food in my belly

now that i've been in japan almost a week now, i have gotten use to the time change and am able to sleep through the night and not feel quite so sleepy during the day. the first few days were spent doing a little fiber shopping; linnet, avril, nomura tailor, and ein shop.

the food here is delicious! i've had ramen made up fresh, udon with it's plump little noodles, sushi with an invigorating touch of wasabi, matcha icecream in its smooth and deep green yumminess, and many other dishes i have no name for.

i hope to visit a tea house, ohara, kokkedera moss temple, mina perhonnen, and a few other places soon. this weekend i will be going into gion; there is a haven for matcha bliss there that has matcha in every menu item. yum! oh, and to finally get around to taking non-weaving related photos.

korean food is yummy

update from korea. i've survived the longest leg of my journey thus far. with the exception of having to go through security three times; basically, every airport i've stopped at, it has not been too bad. i had a window seat for my lax to seoul ride and it vastly limited my range of movements, but the sleeping positions i managed to twist myself into brought some measure of sleep. i'm feeling okay, a little sleepy, it's light here now and i'm waiting for the plane which will take me to osaka.

i breakfasted on a vegetarian bibimbap at the seoul airport, and it was mighty tasty, with a side of seaweed salad, fish stock soup and kimchi. i thought of taking a photo, after i had already eaten more than half of it. i will keep it in mind the next time i sit down to eat a meal.

a grand adventure

well, i'm off! i'll be posting from japan when next you hear from me. 32 hours is a completely doable length of time to get somewhere, right?

islands are great

like most people, i have a list of places i would like to see before i pass on. my list contains mostly islands:

japan

new zealand

ireland

madagascar

redwood forest in california

sweden

holland

i've been to both holland and the redwood forests, but at such a young age and for so little time that i would like to revisit them.

well, i've decided that my main goal for this year is to go to japan in the fall. i'm learning survival japanese on my ipod, figuring out the rail systems, making lists of things to take, editing said list, turning my wardrobe into a minimalist masterpiece so as to save room in small suitcase, purchasing a small suitcase, renewing passport, searching out hostels to stay at, researching places to go while in tokyo and kyoto, walking to get in shape, and suppressing my obsessive tendencies so that i can last the 8.5 months until i depart.

i'm going by myself and i'm thrilled to be doing it! i can sink myself into the culture as much as i want, practice my japanese without embarrassment and see beautiful places at my own pace; all without someone else to please or be considerate of.

i would like to visit a few places in particular while i'm there:

kyoto costume institute

linnet store

kokedera moss temple

nishijin textile center

takashimaya department store

honkenishio yatsuhashi

toji temple

adashino nembutsuji temple

kaikai kiki gallery

if there are any suggestions you may have for someplace to see while i'm in kyoto or tokyo, or any helpful ideas on things i absolutely must bring, please leave a comment! thanks!