Amani

Dean has kept in touch with many of his former students. Libby Miles and her partner Joe Ventura stayed with us in Australia two years ago. They are amazingly talented and inspiring individuals. Joe has just accepted a position in Tanzania at Amani Children's Home, a very special place that houses, educates and cares for homeless street children in the shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro. I am so impressed by Amani and by Joe. His writing is incredible - he should be published! Visit his blog it's well worth reading. There's a great video on YouTube about Amani and also lots of info on their website. If you want to donate money or even volunteer your time I think this would be a really worthwhile and rewarding cause....

sushi

Dined out with some friends at a "sushi train" restaurant in Meguro, Tokyo.... The sushi moves around on a conveyor belt and you select the dishes you would like and remove them. At the end of the meal the waitress counts the empty dishes and tallies up the bill according to how many of each different coloured dish you have. Each colour is a different price. The plates are displayed on the wall with the prices written on them....fun and very healthy!

shopping

It's always interesting to go shopping in Japan. In the supermarket we go to there are often very long lines. I took the photo on the left recently when I was standing in line for the checkout. I am in the line - all the people in front of me are in lines - the checkout is where the orange signs are!
The middle photo shows a selection of cakes in one of the supermarket fridges - quite an impressive array....
The photo on the right shows a typical gas/petrol station. The gas/petrol is pumped from above. No bowsers on the ground - space is a premium in Japan.


Another fascinating phenomenon is the mobile/cell phone epidemic. On the trains, commuters entertain themselves with games on their highly decorated phones. It is amusing to see so many people glued to their phones. It is even more amusing to see how gaudy some of the phones can be!



I was out shopping with a friend recently and we came across a house with a very unusual garage underneath. All glass, floor to ceiling, and inside three very flash cars - a maserati, a ferrari and a lamborghini. Obviously someone with way too much money to spend! I just had to take a photo...

Tsukiji Market

Early on October 25th we set off for the Tsukiji Market in the centre of Tokyo. What an experience! It would have to be one of the busiest and largest markets in the world! There are over 450 kinds of fish available along with fresh produce and smoked goods. An amazing array of colours, textures, shapes and sizes of seafood, meat, fruit, vegetables and flowers provide a spectacular visual feast.

We even sighted whale meat, which made me feel sick to my stomach....









I don't know why the whale in the sign was holding a knife and fork - I guess it would be too hard to have a whale hold chopsticks! The knife and fork seemed very out of place.

There were so many strange things that kept us guessing - we had no idea what they were! And tuna - I've never seen so much tuna and sooooo big! We were walking around gobsmacked!











The fresh produce was also fascinating... the really, really expensive mushrooms ( which I have forgotten the name of) were interesting to say the least. A friend has cooked these for me ... they are quite strong and unlike other mushrooms I have eaten. The ones we saw were up to AUD$190 for a small box of two or three mushrooms - a pretty phenomenal price. They are kind of like the Japanese equivalent to truffles I guess.

Another strange delicacy to be had was squid ink ice-cream - not something I was in a hurry to try!

What a fun time we had. Can't wait to go back. More photos here.

Catching up......a wedding, lots of fish, ceramics, sushi, drinks and christmas...

It's now 2008 and I'm playing catch up.....life has been so busy and my blog has sadly remained untouched. Here's my first entry in an attempt to fill in the gaps:

A wedding.....








I was very fortunate to be invited to a Shinto wedding in October. A unique and wonderful experience. I felt very privileged, but very conspicuous as I was the only westerner in attendance! I didn't know anyone there except for my lovely Japanese friend Naomi who arranged for me to go. I met the bride (Rika) afterwards and thanked her for allowing me to come. Following the ceremony there was a celebration which I did not attend, but Naomi kindly gave me photos to complete my education in Japanese wedding customs!

On arrival before the ceremony there is the serious business of giving money (usually around $300 or more per person) to the bride and groom - a special ornate card/envelope is used to present your money to the family and you sign a book, or register, to indicate that you were a guest at the wedding. After these formalities the guests gather quietly and process to the temple and form a "guard of honour" either side of a red carpet leading up to the temple steps -the groom's guests and family on one side, and the bride's on the other. Interestingly, the bride's guests are female and the groom's are male. Apart from family members the bride and groom may only each invite members of the same sex!

The bride and groom, accompanied by temple monks playing special instruments, form a procession in to the temple. The bride is protected by a beautiful big red parasol. Guests then fall in line and follow the wedding party in.
The ceremony is quite short and involves little or no dialogue. There is lots of chanting, temple maidens dancing, and sake drinking by the bridal party. Immediately after the ceremony the guests gather again in front of the temple for an official group photo with the newlyweds. I felt very obvious in the photo as I ended up in the middle right behind the bride!
Invited guests attend the wedding celebration afterwards and the bride and groom change from traditional Japanese bridal costume into western bridal dress. The bride's Japanese dress can either be a very formal and traditional white kimono with white hood or a very ornate red with gold thread kimono with white hood. She wears her hair swept up with the hood worn over the top to cover the "jealousy horns" common to all Japanese women!

Following the celebration, the guests are presented with gifts from the bride and groom - these are usually quite expensive and and can range from designer china to bath products, food or even gift vouchers. Rika and her groom presented traditional Japanese foods and a gift catalogue for guests to select their own gifts.

Certainly different from western weddings!