More Rain

0617am – leftover hurricane Debbie.

Rain is still good. And since I am still feeling old and fragile, it’s a fine excuse to just laze around the Old Bat Cave.

Gratitude

Grateful for Happy Hour with friends. That will be happening soon.


This year’s origami craft sale project.

This year’s project will not bring in as much money as we got last year. But, every little bit helps.

Rain

0616am

Rain today. That’s a good thing.

Gratitude

I am having a hard time with gratitude lately. I am feeling very old and fragile. Today, I am grateful for books that allow me to escape from myself.


All caught up with my “coming home” chores—even the laundry.

A serious visit is scheduled with the dentist on Monday. Either an extraction or major repair is on the radar. And frankly, I am not sure I will live long enough to justify either of those procedures.

Even Sysco Lemon Pie can look good.

OK. Getting Normal?

0544AM

OK, I think it’s getting better. I still woke up at 0300 hours. But I went back to sleep. And I mostly did stuff until noon. Then I stopped doing stuff and napped.

Gratitude

Grateful that I can still walk outside and cover a mile in less than 20 minutes.


How bad can the Orange-Dictator-Presumptive get?

We have a chance to avoid a Donald DoOver. Just a chance.

Cloud watching from my comfy chair.

That’s more like it.

Just one question.

0546am

Still jet-lagged. Still waking up at 3am. But, hey, I am waking up. And that’s a good thing.

Gratitude

After all these years, I still grateful for my apartment at The Asylum. I may not love The Asylum, but when I get into the Old Bat’s Cave and shut the door, I am happily home.


And what’s the one question? Who would let Elon Musk stick anything inside their skull?

Jet-Lagging Along

0940am Hazy Summer Morning

Still jet-lagging around. So, what do I expect?

Gratitude

Air Conditioning. That’s what I am grateful for at this instant.


And I am trying to ignore the hit my portfolio took today. When you are young days like today are buying opportunities. When you have short positions you cover. When you are old, you hang on and hope for the best.

Home Tasteful Home?

Welcome back to my tasteful old folks home where the tables have feet and balls.

The Asylum periodically has delusions of modernity. My elevator lobby is a dose of reality.

Bird or Duck? Feet

As for my jetlagged self, I don’t think I damaged anything or anybody today. That’s about as good as it gets. I have cleaned up most of the damage caused by the credit card disaster I experienced at the beginning of last month. That’s about it.

Home – Japan Day 27

0647AM – EWR

Those buildings are parking garages. How do people ever find their cars? Do they put an AirTag in the glove box? Not my problem.

Amtrak was on time. No issues with the Red, Yellow and M16 lines. Easy trip home.

Jet lag is a whole different story. I am currently exhausted.

Gratitude

Grateful that I was able to make the trip. And survive.
Grateful to have the Mac back. Got tired of doing the blog using the phone.


Packing report: I took two items that were neither used nor needed: Rain Jacket and Cashmere Hoodie. But, I would have taken them in any case. Everything else was used. Well used. The single most used items were the black skirt and black shirt. Oh yes, and my one pair of shoes. All day every day. 

Coming home – Japan Day 26

Last look at Tokyo from the airport monorail

I can not imagine never seeing Tokyo again. So, I won’t.

At the airport. Waiting. Wandered around some. Getting mentally ready for 15 hours in the air.

Hotel #1 do over.

Made it to New Jersey. No problems. Thunder and lightning. So, I don’t know if I could have made it all the way to DC. Train might leave at 9:10 tomorrow. Or not. With Amtrak you never know.

Tokyo – Japan Day 25

1025pm

So last day. Still blazing hot. Over 10,000 people a week are taken to hospital in Tokyo due to heat-related problems.

Note to self: avoid Tokyo in the summer.

You can not visit Japan without going to a shrine, getting your fortune, and filling out an ema. You can tick off these boxes at any of the major. Shrines or you can make an adventure out of it.

The adventure begins by taking the Subway in rush hour. 

I lineup for one of the women only cars. They’re usually less crowded.
This is what less crowded looks like. After about half the ride I got a seat.
Eventually, I arrive at my destination. Gōtokuji Temple
大谿山 豪徳寺

As The story goes long long ago, a lord on his way back from falconry was beckoned by a cat at the temple gate and decided to stop by. While spending time at the temple, thunder suddenly rang out and rain began to fall. Having gotten well out of a thundershower with an enjoyable conversation with the temple master, the lord was impressed by this luck that the cat brought. The lord was Naotaka Ii, the lord of Hikone domain. Financially backed up by Naotaka, Gotokuji temple was rebuilt in 1633.

Thus the Maneki Neko began.

People bring nekos. Lots of neko.
Especially at the New Year, but there were plenty today.

On to the ema.

Ema are wooden plaques that you write wishes on.
My ema
My wish

In good time on of the monks collects the ema and they are burned sending the wishes to the gods.

Leaving tomorrow. All checked in. Solid on how to get to the airport. I decided to spend the night in New Jersey and come on home on Saturday on the train.

Did I mention there were stairs?

Tokyo – Japan Day 24

Nothing changed outside my window. So this is breakfast. Japanese French toast. Not bad.

I went walkabout in the 95° heat. Maybe it wasn’t my smartest move ever. But what do I got to lose? I survived but I did subway back. I must not have looked like I was about to die because nobody offered me a seat. I consider that an accomplishment.

Public art, Godzilla!
And ramen.

This afternoon I escaped into the underground. There are four layers of underground in this area. It goes on for blocks and blocks. And I can get royally lost. But, it’s air conditioned.

I wandered through an upscale grocery.

This is corn soup. But what’s the plastic looking rose all about?

These weiner things are very common everywhere. But they just look obscene to me. So I haven’t had one this time.

And you got to love square watermelon.

This is awesome. Great looking asparagus. And a map showing where they were grown and a picture showing who grew them. How respectful of the farmer is that?

Finally, too bad these are kids hats. I know a lot of old ladies who would love to have one.

Tokyo – Japan Day 24

0605am – different light – same buildings

Same Western breakfast as I had yesterday. I should try this hotel’s Upscale Japanese breakfast, but I doubt that it would compare favorably to all those fun breakfasts I had at the cheap hotels in Hokkaido.
Once again I tried to visit the Imperial Palace. But, of course the 300 daily tickets were gone.

Nevermind I set out to visit the Emperor for coffee anyway.

Public art and my sign that this is where I live.

Yes, there’s a Starbucks on the Imperial Palace grounds. There are no other enterprises on the grounds. And there are perfectly good Japanese coffee shop chains if they really needed a coffee shop. It’s as bizarre to me as if King Chuck put a Pizza Hut on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

It is just a normal Starbucks. I had an Americano over ice.

It’s interesting to wander around.

Some of the gates date from the early 1600s.

But there was no getting over the moat. I didn’t expect there to be a way. Unless you had one of the 300 tickets.
Time to head back to A/C.
Hotel is at the end of this unused street. It was for the Emperor’s use. His own private road to the train station.

A little cropping and there’s Tokyo Station.

This part of the station is now a hotel. A fine hotel but at this instant it costs more than I choose to pay. I am across the street by the bear.

Tokyo – Japan Day 23

0638am not much to see.

First things first. Breakfast.

Pretty much an excellent Western breakfast.

Knives and forks and napkins and salt and pepper. Nothing raw except the cantaloupe. Even the tomato was grilled. No fun here.

By the time I finished breakfast it was over 90°. Next stop was 7-Eleven where I picked up a cheap umbrella. No self-respecting. Japanese woman would be out on a day like today without an umbrella.

Then I started walking to an origami studio I wanted to visit. That didn’t last long. On the Marunouchi Line for a couple of stops then 15 minute walk to the shop/studio.

It was wonderful. The shop has been in the family for 170 years. (William Henry Harrison was president then.) The main business is hand made paper. Origami is a charming sideline. Kazuo Kobayashi is called the Director of the business.

Kazuo Kobayashi

His English is better than Japanese. We talked a great long time. I showed him the wreaths that Absara and I made last year. He gave me a square of paper and he took another and we proceeded to each fold one of those roses. I was surprised that I remembered how to do it and even more surprised that he recognized it from my photograph. And this being Japan we had to take pictures of each other. 

The man has more origami paper then I do.

By the time I left it was 99°. That’s just too hot for me.

Came upon a 17th century Confucian temple on my trudge back to the station. Not really sure why it is here.
Getting closer to the station. Getting closer to dying of heat prostration.

I made it back to the hotel. And didn’t do a heck of a lot for the rest of the day. Until it was time to go find dinner.

And I found a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a cup of coffee. A totally Western dining day.