Microblog

It’s Sausage Saturday, which means a movie with a frozen treat in the intermission. Tonight: vanilla yogurt riched up with heavy cream and honey.

Spent the afternoon researching 2023 travel and booking fragments of trips: two hotels, a one-way flight, and a round-trip ferry.

Let the festivities begin. Thanksgiving 2022.

Walked past a construction site, which got me thinking about Azuma House in a working class suburb of Osaka. I’d made a point of standing in front of that home last week: it raises questions; with answers I warm to it. “Like” or “Dislike” are not enough.

Accompanied Dwight to his appointment to remove a basal cell carcinoma. The procedure went well, the lesion was shallow. As we walked towards the exit, chuckled at “Everyone will notice. No one will know.” Not our style.

It’s almost inevitable: after an overseas trip, a cold has set in. An early night sounds so good.

Reheated tonight’s dinner in the microwave: lamb and root vegetable stew. I’d made it this morning because stews improve by sitting (in the fridge). I made a double batch so there’ll be an encore appearance mid-week.

Made a pourover using a product I’ve not seen here. Every morning, in my hotel room in Japan, I made pourover coffees. Unlike pods, it’s biodegradable and it tastes pretty good. At home I prefer to grind my own, but when traveling it’s a convenient option.

Posted Japan 2022 Itinerary.

Walked on fresh snow in our neighborhood: a quick scene change from the streets of Tokyo yesterday.

On board United 882, Tokyo HND to Chicago ORD, in the good hands of father and daughter.

Took the train to Asakusa, Tokyo, walked back until I ran out of time. Along the way it was my kind of urban hike: huge temple; buildings not intended to last (that’s OK); the only Le Corbusier building in east Asia (went in); stark transit infrastructure (love it); and the gardens of the Imperial Palace.

Kyoto is over-loved like so many A-list places. For this reason I’ve avoided the city for over ten years. Today I visited for a few hours, took the subway to places that have escaped top-ten lists.

Dwight’s uncle was posted to Kyoto at the end of WW2. Today, I walked around his old stomping ground trying to reconcile some of his photos with today’s Kyoto. When I matched this 1946 photo I must’ve reacted: people started to gather around me and were excited to see the old photo. More…

Walked across Teshima, one of the “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea, looking for art installations. At one point, sat on the floor in a vast concrete inside space while little rivulets of water slowly formed around me, only to “find” tiny drain holes. (Photography wasn’t allowed.)

It was the one rainy day on this trip, so went to Osaka to ride transit, duck into buildings, and experience Tadao Ando’s architecture. Felt like a groupie, standing outside his office, touching the signature Ando concrete. The security sticker probably deters theft of the nameplate.