More from Japan!
Aug. 6th, 2007 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caitriYesterday we took it comparatively easy, and slept in for us (by which I mean, 8am. Between time zones and a lack of daylight savings time, we keep getting up at around 5:30am...). We went to another shrine and a nearby flea market. Scott bought a pretty scroll painting we'll get framed back home, and I found a beautiful white embroidered kimono for $10 which still leaves me gobsmacked--and also wishing I'd combed through that bin for more, cos $10 trinkets for everyone would be positively cheap! Then we took a Shinkansen back to Nagoya, which is thankfully western: private showers! Yes!! And gods love 'em, they leave you a large pitcher of ice water. (Japan does Florida shame on humidity and numbers of cicadas.)
Today was Scott's first day at the Nagoya conference, so I accompanied him to the University to kill time as nothing opens until like 10am around here. On my own, I went to the Orchid Gardens, which is pretty funny as it's designed "with the image of a make believe European diplomat (Mr. Agonya Orchid) in mind." Yes, this is from the brochure. So it's basically a fake European house (which is actually pretty nice--you could sit and read books on flowers in the study, or chat or nap on the couches in the living room) with an atrium and a large garden and lots and lots of pretty flowers. Also amusing was their seasonal decorations, which were this summer...pirates! Yes, paper mache pirates and soldiers and cannons climbing over the tops of a greenhouse. Yes I will post pictures later. They had a nice little French restaurant where I had a nice lunch (how often can you get French lunches for $8? And in Japan?!) and then went trinket shopping at one of the big department stores, Matzusakaya, nearby.
And let me tell you, these people know how to SHOP. This one store was three nine floor buildings of, um, everything. They even had a mini-museum, art gallery, and KIMONO store. I went to the latter for kicks, innocently thinking for some reason if it was a mall type place they sell kimonos that are y'know, normal store priced. HA! I walk in, the cheapest thing I see is around $1000. Now I hate going into expensive stores, I guess cos I'm afraid I'll get kicked out for not being up to scratch, but I figure, "Hey, how many times will I ever get to go to a real kimono shop?" So I look around and try not to turn green at these thousands and thousands of dollars worth of pretty things. Interestingly I only saw older women shopping there--the madams (or whatever they're called) of the geisha houses do the shopping maybe? Who knows. Then I scurried back to the normal stores to buy pretty paper and trinkets for the kids of the family.
Tomorrow night we're off to Kobe for the next conference. Stay tuned...
Today was Scott's first day at the Nagoya conference, so I accompanied him to the University to kill time as nothing opens until like 10am around here. On my own, I went to the Orchid Gardens, which is pretty funny as it's designed "with the image of a make believe European diplomat (Mr. Agonya Orchid) in mind." Yes, this is from the brochure. So it's basically a fake European house (which is actually pretty nice--you could sit and read books on flowers in the study, or chat or nap on the couches in the living room) with an atrium and a large garden and lots and lots of pretty flowers. Also amusing was their seasonal decorations, which were this summer...pirates! Yes, paper mache pirates and soldiers and cannons climbing over the tops of a greenhouse. Yes I will post pictures later. They had a nice little French restaurant where I had a nice lunch (how often can you get French lunches for $8? And in Japan?!) and then went trinket shopping at one of the big department stores, Matzusakaya, nearby.
And let me tell you, these people know how to SHOP. This one store was three nine floor buildings of, um, everything. They even had a mini-museum, art gallery, and KIMONO store. I went to the latter for kicks, innocently thinking for some reason if it was a mall type place they sell kimonos that are y'know, normal store priced. HA! I walk in, the cheapest thing I see is around $1000. Now I hate going into expensive stores, I guess cos I'm afraid I'll get kicked out for not being up to scratch, but I figure, "Hey, how many times will I ever get to go to a real kimono shop?" So I look around and try not to turn green at these thousands and thousands of dollars worth of pretty things. Interestingly I only saw older women shopping there--the madams (or whatever they're called) of the geisha houses do the shopping maybe? Who knows. Then I scurried back to the normal stores to buy pretty paper and trinkets for the kids of the family.
Tomorrow night we're off to Kobe for the next conference. Stay tuned...
