Another post.

Another place I went over spring break was Godaisan temple and Kochi Castle. Hold on a sec. I have to check and see if I already blogged about this.

Okay. I put up a bunch of pictures of the cherry blossoms - which NOBODY commented on, by. the. way. Loyal readers, how can I feel encouraged to write more fascinating story lines if there is no reception from the reading world? Well, let's not kid ourselves. I love to hear myself talk, so it's not like the blogging's going to stop any time soon. It has been more sporadic of late, but I am vowing to turn over a new digital leaf and try to update at least once a week, and hopefully even more frequently.

Sure.

Anyhoo, a couple weeks back, at the height of cherry blossom season, my Japanese teacher took me to Godaisan (one of the temples on the 88 temple pilgrimage) and to Kochi castle. So here are some thoughts about Godaisan:

Panoramic view of Kochi City from Godaisan park. Kochi is actually extremely spread-out. Of the 790,000 people who live in Kochi prefecture, 350,000 live in the city of Kochi. The rest of the prefecture is 85% mountains. When you leave the mountains, you run into the ocean.

My Japanese teacher, Princess Masako (that is how she introduces herself).  

Godaisan is a temple surrounded by a botanical garden, a five-story (six-story...?) pagoda, and many pretty buildings. I do not remember what Godaisan is actually about. But it is very beautiful. And has great pork buns at the rest-stop restaurant.

These plates are a characteristic of serving utensils in Kochi. These are
for flowers, of course, but the ones use for food are very often almost as large as these.
They called them some sort of punny-name, which I know longer recollect.

Frequently, when you look at temples with statues, especially small statues, you see little red capes or little embroidered flags draped around the statues. Princess Masako said that the smaller red capes you see around statues are placed there in memory of miscarried babies - asking the god of the temple or statue to please watch over the dead child. I don't know if this is the same kind of thing (above). 

The impressive pagoda.

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So here's the thing. I forgot to take a picture of the Godaisan temple itself. Instead, I have pictures of all the surrounding courtyard things. Can you see the little golden roof behind the tree? That's the temple itself. I know, right? I'm a regular Ansel Adams. 

Kochi post when I get back from the grocery store.

I'm sitting in the living room. I just finished making homemade insecticides and floor-cleaner from white vinegar and orange peels. The town is bathed in a peaceful pre-nightfall quiet. The 5 o'clock bell already rang and told the farmers to go home. Someone opened the dam gates to the gutter next to my house (don't forget - the gutter here is 6 feet deep and five feet across) and it filled up like a veritable creek - it's babbling away in no human tongue and I'm hoping it will calm down before bedtime when I find such continuous jangling distracting.

I realized I still haven't put up some pictures from Spring Break, including some shots of the Monet Garden. I visited this garden in the absolute mid of winter and its beauty was austere and, accidentally, free (hey, the little old guide-lady wasn't there and no one asked for any money! I guess it was unfair to make her sit out in that little shack when it was 3 degrees celsius outside...). So for reference, here is what the place looked like in January:

And here is a similar view at the end of April:

And this:

Turned into this:

not exactly the same spot, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the garden is divided into two parts, one based on Monet's paintings and one that is just for fun and prettiness. See if you can guess which picture belongs in which part of the park. 

Yeah, that was a trick question. I do remember which one belongs where, but I'm not going through them and telling you. Enjoy!

After the cherry blossoms comes the falling of the cherry blossoms off the trees and covering the ground as though with fine transient snow. It lasts longer than snow lasts, though it does stick to your shoes.

No, I don't know why we are posing like this. Don't ask.

But the above, of course, is a picture of the cherry blossoms still on the trees. 

I also went to Kyoto for the first time, several weeks ago. I got lost and didn't ever manage to find the main downtown sights, but I will go back. For the time being, here are some coolish pictures from the lesser-known attractions.

This is actually a better-known attraction. Not better-known by me,
since I don't know what it is called.

I love trees.

Yea, though I walk through the aisle of the shadow of death...

I also love gardens.

It was a an overcast day, and it rained that night. But the sites I saw were lovely enough. 

More on Kyoto whenever I find it in the right place. 

Sakura Sakura

So the thing is, starting in January, everybody starts telling you how wonderful cherry blossom season is. And you keep thinking to yourself, it's a bunch of flowers. Sure, it will be pretty, but really? It is just trees blooming and pollen spreading. Pretty normal nature stuff.

But cherry blossom season is actually quite magical.