Wabi-Sabi Sole

Finding Beauty with Imperfection

Wabi-Sabi Sole Goes to Seoul

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On May 19, 2018

In Japan, Seoul, Travel

Dave had a work trip this coming week. While he was going to be away, I decided to book a flight to Seoul, South Korea. We have (Army) friends from Naval Station Great Lakes stationed there. This was very last minute planning. So last minute that my Seoul Travel Guide didn’t arrive in time! I’m depending on my friend, Laurie, for a complete tour. I’m excited to see them and explore another city/country.

I booked my ticket on JEJUair, a budget airline. I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked down at my duct taped suitcase and converse. In my favorite flying attire, I’ve definitely dressed the “budget” part. I have to give an explanation about the suitcase. In November, when we went to Sasebo, the handle of my suitcase broke off. Fortunately, we were able to buy a new set of luggage at the Black Friday sale on base. It was a set of three. I put the small bag inside the large suitcase and packed the medium size separate. On the flight home, my brand new medium suitcase was broken. There was a HUGE crack! I was so annoyed. Two flights and two suitcases. (Insert eye roll) I decided instead of buying another suitcase, I would just duct tape this one and use it until it completely falls apart. So far, it’s gone back and forth to Thailand, Hokkaido, United States, and now to South Korea. Fingers crossed it makes it home. Duct tape for the win!!

Anyways, back to my trip to Seoul. I’ll be gone for a few days. I’ll do my best to share my adventures as I go. Thanks for understanding if I fall a little bit behind because I’ll be tethered to a wifi connection. As always, thanks for reading!

Suspension Bridges

By

On May 16, 2018

In Clematis, Gardens, Hakone, Japan, Mishima Skywalk, Mt. Fuji, Road trip, Roses

During my Friday English class last week, one of my students told me about her visit to a clematis and sculpture garden near Mt. Fuji. From her description of her visit, I was interested in making a trip to the garden. As I looked around the Mishima area on my Google Maps app, I realized there was another place I had flagged to visit. I suggested to Katie we take our Tuesday adventures to the expressway and visit them both! Without difficulty, we were able to rent a car and leave before 8:00am Tuesday morning.

Side note: went traveling a far distance in a vehicle, I find it easier to rent a car for two reasons. 1. I only trust our Hooptie so much. 2. Driving on the expressway is expensive because of the high road tolls (¥8000 – $80 round trip to areas around Mt. Fuji). Toll vouchers are included with a rental car ($58 for a 1-day rental). This makes it actually cheaper to rent a car than to drive your own!

Now, back to our story. We arrived at our first stop, Mishima Skywalk around 9:30am. Before heading to the Skywalk, we stopped to use the restroom facilities. Just when I thought Japanese toilets couldn’t get any more amazing, we were greeted by a large banner advertising “luxury toilet.” The restroom was immaculate and complete with not just functional “thrones,” but also lounging ones – inside and outside the restroom! Seriously, I couldn’t make this stuff up!!

After our pit stop, we were ready to see Mt. Fuji and walk the Mishima Skywalk. The Mishima Skywalk is Japan’s largest suspension bridge. The bridge is 400m in length and connects Izu and Hakone. The bridge reaches a height of 70.6m as it stretches across the valley below. The width of the bridge footpath is 1.6m (wide enough to allow two wheelchairs to pass one another). Needless to say, the view was spectacular!

We were glad we arrived early. Mt. Fuji was starting to cloud over when we arrived. By the time we were leaving, it was mostly covered.

The walk across the bridge is not for the faint of heart. If you have a fear of heights, it might be best to skip this attraction.

Once we made it to the far side, we were greeted by the safety sign. I hope the Skywalk receives this award every year!!

On the north side of the bridge, is a natural area with a few trails and the flower drop. For ¥200, you’re invited to purchase a flower seed attached to a piece of wood. When you cross back over the bridge, you can toss the wood chip and make a wish. When your flower blooms, your wish will come true.

Also at the flower drop area were cute little forest eggs. Some were set along the trail and others where hiding behind a door on the trees. So, kawaii!

They were so cute!

From the construction and signs, Katie and I came to the conclusion the area would soon have a zip line attraction! Now that would be amazing!

During our walk back across, the wind really started to pick up. The bridge was really swaying! It was kindof fun to not hold on! Look, Mom! No hands!

One of the cafes was called the Sky Garden. Here we enjoyed a snack while sitting under the phenomenal hanging plants.

After our snack, we were ready to head to our next destination. We drove about 30 minutes before reaching the Clematis no Oka Garden. We parked in one of the parking lots furthest from the garden. This afforded us the opportunity to walk through the woods and transit across two more suspension bridges. They weren’t as long or as high, but still very enjoyable.

Once we arrived at the garden, we were treated to beautiful clematis and strange sculptures.

Here are just a few of the interesting sculptures. We were a little surprised with the sculptures because there were a lot of naked men. It seemed out of context with the garden. But, I guess art is art.

Anyways, let’s get back to the clematis. There were so many different varieties and colors. Here is about half of the clematis pictures I took!

The lower part of the garden was filled with roses. They were also in full bloom and stunning.

The roses were a special treat because I wasn’t expecting them. After enjoying time in the sunshine and the beautiful garden, we hopped back in the car and headed home. The drive home was easy. Each time I make a trip to Mt. Fuji, I become a little more familiar and at ease driving. I consider this a win after living here for almost two years! I’m so glad we took the opportunity to road trip. It was a wonderful day exploring an area around Mt. Fuji we hadn’t had a chance to visit yet.

Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden

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On May 14, 2018

In Japan, Kyu-Iwasaki-tei, Tokyo, Train, Wabi-Sabi

As I was looking at my list of things to do in Tokyo, I realized I still had one garden to visit from the article about finding wabi-sabi in Tokyo. I hadn’t had the chance to visit the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden in Tokyo. The Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden is located on the north side of Tokyo, near Ueno Park.

It took about an hour and 20 minutes to get there on the train. With the rain gone, it was such a beautiful day, I was happy to be out and about.

The Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden was built in 1896. The main residence is a western style building that was owned by Iwasaki Hisaya, the third president of Mitsubishi. The entrance to the Garden leads directly to the western residence. Currently, scaffolding was covering the front of the residence.

The inside of the residence was spectacular. The route to explore the residence allowed visitors to go throughout the two floors.

There is a large two-story porch on the southern side of the house. The east side of the porch is enclosed.

The wallpaper in the house is valuable Japanese leather paper. I took a close up picture of the paper and the large stamping tool.

The western residence is connected to the Japanese residence. Only a small portion of the Japanese residence remains. Tatami mats covered the floors and intricate drawings adorned the walls. The views of the gardens looking out were so serene.

The third building within the garden is the Billiard Room. The Billiard Room is detached from the Western Residence. However, there is an underground passageway connecting the two buildings. The Billiards Room was designed and built like a mountain lodge found in Switzerland. Notice the high ceilings!

The grounds of the garden have been reduced to only a third of the original size. Urbanization has claimed the other two-thirds. The grounds are a blend of Japanese and Western styles. As I walked the grounds, it was easy to be transported away from the bustling city. The garden is distinctively Japanese.

My favorite structure in the garden was the gigantic lantern. It had to be at least 12-15 feet high.

Looking back at the buildings and viewing the large lawn, it is easy to see the western influence. Simultaneously, you can see how close the encroaching buildings are to the garden.

This picture might be my favorite from the day. I like it because it captures the eastern and western gardens and the western residence is in the background along with the urbanization of Tokyo. I think it nicely captures the wabi-sabi of the Gardens.

I imagine this garden isn’t visited very often, because of its proximity to Ueno Park. Most tourist want to visit the many attractions at Ueno – zoo, museums, etc. I have visited Ueno Park (during Sakura season) and honestly, I enjoyed the quiet and serenity of this park much more. I definitely found my wabi-sabi.

Florida Road Trip Part 2

By

On May 10, 2018

In Florida, Japan, Key West, Road trip

Let me pick up where I left off on the previous post, Florida Road Trip Part 1. Saturday morning, Juliana and I picked up George at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. Once we had him safely aboard the bus, we made haste for Key Largo. Clearly, our speed was not fast enough for others.

One more video as we drive off the continental United States.

Our first campsite was at Pennecamp State Park. With the campsite set up, George had the chance to enjoy his first vacation beer.

As I look back through my pictures, I realize I never took a picture of the seafood dinners George and Juliana prepared. Each day, we would stop at a local fish market and buy seafood for dinner. We had a wonderful assortment throughout the week. Snapper, tile fish, pompano, and stone crab legs. All local fish and all were delicious.

Sunday morning I unintentionally woke up early. The bug bites I had received over the past two days made my feet feel on fire. I know my gnarly runner’s feet are not pretty, but please humor me and notice the welts on my feet. They itched so badly, when I looked at the picture, I felt the urge to scratch my feet! I had these welts on my hands, the back of my legs, my shoulders, my arms and a few on my face as well.

Since I was up so early, I decided to catch the sunrise.

Later that morning, George and Juliana both rented sea kayaks and I rented a paddle board. We spent about two hours exploring the inlet around Pennecamp State Park. Knowing my luck with phones, I left mine on dry land while we were out. So, no pictures.

After eating lunch and cleaning up, we got back on the road and headed towards Big Pine Key. Our next campsite was at Bahia Honda State Park. Along the way, we stopped at KMart and I bought bug protection: a second pair of beach pants, a UPF shirt, thick socks, and a pair of light gloves. The “no see ’ems” were not deterred by my 100% deet. The only way to keep them from biting me was to cover my skin. We also bought two fans to put around the campsite and inside the bus to help the bug situation. After arriving and setting up camp, we went snorkeling off the coast. It was fantastic! Perhaps, the best place I’ve ever snorkeled. We were the only people in the water and the water was so shallow we could see so many fish! After our snorkeling session, we walked out and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

We spent Monday morning at Bahia Honda at the beach. The breeze was strong and the sky was sunny. It was so relaxing.

We walked up the old Railroad/Road Bridge. From here it was easy to see the hurricane damage. The vegetation was shredded and the beach looked trashed.

Sunday night proved to be another rough night with respect to bugs. At this point, we decided to go off script. Instead of staying two more nights in Bahia Honda State Park, we decided to drive to Key West and stay at the Navy Vacation Rentals. So, after our beach time Monday morning, Monday afternoon we headed to Key West. It was a great decision. Who doesn’t love Key West? We arrived in Key West, checked into our hotel and set out to enjoy the town.

After a refreshing bug free night of sleep in American air conditioning, we were ready to tackle a full day Key West style. First up, a sunrise run, of course. With a stop at the Southern most point and Mile 0. Oh and a chicken crossing the road.

We went home to get George and the bus to take a few pictures of the bus at both of these spots.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying Key West without an agenda. As if we were on vacation!

Wednesday morning, we were back on the road again. We decided to again make haste and get further up the coast so we could enjoy a full beach day at Sebastian Inlet State Park. We stopped in Vero Beach Wednesday night. It was a beautiful night for another beach walk.

After a short drive Thursday morning, we were ready to enjoy a relaxing beach day at Sebastian Inlet State Park. We had another excellent campsite. Perfect for watching the sunset.

Friday morning, we didn’t rush to get on the road to our final campsite. We enjoyed Sebastian Inlet a little longer before making the short trip to Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine.

We arrived in time for a beach walk at sunset.

I wanted one last east coast sunrise before heading home. Saturday morning we woke up early and took our coffee to the beach to greet the sun as it cleared the horizon.

After breakfast, we packed up the bus and made haste one last time for Atlanta.

We stayed close to the airport Saturday night because my flight left early Sunday morning. We stopped for a brew and pizza before settling in for the night.

As we left the restaurant after dinner, a storm had passed and the clouds appeared to make a Mt. Fuji. I couldn’t help but see the symbolism. Just pretend the sign says “Japanese” and not “Chinese”. Our spontaneous road trip was everything I needed. It was wonderful having time together with family. We enjoyed many long conversations and a lot of American beer. We shared more laughs than I had bug bites. Despite the distance, the bugs, and time away from Dave, I would do it all over again without hesitation.

Florida Road Trip Part 1

By

On May 9, 2018

In Florida, Japan, Poo Brown Bus, Road trip

I’m home safe and sound from my Florida road trip with my brother, George, and his wife, Juliana. It took me two good nights of sleep to get over the jet lag. Now that I have my wits about me, I’m ready to share our adventures. Our two week Florida road trip was a jammed packed with good times and sunshine. Let’s start from the beginning. I met Juliana in Atlanta. My flight arrived late on Tuesday night, so we spent the first night at a hotel near the airport. Wednesday morning, we were up and ready to be on our way to St. Augustine. However, we had a slight 1.5 hour delay getting on the road because we couldn’t get the bus started. After receiving help from two nice hotel employees, phone help from George and their mechanic, we realized the problem was rather simple. The bus needed gas. One of our new friends brought us a gallon of gas and the bus turned over right away. We were off to the closest gas station with strict instructions from George not to go more than 200 miles before refueling and never have less than 1/4 of a tank. Lesson learned. I’m happy to report, that was our only vehicle incident. The rest of the trip, the bus ran like a champion! Our trip through Georgia and across Florida went by quickly. Each time we stopped we were greeted with at least one “what year is your bus”? Usually, the person who approached us shared a story. Juliana and I decided more people approached us during the days before we picked up George. His presence, although appreciated by us, seemed to make us less approachable. Eventually, we arrived in St. Augustine. We checked into our campsite at Anastasia State Park in time for a picnic dinner at sunset. By the time we parked the bus for the night, it was lights out!

Thursday morning we went for a jog and as we were returning to the campsite, we came across this beetle working really hard pushing a dog turd. I couldn’t help taking a video. Even now when I watch it, I can’t help but laugh.

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We spent Thursday morning exploring St. Augustine. We walked around the touristy downtown area. This was by far my favorite photo spot! Argh!

We also explored sights off the beaten path. We enjoyed a tour of the Oldest House in St. Augustine.

During the tour, we learned about coquina. (The science teacher in me was so excited.) Coquina is a sedimentary rock composed of sea shells. It was used throughout St. Augustine for construction of buildings and the fort!

After lunch and our enjoyable morning in St. Augustine, we loaded up in the bus and set out for Sebastian Inlet State Park. We had an amazing campsite at Sebastian Inlet. Perfect for watching the sunset.

Friday morning we decided to enjoy a little beach time before getting on the road. The Inlet had a small lagoon – perfect for taking a swim.

While we were swimming, we were fortunate to see dolphins!

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After our morning at the beach, we showered and were on the road by 1:30. We didn’t have far to go for our next campsite. We were staying at Dickinson State Park just north of Fort Lauderdale airport. We had a rendezvous with George Saturday morning. He was flying in and would join us for the second half of our trip. Since we weren’t in a rush Friday afternoon, we chose to drive down A1A and enjoy the scenery. Talk about cruising in the bus.

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We arrived at Dickinson State Park shortly before a huge thunderstorm rolled through. At one point, the lightening was so close we hunkered down inside the bus. As the storm passed, we moved outside and enjoyed dinner. Tomato soup, believe it or not! It was the perfect warm meal during the nasty storm.

By the time the sun was setting, the storm had rolled out.

It it’s wake, it woke up a lot of bugs. We were prepared for the mosquitoes. We had been warned about the no see ’ems. The warning wasn’t nearly strong enough. I went to sleep in shorts and a tank top and work up with bites on every inch of exposed skin. Talk about itchy… The bugs would become an incredible nuisance as we arrived in the Keys. But, I’m going to save those stories and the second half of our adventure for tomorrow. Stay tuned for the rest of the story!

Gone Coastal

By

On April 24, 2018

In Japan

A completely unexpected opportunity presented itself to me at the end of last week. Long story short, I have a chance to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law on the east coast and road trip down to Key West. I only booked my ticket four days ago! Fortunately, a trip to the Keys doesn’t require too much packing. So, off I go! I’ll be back in Japan in a couple weeks and ready to continue Spring flower chasing!

Sunday Flowers

By

On April 23, 2018

In Japan, Kamakura

Dave and I decided to spend our Sunday chasing flowers in Kamakura. First, we stopped for lunch at Barchie’s, our favorite bar in Kamakura. We both ordered wraps with a side of rosemary fries. Dave had the pulled pork and I had the pulled chicken. Both were delicious washed down with a Heartland beer.

After lunch, we went to the Hachiman-gu Shrine to see the peony garden. They were stunning. The snow huts were replaced with parasols.

We couldn’t get over how big the blooms were!

The peony garden is one of my favorite “off the beaten path” spots in Kamakura. It is meticulously groomed and very peaceful.

The warm weather has encouraged the wisteria to bloom as well. A large trellis opposite the peony garden held so many wisteria blossoms.

We walked up to the Shrine and passed a wedding couple. Talk about a following! Look at all the tourists taking their picture.

It was such a beautiful Sunday. No matter how many times we visit, Kamakura remains one of our favorite cities.

Thanks for reading! I hope Spring weather is finally making its way to you!

Frozen Coca-Cola

By

On April 20, 2018

In Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Frozen, Japan

On April 16th, Coca-Cola released a new product called Coca-Cola Frozen just in time for summer. On my way home from English class today, I stopped at a Family Mart to grab an onigiri for lunch and found the new Coca-Cola product in the freezer section. They had lemon flavor and also Fanta Grape Frozen.

On the back of the packages, were directions for properly consuming the product. It is best to let them sit for 15-20 minutes before attempting to drink.

I haven’t been drinking much Soda lately and so the first sip of each was an intense blast of sugar. The Coca-Cola Frozen reminded me of an American 7-11 Slurpee. I’m sure as the heat and humidity of summer approaches, these will become very popular. It’s an easy and convenient way to sip a cold beverage. Even if you don’t drink it, pressing the frozen Coca-Cola to your forehead will help cool you off!

Blooming Azaleas

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On April 18, 2018

In Azalea, Japan, Sushi, Zushi

Over the past week, the azaleas have really started to reach full bloom. I wanted to visit the Nezu Shrine this week, unfortunately, the weather hasn’t cooperated with my plans. We’ve had a couple days of rainy weather. My “don’t let the weather stop you” rule doesn’t apply to flower chasing! The skies started to clear as I headed out on a few errands in Zushi. One of my stops was to pick up sushi for dinner.

By the time I returned to base, the rain had stopped and the clouds parted. Once back on base, I took a few minutes to enjoy the massive azalea mound near the parking lot of the mini mart.

The sunshine mixed with the rain drops on the petals were a bright ending to a dreary day.

The weather looks amazing for Thursday – Sunday. Rain returns Monday – Wednesday. I have English class Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week. Looks like I need to break the news to Dave that Flower Church might be at the Nezu Shrine in Tokyo this weekend!

Tea Box Covering

By

On April 16, 2018

In Japan, Tea Box

Saturday morning, Atsuko and Manami taught me how to cover a Japanese tea box.

This is the third tea box I have covered and by far the largest.

Atsuko helped me select the fabric for the tea box. We picked out a fabric with many Japanese symbols. If you look closely, there are two different images of Mt. Fuji.

We had fun working together, talking and laughing. Like I said, the tea box is very large. I’m standing on my tippy toes to see over it!

I have one more tea box that we will cover in a couple of weeks. Atsuko and Manami are so kind to help me to create these beautiful additions to our home decor. The tea boxes are very practical storage solutions and unique keepsakes from Japan.

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