Still festive, mainly

I had an awesome Christmas, and I hope anyone else celebrating did likewise. I was given a new watch to replace the one that broke a month ago, so everyone I normally hang out with will now stop being plagued by me reaching for their wrists every (approximately) five minutes. I also got a zillion awesome books, peanut-butter bonbons, pickled carrots, a scratch-n-win Bingo that won me $3 (which I immediately blew on a second card, which won me nothing), slippers, a cloche hat (just like Virginia Woolf!), a tiny table, and dozens of hugs.

I also got another sinus infection!! This was not a gift but rather, I suppose, just payback for so much awesomeness. I still resent that I spent most of *Sherlock Holmes* yesterday a) sleeping or b) trying not to vomit (I didn't--win!), and thus have no idea what happened. But I still think it was a very good movie anyway. And the more I consider it, the more I actually think that this incident was the result of my over-the-counter sinus medication, because as soon as I stopped taking it the desire to puke and lose consciousness went away. So now I'm medication-free and largely functional, and if I can just get on a plane and travel across the country, I am pretty much guaranteed more hugs, plus naniamo bars. So that is today's goal.

So I gotta go pack, instead of writing a year's end list of best somethings or worst somethings, but I was likely not going to get around to doing that anyway. Thank goodness Maisonneuve did one of books and let me contribute.

I hope you guys have a great fake-boxing day tomorrow, and who knows--if I have a little downtime in my travels, I may yet get you a list of best/worst somethings, or possibly a picture of me in a cloche hat.

RR

Rose-coloured reviews Kimchi House, Jasper, Alberta

Note: this is review is in conjunction (but not consultation) with a review by my dining companion, AMT. Please see her blog for another perspective on the same meal (I'll edit this to add a link when hers is up).

Right, so the small mountain town of Jasper, Alberta, is beautiful, semi-remote, mildly touristy and not at all the first stop on anyone's Asian cuisine binge. Nevertheless, there is both a Chinese and a Korean restaurant in town, and as my dining companion had had previous good experiences at KimChi House, we decided to go there for our one dinner in Jasper.

I needed little convincing, being a lover of Korean food and inhabitant of a city that is a much more probable destination if one were seeking to (over-)indulge in the stuff.

So the first thing to report is that the kimchi was subpar. I eat a lot of kimchi, the spicy pickled cabbage that is so much of the Korean diet. I can't really be called an expert, as I can't make it (I think it actually takes a village to make kimchi) but I know what I like--lots of sticky bright red chili paste and salty-sweet-spicy flavour. This kimchi was overwhelmed with brine, and had very little chili paste--it was sort of pinkish beige, and very drippy. Also not so spicy, although it was the drippiness that really put me off.

Ok, that's it for the negative--the rest of the food was excellent. I didn't sample AMT's bulgogi because I don't eat beef, but it looked and smelled great. My own dak bulgogi (bulgogi only chicken instead of beef) arrived all sizzling on a cow-shaped platter and was stellar. I especially liked the random little bits of veggies--one broccoli floret, three mushrooms, a bit of celery, etc. The sauce wasn't super-spicy (I'd ordered "medium") but it had a good kick to it.

There was a thing of steamed rice that I didn't eat (I don't care about rice; sorry) and that was it for free side dishes. Unusual for Korean restaurants in Toronto, at least, which usually throw in two or three little dishes of pickles or somesuch. We paid $3 for the dribbly kimchi, plus $3 each for a wonderful if salty seafood salad (AMT's choice) and a platter of lettuce leaves (my choice; the menu promised "leaf-lettuce salad). I made lettuce wraps out of my meat and the lettuce, which was quite tasty but not quite orthodox.

Ambience: a nice big restaurant, well-appointed but undistinguished. I appreciated the lack of "look, Asian stuff" art--it was just comfortable. The music was, unfortunately, some sort of classical hits album. When we entered, something from the Nutcracker was playing (full disclosure--AMT id'd everything that played, but I only nailed the wedding march.) The aspect that of course the restauranteurs didn't directly control was the other patrons. On the night we dined, these were: someone waiting for takeout and fiddling with a laptop; a man eating alone who later came over to ask us what we'd ordered and if we liked it (I couldn't tell if this was genuine culinary fascination or loneliness--I ran out of things to say about dak bulgogi, but I would have chatted with him more about something or other if I could have discerned what he wanted); a young couple in ski jackets, he with pants and a shirt underneath, she in a wedding down. Perhaps the classical march was appropriate. Anyway, it was all interesting.

The meal was a bit on the expensive side. Even leaving out the a la carte sides, $18 is more than most Torontonians would pay for bulgogi. But well, it is the mountains, I suppose you pay more for the ingredients being trekked into the mountains. And perhaps we were subsidizing the lack of other patrons. Anyway, the owner came out and talked to me while AMT was in the bathroom, and she seemed charming and dedicated and very very nervous about our liking the food. Her family immigrated 9 years ago.

So while I do have to disclose that my dining companion spent a small but striking portion of the night throwing up, I am not sure what to make of it. It seemed like such a nice place--maybe everyone screws up once in a while.

RR

Alberta is attractive

I like it here. Here in Edmonton there is a river and a majestic legislature building and lots of good food and friendly people (most of whom my host seems to know; certainly someone in every coffee shop we enter!) Also swing dancers and linguistics labs and a bunny rabbit just hanging out in a park downtown. Also, the sentence has been uttered, "I might get so excited about the interactive VHS Star Trek game that I have to use my inhaler." Clearly, there has been no lack of entertainment here.

And then there was a road trip to Jasper National Park. And though that bunny will always have a special place in my heart, it will be a bit crowded in with the deer, bighorn sheep, bald eagle, coyote, elk (some of them angry), crows and magpies. Also, while hiking in the show beside Medicine Lake, we discovered that the air smelled of cinnamon--clearly, some dried weed we had crushed underfoot emits this aroma. Magic! Anyone got ideas what it is?

Also, I'm just mildly proud of myself that I hiked with undo wussiness or death (albeit while wearing gloves I bought at Le Chateau). It is absolutely stunningly beautiful in Jasper, and there is something around every bend in the path, making the challenge of keeping on (and on) hard to resist. Here are a couple (of very many) pictures I took. These are from Athabasca Falls.

For another perspective on these adventures (and a link to many more pictures) please see Anne-Michelle's bloggage of events.

RR

Edmonton: the first 30 hours

Since arriving in Edmonton, I have done many things. I rode in a cab for half an hour without anyone except the driver (I have a taxi thing), I stayed up really late, I ran windsprints, I bought sweaters, I ate little tiny tacos, and mainly, I got to hang with AMT for enough time to talk about nonsense (my favourite sport). When I call someone long distance, I feel I have to have A+ material; when we are in the same room, I feel comfortable enough to blather.

Because the flight was in the middle of the night, I did not get the customary amount of reading done, though I did read a couple excellent essays in an ancient issue of Arc (2008, seriously, I'm behind). I was basically catatonic for the entire flight--not quite asleep, not quite awake. But again, no real jetlag, though I was pretty excited to go to sleep last night.

Today I am bright-eyed and ready to go meet AMT at her class. I get charge of the house keys and am determined to live up to the responsibility. Already, it's not going so well, as I can't figure out how to turn off several of her lamps, and being the person I am (a person who fears leaving lamps turned on all day will result in fire) I wound up unplugging them. Go, me!!

Ok, I'm to the streets of Edmonton, where it is bright and sunny and reasonably warm, but there is a wind warning in effect. Also, here they sell sandwiches at the Shoppers' Drug Mart. It's a whole other world.

RR

Reminder

that Amy Jones, Kathleen Winter and I are reading tomorrow at the Drawn & Quarterly store in Montreal, 211 rue Bernard West, at 7pm. And that it's going to be awesome. And...yay!

I'm inarticulate because of being really really tired from Hallowe'en, which was also awesome, but went on an extra hour due to Daylight Savings, and then some, because my friends are cool and I try to keep up. I'm planning to sleep...now, pretty much, so I should be in better form by the time I'm in front of any audience tomorrow.

See you there?
RR

Ottawa is Awesome

So I went to Ottawa this weekend to do a reading at the famous Manx pub (note that this link mentions an actual Manx cat but I failed to see one. I wonder if they meant a painting??) Anyway, I heart Ottawa and have some awesome friends there, but still I was frightened because it was my first solo reading. On a slate of three or so readers, as I usually am, some pressure is taken off because I can think to myself, "Well, he's really good and she's really good, so even if I just keel over after the intro, the audience will get a pretty good night out of it."

Of course that didn't happen and the reading went well (they almost always god well, I know I know; this has nothing to do with me freaking out or not). In case you weren't there and feel sad that you missed it, here's the play-by-play (thanks to G. for stellar photography).

Poet, bartender, Plan 99 Reading Series organizer, and swell guy David O'Meara introduced me. My lovely posse--Fred, me (note classic RR fear gesture), Myrna M. almost obscured, John M., and the back of L.'s head, showing off her very shiny hair.


An action shot--my approach to the mic.


Reading!


Myrna volunteered as "honourary cashier," rather above and beyond, I'd say. Here, making our first sale.

Signing a book (rock star!) while John keeps an eye on me--just as every editorial relationship should be.

Wow, that's a lot of pictures of me me me. My next post while be about something/someone else, promise. Thanks, Ottawa, Manx folks, and posse, for making it such an awesome weekend for me!

RR

Rose-coloured Reviews The Sleepless Goat Cafe and Workers' Collective

So I spent some time in Kingston, Ontario, last weekend, where there is beautiful water, friendly people, buskerfest, and a lot of waterfront pubs. Kingston also contains the Sleepless Goat Cafe and Workers' Collective. For just a moment when you first see it, you think that an independent cafe right next to a Starbucks would have a hard road. And then you really look at the place, and think it probably has a fairly well differentiated demographic.



Inside is even more non-Starbucksy: pumpkin orange walls, mismatched chairs, a big bookshelf full of oddities, and laidback counterstaff with "equal say in the way the business is run and in the decisions affecting their everyday worklives." (That's a quotation from the SG website explaining the concept of a workers' collective.) The sugar's organic, most of the waste is recycled or composted, and the graffito in the ladies' room (there was only one) says, "Support public libraries," in black sharpie.

So, reading that description, the SG *could* sound a little too crunchy to tolerate, but it's actually just right. On my two visits, the staff seemed genuinely happy to see everyone who came in, and everyone who came seemed happy to be there. And a lot of people came in, and even better, a wide variety. Unlike some allegedly chilled-out cafes, this one didn't seem to admit only deeply attractive people between 19 and 24. There were people with babies, an editor marking up a manuscript, elderly couples in hiking boots, gaggles of twentysomethings playing boardgames, several people with walkers, and of course a few tourists (ie., yours truly). Everyone was polite in accommodating babies, walkers and whatever else, and many seemed to know the staff and each other. So civilized.

Another big difference between SG and Starbucks is that this is a real restaurant, not just a coffee shop that will sell you a stale sandwich for $6 if you really want one. The menu is extensive and would be intriguing looking even it weren't above the counter in day-glo chalk--lots of roasted vegetables, curries and Mexican-inspired stuff. The food is almost entirely veggie, except for the option of bacon or sausage or tomato slices with the "traditional" breakfast. Which actually makes sense; ask anyone who went (semi)veggie for non-taste reasons what they might break down for, and I betcha they'll say bacon.

I had the "non-traditional" breakfast, which is vegan even though I'm not--I just like beans and rice--and my dining companion had the breakfast burrito, so we can pronounce the Mexican-themed breakfasts very good, anyway (if this were a real review, I would have tried a wider variety at different times of day, I suppose). You don't see beans & rice many places in Canada (I found out I like that in Costa Rica) so I really enjoyed my breakfast. Seemed a little over-carbed to serve it with home fries and toast, but whatever. The bread was the "famous" Dakota, which was just a little too full of seeds and grains for my liking, but pretty good none-the-less.

Since I only ate the one meal there (the other day we just had coffee--SG has excellent coffee) I don't know if our long wait for hot food was typical. If one were in a major hurry, there were a bunch of appetizing pre-made salads and sandwiches and muffins in the display case. But it was a comfy place to wait (you order at the counter but the staff serves you at your table--you have to tell them where you plan on sitting!) Also, as a sign by the register indicates, The Goat has games!! So you can sign yourself out the Scrabble board (or something else, I don't know what) and pass the time in that way. On a rainy morning, a Scrabble board is a great gift, even though there were two boards in the box and an usual number of Us, as well as some unidentified food particles. Also, the food is so good as to be worth waiting for.

In short, the Goat is good--go!

Try a little more try a little more
RR

Life

This morning, as I planned this post, it was going to be titled "Life is Good", because:

1) the Joyland Joyathon last night was so amazing and fun and funny and well-attended by awesome people (most of the pictures turned out terrible, due to failures of both technology and technician [though they are still available on Facebook, if you feel the need], but here's a decent one of Brian Joseph Davis and Emily Schultz kicking off the festivities:



2) I'm heading to pretty Kingston for the weekend.

3) When I took out the recycling this morning, my eye happened to be drawn to the far end of the alley, where I had never looked before (this is sad, sad, sad, considering how long I've lived in this building and that I'm supposed to have "an eye for detail") and found...a raspberry bush in full fruit! In the alley! I ate several, just to prove to myself I could--delicious!

But then I check out the internet, and found that in the next couple months, Toronto (and the world) will be losing both Pages Bookstore and Seen Reading. All involved will continue to work wonders with books and words in our city (and the world), but this will be a big change for us all, and take some getting used to.

So, yes, life is good, but it's also life, and we struggle to keep up as best we can. Onward. I'll be back in a couple days, with tales of jails and ghosts and Greek food, we hope.

I've been an irresponsible son
RR

Post-cottage miscellany

That orange chair is where I've been more or less steadily the past few days, chatting with old friends, petting the dog, reading The New Yorker fiction issue (oh, Jonathan Franzen, you've done it again!), eating cookies, and periodically staring up in stunned silence at the beauty around me. So *that's* what people like about cottage weekends. Now I know.

But I am, as ever, glad to be back in the 416. Happy things that greeted me upon my return are phone calls from friends, emails from same, my beloved indoor toilet, a nice review in Gloss, and the news that Canadian Notes and Queries new website is up, with tonnes of good stuff, including my first ever published review. I'm pretty proud.

My little review is the smallest reason to go get a copy of--or subscribee to!!--CNQ. It's a great journal and full of things to make you think. As Dan points out, putting your name on a subscriber list to a litmag is, these days, pretty much a political act, tantamont to signing a petition in favour of keeping small creatively and critically engaged communities alive and funded. So if there's a journal you believe in and you can possibly afford it, put your name down.

I was helpless as a chess piece/lifted up by someone's hand
RR

Just give me the music

One of the most terrifying things I've heard recently was, "Isn't the music today awful? There were so many good albums when we were in high school and university, and now it's all crap." This was from someone my own age!!

Now I'm sure the music scene has boom and bust years, but there's always someone doing something interesting. Moreover, there's always "crap"--you tell me how Tiffany's better than Britney. And there will always be a place for powdered-sugar pop--for me, that place is at the gym or when I'm mopping the floor.

I am not too worried about getting older--if my motto is "Smarter every day" (and it is, mainly) then any more days I accumulate must be to the good. I do worry a little about *acting* old--nostalgic, reactionary, inflexible, all those good stereotypes. This "It'll never be as good as it was" thinking will give you arthritis, absolutely.

Thus, one more reason to stay open-minded, or at least to keep listening to the radio. My trip to Japan gave me lots of exposure to fun music, although little of it actually Japanese. I did hear The Cigarettes playing in the street in front of Kyoto station, but they didn't have an album for sale, so I won't be hearing them again (sidebar: I wanted to go toss some change in their guitar case, but Ben restrained me; apparently that is *so* gauche in Japan. But...they busk for fun??) They did give me an English flier with a website on it, which I foolishly believed would allow me to find recordings of their music. But the English site is so incoherent and linkless as to be useless. Cigarettes, where are you?

Ok, for recommendations one can actually find, I scrolled happily through the Air Canada inflight entertainment options, and found some pretty good stuff (although I was semi-insane after so many hours in an airplane, so take that with qualifiers). One such good was Eva Avila. She's definitely in the Tiffany/Britney sphere, but quite catchy and untrashy, in my opinion. I expect the song that gave this post its name has been all over treadmills and high-school dances this year--it's a chaste song about dancing, but not *that* chaste ("just let me do it just let me do it"). Oh, and she's cute and *Canadian*. Nice.

A little higher up the pop-music hierarchy, we have Taylor Swift. I ended up picking Dire Straits' Romeo and Juliet to mention in my Pages interview response about bookish love songs over Swift's Love Story. But it's still a warm and charming mainstream country love song, and she's written lots of'em on, as I discovered on the plane. It does seem that this is a popular artist who has some real talent, both vocally and songwritingwise. I feel confident saying that about a popstar people mock me for liking (you know who you are) because Sasha Frere Jones agress with me.

On a non-top-forty note (note, ha!), my brother and I did an iPod exchange on the Shinkansen and I thus discovered the cheerful histrionics of The Films. I was trying to think what they remind me of, and it's probably lots of things, but maybe a shot of The White Stripes and a mixer of Franz Ferdinand. Or something like that...

Also on Ben's iPod was my best musical find of the trip, Bright Eyes. I'm actually not sure that this qualifies as the newest music, as the band's website hasn't been updated since 2007, the same year their last album was released. Nevermind, it's still cutting edge weird, two years on.

Of course, I am a writer (thought that's not been so obvious on this blog of late) and when I say a band is brilliant I often mean they have brilliant lyrics. I actually think Bright Eyes is up to it musically, but it is the lyrics that make me stand still and close my eyes to listen. Here, for you, "When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is under Glass":

Tomorrow when I wake up I'm finding my brother
And making him take me back down to the water
That lake where we sailed and laughed with our father
I will not desert him. I will not desert him

No matter how I may wish for a coffin so clean
Or these trees to undress all their leaves onto me
I put my face in the dirt and then finally I see
The sky that has been avoiding me

I started this letter, I'm going to send it to Ruba
It will be blessed by her eyes on the gulf coast of Florida
With her feet in the sand and one hand on her swimsuit
She will recite the prayer of my pen

Saying, "Time take us forward, relief from this longing
They can land that plane on my heart, I don't care
Just give me November, the warmth of a whisper
In the freezing darkness of my room"

But no matter what I would do in an attempt to replace
All the pills that I take trying to balance my brain
I have seen the curious girl with that look on her face
So surprised she stares out from her display case
~~~~

You see what I mean?

Of course, new music can be exhausting--you have to pay so close attention! I must say I was shockingly glad to find Closer, Sarah McLachlan's Greatest Hits on the airplane audio menu--the soaring "Vox" was like a magic portal back to 1999 and I listened to the whole album a great number of times (the good/bad thing about 12-hour flights is there's time to do *everything* a great number of times). Also on the airplane was a new album by Oasis, which seemed reasonably good. However, after a few minutes I had to turn it off because it was just to different from What's the story, morning glory?. Then I hummed a little of "She's Electric", which cheered me, but I also felt my knee joints creak a little.

She's got a cousin / actually she's got bout a dozen / she's got a bun in the oven / but that's nothing to do with me
RR

Books in tents!

Ah, less than I week after I swore to never post pictures to blogger again, I've posted pictures to blogger. But, in my defense it's on Thirsty, so technically that wasn't part of my foreswearing. And in blogger's defense, there was something I was doing wrong that made the process that much slower. So you never know: there could be pictures on Rose-coloured again someday. In the meantime, if you are into Japanese book fairs in train yards (and really, who isn't?) the above link is for you!!

I don't want to change the world / I'm not looking for New England
RR

Back

I'm back in Canada. I had an amazing trip, but am very glad to be home, despite the teetering piles of laundry, mail and (metaphorically) email (I'm going to write to you really really soon!) I am 31 years old. I was a finalist for the Danuta Gleed Award (sincere congratulations to Pasha Malla, the winner). I missed you guys, along with my bed, my plants, the TTC, plentiful streetside garbage cans, and an abundance of cheap fruits and vegetables. Of course, now that I have those things, I miss a comprehensive subway system, the mysterious 4:30 strong winds, the best convenience store lunches I've ever seen, temples in parking lots and (very much, already) my brother.

But you can't have it all. And I'm doing pretty well--nothing like being thrilled to come home from a wonderful vacation to make a girl realize that.

Why would you lie about something dumb like that?
RR

Genki days

If there's one thing these two weeks in Japan have taught me, it's that even the few words of vocab in Japanese I have learnt may not actually be valid in context. Be that as it may, I am pretty sure "genki" means merry and happy and fun, and the past few days of celebrating my birthday (what, I'm celebrating all month, right? I mean, how often does one turn 31?) have definitely been that. Starting the morning of the 23rd (I was born at dawn, but not in this time zone) in pictures:


We leave at dawn for the Tskuiji fish market. The only time during my trip that I have worn eye-makeup. Just seemed appropriate.

The outside of the market. Very intimidating, but very exciting.

Fishmongers and longshorefolk ride through the market on these little motorized carts. They move fast, they are loaded with fish and ice that has to be somewhere pronto there are nolanes or laws that they subscribe to, and they hate tourists.

Beautiful fish (there are a dozen similar pics, on Facebook because of the upload problem and because not everyone finds fish as poetic as I do.)

Tuna butchery.

Delightful sushi breakfast. As it turned out, I was not at all weirded out by eating raw fish and wasabi at 9am. Very happy to, in fact.

Birthday monorail (to Odaiba).

MeSci--the Museum of Emerging Science (it was great, but all my interior photos such; perhaps I can sum of the experience with "robot-POV simulation").

Odaiba beach frolic. I love being 31.

Cake buffet. Cake on one's birthday is very important.

Eating cake for supper. Life as it should be.

On to the 24th. Ben and his friend Ichiro, and a whole lot of other people, at the Tokyo Dome to cheer on the Giants (down with the Kobe Buffaloes, although they did in fact win in the end).

Gosh, the fans were amazing and intense. They sang the "hip-hooray" song for the final half hour of the game. Intense and tuneful. I sang too--it wasn't that hard to learn. You just sub in each player's name as the line-up bats. In fact, it works with my name too: "Hip-hooray, hip-hooray, hey Rebecca, hip-hooray." We sang that so many times I though I felt my teeth start to realign around the words. Probably not really though.

More singing. Ben and his friends Yuka (left) and Miu sing "Ring of Fire" in a kareoke box.

So ends this installment of pictures, although I fully intend to keep celebrating the birthday until the end of May, or possibly all year. Thanks to all who sent greetings--and if you sent me a card before I left Canada, please know that it is here with me in the small birthday shrine I have built in my room. Man, I love birthdays!!

Hip-hooray
RR

Pictures

Whoo, back in Tokyo and on free internet!! First thing, ok, the direct link for my short story Q&A at the Afterword. Now, pictures!!

Because the Blogger picture-upload interface is so, um, touchy, I have had to really be choosy about what I put on here, ie., no pictures that didn't quite turn out, no pictures of Rebecca with a pretty flower, no pictures of cats in Shinto shrines, etc. If you want those, they are on Facebook-of-the-user-friendly-upload-interface. But here, on blogger, are a few highlights of my four days in Kyoto (and a couple from Tokyo before we left).



Me in a Tokyo bookstore. No, there doesn't seem to be a way to make it not sideways.

Beautiful/spooky Buddhist cemetary in the hills, with view of Kyoto beyond.

There were many lovely girls and women in traditional kimono on our hike in the Kyoto hills. It was a pretty gentle hike, but still must have been challenging in these outfits. These two were the portrait of modest charm when I got my brother to ask for this picture.

Extremely large and awe-inspiring Buddha sculpture.

Traditional garden, outside a restaurant.

Impressive architecture at Kyoto station.

That would be Hiroshimamyaki on left, Osakamyaki on right (one in layers, one all mixed, both delicious).

A stand selling cookies you could feed to the deer in Nara. And deer, waiting for their chance.

Deer!! So cute. And pushy. You could pet them, but they didn't really care unless you had a cookie.

Me, hanging out with the deer, pretending to be all chilled out about it.

Approach to largest wooden structure in the world (which housed the largest Buddha in Japan), with tourists and wandering deer. Deer as random occurance--so funny!

Largest wooden structure in the world. Pictures from inside didn't turn out so hot (not hot enough for me to endure further congress with Blogger right now) but I thought this vista just lovely. Deer-free, because it's in a courtyard where they can't go. I would've smuggled one in if I could have.

Finally had to give her up / just about the time she begins to want me
RR

Kyoto Hello

Ok, so this is pay-to-play internet and I have 10m18s remaining, so this will be typo-ridden but I just have to say--bullet train = bliss! It has a pointy nose like a hornet, and giant windows from which you can see the countryside zooming by, and when you pass another bullet train going in the opposite direction, the combined speeds (200k/h + 200 k/h!!) makes it impossible to even discern the windows on the other train. And the ride is as smooth as silk and the weather was gleaming sun, so I just watched the ride fields and the tiered stacks of pink and grey houses and windy roads around ponds where all the cars looked the same for *two hours* and didn't even open my magazine once (and it was a good one--Exile Q).

And Kyoto, once we arrived, is also pretty impressive. Although we got lost lost lost (my fault) even that was sort of entertaining. When we were wandering around an appartment-complex parking lot (very very lost) a bemused security guard watched us walk by, and when we returned, he practically danced for the prospect of helping us. He walked us to a tiny path by the train tracks we never would have found, quite far in the heat, and left us with a map that he apparently kept around just for dumb lost westerners who strayed into his parking lot.

And then we went to the shrine of Fushimi Inari, of which I have many pictures (some with cats) which I will upload when it doesn't cost anything to do so!! But trust me, it was amazing. After the main big shrine, there are these long winding paths that go up up up in the hills, and they are covered with archway after archway, bright orange holy things called toris, hundreds and hundreds, making a hike enough for threeish hours (we did perhaps half, because I am lame).

Oh, and I finally found a pineapple bun, one of my favourite Chinese snacks that I had for some reason been craving lately. And a fun arcade (really a pachinko parlour, but who understands pachinko? I'll take Sega games any day). And and and...so much stuff!! Plus, I miss Canada. Well, parts of it. Well, you guys.

I am walking up the face of the mountain
RR

Tokyo and Yokohama in Pictures (well, a few)

Just to be clear: I'm not much of a photographer, and my camera's not much of a camera. But Tokyo and Yokohama are both so amazing that I think it shines through personal and technical ineptitude. And if it *doesn't* shine through these pictures, I am having a wonderful time and Tokyo and Yokohama are amazing. This photo upload session is a break to wait out the rain before we head to Harajuku to see the sexy punks!! Yay! Oh, and I was right--it *is* easier to upload pictures to Blogger on a PC. Not much, but slightly.



Reunited at last--the JR train from Narita airport into Tokyo. I have been awake for many many hours in this picture, but it does not diminish my happiness.



View of Tokyo tower (like a miniature Eiffel tower) down an unidentified street my first night in Tokyo.



The crowd at the station. My brother told me to stop taking pictures of strangers after this one. Good point.


View from top of a tall building. Sorry, Ben's gone for a run and I'm useless about the names here. It was downtown and very tall--that's all I got.


Sushi-conveyor-belt restaurant. Here this is cheap'n'easy fast food, as opposed to a kooky/expensive night out. But it's still delicious. No, it's more delicious.

Uh, not everything about Tokyo is perfect. But note UniQlo bagin my hand!!


Ah, pretty pretty park that I don't remember the name of. But this is right in the middle of the city, a la Central Park. It's shockingly gorgeous, no? I didn't bother taking a picture of the crows; actually, I don't like to slow down near them.



Us in Yokohama, just about to go into the Boats and Ports Museum (wait, it's better than it sounds).



See! The Boats and Ports Museum has an actual *boat* you can run around and explore. Me, in a cabin, being a goof.

Ben, in the control room, being a goof.




Me, pretending to drive the boat (I am a very safe driver).


What Rosenblums do on a Ferris Wheel.



A bit of Yokohama, as seen from 3/4 up the Ferris Wheel.



We went to a Shinto festival in Akurasa. This is the top of the Shrine there, plus incongruous Lion Club sign. Why?


What the festival was all about was groups of people carrying very heavy portable shrines through the streets and chanting. It was very moving, somehow, when they pushed past us (the streets are very narrow there), all straining and sweating under the weight of the thing, but still so happy and impassioned. A few times, we got exhorted to chant too. Really an amazing feeling to be included in that.



The band (not called that, I'm sure) that came in between some of the shrines in the parade (also possibly not called a parade).

Most delicious food ever. It's like a ground rice crepe filled with fried cabbage and dried shrimps and a fried egg, all doused with "bbq sauce" that tastes suspiciously like soy. Ok, that actually doesn't sound good, but it was amazing.

Me, with eyes closed, in front of shockingly pretty bush.



Me, pointing enthusiastically at robot boat. In the end, we went on a normal boat, but at least I saw the one designed by a manga artist. Cool, no?

OK, whoo. That's a lotta photos. More...at some point. We head for Kyoto tomorrow for a few days, and I think internet is tres cher there, so it may be a while. But I'll be back!! Hope you guys are holding the west ok for me!

Don't give me the small talk / give me the big talk
RR