Bryce

On my way to Calgary, I stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park. It is one of my favorite places.

The Getty Museum

On Friday, I visited the Getty Museum. It is nice to go there on a weekday, when it is not too busy.

Here are some shots of the cactus garden:

Skiing at Mammoth Mountain

I went up to Mammoth Mountain to ski for a couple of days. Mid-week skiing is nice, because the mountain is not crowded, and the motel rates are a little cheaper.

I was anticipating spring-skiing conditions, but ended up with a spring storm! Wednesday was very windy and cold, but sunny. Thursday, a storm rolled in and it was snowing from 11:00 onwards, gaining in intensity as the day wore on.

The skiing was not bad. You couldn’t go off of the groomed trails, because that was mostly frozen slush from warmer days.

I have a new pair of Lange boots, which I purchased at the end of the season, one year ago. I had only used them for one day after I bought them, so on this trip I was still learning to use them. My old San Marco TR3’s were very nice boots, but they were not well-matched to the new carving skis. My new boots offer much better feedback and control for the inside ski when carving. They are, however, even harder to put on, and much, much harder to take off! Once on they are very comfortable.

Here is an Eastern Sierra Nevada storm:

Home?

I’ve been back in L.A. for a few days, now. I can’t really say I am “home”, though, because I do not have a permanent residence.

I have taken my car out of storage, and had it checked out. Now I will continue my nomadic life for a while longer: first, I’ll catch a few days of skiing at Mammoth Mountain. Then, I will head up to Calgary, stopping at some national parks and so on, on the way.

Yoshino-yama

Yoshino Mountain is a short distance south of Nara. Yoshino is famed for its cherry trees. There are hundreds of trees on the mountainside.

This is quite different from the cities, where trees have been planted in parks and along the streets. I am not certain if the Yoshino cherry trees are “wild”, or if they have been cultivated.

Along with the cherry trees, the village on the mountain also has Japan’s second-largest wooden structure, in the form of another temple.

Yoshino-yama is an interesting place to see the cherry trees, but, in some ways, Kyoto is better. It has more variety of trees. At Yoshino, the trees have mostly small, white-colored flowers; in Kyoto, the flowers range from white to pink, and come in many different sizes and shapes.

The Lonely Planet guidebook has incomplete information about the village. It describes how to get there, and mentions the short cablecar that takes you partway up to the village. From the top of the cablecar, it is a long slog to where the hotels are. It does not mention that there is a shuttle bus which will take you much, much closer to where you want to go, and also stops at a few points where you could begin sightseeing.

I took the cablecar up, and then had to carry all of my stuff to the hotel. For the return journey, I used the much more convenient bus.

Flying to LA

I am flying back to Los Angeles, today.

Toru and Miyako Odori

I attended two very different performances, on Saturday. The first was a traditional Noh play called Toru, and the second was the Geisha dance called Miyako Odori.

Unfortunately, there was some overlap in the performances. The Noh started at 1:30, and went to 5:00, and the Miyako Odori started at 4:50, but you should arrive 40 minutes early to attend a “tea ceremony” before the show. So, I had to leave the Noh play before it finished.

Noh

Some Japanese people have told me that “even Japanese do not understand Noh”, so I shouldn’t be worried if I can’t follow the play.

The show was actually made from a number of parts. First, someone explained what the play was about (in Japanese only, unfortunately). Then there was a short segment of three dances. A comedy play. Three more dances. And, finally, the Noh play itself.

Noh dance.

The dances were in a similar style to the Noh play. Four men, kneeling, chant. The dancer strikes some very precise poses, moving very smoothly between them, and also sometimes chants. It is not flamboyant, but mostly very slow and careful. He may also stomp his feet.

I was sitting beside a woman who spoke English quite well, and was also a Noh fan. She explained a little about what was happening.

The comedy was, again, something that I couldn’t follow, but it did get some good laughs from the audience. Two characters had a discussion and apparently one – a priest – spoke the names of a succession of fish. To Japanese speakers, it was quite witty.

I could only watch about 30 minutes of Toru before it was time to exit to head for the Geisha dance.

There were three musicians on stage, playing drums and a flute. They also chanted. A chorus of chanters was also present, but I left before they did anything. Finally, the characters give dialogue – in a chant -, as well.

Noh character.

Toru (Noh character).

The woman beside me showed me a textbook she had on the play. It had all of the dialogue and a type of “musical notes” depicting the tone of the chanting. It also had diagrams depicting the stance of the characters while chanting – like a form of choreography. The style of Noh is that the characters stand in different poses, while they chant (or other performers chant) some dialogue. They seem to hold a pose for a number of minutes before it is time to move to the next. All of the poses present some symbolism.

When the performance started, I saw that many audience members had similar books. The theatre was almost full.

Miyako Odori

I rushed over to the Miyako Odori theatre, which was a 15 minute walk at a fast pace.

I suspected that the “tea ceremony” was not going to be a real tea ceremony, and I was correct. It was more of a mass tea serving, with a Geisha at the front pouring some tea that was served to a few guests. No one received a “personal” tea serving.

I could have seen another 20 minutes of the Noh play, and still had my quick cup of tea and sweet.

Compared to the very spare and formal Noh play, the Geisha dance was a lavish production. The costumes (mostly kimono) and sets were very colorful. It was obvious that the kimono were designed for a stage production, with large, bold patterns and bright colors. This is quite different from the intricate patterns that Geisha normally wear.

Summer.

Fall.

Winter.

Spring.

There were four sections – one for each season. Summer and winter appeared to be telling stories. Spring and Fall were dances. I couldn’t follow the stories, but it was enough to watch the performance.

All roles were played by women (which is opposite to Kabuki and Noh, where all players are men). There was also a group of women playing music, and another singing the songs. The actresses and dancers did not sing or speak.

Sitting in the front row, I was able to see the faces and expressions of the Geisha who were performing the stories. This was good, because a lot the storytelling appeared to rely on subtle expressions and head movements which would be lost to more distant viewers. I could see, from the precision of the movements, that the Geisha had a high degree of training and skill in performing the stories.

The experienced Geisha performed the demanding roles, and Maiko did side characters, and the group dances.

The Cherry Petals are Falling

The cherry petals are starting to fall in Kyoto. Someone who came from Tokyo said they are mostly gone, there.

Then again, there are still plenty left:

Sakura Ice Cream

That’s right: Cherry blossom ice cream!

It doesn’t taste like cherry. It tastes like a flower smells!

If You Light Fireworks Here, You Will Set a Monkey’s Ass On Fire!

The photo is self-explanatory

Daihatsu Roadster

I’ve seen a few of these around. It’s another interesting car from Daihatsu.

Mini Craze

There are a lot of restored old “real” minis around. Japan’s vehicle inspections are very tough. Most people replace their car after three or four years because they will have difficulty re-registering their “old” car. So it must be very expensive to get a vintage car onto the road.

More Gardens

Makin’ Mochi

Here are some guys making mochi the old-fashioned way, in Nara.

They pound glutinous rice into a paste, and then form a ball with some sweet red beans inside. It is coated with some rice flour so you can hold it. Otherwise, it is very sticky.

Unfortunately, in the photo, the finished product is out of view in the trays to the right. Click the mochi link above to learn more.

One Week To Go

After six months of travel, I am still smiling and happy.

Here I am at Horyuchi Temple, which is in the outskirts of Nara. This temple has the oldest wooden building in the world. It is 1300 years old. Most of the other wooden temples have been destroyed by fire, earthquake, or neglect, so it is rare to find one still standing after so long.

The temples (and traditional wooden houses) are made from Japanese Cedar, which is an insect-proof hardwood. It is also affected very little by changes in humidity and heat. Otherwise, weather cycles would cause expansion and contraction of the wooden joints (no nails are used in these structures) and eventually the joints would become loose and the structure would weaken.

Shortly after entering the temple, I was approached by a woman who is training to become a guide for English-speaking tourists. She was looking for a solo traveler to practice on, so I had another free guide for the morning. It was good, because I learned a lot more about the temple and the Japanese form of Buddhism than I could from the temple’s brochure.