anyways

現在是要來貼舊圖, 把庫存清一清才能來貼新圖啊!!!

大台ケ原 (oodaigahara) 位於奈良縣南邊吉野一帶, 周圍獨特的地形讓它成為全日本降雨量最高的地方. 也因此我們這一趟去的很挫. 因為山上天氣變的快, 就算前一天天氣預報寫晴天也不能掉以輕心 (尤其我們又帶個號稱雨女的同事)...

這邊的風景我從很早以前就聽說很讚, 礙於他實在是太遠, 而且一年當只有夏天開放 (天氣的關係, 秋冬路況很差), 所以我一直沒有機會上去. 這次則是跟有車的S桑一起計畫, 一行共五人, 一起請假閃避歐吉桑超多的週末去大台ケ原一遊!

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這天天氣給我們賽到, 還不錯. 天氣預報說下午會有雷雨, 不過到達時一點跡象都沒有

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走了一段森林以後, 到觀景台的視野. 據說天氣好時可以看到富士山..這天天氣雖然還不賴, 但是能見度還是有限, 不知到說看的到富士山是不是虎爛的..

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這是樹根

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休息並且檢查路線. 這一帶很多登山步道, 我們選了最短但是可以看的到一些重要景觀的東大台路線

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所謂重要景觀就是這個正木ヶ原, 就是有很多枯樹的地方. 某次颱風來襲的結果就是這邊的樹全部都死的差不多, 留下這樣像墳場般的景象. 現在大台ケ原正在做森林復原...

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誰能跟我講那字怎麼唸?

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鐵鍊的後面就是斷崖啊! 怕高的我沒種過去...

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回程的路上, 我們都累壞了...走了三四個小時吧

More Photos

這次拍照算滿失敗的... 太陽太亮, 逆光的角度變成超難拍的. 我雖然有試著用閃燈壓光 (是的, 我爬山都比別人多背兩三公斤啊~) 可是還是失敗.

Jag kom hit, till Stockholm, efter åtta timmar på en pissig, trång och obekväm buss - och blev mot förväntan mött av Emil! Det krävdes dock en tom stund med ögonen etsade på trotoaren och en cigarret i mungipan innan han såg mig, och minsann blev jag glad. Natten spenderades med Fanny, hemma hos henne där jag alltid känner mig lika varmt mottagen av hushållet. Lite som ett andra hem, nästan.

Efter det har allt rullat på, och jag förstår mig själv för att jag inte har uppdaterat - alla avsked, tider och ärenden är faktiskt prioriterade för närvarande. Men bloggen har jag tänkt på, och nu när jag såg läsarstatistiken blev jag otroligt förvånad, men framför allt glad! Jag har nämligen med tidigare bloggar varit van vid en besökare dagligen, om jag haft tur.

Hur hittade du hit? Jag vill veta!

Min sista vecka i Stockholm börjar lida mot sitt slut, nu på lördag morgon runt åttatiden drar skåpbilen från ok/q8 ett segervarv runt Stockholm för att hämta upp diverse hos mig, mamma, pappa och en säng från blocket. Sedan bär det av, upp mot Norrland, Jämtland, Östersund med min pappa som chaufför. Jag tror fortfarande inte att jag riktigt fått grepp om vad det är jag ger mig in på, hur illa det faktiskt kan sluta, men framför allt vad jag faktiskt lämnar bakom mig. Stundtals pekar mungiporna nedåt och ögonen dör lite, känns det som, när jag börjar fingra på faktum att nu är det inte långt kvar här. Men usch, vad många negativa fraser. För att vad jag faktiskt inte tänker på, mitt i all oro och ångest över separation, är hur stort och vackert vad jag ger mig in på är, hur bra det faktiskt kan gå och framför allt vad jag har framför mig. För vad är målet värt om man aldrig tittat sig omkring på vägen? Än vet jag nog inte vad målet egentligen är, jag är nog för ung för att egentligen komma fram till någonting såpass konkret att faktiskt hålla fast vid ett längre tag, jag gör nog som alla andra helt enkelt - jag går dit näsan pekar!

I och med all sorg som separationen med Stockholm, mina föräldrar, mina vänner, skolan och Gina Tricot nu har fört med sig ser jag nog någonstans att det här på något vis, om än framtvingat av omständigheterna, ändå är vad som är nu. Vad tjänar jag på att vara rädd för förändringen? För om det är någonting som kommer att förstöra allt vad vi (jag och min bättre hälft) hittills byggt upp är det väl ändå rädslan för att det ska gå fel?

I all stress som varit, är och kommer att komma ända fram till jag sitter hopsjunken i den gula och bruna veloursoffan från 70-talet, gosandes med A och (antagligen inte) medveten om vad som nyss skett, mitt i allt detta har jag lyckats bli förkyld. Hur opassande en förkylning än kan vara borde väl denna ta priset, tycker jag. Eller ok, jag har ju inte direkt aids eller ens ett speciellt dåligt immunsystem. Men det är väl kanske det, att jag har ett väldigt bra immunsystem, som gör det extra illa - jag blir ju nästan aldrig sjuk, och så nu av alla tillfällen! Nu när jag faktiskt inte kan sjukskriva mig och ligga hemma. Nu när jag ännu inte städat lägenheten. Nu när mina nära här nere förväntar sig ett avsked. Nu när jag mer än allt annat vill ha roligare än någonsin med föregående! Detta är fruktansvärt, jag kan inte hantera förkylningar - jag är så ovan att det blir ett fruktansvärt lidande. Och nu kan jag fan inte vila, det finns inte tid!

Belöningen är väl när jag hostar till jag nästan kräks och ursäktar mig högljutt med "Ingen fara, det är ingen fara! Bara lite aids, det är ok." Usch vad pubertalt, tänker du kanske. Det tänker jag med. Men nu tar jag lite mer på riktigt ett enormt kliv mot praktisk vuxendom - jag blir sambo och proletär ("Det är inte okej att vara socialist" Oscar Wilde) i en helt obekant stad 600 kilometer från allt vad jag känner till. Det känns ok att få vara pubertal ett tag nu efter år av matlagande, självständighet och ett konstant behov av att bevisa att jag kan mer än vad andra tror. Efter alla år av sans, ordförråd och framtvingad (men reell?) mognad. Andra tror nämligen alldeles för lite om mig, det tycks återkomma. Jag presterar lite för mycket, det tycks vara minst lika återkommande.

Photos et une vidéo de l’article "Japon : Number One !!!"

Pasamos un buen momento con este curioso personaje, no sabemos si era un monje o un samurai.
Nous avons passez un bon moment avec ce curieux personnage, nous ne savons pas s'il s agit d'un moine ou d'un samouraï.

El autoestop es una buena manera de viajar y de conocer a los japoneses.
L'autostop au Japon est un bon moyen pour voyager et surtout une bonne manière d'entrer en contact avec les Japonais.

Marta se ha hecho una amiga, tuvimos la suerte de encontar una gheisa en las calles de kyoto y por supuesto le hicimos un truco de magia.
Marta c'est faite une nouvelle amie, nous avons eu la chance de rencontrer une geisha dans les rues de kyoto, et bien entendu nous lui avons fait un tour de magie.

Festival de Velas a Nara espectaculo fantastico milliones de velas entre los templos en un parque lleno de ciervos.
Festival des Bougies à Nara spectacle fantastique, des millions de bougies entre les temples dans un parc rempli de daims.

I finished reading the Ichigo 100% manga series! Gosh, I’ve been reading it since first year college. It took me a long time to finish it actually, mainly because our pc’s not internet connected (oh, by the way, I read it online, not the actual printed material) and so I have to spend lots of money just reading it in my favorite internet café. I read it on Read Manga but I found out that you can actually download it for free so I preferred the latter. What I did was, while I was doing academic stuffs researching in the net or updating my blog, I was also downloading it. Saves a lot of trouble, time and money. Hehehe. I could finish my required stuffs and I could read the manga at home.

I really like the story, maybe it so funny, Manaka ending up in a strawberry labyrinth of love. *laughs.

This is a summary of the manga series. Not really accurate, I’m just trying to recall some important events. And if you haven’t read the manga just yet and plan to read it, DON’T READ BEYOND THIS BECAUSE IT MIGHT SPOIL YOU. But if you want the other way around, read at your own risk. 

Manaka Junpei, third year junior highschool student, bumped into a mysterious girl with strawberry panties. He didn’t know who the girl was, the only thing that’s left of her identity was an old math notebook. Unexpectedly, it belonged to Toujo Aya, a rather unnoticeable, classmate of Manaka, a girl with a braided hair and glasses, who enjoyed writing stories in her notebook. Manaka read her unfinished novel, and was moved by it. He wanted to become a movie director and told Toujo that he would make her novel alive on the movie screen.

On the other hand, Manaka’s friends, Ookusa and Koyami concluded that the girl with the strawberry panties might have been Nishino Tsukasa, the hottest and the prettiest girl in their school. Toujo suggested that he should confess to her, and Manaka did, by doing pull-ups in front of Tsukasa. Surprisingly, Nishino Tsukasa agreed to be her boyfriend. Junpei was very happy, besides, he saw that Nishino Tsukasa was wearing strawberry panties one time.

But it turned out the original strawberry panty girl was Toujo Aya, whom Junpei was sharing his dreams to become a film director. When Tsukasa was dating Junpei, Toujo changed her hairstyle and removed her glasses, making her beautiful and surprisingly, it even reminded Junpei more that she was the real strawberry panty girl. Nishino Tsukasa felt that Junpei was somehow into Toujo, so on the highschool entrance examinations she chose to study Oumi Academy while both Toujo and Junpei, driven by their movie dreams went to Izumizaka High. With Kitaoji Satsuki, Misuzu and Hiroshi Sotomura, and Rikiya Komiyama, they formed the Film Studies Club. Satsuki confessed her feelings for Junpei, and Junpei in turned became confused for the three of them, ending up in awkward situations and then breaking up with Tsukasa.

Later on, Hashimoto Chinami joined the club and Junpei was even more surrounded by beautiful girls that he really liked.

Another character Minamoto Yui, Junpei’s childhood friend, moved into Junpei’s household as she was attending Oumi Academy, the same school where Tsukasa was attending. Yui has this habit of ending up almost naked while sleeping and Junpei has to overcome this strange condition while living with her.

A certain guy named Amachi also blend in the crowd, and fell in love with Toujo Aya. They were both members of the Literature Club.

When Junpei was in second year highschool he worked part-time at the movie theater. Without knowing it, Tsukasa was also working part-time at a cake-shop nearby.

On their highschool field trip, Junpei’s class in Izumizaka High went to Kyoto and Nara, while Tsukasa’s class went to the same place. There, Tsukasa witnessed Junpei and Toujo on the brink of kissing each other. Later on, Junpei escaped from the hotel they were staying and went to Tsukasa to apologize to her and they were both reconciled.

On Valentine’s Day of the same year, he received chocolates from all the girls, and was surprised to find out that Tsukasa planned on studying abroad.

In preparation for college entrance exams, Junpei attended the same cram school as Aya, and met the beautiful Mukai Kozue, who has an intense fear of guys but whose head always filled with perverted thoughts. However, due to Junpei’s efforts, Mukai started to open up with him. Meanwhile, Amachi is trying to capture Toujo’s heart and this irritated Junpei. To further on, there were rumors that Tsukasa is getting married soon to the pastry chef Higure. But it was just only rumors, Tsukasa confirmed.

Around that time Tsukasa invited Junpei to go with her in a three-day trip. Junpei encouraged her to pursue her dream when she was on the verge of giving it up and this made Tsukasa loved Junpei ever more.

Lots of things happened when they were filming the last movie for that year, like Junpei being trapped in a women’s bath and Satsuki advancing on him. The main hero was Junpei, and the heroine was Toujo. In the memorable scene when the heroine confessed her love for the hero, Toujo did an ad lib to Junpei and it sounded so real.

The annual school festival was coming near. At that time Tsukasa invited Junpei to go on a date. There, Tsukasa confessed her feelings to Junpei, doing pull-ups like what Junpei did before. Junpei loved Tsukasa so they ended up together. Then Junpei found out that Toujo was dating somebody and this confused Junpei even more. Junpei noticed that Toujo was avoiding him, maybe because of her new boyfriend-rumor, but on Toujo’s part, she was only avoiding Manaka because she was not wearing bra that time (long story, actually) and she was still ashamed because she left her bra at the piles of movie equipments in the film club room.

Getting his emotions mixed up and confused of these events, Junpei became sad while he was walking Tsukasa home. Tsukasa consoled her, and Junpei confessed his love for her.

Going out again with Tsukasa, this bothered Junpei on how to tell everyone especially Satsuki. But he was able to eventually, and she was devastated (so to speak). He found it hard to tell Toujo, and postponed the idea for the meantime. The film club members were editing the movie that night, and Junpei stayed behind to finish the whole work. Tsukasa went there to bring snacks for hungry Junpei. When Junpei was out for something, she saw the part of the movie where the heroine Toujo confessed her love for the hero Junpei. They went home that night, and Tsukasa told Junpei that she loved him. Junpei answered the same.

The next day, Misuzu planned to rerun the whole movie at the school theater before the festival would start for the scriptwriter Toujo and the director Junpei. They were alone at the theater watching the movie they made and starred. Then out of the blue, Toujo asked Junpei if he was going out with someone at the festival. Junpei said yes, and he said that he was going out with Tsukasa. At that moment, the scene where the heroine Toujo confessing her love to the hero Junpei was rolling on the film screen. By the end of the movie, Toujo cried, and told Junpei that it’s because the movie was great (an excuse, hmmm), and then she ran away.

At the annual school festival, Junpei and Tsukasa planned to go on The Love Sanctuary. They bumped into Toujo and the guy that was rumored to be her boyfriend. But Junpei found out that the guy was Toujo’s older brother, and he was deeply relieved. Tsukasa noticed this, and told Junpei that she won’t watch the movie and then she left. Junpei went back to the film studies room, alone, hoping someone would ease the pain in his heart. He really wanted to see Toujo.

Meanwhile, Toujo was told by her brother to forget about Junpei, and she was sad that it was finally over because it was already their last year at high school. She wanted to see Junpei, and she left.

And the two met, though there was a huge glass wall separating them. And Toujo confessed her love for Junpei, and Junpei apologized to her. Toujo apologized too for blurting out her feelings, and ran away. Junpei was left alone again, (I think he was on the verge of tears), recalling that the first girl he fell in love with was actually Toujo, but it hurt him to recall Tsukasa’s painful expression. So he went to Tsukasa’s house and confessed that it was her that he truly loved, and he made sure that she knew it.

And everyone moved on.

The underclassman Misuzu continued to pursue the dreams of making movies of the film studies club. Mukai is now able to open up herself to guys. The rest were constantly thinking of the prospect university life, and were studying very hard. Toujo received an award for her published novel and was readily accepted in a prestigious university. A movie director told Junpei that his movie was nicely done and very passionate and this inspired Junpei even more. Tsukasa is planning to leave for France next spring to pursue her own dream.

And at the airport, Junpei bid Tsukasa goodbye. They decided to break up there mutually because of the separation due to the pursuit of their own dreams, and they promised that when they would see each other again, they would be together.

And graduation came.

A year after that, they decided to have a reunion.

Satsuki is now working in their family establishment. Chinami is a famous bikini model under Hiroshi Sotomura productions. Misuzu is now a beautiful young woman who attended a university and she got herself a boyfriend. Toujo is a famous author. Everyone was surprised upon the arrival of Junpei, who had grown up a lot. He worked as a day laborer to earn money to travel places and film them. He had already received a movie award.

After meeting up with them, Junpei went to the park. He was holding up his camera at the foot of the stairs for a long time. Tsukasa has come back. She was up there, waiting for her. He ran towards her, and they started their relationship afresh.

*Sigh! Such a wonderful ending!

The manga series was written by Mizuki Kawashita. Great thanks to Free Manga, Akatsuki, Yamaitsuki, Ass-Troop, Anime Waves, for their efforts to come up with the manga release (I saw it in the copy of the manga I have). I’m so grateful to you guys, especially

to the editors Dagashi, Bryan, ice-kun, Chrippa, Sses, pokute, darthlord, finalpro, hellcat, kawaiibaka, grave, youngmug, ravenheart, tragickingdom, motoko-chan, rinako, mizukage, smoo, shinaku, pridav, tree, azu, alphaultima, caffinated yug, krol,

and the translators resoto, akarichan, oldskool33, gotenks-x, dsy22, freya, déjà vu, kakuri, cccnnn, nahus, aintguest, Antoine, boon, jasonshinji, jlester, jekyl03, telemaster, kann, jujubix, Will, PlzDontHurtMe, the mysterious ghost, OG, kamis, kuroneko,

and for those people who further check the translations nihonjintaylor, ikuzu, maxpower,

to the scanners nanashi, cgotten, HiRO-AU,

to the proofreaders and QCers (Quality checkers) kazh, katydid, astcd2, katy-pyo, origami, charp, amievil, nishio, elkhan, xx_blue, yuurei, waya475, JZ87, ed, ACQ, Yuna, Jaisbane, pnyxtr, the_mighty_highlord, starfisher, roots, davidov, _yeah, smafdi, darkgodloki, relentlessflame, waxmaker, animetrader0306,

to the raw providers nanashi, frozenshade, loserbait, and finally

to da mighty plum, ddr, strikeflo for the real-like page colors.

I am really thankful to you guys, I really love the manga, and you really did a nice job that’s why I want to thank you personally. It must have been hard, doing all this, and sometime the project got rebooted and all. You’re so cool! Made by the fans for the fans like me!

Visit the following sites for an experience of the strawberry labyrinth of love! akatsuki-manga@aniverse.com, http://www.deshou.net/akatsuki, #akatsuki-manga@irc.aniverse.com, http://yanime.com, #anime@irc.mircx.com, http://akatsukimanga.com, #akatsuki-manga@irc.mircx.com, akatsuki-manga@irc.irchighway.net, yanime@irc.irchighway.net, #dragonvoice@irc.mircx.com, http://dragonvoice.no-ip.com, dragonvoice@irchighway.net, http://souhaku.free.fr/dragonvoice/, http://animewaves.net, #animewaves@irc.rizon.net,

Nara was the ancient capital of Japan before the capital was moved to Kyoto. According to lore, the Buddhist priests at Nara began to wield a lot of influence and this forced the rulers to move the capital to Kyoto. Nara is home to a number of temples, the most significant of them being Todai-ji. The Todai-ji houses the Daibutsu-den , or the Great Buddha hall, which, as its name suggests, has one of the largest bronze statues of Buddha - this was the main reason we had wanted to visit Nara :)

We took the JR Nara line from Kyoto to Nara - about a 45-50min ride. We walked from the JR Nara station toward Todai-ji. Since the Kofuku-ji temple was on our way, we stopped there briefly. The Kofuku-ji is another ancient Buddhist temple that, like the Todai-ji and several other temples in Nara, is designated a UNESCO world heritage site. The main sight in the grounds of Kofuku-ji is a 5-story pagoda. The grounds were pretty crowded, especially with school children. There were a lot of deer roaming the grounds and approaching visitors for food. The vendors made brisk business selling deer biscuits, among other trinkets and snacks.

We continued our walk towards Todai-ji, cutting through the Nara Park to get there. The Nara park sprawled a large area; surprisingly it was not very crowded. Deer seemed to be the dominant visitors to the park!

A short walk away from Nara Park was the entrance to Todai-ji. Like most other temples we had seen, the approach was lined with vendors selling food, charms and souvenirs. The deer were here too and were pampered heavily with treats by all the visiting school children. The Daibutsu-den was an immense wooden building inside which sat the bronze Buddha statue. The building is said to be the largest wooden building in the world. Like other Buddhist temples, visitors washed their hands in the water fountain in front of the building, before entering. We entered the Daibutsu-den - the Buddha statue was HUGE! The statue was so intricately made you could see each fold in the Buddha's robe - truly a sight to behold! We walked around the statue admiring all the details. Behind the statue was an area where there was hole in a pillar that several of the school children were trying to squeeze through. Legend has it that anyone that can make it through the hole will be blessed with enlightenment!

We made our way out of the building and back into the courtyard. As we were walking out, a couple of eager school children approached us - they must have been about 8 or 9 years old. One of them said 'Hello'.  We replied back Konnichiwa - the kid was so surprised that we replied back in Japanese that it took him a few moments to get over his amazement :) His English was limited but he was very keen to converse with us - we tried to understand what he was saying but sadly, our knowledge of Japanese was even more limited than his English :( So, we bid him goodbye and left to walk back to the train station.

We got to Kyoto early in the afternoon. We were ravenous and ate in an Italian-inspired restaurant on the top floor of Kyoto station, that had nice views of the city. After a good meal, we headed to get to Kinkakuji or the Golden pavilion.

The Kinkakuji is one of the most famous tourist sites in Kyoto - it is a 3-story building that sits on a pond. The top 2 stories are covered in gold and a golden bird sits atop the roof. We had heard friends praising kinkakuji and were prepared to be disappointed because of all hype surrounding it. However, nothing could prepare us for its breathtaking beauty ! It was a dazzling sight to view the building with its reflection in the pond. The gardens and the pond are amazingly beautiful and serene. We even managed to spot a crane in the pond ! We walked around the gardens a little bit, admiring all the flowers and plants. We noticed some people gardening - surprisingly, they didn't seem to be using many tools - they seemed to be removing weeds by hand. Tremendous patience, I must say!

Our next stop for the day was Ryoan-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple. The main attraction of the temple was a rock garden made up of a set of large boulders and gravel. There was a viewing area of the garden where visitors could sit down and contemplate the meaning of the arrangement. We sat down for a little while, trying to decipher any shapes and patterns but none came to mind readily. I was a little disappointed with the garden since I could not see anything fantastic about it - maybe one does really need to be enlightened to see further than the physical and into the abstract ! :)

]]> http://legalresearchplus.wordpress.com/?p=352 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:04:04 +0000 Erika Wayne http://legalresearchplus.wordpress.com/?p=352 Why Is It So Hard to Get Documents from the National Archives About the National Archives?, By Anthony Clark, History News Network, July 21, 2008.

"While researching my book on the history of presidential libraries, I discovered a shocking but perhaps not surprising situation: the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is improperly withholding its own records. Theoretically a non-partisan as well as non-political agency, NARA is at the center of some of the most controversial issues of our time, including government secrecy, executive privilege, and timely access to presidential records. Rather than abide by legislative requirements and professional standards, NARA has chosen to avoid accessioning and processing many (if not most) of its own records dating back more than forty years. Worse, officials have blocked access to the records, perhaps due to concerns over possible criticism of the agency. "

And, the article closes: "If NARA can improperly withhold records that they deem may be inconvenient or embarrassing, they can withhold any record. This is a cause for great concern, given the regrettable ways in which the Archives has responded to recent presidential records issues."

Many thanks to the great folks at FreeGovInfo for writing about this and sharing this follow-up: "Clark's article has produced an extensive discussion and Comments, including the NARA Response by Gary M. Stern on July 24, 2008.  Kate at ArchivesNext has posted a thoughtful response after talking off the record to archives staff: Access to records of the National Archives, July 24th, 2008."

Nara, fondée en 710, fut la première capitale impériale du Japon (avant Kyotô, puis Tôkyô).

Le musée national de Nara
Ce musée renferme la collection privée de l’empereur Shomu et le trésor du temple todai-ji, qui renferme plus de 9000 objets précieux provenant de toute l’Asie, y compris de Perse. Il contient aussi des collections de beaux-arts et d’archéologie.

Le temple de Kofuku-Ji
Ce temple, auquel on accède par un escalier qui domine l’étang de Sarusawa, renferme d’inestimables statues et la plus grande collection d’art bouddhique du Japon. Sa pagode a brûlé cinq fois et fut reconstruite pour la dernière fois en 1426. Le temple fut fondée en 669.

Le temple de Todai-Ji
Ce temple bouddhiste fut achevé en 752. Il renferme une énorme statue de Bouddha (Vairocana) de 16 mètres de haut, que les moines doivent régulièrement épousseter. Derrière cette grande statue, un pilier de bois contient un petit trou. On dit que celui qui parviendra à passer par ce trou attendra le Nirvana. La grande salle qui le renferme est soutenue par une impressionnante charpente du XVIIème siècle, œuvre d’artisans chinois. Il s’agit du plus grand bâtiment de bois au monde.

Le temple de Horyu-Ji
Ce temple est considéré comme le berceau du bouddhisme japonais. Il fut érigé au VIème siècle. Il est dominé par une pagode de quatre étage grandiose, le plus ancienne du Japon. Elle est inspirée des stupa bouddhique de l’Inde, mais renferme des éléments de style grec, véhiculés par la route de la soie.

Le vieux quartier de Naramachi
Ce quartier abrite de nombreuses maisons de marchands (machiya) datant du XVIIIème siècle. Leur façades sont très étroites et leur profondeur surprenante, car la taxe foncière se calculait en fonction de la largeur des façades.

A Tôkyô par exemple…
Kamiya Bar «  Fondé en 1880, il s’agit, dit-on, du bar le plus ancien du Japon. La brasserie du 1er niveau sert de la bière et de quoi se restaurer… »

A Takayama par exemple…
La Viennoiserie de Nicolas, si jamais la nostalgie du continent nous prend…

A Nara par exemple …
Location d’une bicyclette pour une demi-journée

So here's my thought on beer for you: If I'm drinking one of the Japanese macrolagers (and we do this often, as water comes in tiny glasses here and it's the only certain way to cool off), Kirin and Suntory Premium Malt seem tastier than Asahi, and I haven't yet had a Sapporo.  I'm pleasantly surprised to find that while Asahi reminds me a lot of American macros, the Kirin and Suntory Premium seem a little less watery, a little fuller in malt flavor, and lacking something about American macros that gives them an unpleasant aftertaste (I think it's the corn). 

But that's it folks!  I'm writing from Tokyo now, we arrived last night.  So, hopefully I can cover the highlights of the rest of Kyoto in this post, and by the end of today will have new and exciting beer stories from Tokyo. 

On our second day in Kyoto, we took the train out to Nara, Japan's first capital city (710 - 785).  The main attraction here is Todai-Ji, the largest wooden building in the world, and home to the Daibutsu (‘Big Buddha'), made of 437 tons of gold and 286 lbs of gold.  The hall itself was aw-inspiring, but I wonder if the architects gave any thought to Nara's summer weather.  To reach the hall, you have to walk down a long approach path, almost like a runway, with no shade.  In the 100+° F degree heat, it started to feel like the path was a race against the sun, and slowpokes would be burnt to a crisp before reaching the Buddha.  It reminded me of the old Nintendo games in which Mario would have to cross some stretch at a sprint or else the little pegs he stood on would fall out beneath him, except in this case the threat came from above instead of below. 

And, though I know this pegs me as the prototypical tourist, and will make Buddhists roll over in their grave, I think that when it comes to the best sight of the day, the imperial deer that roam all over the temple grounds give the big guy a run for his money.  They were everywhere and they were didn't bite or get pushy or defensive (a contrast to out animal experience on Day 4...). 

We saw the second tallest pagoda in Japan.  We saw some ‘fine' wooden statues that we thought

had been described as the ‘oldest' or ‘biggest' of something, but which were in fact just ‘some of the finest.'  And we saw some signage regarding the reactions of the deer in the park when harassed by humans (apparently they emanate lightning bolts).

That night was also the peak of Gion Matsuri, one of the largest festivals in Japan (though for the life of us, we can't figure out exactly what the festival celebrates).  Everyone in the city that night was out wandering the streets, many of them dressed up in kimonos and wooden sandals.  It was clear from the number of people, the likes of which I haven't seen anywhere before, that this wasn't just Kyoto-ites, and that people from all over Japan and the world had come to visit.  Most of the evening was spent just walking the streets, visiting vendors, and oohing and aahing at the floats stationed around the downtown that would be in the parade the

next day.  Nick loved the floats' paper lanterns, as did I, but I'm just going to come right out and say this: all the floats looked pretty much the same.  Having grown up in California, I thought this might be something like the Rose Parade, where each float is unique and they all try to outdo one another.  Nope!  But then, I guess the appearance of the floats might not really be the point. 

In any case, we eventually got claustrophobic from pushing through the crowds so much, and looked for a place to settle for the evening.  After much hemming and hawing, we sat down at Club East, an unassuming somewhat dingy place in the basement of a building along the canal.  No more thought went into this than, "Hey, they have a sign out front saying drinks are ¥500 (a little less than $5, which is cheap here)."  This was another tiny place, with two empty four-top tables and a counter that seated about six.  When we arrived, there was the bartended and a Japanese man and woman about our age who were clearly the bartender's friends, but that was it. 

We sat at the bar, ordered our drinks, and we talking amongst ourselves, but it was clear from awkward occasional eye contact that they wanted to talk to us but didn't know how.  Finally, the male friend of the bartender piped up and asked if we liked our drinks.  We said yes.  He told us the drinks were strong, so we'd get rosy cheeks.  We all giggled.  The ice was broken now, and we tried to talk to them, but our Japanese is limited to the handful of phrases I remember from the one semester of Japanese I took in college four years ago before running out of electives.  The bartender and his female friend seemed to know just a touch more English as I know Japanese, and it was the somewhat-proficient male friend who had to do most of the work of making this conversation happen.  We ended up staying for about three and a half hours and having another amazing night.  Since the bar remained empty all night (I don't understand how any of these businesses make any money), it was like being at a party at someone's home.  They'd try to talk to us about music and then play it for us over the speakers.  The bartender (Jackie) played guitar and sang vocals for a punk-reggae-ska-rock-and-roll band, the girl (Ami) loved Britney Spears and some Japanese group called Yuzu, and the guy (whose name was something like ‘Pachugo') loved Bette Midler.  That's right - Bette Midler.  I thought he was pulling our leg at first because he seemed like a joker and it was hard to imagine a 27 year old guy's favorite artist being Bette Midler, but he was dead serious and launched into an a capella rendition of Wind Beneath My Wings for us.  Then Ami wanted to turn the club into a karaoke bar, and got Jackie to play Britney Spear's Overprotected on the speakers on repeat.  She knew all the words, all the more incredible considering I'm not sure she knew what most of them meant, and wanted us to accompany her.  Though Nick joined in enthusiastically, Ben and I didn't know the words, so we just sort of danced lamely. 

Music was also the catalyst of the one moment of completely clear understanding all night long.  All of the hotel rooms here have the panels built into the bed stand or bed frame that look like what people in the 1950s might imagine future electronics to look like (that is, they're clunky and have an unnecessary number of switches and dials). The panel always has a dial labeled ‘BGM', which will play background music if it is turned up.  This is what they have instead of a clock radio, but all it plays is a single track of the hotel's selection over and over again.  In our last hotel, it was some traditional reed flute and tambourine music that was fairly horrific.  In Club East, before the karaoke party got started, Ben remarked at one point that we needed some ‘BGM', they overheard and responded with cries of "BGM!" and started playing the bartender's band's music off their phones.  Who knew BGM was such a universal concept?

Another great moment in my mind was when we all tried to describe what we do.  Nick and I hemmed and hawed and tried to avoid answering.  I can't even explain what management consultants do in English, much less in Japanese.  Ben volunteered that he's a banker.  Both their initial and secondary reactions were priceless.  Initial reaction: "You're a baker? [Pantomimes kneading bread]."  We all laugh and Ben says, "No banker", and spells it out for them.  Secondary reaction: "Sodesne!!! [Is that so!!!]" Ami made a delighted squeaking noise and sidled her stool a little closer to Ben. 

I asked Pachugo what he did and I love that he gave me the benefit of the doubt and assumed that I'd understand him when he responded with "Freeta des.  [I'm a Freeter.]"  ‘Freeter' roughly translates to ‘Slacker' in English, except it's a little more specific.  It refers to young Japanese people post-high school or post-college who don't have a job and who mooch off their parents.  We all laughed really hard and I volunteered that "I am now too!  As of one week ago!" (Ok not really, I'm not mooching off my folks, but I will be job hunting...)  He beamed and said "For me, as of two years ago!" and started laughing hysterically again. 

Eventually Nick and I noticed that the more Ben drank, the more enthusiastic he got about having another drink, so we around 1:00am, we scooted on home.

Our third day in Japan was spent exploring the rest of Kyoto.  We got off to a slower start than on previous days, given the revelry of the night before, and given that we had to haul our bags back to our first hotel.  This was one of the major glitches of the trip.  Because Gion Matsuri is such a big deal, our original Hotel, Fujita Hotel Kyoto, had no room for us on the 16^th.  So, we stayed at Hotel Fujita on the 14^th, 15^th, and 17^th, and the Gion APA (stands for ‘Always Pleasant Amenity'!) on the 16^th.  The two are a little over a mile apart, and we had no better way to move our stuff between hotels on the mornings of the 16^th and 17^th than to walk it over -- Through gigantic crowds -- In the kind of humidity that makes you wipe giant rivers of sweat off your face only to find that by the time you've reached the bottom of your face, the top half is soaked again.  As I said, this was a major oversight. 

Once we were re-settled, we visited Nijo Castle and its gardens, as well as the Imperial Palace Park.  We speculated that maybe the reason Kyoto has no homeless people (or none that we've seen so far) is that you would quite literally die if you had no respite from the heat and humidity, so people must migrate to the north or to the coast in the summer.  Or, maybe we've just lived in San Francisco too long and have forgotten that other cities don't necessarily have people living three-to-a-block on every sidewalk.

In the afternoon we parked at the International Manga Museum for a few hours.  It's really more of a library than a museum, which I thought gave it a really welcoming feel.  It's bright and airy, and any visitor can take any manga (comic book) off the shelves and take it to any one of dozens of couches, chairs, picnic benches, or the astroturf lawn out front to read.  There was a limited English selection, but we enjoyed the chance to rest our feet and bask in the breeze of their air conditioner.  We also noticed that they had the best toilet of any we've seen so far on the trip.  Not only did it have the usual bidet and shower functions of adjustable water pressure, but it also could produce a ‘BGM' of sorts, a flushing sound, to cover noises, and it bore a button labeled ‘Powerful Deodorizer'. 

That night, we went out for yakitori and shabu-shabu.  The restaurant had an electric stove in the middle of the table, with a metal pot and griddle that sat on top of it.  For one price, you get all the meat and vegetables you want to grill on the griddle or boil in the pot.  Usually these places leave me feeling cheated.  I'm a relatively small person after all, so at all you can eat places I usually just end up paying a higher price for the same amount I'd normally eat.  Not this time though!  After all the walking we had done, we were all famished, and we must have finished off a sizable portion of a cow.  However, this was only possible after getting a little territorial.  I kept putting pieces of meat on the grill, and then while waiting for them to cook, I'd look away and then look back to find they had been poached by one of the boys!  I tried not to say anything, but I think they had a lower tolerance for eating potentially still-raw meat, so the pieces never lasted long enough to be cooked well enough for me to get them.  Eventually, I cordoned off a little section of the grill with some slices of onion and cooked my meat on there.  Once we were all convinced that we'd have meat sweats all night (but how would you even know given that it's so sweaty here anyway??), we called it quits and headed on out.  We didn't go out that night, but we did stop to watch some more of the ongoing Gion Matsuri festivities and play some Pachinko.

Yesterday was our last day in Kyoto, and we spent it in Arashiyama, a suburb in the foothills.  I, of course, was excited about the prospect of visiting the Arashiyama Monkey Park.  The Japanese snow monkeys are the entire reason I became interested in Japan in the first place.  I was a Human Evolutionary Biology major, which involved taking several primatology classes.  Somehow, in the course of these studies, I settled on the Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) as my favorite monkeys.  I think it's partly their ingenuity (they wash their food in the river, and sit in the hot springs in the winter looking like skiers in a hot tub all tuckered out after a day on the slopes), partly their social structure (cheers for matriarchies!), and partly their funny little red faces in their furry coats.  I was convinced at one point that I'd come here to study them for my senior thesis or PhD, which was what prompted me to take Japanese lessons, which prompted the Japanese history classes.  In the end, none of that amounted to much, and my thesis was about fossils and the missing link instead, but the snow monkeys have a special place in my heart. 

The park is on a hill on the south side of town.  It is posted with a large number of signs warning visitors "Monkeys: Please do not show them any food. Please do not look at them in the eyes."  At first, we thought, no big deal - hell, we don't even see any monkeys.  We climbed a slope for 10 minutes, which under any temperate conditions would have been mildly strenuous at worst, but which left us looking like we had stood under a shower given the heat and humidity of the day.  All throughout this climb, which was inside the park where the monkeys run free, we saw nothing.  I was starting to get a little cranky.  Then, when we were just one turn away from the top, we saw one in a tree about 30 feet away.  He was chewing on some leaves and scooting about, generally minding his own business.  Then, all of a sudden, an adult monkey scampered onto the trail right behind us.  I was so excited, and about to take his picture, when she suddenly became aggressive.  She started advancing on us, growling, barking, and baring her teeth.  At this point, I was starting to get really nervous, because she was only a foot away and looked intent on biting off our feet.  I was really wishing I had worn running shoes and maybe pants too.  I might have recovered at this point, except as we tried to ignore her and keep walking she started following us and getting angrier sounding.  We started walking faster and so did she.  Then, all of a sudden, two more monkeys scampered down from in front of us and blocked us in.  I lost it at this point and started screaming, which I'm sure didn't help.  Ben was pretty nervous too, but very chivalrously tried to put himself between me and the monkeys.  Nick just laughed and walked on ahead up the trail.  Ben and I followed, scooting as far as we could away from the monkeys, trying to keep an eye on them without actually looking them in the eye. 

Around the next corner was the top of the hill, which held a city panorama viewing platform and a small rest station.  I made a beeline for the rest station and safety from the monkeys.  They were everywhere up here!  Forget the three from before; there were dozens of monkeys, probably close to 100 of them, lolling around in the sun all over the place.  Inside the rest station, we purchased some sweet potato chunks that we fed to them through the wire walls of the building.  After no one lost a finger, we got a little braver and went back outside to get a better look at them.  They were grooming, playing, and lounging in the spray from a hose that had been set up for them.  The babies, some no bigger than a kitten, were especially funny.  They roughhoused just like little kids.  We stayed up there for a long time, taking more pictures of monkeys than just about everything else on the trip combined, and then started back down. 

We got some ice cream, which has become a near daily habit, and discovered that the Japanese have some odd tastes.  Nick got a pink flavor that was labeled "#1 popular flavor," but which turned out to be cotton candy, and a somewhat bizarre version of it at that.  I got something which sounded like "lemon soda" when the man described it, but which was blue with marshmallows floating in it, and which tasted like bubblegum.

We wandered around Tenryu-ji temple, which had one of the best Zen gardens we've seen so far, briefly checked out the bamboo grove, had some lunch, and then got on our way back to the city.  We picked up our bags from the train station lockers and jumped on a train to Tokyo. 

So, that's it for Kyoto!  We'll be here in Tokyo until the 23^rd, and then I'm off to San Diego.  I'll do my best to get some of our hundreds of pictures up before then, but it may have to wait until I'm back in the States.  Until then, sayonara!

Beni-e «Un des restaurant préféré du Lonely planet de tempura (friture) à Nara. Excellent menus.»

Sanshui-tei «…un des plus beaux jardins de Nara. On y mange assis sur des tatamis tout en contemplant le jardin… la spécialité … le tororo (plat de riz mélangé à de l’orge, recouvert de d’igname rapée; 2 choix : avec ou sans anguille…»

Un petit en-cas dans le train (beef jerky: petite viande séchée) entre Nagoya et Takayama

… et tant d’autres, semblables, à découvrir au détour d’une rue…