The Land of the Firming Bum
Japan has gone pretty well thus far. Aside from a few early complications (oh so mysterious) we have managed to settle into apartment, set up bank accounts, get phones and, most importantly, get some rather cool foldable bicycles. Getting bikes just opens up so many options. Japan (well our part of Japan - Hokuriku - anyway) is pretty much a flat country, but with lots of large hills and mountains. Which doesn`t make sense at all. Erm, Toyama City is flat, but surrounded by mountains. Once past the mountains or hills, it is flat again. then there are more hills/mountains. Or the Japan Sea. Which is flat.
Anyhoo, we`ve been riding all over the place. Yesteday we went for a ride into the hills, which is fun in itself. The leaves are just starting to change colour andthe weather is entirely delightful. Anyway, after an hour or so we ended up at the Toyama Family Park, which is a small zoo/amusement park. The animals aren`t anything special, but the zoo itself is set on a large hill (is there something between a hill and a mountain?) with lots of paths through thick forest, so it was great fun just walking around. And we went on a giant ferris wheel. And I didn`t get scared much. Not at all actually. Anyway, the zoo had more pictures/videos/models of animals than actual animals. It was like the zoo of the future, where you can go and see where the animals used to live. Or look at plastic monkeys in trees while listening to monkey noises playing through strategically placed speakers. But we did see some real live red pandas which were without doubt the cutest things I have ever seen. And a goat! woo!
Then we continued our bike ride, and we cycled through a tunnel cut through the hills which was kinda cool. And we did the traditional `scream like maniacs while in the tunnel` thing, which is even more fun to do on bikes than in a car.
Last week we went to Kanazawa, a biggish city (about one million people) about 45 minutes away. We went to Kenruko-en, one of the 3 best gardens in Japan. It was suitably impressive. And we went to the Kanazawa castle and the 21st Century of Contemporary Art, the most modern art gallery in the world. It opened last year. There was a Gerhard Richter exhibition which was pretty cool. In August the new Bjork and her boyfriend movie thing opened there but we weren`t in Japan. We have to go to Kanazawa a couple of times next month for follow up training, so next time we are going to go on a tour of the Ninja Temple, which has trap doors and other Indiana Jones style things. Though you have to call ahead and book a spot on the tour. In Japanese. So first I have to work out a script.
If anyone want to email me please do so at terryama at lycos dot com. hope yr all fine.
Japan has gone pretty well thus far. Aside from a few early complications (oh so mysterious) we have managed to settle into apartment, set up bank accounts, get phones and, most importantly, get some rather cool foldable bicycles. Getting bikes just opens up so many options. Japan (well our part of Japan - Hokuriku - anyway) is pretty much a flat country, but with lots of large hills and mountains. Which doesn`t make sense at all. Erm, Toyama City is flat, but surrounded by mountains. Once past the mountains or hills, it is flat again. then there are more hills/mountains. Or the Japan Sea. Which is flat.
Anyhoo, we`ve been riding all over the place. Yesteday we went for a ride into the hills, which is fun in itself. The leaves are just starting to change colour andthe weather is entirely delightful. Anyway, after an hour or so we ended up at the Toyama Family Park, which is a small zoo/amusement park. The animals aren`t anything special, but the zoo itself is set on a large hill (is there something between a hill and a mountain?) with lots of paths through thick forest, so it was great fun just walking around. And we went on a giant ferris wheel. And I didn`t get scared much. Not at all actually. Anyway, the zoo had more pictures/videos/models of animals than actual animals. It was like the zoo of the future, where you can go and see where the animals used to live. Or look at plastic monkeys in trees while listening to monkey noises playing through strategically placed speakers. But we did see some real live red pandas which were without doubt the cutest things I have ever seen. And a goat! woo!
Then we continued our bike ride, and we cycled through a tunnel cut through the hills which was kinda cool. And we did the traditional `scream like maniacs while in the tunnel` thing, which is even more fun to do on bikes than in a car.
Last week we went to Kanazawa, a biggish city (about one million people) about 45 minutes away. We went to Kenruko-en, one of the 3 best gardens in Japan. It was suitably impressive. And we went to the Kanazawa castle and the 21st Century of Contemporary Art, the most modern art gallery in the world. It opened last year. There was a Gerhard Richter exhibition which was pretty cool. In August the new Bjork and her boyfriend movie thing opened there but we weren`t in Japan. We have to go to Kanazawa a couple of times next month for follow up training, so next time we are going to go on a tour of the Ninja Temple, which has trap doors and other Indiana Jones style things. Though you have to call ahead and book a spot on the tour. In Japanese. So first I have to work out a script.
If anyone want to email me please do so at terryama at lycos dot com. hope yr all fine.
posted by terry at 9:28 AM
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