I can’t help it. Standing in front of numerous painted figurines set up in a Nagoya department store, I can’t suppress my laughter. Trying to hold it in prompts tears. An unsolicited mess. After all these weeks, maybe the journey is getting to me. Continue reading
Event Poster
The Fraser Valley Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (or more affectionately known as PWAC) has teamed with the University of the Fraser Valley to present the first ever joint seminar for students, alumni and friends in the Fraser Valley who’d like to learn more about writing for a living. Continue reading
Since the Tokugawa Museum gardens are lit up at night during the autumn leaf-viewing season and I need a change of pace from dinner followed by TV or laundry or recording the day in my journal, I ask the front desk to hail a cab. Continue reading
CBC’s headline reads “Patrick Chan settles for silver on Canadian Trail.” Others have said the same. This is just the sort of North American media wanking that has prevailed at Olympic Games since Salt Lake City in 2002. Or at least, that’s when it first caught my attention and has irked me ever since. That year one of the advertisers ran the appalling slogan, “Second place is for losers.” Continue reading
Meaning to thank him one more time before leaving Hiroshima, I look for the poor young man who had to deal with me yesterday, but he’s nowhere in sight this morning. After turning in my voucher I receive a second JR Rail Pass, board my train and roll into Nagoya with a day to fill before heading out to Ise tomorrow. Continue reading
Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and JR Rail Pass. Photo Credit: About-Japan.com website
At midnight my three-week JR Rail Pass will expire. This pass can only be obtained outside Japan by non-Japanese and allows visitors almost unlimited riding on the JR Train system as well as some ferries and buses. One caveat. The JR Rail Pass does not apply to the super express Nozomi or Mizuho; however, the Hikari, the next fastest class of Shinkansen is included and doesn’t take that much longer. Continue reading
Beyond recorded memory Itsukushima (or Miyajima meaning Shrine Island as it’s more commonly called) was believed to be not only the residence but also the body of God.
If being alive on this earth doesn’t count as the same thing, I don’t get this close to God that often. Continue reading
Small, red-brown deer which appear tame and approachable freely roam Itsukushima (which everyone refers to as Miyajima meaning Shrine Island). However, signs warn visitors that they are not pets but wild animals. Continue reading
My energy renewed by the sea air and sunshine during the crossing to Itsukushima (or Miyajima meaning Shrine Island as it’s more commonly called), I make a couple of decisions. I decide to stroll in the direction of the giant torii first. After that, I will simply wander wherever my feet lead without much forethought and be present wherever I am. Continue reading
Miyajima Shrine in Snow by Hasui Kawase. Woodblock print 1935.
More than a decade ago I read the jaded observation that tourist attractions look as they do in books and that a traveller’s true adventures happen randomly elsewhere. As much as that blanket statement can hold some truth, it may also be less than accurate. Continue reading