On Sunday I had a little adventure, heading out to Hakone for a day in the mountains for a little hike and an onsen with Kenta. We visited these massive grassfields at Sengoku Kogen, and went hiking through long grass and mud for a couple of hours (something you just don't do in Australia for fear of snakes, spiders, toads, etc). Sounds kinda horrid but actually it was great fun and there is definitely something about long grass that brings out the little kid in us all... lots of hide & seek and slipping and sliding and falling over and laughing! Kenta is something of a bush-tucker man, and kept stopping at different plants to explain which ones were edible or useful in some way, useful stuff. He was sketching lots and I was photographing lots though I must say - it's kinda challenging to make grass look interesting. I did my best. Anyway, check the Flickr Gallery.
After a visit to Tenzan Onsen, and a delicious vegetable tempura dinner, we headed back into Tokyo and went to a party where Jyo-san paid out on Kenta for not doing the drawing of him that he asked him to do ages ago. Then Kenta complained that Jyo never brought him a picture to draw from so I took the picture above to settle the mock aggro. Jyo is a very flirty Thai fella, married to a Japanese woman, and has won the hearts of dozens of local women who visit his kitchen night after night to flirt. He has an impressively accurate memory for customers needs and preferences and I really like him. I really like this picture, too. Jyo laughs a lot.
I have the day off from the Elementary School today which means I get a nice laid back mid-week morning. Went over to Kat and Darin's last night to watch Heroes (man, what an excellent episode that one was! [S02E04]) - still no signs of baby Dudley - he's now 4 days overdue and I don't think Kat's belly could grow another cm! He's a big boy. I can't wait to meet him, every time the phone goes I wonder if it's *the* call/message to announce his arrival.
That's all.
frangipani wrote this on October 17, 2007 11:27 AM
Comments
Brian said:
"(something you just don't do in Australia for fear of snakes, spiders, toads, etc)."
toads? seriously?
p.s. where'd the name Sparkletone on your flickr page come from? I just noticed you changed it to that.
Yes, the mighty cane toad. You can jump on them in full flight running down stairs and they squish under your feet and then puff back up and hop away. Disgusting creatures. My fear is purely cosmetic. Ugh.
Sparkletone is the name of my old entertainment booking agency in Australia. Always loved that name. Getting sick of frangipani.
On October 18, 2007 8:50 AM,
Carol Reynolds said:
Hello. I don't know you but just wanted you to know how much I adore your blog. I live in Japan but sadly my experience is nowhere near as fun or as interesting as yours. You are lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful people.
I love your photos and sometimes use them in my classes. If I have my computer I will pick a few photos and have students make comments about them. It is always interesting as most of your photos show so much emotion and are steeped in story. Thank you for helping out some quiet class moments!!!
I wanted to share a website that I think you might like. It is designed by Miranda July. Hopefully it is something new for you.
Carol, thanks for taking the time to make such a touching comment. Took a quick look at the Learning to Love You More site - an interesting idea, I'll have to go back when I'm not at work and have a good look around. Looks fun. Hope the winter hasn't set in too harshly in Sapporo yet...
I've always wanted to visit the grassfields you mentioned in Hakone for some photography but never found the time. Is it hard to locate if I were to go by train from Tokyo ?
Blauereiter, it's easy - take the Odakyu (maybe romance car is fastest) to Hakone-Yumoto then cross the road to bus-stop 3 (or maybe 4, can't remember exactly) bound for Togendai, get off at Sengoku-Kogen Susuki - it's about 30 minutes from Hakone Yumoto. Just ask around, heaps of tourists in this area so many support staff to help lost foreigners.
On October 18, 2007 11:34 PM,
Kowhai said:
Morning Martine. TGIF eh. Nice to see you are getting out and about and documenting some of the beautiful people who are crossing your path. It is a stunning morning in NZ and I am over a nasty flu. I keep checking Kat's blog hoping to see the good news. Have a great weekend.
