Ditto on this one. I haven't seen English this nonsensical in a long time! The caption on the bottom-left says "A Clever Dog."

If this shirt had not been made of really scratchy, cheap material, I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

This is one of my favorite parts of my tours - this is a REAL maiko (apprentice geisha) in her final year of training.
She will become a geisha (known as "geiko" in Kyoto) at the end of this year. Her skills in tea ceremony are excellent.
Graceful, charming and adorable - a little doll come to life. うつくしい、でしょう！？

Flush, dammit!

If any society has mastered the art of making life more complicated than it needs to be, it might be the Japanese. In America, rules for flushing a toilet are very simple - find handle, push down. Here, they make a little game out of it - would you like a BIG flush or a SMALL flush? Oh yes, and you have to be able to read kanji in order to actually execute your final decision. Buttons on the very top of the box are for flushing (left one is 'big' flush, right is small), numbers across the top turn on the bidet, and the small, circular buttons below are for moving the stream of water around AND for a little massage on your backside. Kid you not. Most importantly, the red button at the top left-hand is the STOP (the madness) button.

Cherry tree on Tetsugaku-no-michi (Path of Philosophy), Kyoto

Matcha scone!!

I know, it looks like a Hungry Jack biscuit that only Sam-I-am could love. It is the MATCHA SCONE from Cascade coffee shop in Shiyakusho-mae Station, close to the Kyoto Royal Hotel. This scone has been calling my name for years, and finally today, I had a chance to taste it. You can barely taste the green tea flavor, but it was fresh, flaky and went great with my cappuccino.

gion

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Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Takayama festival float

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Originally uploaded by js_hale.

明太ポテト(Mentai-Potato)

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Originally uploaded by js_hale.

These were absolutely righteous - served up by a humble little izakaya just across the street from our inn in Takayama. Mentaiko (cod roe) is mixed with mayonnaise and chilis to create something akin to a creamy cocktail sauce - then topped with thin strips of nori seaweed. Ridiculous. I nearly ate the whole plate.

5 floors of wall to wall cuteness

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Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Move over, Hello Kitty - here's the latest Sanrio creation. Out of all the places that I took my clients, they spent the most time (and money) in this store by a long shot.

oh, it was GOOD

Sushi Iwa agemono course
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Everything in this bowl absolutely ROCKED.

monkey monitor

monkey monitor
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

only in Japan....

My group and I were led around Akihabara this afternoon by Ren - had an awesome time.

Me missing Peter

I brought this picture of us from Christmas - that (and my imagination) going to have to do for just a couple more weeks....

Taiko game

Coco and "Jiji" playing a taiko game.

lazy Sunday

lazy Sunday
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Peter and I took the bikes down to the beach in the Marina and laid in the sand. This was an unbelievable day, weather-wise. We've hit those precious few, magic days in the city when you hardly ever need a jacket. soooo nice.

Heather's b-day party, La Barca

Heather's b-day party, La Barca
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

It was a fun night - dinner was followed by dancing at Comet Club, which is only as good as the crew you're with. In our case, the sheer awesome-ness of our group would have made any place fun.

Ack-cho

akcho
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Far more entertaining was the outfit sitting across from me on the bus AFTER leaving the Farmer's Market!
When I was in college in New York, we used to play a version of "There's your Dad" - we'd find the funkiest-looking dude and instead of saying "There's your Dad," our code for it was "Ack-cho Daddy," or simply "Ack-cho." So for everybody who reads this blog (all 3 of you out there)..... "ACK-CHO!!"

SF Farmer's Market

SF Farmer's Market
Originally uploaded by js_hale.

Went to Language Exchange bright & early this morning & stopped by the Farmer's Market on the way home. The prices are surprisingly steep, but I managed to find some smallish Fuji apples for $.60/pound - not bad.

Me and Annabanana, Christie Winery, Sonoma.

Barrel Tasting 2007

Another awesome Barrel Tasting event - I think it's the 5th year that we've been doing it. This was Peter's first time, and we had an awesome day. A little less food than in previous years, but that usually all depends on which wineries you go to. Tasting Notes from this year are as follows: Geyser Peak: Meritage 2005 Barrel was awesome - it will be on the market in 6-7 months. I'm definitely grabbing a bottle as soon as it's available. Ferrari Carano: they did NOT do barrel tasting this year, but we stopped by anyway and picked up one of my favorite discoveries, the 2004 Fume Blanc - it got a 91 in Wine Spectator, and I had brought a bottle up to Thanksgiving Dinner at Peter's brother's house. Ferrari's 2005 Syrah was also pretty good. Dutcher: this was a new one. The barreled Cabernet was good, and the Gold Metal 2005 Zinfandel was also good. Dry Creek: this was a bummer compared to previous years, there wasn't much that impressed us. However, they had a very decent table wine for about $8 called Regatta that we picked up. It has the kind of flavor that will go with anything. Rued: pronounced "Roo-ed." Another new one - they had a GREAT, unusually fruity 2005 Zinfandel that will be released in October. I put my email address down to get the release notice. Everett Ridge: we know that their chardonnays and sav blancs rock. Their Zin was also good. I picked up a reserve chardonnay while I was there. Limerick Lane: Anna wanted to stop here, and she usually chooses well. we liked the '04 Zin, and we bought the '97 Zin just out of curiousity, since that was supposed to be a great year overall. The crowining glory of the day was CHRISTIE, a new winery just opened in 1993. Everything I tried was awesome - standouts were the cabs (both the '03 and the '04) and the '04 chardonnay. Sublime....now we just have to pick out the right foods to go w/ all our wines.... a nice problem to have!