Would this make you feel better?

After biking home from elementary school on Monday, I barely had the energy to climb the stairs to my apt. Oh no, my cold like symptoms picked up at last week's Mid-Year Seminar in the building that felt like a meat locker had finally caught up to me. So I stayed home Tuesday and the lovely Naoko-sensei took me to see her doctor. I was the youngest person in the waiting room by about 40 years until an 8 year old girl and her mom walked in just before my name was called.

When I saw the doctor, he looked at me, at the chart the nurse had prepared and back at me and started to chuckle. The nurse had put 男 (male) instead of 女(female) on my chart by mistake. Although sometimes elementary classes I have never taught before come to the teacher's room looking for a male teacher. Hmmmm. Then the doctor, who kind of looks like a Japanese Tom Selleck (maybe it was just the mustache) asked some questions and looked at my tonsils (which he quickly diagnosed as "dekkai" or large) and wrote me four perscriptions to be filled at the pharmacy next door. In Japan, they appear to only make pills for one symptom, so if you have multiple symptoms as one often does with a cold, you get a whole cocktail of drugs to take in various combinations at different times of the day. I have two pills that are to be taken after each meal, a package of throat tablets and way too many packs of purple powder which are to be added to water and gargled 4 times a day. When mixed with water, it looks like this:


It doesn't smell or have a taste, and I am not supposed to swallow it, but still, gargling purple water 4 times a day really is not that appetizing. I suppose it's working, as I am feeling much better tonight than I was last night. Still not 100%, but better than even this morning, which is a good sign, and somewhat of a relief considering that I basically slept all day--in bed, on the tiny couch, and later outside in the sun. Hopefully, I will sleep better tonight than I did last night with my dreams about crashing helicopters and invading martians. But first, I have to do my 4th gargle of the day...

Frolicking in the Foliage

Well, maybe not so much "frolicking" as just standing around and admiring the brilliant colors, but that doesn't make for a very catchy title.

Last Sunday actually lived up to its name and was unually sunny for Japan and this time of the year, so it wasn't too hard for Jamie to convince me to abandon my chores and join her on a mini-trip to Dazaifu. While it's more famous for the ume (plum) blossoms in February, Dazaifu didn't disappoint with its abundance of momiji (Japanese maple leaves).

After picking up some hot mochi filled with red bean paste to keep our hands warm and tummies happy, we took a right at the end of the street lined with shops. At the end of the block was a small temple with an amazing courtyard of trees, moss and rocks.




After removing our shoes and leaving them out front with everyone else's we walked into the traditional Japanese building that surrounded the courtyard. Obviously, we weren't the only people who thought a sunny weekend afternoon was the perfect time to look at leaves.


Despite the crowd, the small building was quite serene and Jamie and I enjoyed looking at the leaves and taking pictures for about a half an hour before our feet couldn't take the direct contact with the cold floor anymore. Luckily, there were some more leaves on the outside that could be appreciated with your shoes on!

Still inside the courtyard. Gorgeous reds and yellows...



....and a blindingly orange tree at the entrance!



Walking back towards the main street, we happened across some trees we could actually get close to and a mini-stream full of floating leaves.

Then we followed the colored leaves along a path up a hill which dumped us out in the back of the larger Tenmangu Shrine, where we saw this magical looking tunnel for the first time. The it was back to the shops for some soft cream (the fall flavor was maron or chestnut) and Christmas shopping before getting back on the train to Kurume, where we both accomplished our neglected chores in record time before heading to Tatsunoya for our first ramen dinner in a long time.

A pictoral essay of Osaka and its environs

I don't know where that title came from and it in no way conveys how much fun I had collecting the images below.

Day 1: Osaka-shi.

The Open-Air Museum of Old Farmhouses, Osaka castle, din-din and iruminashion at the aquarium. These places are so different that I hope you will be able to figure out which pictures are which.

Hmmm, there's the sky...and an old building of some kind...

...and another! It's like a museum or something...

Wait! That's not a farmhouse! It's a fire engine!

Looking at old buildings ages you. Let's take a break under this red tree.

The following is obviously not a farmhouse.

A sign at the ticket booth. Sorry, no cannibalism for me today, thanks.

Now, that's a gold fish!

Osaka-style okonomiyaki. Thick and juicy!

After taking the train out of the city center, following the signs through the wrong exit at the station and walking in a big circle on deserted streets which cost us a ride on the "World's Largest Giant Wheel" we found what we were looking for---illuminated sea creatures!

I don't make a very good manta ray.

Can you guess the animal below? Bio-luminescent plankton? Nope! It's the whale shark on super zoom. Duh!

Day 2: Out of Osaka

Stop 1: The Instant Ramen Museum, which is a legitimate museum with security guards in the parking lot directing traffic.

Hall of Ramen through the Ages. I have never seen so much sodium on one wall before.

Edible airplane food? At least it's not rubbery meat. "Ramen de sky" anyone?

The man behind it all, Momofuku Ando. A real noodle head if you ask me.

Stop 2: Himeji Castle. The castle of Japan. What can I say, it was really big?

So pointy.

OMG!! Look, a wedding party!! The bride and groom were lucky to get a ride, everyone else had to walk from who knows where in their formal wear.

Stop 3. Kobe. Since it was already dark when we got there, we didn't do a whole lot of exploring and went straight to the harbour, which could have very well have been an American shopping mall, except there were a few too many Japanese people there.

We finally got to ride a ferris wheel, only this one was pretty small. Nice view though.

Ginourmous tree inside the mall. Where am I again?

I never knew I wanted a small dog so I could dress it up like a strawberry until I went into this store with Jamie.

Day 3: Osaka in the rain

Day 3 had basically one stop, the Umeda Sky Building. Kind of like a tower in that it has nice view, or will at least until all the construction around it is complete.

Going up to the "Floating Garden Observatory." I don't recall seeing any plants up there.



Out the window on the rainy side of the building. Jamie and I do have a knack for visiting high places on days with severely limited visibility. Nice.


The dry side. Lots of buildings, and even more that we couldn't see. Osaka isn't Japan's second city for nothing!

The End.