The guests have gone and I can sit back and relax. I don’t mean that I had an awful time. Not at all! I mean that I had a great time and that I can look back and chalk it up as a successful evening. Good company, good food, a good time.

When people have no dislikes and can eat spicy food it makes it a pleasure to cook. But daunting at the same time as the scope is widened. What to cook? I opted for a chicken curry, made from scratch, of course. I like to mix my own spices and know that there are no preservatives. I also check the back of packets and the origin of food and if it is from China, I keep walking. There is no trust there. So the menu went something like this; cucumber and miso dip for starters, cheese and crackers, and spicy peanuts served beside, followed by the main dish of chicken masala curry with rice, and a side dish of coleslaw. Dessert was a yoghurt dessert with cardamom and saffron with pistachio nuts sprinkled on top.We doubled up on the desserts as bought cakes were added. We ate most of them too. Yum.

Why a curry? Well it can be made ahead of time; it lets you talk to people rather than running to the kitchen most of the night. Again I wanted to be part of the night rather than the person standing in the wings. In fact all the dishes could be made in advance. It gave me time to breathe.

The list of things to do was ticked off. All on the list was done, pretty rare for me. I usually compromise with one or two items, ones that I can get away with. No need this time. Talk about organized, another rare moment. Maybe this is the new me?

We attempted to sit outside but the rain came down and we had to dash inside. What a shame as the weather was nice and cool and the garden inviting. We continued on inside.

I like guests who help themselves and ask if they need more of something. It makes me feel more at home. I want people to have a good time but I don’t want to be running after them too much. I want to have fun too. I don’t want to be running ragged until the end of the night, without anything passing my lips. Poor hostess you may be thinking but that is the way it is.

Note: I need to cook more for next time.

Gegege no Kitaro’s father is really the only bit left of his dead father’s remains. When you think about this closely, it is a bit on the gross side. But as he love to take baths then he can’t be too bad. His voice is high pitched but slightly gravelly and it suits someone of his size, someone who needs to shout to be heard. His bathtub is a rice bowl, a chipped one at that. His choice of bath powder is Earl Grey tea, Japanese tea or coffee.

Okay he is not just an eyeball, he doesn’t just bounce around to get places he does have a body too, albeit a tiny generic one resembling a child’s full beige pajama suit, complete with arms and legs.

Some might say Gegege no Kitaro’s father is demanding but for someone of his size he needs to speak out to be heard and he needs to get help from Kitaro so assertive would be the term.

Gegege no Kitaro’s father is a creation of Shigeru Mizuki.

The above picture is my version.　

When was the last time you were in a bathing suit? A bikini? What about a stretch? I can’t remember off the top of my head either.

When I looked out of a hotel room to check the weather I quickly grabbed my camera and clicked away. Synchronised  stretching, the warm up before the plunge into the cool water, from the kids in the school pool below. Almost perfect!

All this looked so different from my first experiences of learning to swim. I did learn to swim at school, there was a school pool. It wasn’t heated. No caps. We learnt to swim in November, spring time in the southern hemisphere. That didn’t make the water very warm. It was spring in name only.

There was always excitement on the days when we had swimming classes at school. We had to bring our togs, (bathing suit) and a towel and a plastic bag for bringing home the wet items. Swimming goggles were not common. We went without.  And there was no swimming cap. The pool filter may have suffered for this but for that I am grateful.

We did not start with stretching by the pool. We were allowed to acclimatise with the water temperature by climbing into the water. Me, I just wanted to cool down. But the idea was sometimes more pleasant than reality. For warm ups now I remember we did “washing machines,” the action where your hands and on hips and legs apart you rotate your upper body to imitate the action.  That was our warm up. Then there was the “teapot” with the handle short and stout. For those not so strong we were to do laps across the shortest side of the pool. For others it was lengths of the full 20m pool.

I do remember that if you stood still for too long then you began to feel cold so I became very good at treading water.  The deeper end of the pool was always more appealing.

My mother put me off this though as she was told by her teacher that even if you stopped swimming you would always float to the top of the pool. Not true. She almost drowned. And as a result never learnt to swim and hates the water. She has taught swimming since. From the side lines, without getting her feet wet. I smile at this. I am amazed at what you can do when you put your mind to it.

I am pleased to say that I am a swimmer, who is not afraid of water and although I might not be able to save anyone else from drowning I think that I can do a reasonable impression of a basking whale.

Studio Ghibli made the anime My Neighbor Totoro. This is one of my favourite anime. The photo of the anime above is Grave of the Fireflies, Japanese version from the same studio. If you visit Japan and you are an anime fan then make sure that Ghibli Museum is on your list of places to visit.

Take the JR Chuo Line to Mitaka Station. (Mitaka Station is a 20 minute express train ride from Shinjuku Station.) From Mitaka Station it is about a 15 minute walk from the South Exit if you walk along the river. There should be a sign. If you take the bus from Mitaka Station it is a 5 minute bus ride.

The museum is located in a corner of Inokashira Park.

Now before you go charging off to the museum you need to buy your ticket in advance. You can buy it before you leave your country; check this site for information in English. This option is for non residents of Japan:

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ticket/overseas.html

According to the Japanese page you can buy tickets from the 10^th of the month for tickets up to 1 month in advance. So if you are buying in Japan your time span is shorter. This makes sense for those travelling from afar having an advantage. For tickets in Japan you buy via Lawson, the convenience store, from their website.

Tickets 1000yen adults (over 19), 700yen (junior & high school), 400yen (elementary), 100yen (4-6yrs) and under 4yrs free.

There are 4 entrance sessions each day 10am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm. You can only enter up to half and hour after your appointed entrance time, so don’t be late!

Now I have seen inside the museum, via the DVD that introduces the studio and interviews Russian and American animators talk about Miyazaki’s work and the studio. Both men raved about the place and just loved the touches of the museum. They go on about the attention to detail. A truly magical place, combining the European styles of the building with the characters of anime. The blending is superb. There are walkways suspended over one area to resemble Spirited Away, there is a wooden street area that looks like out of Kiki’s Delivery Service. The roof top is a surprise. I will say no more. My lips are sealed. Go see for yourself.

The sketches that Miyazaki drew match the building as it stands today. I have seen the DVD and now can’t wait to see it for myself. There is even a “cat bus.” It is supposed to be only for children but I wonder if I would be allowed a ride too?

This is a fan site for Ghibli anime. http://www.onlineghibli.com/

Well I recently bought Grave of the Fireflies. It is the season for fireflies here so every time I went to the video rental shop, they were all out. I gave up waiting and just bought it. Now I don’t know when to watch it as I know it is going to be a sad film. Quick, quick, slow!

Sonehara Homestead

On walking up the side path to get to this house you get the feel that you are walking in an English garden, there are wild looking flowers growing abundantly, bees and butterflies flying, it is quite enchanting.

I got sidetracked with the garden even before entering the grounds. I was twenty steps behind my guide. When the guide got to door I was nowhere to be found! How is that for getting lost? Intentionally, I was self absorbed.

Stones are laid symmetrically on the roof. Yes. With no nails the only way of securing the roof was to lay stones down: an interesting concept for the day when it was built.

My first thought on seeing this was, there must be very little wind here. The second thought was how did they line the stones up so perfectly?

Three hundred and seventy five years ago this house was built. Quite an achievement to see this house still standing and remaining as it was. It is cool and dark inside. The beams inside are exposed and reaching high up to the roof in crossing intricate patterns. Nails weren’t used here either. Everything was measured and fitted with grooves so that each beam and pole had its own position. Half the space is earthen flooring, where the kitchen is off to one side and on the other side of the open area is a separated area there is the stables. The main door to the house is a double door. Not the door where the lower half swings and the upper half does too. I mean that there is a smaller door incased inside a larger door. The big door opening wide for the horses and the smaller more intimate door for the people.

The big open hearth in the centre of the main room is inviting and must have had some great stories told in the glow of the charcoal embers.

Those were the days we like to think of as history but we need to go and see for ourselves too to keep history alive. Buildings are alive and without people they die. They need the interaction from people.

After you come back from holiday to your house, the smell is different, the smell of emptiness and loneliness. Houses need people just as people need houses. That’s why houses make good homes.

Can’t wait to explore?

Here are the details:

Sonehara Homestead

Designated a National Treasure of Japan

Entrance fee: adults 300yen, children 150yen

Closed: Monday (If a holiday falls on a Monday then the next day will be closed)

Location: Ariake, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Are you organized? I know you have thought about where you want to go next holidays but have you thought about booking something now.  Yeah, I know it is too far away to even contemplate. But if you do book now then you may have the pick of the bunch, and with all your research you will get more out of your holiday.

Win-win situation.

Plus you get to spend countless hours in the name of research on the computer or with your nose in a book. You are actually saving money before you go away by doing the research.

Win-win.

And do you really need to take all those extra clothes?

How many T-shirts can you wear in a week?

Take detergent, the powdered kind, so you don’t have a liquid detergent leaking all through your nice clean clothes. (Don’t worry you won’t be thought of as a drug smuggler if they search your bag at the airport. They will just think of you as clean.)

Some people I know would be happy with just the list above to take. One person I know would take the book off the list and buy that at the airport. Do we really need all that stuff?  Filler is what it really is. Do we really take stuff so that the bag has a proper bag shape? Carrying a large floppy bag doesn’t look esthetically pleasing as a full bag. Now I am not talking a stuffed bag here with a shirt sleeve hanging out, I am talking of a bag that can shut easily without you and the rest of your family sitting on it to zip it or strap it closed.

One shoulder bag is what would be ideal. You should see my strap marks!

Boy scouts and girl guides are always taught to be prepared. But it gets ridiculous when nail cutters are confiscated at borders all in the name of safety. Lord Baden Powell would not have been too pleased. The trusty Swiss army knife was a mainstay in my packing. Now that it is considered a weapon I have left it at home. It is my wine opener in dire circumstances. Sad. I can still remember the day I chose the knife. How many gadgets can you fit on it? Lots is all I am saying. The toothpick is handy but if you think too deeply then it becomes a source of bacteria.

So back to the list. Side tracked again.

Take what you need, place it on the floor next to your bag and then take half of that away.

Remember you can always buy it once you get there!

Well, usually.

Mostly.

I might just put back the underarm deodorant. Nothing worse than smelling and looking like you have been on a bus ride for the last 24hours with chickens.

And remember that you may have to carry your bag!

Pack lightly, research lots.

Happy Travels!

What makes people do graffiti? Why does Taeko feel that she must share her undying love for Mark on a tree in a National Park? The following week she might be carving James instead. Perhaps it is better to carve into a tree than to get a tattoo?

I would prefer that Taeko doodled her fancies on her guidebook instead but life isn’t perfect. If Keith Haring didn’t start with graffiti we wouldn’t have his legacy of paintings that he left behind. So maybe Taeko is an amateur artist, the next Matisse? Picasso? Or not.

Eucalyptus trees, or gum trees as they are locally known, are hardy trees and shed their bark so I wonder if this graffiti will disappear with the next layer of the bark or will it remain as Taeko’s shame?

Maybe Mark was a “gentleman” and put Taeko’s name first and he in fact wrote it. Maybe they are still together and make a pilgrimage to this spot each year. Maybe it was a passing fling. Maybe Taeko has never spoken to Mark. We will never know.

Nurikabe – a Japanese Spirit (my version)

A large Japanese spirit that takes the shape of a wall that blocks your path at night; it has arms and legs, and eyes but no mouth. It protects Kitaro from harm. Gegege no Kitaro of the manga that Shigeru Mizuki created we are talking here, a story of Kitaro and the spirit world, with amusing side kicks like Nezumi Otoko/Rat Boy and Neko Musume/Cat Girl. It was made into an anime series for television. It is beloved by both Japanese children and adults. Shigeru Mizuki lets us peak into the world of Japanese spirits; he breathes life into their characters with no only their physical descriptions but by their habits and scales of scare-ability.

But recently a “new” form of nurikabe has come to light and it is in sharp contrast to what we have imagined up to now. According to www.asahi.com Dr. Lawrence Marceau, a senior lecturer from Auckland University, New Zealand, has re-discovered another visual image of nurikabe. It looks like an enormous flabby white dog with large ears, a third eye and two large fangs.

The painting was found in the Private Collections of L. Tom Perry at Brigham Young University in Utah, US. This painting has the word nurikabe written in the top left hand corner. Dr. Marceau conferred with Mr. Yuimoto of the Kawasaki City Museum as they also have the same painting but the Kawasaki one does not have a description. On comparing these two paintings the alternative description of nurikabe was confirmed.

Unfortunately there are no news releases in English of this finding. If you read Japanese then you will get more information. If you find out more news let me know! The only link to nurikabe in English that I can find is to a puzzle game of the same name.

Personally I like Shigeru Mizuki’s style of interpretation of the Japanese spirit world. But I find this rediscovery fascinating.

Obon, Festival of the Dead, or the time when ancestors return to the family shrine is just around the corner, mid August in Japan. I wonder if this has sparked an interest in spirits. Summer time is when Japanese traditionally tell ghost stories, so this may explain the timing of the news.

The link below is in Japanese but you can view the two versions of nurikabe:

http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/0804/TKY200708040127.html

Don’t turn your back on these lovely birds. They will eat almost anything. Apart from what you have for lunch, they are known to munch on bicycle tires and the rubber moldings that surround the windows on your car.

They will invite themselves to your feast whether you encourage them or not. What is it?

A kea: a type of alpine parrot. Otherwise know as Nestor notabilis. Native to New Zealand.

Found in rural areas of New Zealand, especially in national park areas and along alpine walking tracks.

In flight they have a wonderful orange colour plumage to the underside of their wing. They are quite large birds and do not appear to be afraid of people. They are quite bolshie. Give them an inch and they will take your lunch and your ride. Oh, and they love shiny things too.

Don’t get me wrong they are not scary birds, nothing to be afraid of, it is just they are very inquisitive creatures and may appear over friendly. When they see people they associate you with “a free lunch.”

If I was told to draw a lighthouse as a kid this image would be what I would have in my head to start the drawing. This is the most perfect lighthouse, bright, striking and simplistic to the point of being comic like.

Split Point Lighthouse can be found when taking the Great Ocean Highway when you travel south of Melbourne, Australia. It can be found halfway between Lorne and Anglesea. It was built in 1891.