an evening with a total stranger and be so gracious and charming. So very kind!

Machi at Kyoto Station

The next day I walked from my hotel to Kyoto Station to meet Machi Okamoto, a former student at Fanshawe. I hadn’t seen Machi for five years or so and we spent the day together. We met at the absolutely incredible Kyoto Station and had no trouble recognizing each other. After a tour of the rooftop garden, we hopped on a bus and went to a very traditional part of Kyoto called Gion. We saw statues and graveyards and museums and temples and shrines and gardens and canals and stores and courtyards and ponds and climbed hills and walked down flagstone streets.


Ryozen Kannon

And ate lunch. And green tea soft serve ice cream. What beautiful sights. What a full day. It was great to see Machi and get caught up with her and she was a fine tour guide. I was so grateful that she was able to spend time with me. We parted when we were both rather exhausted ... Machi took the train back to her hometown (about 20 minutes from Kyoto) and I staggered back to the hotel and immersed myself in the public bath.


Ginkgo on Kigashiyama



Machi near Yasaki Shrine

For the next few days I saw as much of Kyoto as I could, but it was impossible to see very much because it is such an incredibly culturally rich environment. I cannot begin to imagine how many shrines and temples there must be, but I have read over 2,000. I did go to one big and famous temple, Ginkaku-ju (Silver Pavilion) but it was so crowded with visitors that I was just crushed ... I quickly found a less used path and vowed to avoid the major tourist draws thereafter.



Honen-in, a Jodo sect Buddhist Temple

But with so many shrines and temples, there were plenty to choose from. I absolutely loved the Philosopher’s Walk, which leads off from Ginkaku-ju and meanders along a canal. There were houses and inns and more little shrines all nestled into the heavily treed Higashiyama, or Eastern Mountains. I got quite used to the #5 bus, as I tended to focus on the eastern part of Kyoto and I really loved poking about.

Folks I saw as I was going to the Philosopher's Walk



Antique Kimono Shop along the Philosopher's Walk

I was looking for a store that was famous for washi paper when a friendly guy came out and thinking I was lost insisted I go into a store to ask directions. He proceeded to send me in the wrong direction and told me if I needed help I should ask at a koban, or small police station that are quite common in Japanese neighbourhoods. People were consistently friendly and very responsive to requests for help, but not many came running out of their shops to offer it unsolicited. However, I very much appreciated the sentiment. I did end up finding the paper shop and was amazed at the range of paper. The crafts in Kyoto were amazing along with everything else. I just loved my time there.

Washi Paper Dolls

I think a trip to Japan would not be complete without a ride on the Shinkansen, or bullet train. That is how I travelled from Kyoto back to Tokyo. It was a very fast, smooth ride back to Tokyo. The only scary parts were when we would pass a train going very quickly (200 km/hr) in the opposite direction, like 6 “ apart. That was a bit terrifying.
Once I got back to Tokyo Station I really knew what to do, which of the many subway lines I should go to, how much to pay, and where to get the ticket. I was very proud of myself. However, not cocky, because it is so well-organized that it is pretty easy (i.e. does NOT take a degree in Geography or an internal GPS system) to figure out. I made my way back to the Sakura Hotel in Ikebukuro ... as I left the West gate, I was surrounded by street dancers taking part in some sort of festival ... it was incredible! There were dozens of groups and hundreds of dancers, drummers, singers, and flag wavers. It turns out they were taking part in the Yosakoi event of a two-day festival called the Fukuro Matsuri Festival. Yosakoi is folk dancing native to Kochi Prefecture in Shikoku Island. Wow, it is great.


Yosakoi Dancer



Yosakoi Dnacer

Apparently it is becoming popular all over Japan, with more than 200 yosakoi competitions held in Japan annually. The dancing is very high energy, and seems to combine traditional Japanese dance movements and modern music. The dances are performed by large teams (like up to 200 in the case of one team I saw), with people of all ages, and are tightly choreographed. The festival I saw had the smaller teams move down a long block to a stage where the singer and drummer were. In the case of the larger teams, they took up the whole block and performed their routine without travelling too far. Most dancers use naruko, or small wooden clappers, to accentuate the music from the stage at the end of the block and many also had fans, tambourines, and other props. Several groups had a flag bearer at the end of the line who could wave huge flags, just missing hitting spectators (and power lines as well.) And the costumes! Omigoodness! Although there are lots of these festivals, I was very happy to have just happened upon this one.

During my remaining days in Japan, I went to many tourist-y places. I spent the better part of a day at Ueno Park and was amazed by the streams of people flooding into the park to go to the zoo. I wondered what everyone was doing and why people weren’t working ... turns out it was a holiday Monday. The park has lots of wonderful elements ... lake, zoo, shrines, fountains, and several museums. I went to the Tokyo National Museum and spent a couple of hours seeing just part of its amazing permanent collection.


Jomon Figurines



I spent a day looking at the Meiji Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. I also toured the Togo Shrine, because my map-reading hubris was rewarded by my taking the wrong exit from the Harajuku Station and that’s what you get when you start getting too cocky. It was a fortunate wrong turn, because it did take me through a couple of interesting districts I might not have visited otherwise, namely Takeshita-dori, where some of the wildest of youth fashion and behaviour is on display.


Togo Shrine



Takeshit-dori ... in Harujuku ...Could be for Hallowe'en, but I don't think so ...

Meiji Shrine was an island of serenity in some ways ... very wooded , and the torii are huge, unpainted cedar gates and placed along a very long and shady gravel path. The tourists kind of blended in, the scope of the place is so huge. Apparently at New Year’s, up to three million worshippers go there to offer prayers and buy good luck charms. So a couple of hundred, a fair number of which came from China, really disappeared in the massive grounds. There is a beautiful garden, the Nai-en, and I spent quite a bit of time there. It is apparently very famous for its iris, but they were not blooming in October.

I walked a lot that day and found a very high-end district called Omote-sando. Every luxury brand seemed to have an outlet there and many stylish women, pampered dogs, and amazing architecture. And another beautiful gallery called Nezu with a very pretty garden and tea houses ... and many, many ginkgo trees. I got lost again that day and wandered through the Aoyama District and ended up in a very different location than where I thought I was going, but I think that is one of the great things about Tokyo ... it doesn’t matter. The other place will also be interesting!



Hanae Mori Building ... Prada is here

I did some shopping in Ikebukuro and visited Sunshine City and some of the huge department stores, Seibu and Tobu (my favourite) along with a place called Tokyu Hands, which had many household gadgets. Also, Daiso (100 yen stores) stores that had 8 or 9 floors. Overwhelming! And so there were lots of tea shops and various restaurants for respites and breathers.

On the last day I met up with Kayo and Yune and hung out with them. Yune seemed to have grown in just a week! I had dinner with them and was also able to see Yoshi before I left. I had a chance to talk to Asuka on the phone and could tell she was getting excited about moving into her brand new house ... but she said Kota was being no help at all and felt his job was to unpack some of the items she was so carefully putting into boxes. I was so impressed by these young mothers and so fortunate I had had an opportunity to see them and Machi while I was in Japan.


Yune


After good-bye hugs, I took my leave and my last subway ride and made my way back to the hotel. After an early morning wake-up call and I was on the airport bus by 6 ... of course the timing was perfect and it was an easy trip back to Ho Chi Minh City.



I saw these folks in Asakusa, the second time I went there

 Japan has not faded into a dream yet, but it does seem amazing that I was there. However, I am back into the maelstrom of a new semester with a new course and two or three big projects to focus on. It feels pretty full on and so I think I picked the perfect time to visit and experience a tiny bit of what Japan has to offer. I am most fortunate. And grateful.


All good things must come to an end ... such is the life