Tuesday, November 28, 2006


Met Danz, a very talented photographer, in Harajuku while Doug and Barri were here. You can experience something wonderful by visiting his site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lost-moments/. Posted by Picasa


Tori no Ichi (November 3rd) Posted by Picasa


We ran into some friendly strangers while waiting in line to visit a Asakusa's main shrine... Posted by Picasa


On November 3rd, Nagakura-san (one of my handful of male students), invited me to go with his wife to Asakusa for the Tori no Ichi Festival. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Momentary Lapse in Narrrative

There are a number of random photos below this entry....lazywoman that I am, organizing them into a coherent (at least chronological) narrative may take a while. At any rate, I thought I'd just throw them up for the fun of it. Check in around Xmas and maybe some sense of order will have been achieved....


Casablanca: a candid moment. Posted by Picasa


Singapore (Aug 06) Posted by Picasa


Le Mon and I enjoyed a dinner cruise (with live and indescribably awful music!) on our last night in Bangkok. Posted by Picasa


Shopping at Chatukchak Weekend Market in Bangkok. Posted by Picasa


The Grand Palace in Bangkok. Posted by Picasa


Singapore (Aug 06) Posted by Picasa


At a hotel bar in Shinjuku, D and B find something amusing on their camera... Posted by Picasa


Perhaps this is what D and B found to be so funny. Posted by Picasa


Or is it this? Posted by Picasa


D and B take a momentary break from eating: Nakamise dori is the main drag for shopping and eating in Asakusa, a quaint--though touristy--neighbourhood in Tokyo. Posted by Picasa


Look closely at the splayed hands. This pic captures Thor demonstrating either a: why he's good at crimpy, pinchy rock climbing holds or b: why he's "loved by the ladies." Posted by Picasa


We found a great izekaya in Kabukicho! Posted by Picasa


Another karaoke night in Kabukicho. Posted by Picasa


Though Thor gave it his best shot, the route to our preferred climbing destination proved a little too wet: "You shall not pass!" said the river, eerily bringing to mind Gandalf in LOR. Posted by Picasa


Barri reacts to the river's refusal to just...go away. Posted by Picasa


On the way to finding rock climbing in Nagano. Posted by Picasa


Doug and Barri sang their first duet in a public setting at Charley's karaoke bar, "Casablanca." In a place where gaijin are often clueless as to the lyrics (many songs sung in Japanese), D and B chose to pull a retaliatory move and sang bossa nova (in Portuguese).  Posted by Picasa


Doug, wondering what's up with all thousands of red-capped figurines piled up around the shrine. I asked a priest (handy around Buddhist temples) what they were for and even bought one. Was told that when a person had some misfortune or a family member was sick you could offer these little buddhas as a charm to reverse your fortunes. Later, one of my students informed me that in fact, these charms were left there by repentant women who'd had abortions.... Posted by Picasa


Doug and Barri at a small shrine in the vicinity of the Daibutsu. Posted by Picasa


This great Buddha (Daibutsu) is the largest in Japan and can be found after negotiating a few thousand steps through a pleasant "hiking trail" at Nokorogiriyama (in Chiba Prefecture). Posted by Picasa


Kumi, Barri and Doug...I guess we were talking about Churchill... Posted by Picasa