International Sushi Day
For this holiday Milo and I traveled to Kyoto, Japan to eat the bestest freshest sushi in the land.
It was made at this place. Chojiro. You can eat from the conveyor belt or custom order through the iPad they place in front of you. We did both.
These are the people in line behind us waiting their turn to celebrate this fine holiday.
How do I know it's the freshest? See that tank next to the chef? We watched him pull the fish out and ... well, "prepare" it for us to eat. (Milo wants to me to be more forthwrite: "kill it, bang it against the counter with the grappling hook.")
Thank you to our amazing sushi chef for treating us to the bestest freshest sushi in Kyoto on this 2016 International Sushi Day and to Milo for sharing the adventure with me.
The Great Wall
We journeyed on the train to the Great Wall.
Since we had to sit on the floor of the train, Milo decided he looked better in soft focus for this photo.
It was raining. Which was preferable to the hot weather option.
And it gave me a reason to wear my purple poncho.
Milo found a Subway Sandwiches of all things. He was the only one brave enough to eat there. Well and this one other guy:
Full stomach and rain jacket ready for the climb.
This was but a small preview of what awaited us.
And So We begin...
My goal. Milo didn't approve.
This was his counter offer.
And So We walked...
The views were vast and beautiful and an excellent example of "monocular cues" used both in visual art and my psychology class: texture, overlap, shading, height, and clarity.
Milo's tower is not far off now.
Mine, on the other hand is still a distance away.
We arrive at tower four, Milo's choice for our stopping point. The view cannot be done justice by a photo but here's a glimpse:
Milo tries to talk me out of persevering. He even tries being cute.
You can see the long section of the wall that we would NOT be walking. This did help me leverage the eighth tower as a far more humble goal.
This will serve as a placeholder until I can upload the video of Milo climbing the final approach to the eighth tower. Hint: he's not smiling in the video.
On top of the eighth tower. But this isn't the last fearsome feat to overcome on this journey.
This will serve as a placeholder until I can upload the video of our journey back down the mountain in a suspended cable car. In the video you can hear us screaming. In fear or delight. Unsure.
We missed our train back to Beijing because the trains run on different schedules on opposite days. After an additional two hour wait, we were lucky to gets seats this time. Milo was exhausted. And the mountains were wild and disappearing into the fog and dark.
Good night Great Wall.
Good night wild northern China.
Cafe Confucius
Thank you for our morning ritual.
For our morning visit with the cat.
For our ordering tablet.
For the table at the open French doors.
For my giant pot of hot water and earthy green tea leaves.
For good company and cozy atmosphere.
We are grateful you provided an anchor in our neighborhood.
Japan: Bubblegum Flavored Soda!
Also, in keeping with the anime culture, Milo will be airbrushing his skin and making his eyes doe-sized in all his photos.
Dear Squarespace,
Your blogging software is terrible. I would love to keep posting but you no longer allow me to attach photos to my posts.
Anotha one by: Milo
We went to a tiny cafe with a roof deck and the best milkshake ever!!!!!😄 Well as spock says it "live long and prosper."🖖
Conflict Of Interests
Milo continues his comparative study of Legos across international borders.
He is interested in both licensed name brand Legos and the sometimes superior designed - and always way cheaper - knock off brands.
Can you spot the difference?
I prefer to undertake the study of modernization - the palimpsest of new and old.
Don't Leave Home Without It.
Heading out for the day. In Beijing there are public bathrooms every block. Bring your own toilet paper. And squat.
Warm Nights
This restaurant serves hot pots on the sidewalk. The table in the center had three guys with guitars and one singing. Some people stopped to listen, some shot video, others squeezed past.
Milo and I walked for two hours along this street - Gulou East from the Drum and Bell towers back to our apartment - full of restaurants, Nike shoes, toys, puppies, music and neon.
This is the main street in the hutong where we are staying. It's a different crowd but the same sort of scene - groups of friends sharing large shared plates of food. For sharing. With groups of friends.
"Best Noodles in China"
Go eat here when you're in Beijing. I couldn't quite tell if the son was saying noodles are the best food in China or his mother's are the best noodles in China. Either way, he's right.
Jumbo Adventure
Which begins by Milo getting out of the pool after three hours!
The view from the roof.
The construction of the dragon boat festival Pavillion.
This is a few minutes before they lost control of their boat and capsized. Which I attribute to instant karma for that one guy who had to give us the finger. You can see him in the back hiding his face and finger aloft.
This is cotton candy. Beijing style.
This is Friday evening milling about the Houhai lake area.
This is the magical place that sits between the Bell and Drum towers.
I hope to elaborate on our past two days but for now, a few photos will have to suffice.
This is the pool that Milo loves
This is before Milo went into the pool for two hours.
This is Milo in the pool for two hours.
Who would have thought we could have such a great time in Hong Kong simply by staying endlessly in the pool. I'm trying to balance being highly driven to be on the go with Milo's inclination to not. This trip might be harder for both of us than I imagined. I will need to slow down and Milo will have to get out of the hotel periodically.
Stay tuned...
Hong Kong According to Milo
We are of to a slow start between the jet lag and the general unfamiliarity of it all. We did find a few of Milo's favorite places. This helped us feel ready to take on a bigger adventure tomorrow.
Note: there's no way to rotate images in this app; you'll just have to tilt your device. Our apologies.
We arrived at 10:45 pm.
Our room has a great view of the harbor in the distance and a high school directly below us.
We realize we're in the high rent shopping district...
...where, it turns out, there is an Adidas store.
And an Under Armor store featuring Curry's. Milo studies the designs.
Ten HK dollars. Worth $1.28 in US dollars.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA.... Milo discovers a Lego store.
We will return here when it's open.
And cats. For Gyro and Cecil. We miss you guys!
