Fly Fishing

I've decided to take up fly fishing. My uncle is a master fly fisherman; the kind of guy who ties all his own flies.

He just sent me a nice fly box with a bunch of trout and salmon flies. I wish it was spring, and I could try them out.

More from Japan

It has been a busy fall. So, my blogging has suffered. But, time to catch up.

During my last trip to Japan, I stayed in a traditional Japanese hotel. The picture above was my room. You can see that it was very simple but comfortable.

Below is a picture I took of a temple in Matsuyama. I have always liked how these roofs are made.

Breakfast at Grandmas

I went to Denver this week for a meeting. It is rare that I go there. And in fact, I think I've only been there on business twice in the last 8 years. But, I visited my parents and my wife's grandmother.

My wife's grandmother is a real good cook. She can do just about anything with a cast iron skillet. I had breakfast at her house and was full until dinner.

Dinner Adventures

While I was in Matsuyama, I had a variation of the "boil an egg in a paper cup" trick I learned in Boy Scouts. In this version, the paper was folded nicely with some broth in the bottom. The waitress came by and lit the burner. She told us to put the sliced meat in first and then the vegetables. In a few minutes, we had a nice soup. And, the paper never caught on fire.


Of course, what would dinner be without a fish to look at. Unfortunately, this one was looking back at me.

Matsuyama

I went to Matsuyama this week for some meetings. I arrived and dropped off my bag at the hotel. On my way to the train station, I passed a wedding party in the middle of getting their picture taken.

I had to snap a photo myself.

Bento

I arrived in Tokyo last night and went over to Queen's Isaten, a local super market. The store is located inside the Shinagawa train station and has a great selection of "Bento" lunch boxes.

I wandered around and decided on the one above. It was great.

Fall Colors

My parents were in town last week and wanted to see some fall foliage. We took them to the Old North Bridge in Concord where the leaves were just turning.

Then, we drove past Walden Pond and over to the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park. As we were exploring, I noticed this wall covered in ivy.

Flowers in San Francisco

I recently visited San Francisco on a business trip. New England is entering fall and the summer flowers are dying away. I am always amazed when I go to the Bay Area and see the flowers.

I saw this small planting and really liked the blue flowers.

Sushi in Seattle

Last night, I went to a great sushi place in Bellevue, WA. I Love Sushi is a very authentic sushi restaurant. We tried oysters (see above) and a variety of sashimi.

I like most kinds of raw fish, but I draw the line at fish eggs and sea urchin. The funny thing is that sea urchin is a very expensive sushi, so there is always someone who is willing to eat mine.

Prime Italian Steakhouse

We arrived in Lenox and only had a short time before we needed to be at Tanglewood. I hadn't done any research on places to eat, so we decided to ask at the hotel. My wife found a listing of several places in the lobby and picked one out. The person at the front desk said that they send a lot of people there.

Prime Italian Restaurant is located in historic Lenox and is only a few miles away from Tanglewood. The atmosphere inside seemed more like a place you would find in a major city instead of western Mass. But, our waitress was friendly and helpful. And the food was excellent. I had pasta that was perfectly cooked with a fantastic sauce.

Tanglewood

We went to Tanglewood this weekend. We made the trip out to the Birkshires to see James Taylor perform. He does concerts there every year. But this time as a fundraiser, he performed with Sheryl Crow and Yo Yo Ma. Actually, it was only through a bit of luck that we got tickets. Some friends of ours had a pair of tickets and then found out they couldn't go. They put word out that the tickets were available, and several people wanted them. They decided to randomly pick who would get the tickets, and we were the lucky couple. When we found out, my wife actually screamed with joy.

We hadn't been to a concert in 19 years. This one was worth the wait. Here is a sample of what it was like to see JT and Yo Yo Ma perform together.

Flying W Ranch

While we were in Colorado, we spent some time in Colorado Springs. My wife's father and his wife took us to an authentic cattle ranch for dinner. The Flying W Ranch is located near the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. They serve a Chuck Wagon style dinner and are able to feed over a 1000 people in under 20 minutes. Everyone gets a tin plate with a choice of BBQ Beef or Chicken, cowboy beans (they called them Whistle Berries...), a baked potato, corn bread, apple sauce (chilled to keep one corner of the tin plate cool enough to hold) and a little piece of spice cake.


After dinner the Flying W. Ranglers performed Cowboy Music. We really felt like we were in the West.

Rocky Mountains

For the second half of our vacation, we visited family in Colorado. We took a day and visited Brainard Lake. At 10,000+ feet, I ran out of breath just strolling around the lake.

I brought fishing gear and did some fishing with my dad and son. We had fun but didn't catch anything. While we were there, we saw people walking lamas. I'd never seen a lama close up before.

White Mountains

Here are some final pictures from the New Hampshire part of our vacation. We drove to the top of Cathedral Ledge just outside of Conway. You can park near the top and look out over the White Mountains.

There were a few climbers who were going up the rock face.

The picture below is near Emerald Pool. The sun was shining through the woods, and the water level was higher than normal because of all the rain this year.


And finally, while I was out on the lake (not catching fish), I did see a lot of loons swimming. You really understand the expression "crazy as a loon" when you hear them call to each other.

Strolling in North Conway

It is time to catch up on my blogging. I have lots of pictures from our vacation that I need to write about.

While in New Hampshire, we visited North Conway. We found a place to park on the street and took a walk past the local stores.

I like the small shops more than the outlets which are closer to Conway. There were New Hampshire gifts and a "Five and Dime" with lots of candy options.


There were also several New Age shops with collections of mystical gifts and treasures. My older daughter liked the shop with Egyptian replicas. My younger liked the expensive jeans.

Fishing but not catching

This week, I really felt like fishing. I tried in the morning and in the evening. My son and I went out on the canoe at dusk and fished until dark. There was a full moon, and the lake was very still. We passed some loons but didn't get any bites.

I had dreams of catching a brown or rainbow trout. But, I only caught little fish like the one below. Maybe next time...

Emerald Pool

We decided to take a little hike today and visit the Emerald Pool.

You reach the pool by taking the Baldface Circle trail located on 113 north of Fryeberg, ME.

The pool is surrounded by granite walls and is so deep that you can't touch the bottom. My son was the first one in the water. I followed and waded in. The water was frigid.

I took a deep breath and dove in. When I came up, I couldn't breathe because of the cold. By the time I could stand it, my son was jumping off a 6ft granite ledge.

Evening at the lake house

We left this morning for New Hampshire and our annual lake house
vacation.

After a quick drive, we arrived and set up the house. Then after
dinner, my son and I went for a swim.

Statues in Kobe

While I was in Kobe, I kept seeing statues that I thought were interesting. Here they are in order of smallest to biggest. The picture above was from Sumadera Temple. It looks like a kind of dog that is guarding something.

The picture below must represent a religious teaching about how the world is suspended. I need to do some research about that. This statue was also at Sumadera Temple.


Next we move on to a bigger statue. This one is at the entrance to Chinatown in Kobe. I like the earlobes, and this is one happy guy.


And finally, a statue worthy of a fish story. No really, the fish was the biggest one ever.

Sumadera Temple Part 2

Sumadera is also known for being a location that Matsuo Basho, the famous Haiku poet, wrote about. Here is an example of his haiku.

to the flute's tone
the waves also approach
autumn in Suma

fue no ne ni | nami mo yorikitaru | Suma no aki

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Sumadera Temple Part 1

When I was in Kobe, I took a slight detour before my meeting to visit Sumadera Temple. The temple was originally built in 886. I visited this temple when I lived in Kobe 24 years ago and wanted to see it again.

The temple is famous for its proximity to a famous Heike battle and the location of an episode from the Tale of the Heike, a classic example of Japanese medieval literature.

In 1184, at the end of the battle of Ichi no Tani, Kumagai Naozane (1141-1208) came riding along the beach looking to intercept a leader of the fleeing Heike army. He spotted a single horseman with a finely arrayed horse.


Naozane attacked and managed to wrestle his adversary to the ground and remove his helmet.

To his surprise, it was a young sixteen year old boy. He thought of this own son who was wounded in the battle, and having pity on him, thought to spare his life. But, at that moment, 50 of his fellow samurai came riding into view. Kumagai knew the youth would die and decided to deal the final blow himself with the promise to see that prayers were said for the boy.

Weeping bitterly he cut of the boy's head. Kumagai was so affected by the cruelty of war that he later became a Buddhist priest.

The boy was Taira no Atsumori (1169-1184), a noble from the enemy clan. Kumagai found among his posessions a fine flute that was a gift from the Emperor Toba. When Kumagai brought the flute to his Commander, all who saw it were moved to tears.

The flute is kept in Sumadera.

Blogging about the Bullet Train

This week, I took the Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kobe. It was the first time I had traveled that far by train in Japan.

I started off the morning by picking up some sushi to eat during the journey. I am a fan of Convenience Store sushi; it makes a great breakfast on the go.


I settled in and watched the scenery as we rushed by. I saw Mt. Fuji in the distance but couldn't get a picture in time. After we left the outskirts of Tokyo, the countryside was green and dotted with small villages like the one below.


I like the roof on the building in the picture below. It has a classic Japanese design.

2 1/2 hours later, I arrived in Kobe and took a quick detour on my way to my meeting. More on that later.

Tai Meshi in Tamachi

Last night, I went to dinner with some people from work. We went to a place that gets fish flown in from Matsuyama every day. The sashimi was quite good.

But, the highlight of the evening was a dish called Tai Meshi. The dish is pieces of Tai (sea bream) placed over uncooked rice and steamed with seasonings. This is the pot they used to steam the rice.


And, here is a picture when the rice was done. The rice had a nice mild flavor and the fish was perfectly cooked. It was the first time I've had this dish. And it was a winner.

Lost in Ginza

Japan in July is like a giant steam bath. I arrived in Tokyo on Sunday and have been sweating ever since.

After work yesterday, I took the train to Ginza to look for a present for my son. He has a birthday coming up, and I wanted to get him something here.

I had a map but couldn't figure out how it matched up with the myriad of streets. After walking around in circles for 40 minutes, I finally found the store. I can't remember being so glad to walk into an air conditioned building before. After I picked out the present, I took a deep breath and headed out in the heat again.