Max Misses Jimmy

She was very excited to be home, quivering with her chatter teeth in excitement. But VERY disappointed that Jimmy wasn't here. You can see it on her face in this picture, " Where is he!??" Or perhaps some subtext, "What have you done with him vile woman?"

Home

I am sure I have more pictures to post from Japan, but now I am home and Jimmy is traveling so I know he wants an update on the family. So here is Koof being adorable. All the cats came and sat with me on the couch after I cleaned the house and did laundry.

This is Simone chilling. She wanted super pets when I came in and of course was obsessed with the Japanese plastic bags I brought in. I also cut a rose to enjoy which was blooming beautifully but of coarse I have to guard it like a precious jewel or Simone will eat it! (Don't worry Jimmy, I will put it outside when I leave or go to sleep).

(Two grey italian Greyhounds just passed by the house! I wonder if they are new to the neighborhood!

Finally, Felix. He is a little bit warped that one. He has been nagging and biting me (yes! biting me!). He sat sniffing my slipper for a good five minutes and then went sniffing around the Bose player when suddenly music was playing. Apparently he was in a little mood for some Ace Lemons blues band!

Dinner #5

I can't remember if this is number 5 or not. This animal blog has quickly been consumed with food. It is only by inspiration from Brett!!!!!

This meal was inexpensive, raw but very very good. Ramen noodles, rice, pot stickers and about five different kinds of sauces (including plain sesame oil, which I love, and rice vinegar, which i also love).

Please note: sake and beer with every dinner!

Electro-cat

We are now in the heart of the electronic district of Japan - Shinjuku. We walked and walked and walked past every electronic device known to man. And wouldn't you know, our camera stopped working. So we had to buy a new CF card (funny, later at the hotel it worked just fine!).

Anyway, this is a television with a person petting a cat. I guess if you can't have a cat, but want the company you can just have the video instead.

Have we really come to this?

Gratuitous Potty Mouth

Ca Ca, Ca Ca.

Sake

Today we drank sake out of a sippy cup. Has it really come to this?

Please note the green demon and the red demon. You decide who is who.

Olivia in Japan

Jimmy made me take this picture and made me call it Olivia. Strange how much we both miss her, still. If someone had told me a little black rabbit would weasel into my heart like this I would have never believed it . . .

Anyway, a reminder of Olivia . . . in Japan.

We love you Olivia.

Gardens

One good thing happened in Osaka. We found this lovely garden. It was a respice after walking and walking and walking. We both desperately needed to rest the dogs and around 4:00 we stumbled into this garden.


We found a bench. Kicked up our heels. Opened a jar of sake (yes, a jar) and let out a deep sigh of relief. Exactly what we had been looking for.

Swat.

Swat.

Swat. Swat. Swat.

Ok Houstonians, what is that familiar refrain?

MOSQUITOS.

We hightailed it out of there. Grabbed our bags and made reservations for a two hour earlier train back to Kyoto.

Osaka Junk Cats

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Jimmy was hell bent on Osaka. We traveled there by train today and walked what felt like the entire city times ten. Our feet are sore and we have very little, aside from lunch, to show for it. How can I say it nicely, Osaka sucks.

We walked and walked and walked and longed for a simple place we could sit and read. I know, it sounds easy. But not in Osaka. So finally we stumbled into this park at 4:00 PM. Ready to rest and relax. What did we find? Osaka bums. Literally rows and rows of them. Did you read about them in the New York times a few weeks back? They were featured in the financial section, basically highlighting Osaka's grave financial difficulties at this time.

Right when things seemed at their peak, we turned the corner to see these two cats sitting in the park. They were hardened street cats, but they brought joy nonetheless. One of them had a tail that had been mangled and chopped in half.

But still this was the joy of our afternoon!

That and me getting us tickets two hours early back to Kyoto!!!! My greatest linguistic feat.

Food Posting #3: Okonomiyaki

We tried okonomiyaki for the first time today, in which I guess Osaka it is a native dish. We sort of stumbled into this place, very hungry. The restaurant had no tables, only a "bar" that you sat up to which was actually a griddle.

You selected your toppings (actually they went right in the middle) from octopus to beef to scallions. They come up to your table with a bowl of cabbage with flour and one egg cracked right into the bowl. They stir it in front of your eyes and then slap it onto the griddle. After awhile, they add your selected "topping" and continue to grill it flipping it from one side to the other.

Just when you think the dish is ready to be served, they come and crack another egg on the griddle, scramble it up and then drop the pancake right on top. Then they cook until the egg is ready.


Not done yet! There is a bbq type sauce they slather it with, top it with bonito flakes and then seaweed. It was absolutely unique and very delicious.

For all of you dying to go out there and make one for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki

Walking the Dog

The sunshine came out today and the streets were full of dogs and their people. Many of them have white gloves on, which has inspired Jimmy. He is now hoping to get a pair to keep the "clean-up" operations to a maximum level of sanitation. I can't wait to see Jimmy walking Maxine with white gloves on in Houston!!

Kyoto Royalty

This little dog was sitting in the window this morning as we were leaving Kyoto for Osaka. She looked like a little princess sitting on her dog bed squarely placed right in the morning sun. Apparently the lure of the sun patch is universal!

Maxine Makes the Scene

I have not heard hide nor hair from the animals so I assume no news is good news! Meanwhile, Maxine's kin make the scene here in Kyoto, Japan. There is a brand of taxi's with the greyhound insignia on them - obviously implying speed! But how will they do on directions?????

Cat and Dog Sightings

We finally saw cats and dogs today! Not many, but a few. The first one was this dog, who promptly howled at us after we took his picture.





The second was this cat, living in a produce distributors shop. We call him produce cat. He was not fond of making eye contact with us and seemed very displeased with our cajoling.






Finally, we met this dog in the Kimono store with the very, very unfriendly owner. The dog was hungry for pets and went belly up for Jimmy to get belly rubs. Very sweet dog!

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Japanese Hippy House

This was something we encountered on our long walk which was right out of the San Francisco art car movement (yes, i know it was started in Houston!).

The vehicle is covered in Bob Marley lyrics, peace not war, Nepal and Japan and pictures of all kinds of natural objects and creatures. They had a little restaurant so we decided to go in and write out our post cards.

The inside was all wood. Everything looked almost hand carved but kept their natural appearance so the chairs looked like stumps with backs, the stairs looked like a long log they had carved steps into, etc. It was very peaceful, our table looked out into a little garden where Jimmy spotted this big amazing spider!

Park Etiquette

Gratuitious Food Pictures

Dedicated to Brett.

Cranes and Water Birds

All over the Kano River we see cranes and other birds of all kinds . We walked along time along the Kano River seeing the sights and lots of birds!

The Boss

Jimmy is clearly the boss because he exclusively drinks Boss Coffee.

What Does it Mean

Here is a sign store located outside of a sock shop:

Gion District Thursday Night

Thursday night we saw all kinds of animal items as we strolled through the old Gion district, made accessible to non-visitors in the novel Memoirs of a Geisha.

Please note on this second picture, the rabbit up in the top corner. Looks mischievous doesn't she? She (or he) comes up in the strangest of places and I don't know the meaning. If anyone does please enlighten me!

Apart from the old district we had to walk through rows and rows of shops selling anything from Bob Marley shirts to Geisha robes to anything that could be captured with fur lining. I guess it does snow in Kyoto and everyone is getting geared up!

This poor gent is obviously a borrowed and sad relic from American history - offensive even in its innocent placement here outside a toy and candy store.

Black Cat Shipping

This is a picture of our favorite black cat logo in Japan. We blogged about it last year. We think it is for a shipping company and am not sure of the significance of the black cat. But it is a great logo!



Gratuitous temple pictures . . . .

All Animals Have to Poop

There are some universals no matter where you go, what language is spoken and what cultural nuances may exist: Every animal has to poop!

You just hope that every country has such great and inspiring signs like these to encourage people to take proper care of the waste.

And no, I don't really know what the little girl and the dog are doing in the first picture!

Walking Through Kyoto

The Black Radishes would have a field day in the Imperial Palace grounds. It is full of big, old, beautiful trees. Many of them are losing their leaves and changing colors. They were really amazing. This one was a tree that had fallen, they somehow managed to get it to continue to grow so it looks like many different trees growing out of a single trunk laying on the ground.

We walked through small alleys and roads throughout Kyoto, looking at the way the people live there as opposed to just the tourist venues. Many people have very lovely little gardens, usually very small but beautiful and unique plants, like this one here.

Everywhere we went I was looking for cats, which we saw frequently in Naoshima last time we were here. We didn't see a single cat! Of coarse it was pouring rain most of the day and we were walking with an umbrella. Most likely, the Japanese cats do not have their own umbrellas!

Maybe we will see more gatos tomorrow!

Gratuitious Food Picture

This is the Kyoto station, rush hour. It is a beautiful station, I guess controversial when it was built because it is so modern and Kyoto is the city that preserves the ancient arts and history as the old capital of Japan. But the station is beautiful, with an eleven story terrace up to a sky garden on the top. It was pretty amazing.

There are huge "grocery stores" that serve boxes of fresh fish, sushi, rice, and all sorts of other Japanese food. It is all very very fresh, nothing like what you are picturing (boxed sushi? gross!). This picture was taken for Brett, the one person who would inspire us to take pictures of our food! This was about $4.50 for breakfast and very very good. Simone, eat your heart out! You would have loved it!

Sky garden!

Temple Animals

This was a temple we passed on our way to the train station this morning. This is a large crane, kind of difficult to see because it blends in with the stone.

There was also a few other birds on the roof, again a bit difficult to see. Here were some lovely koi in the moat around the temple.

I tried to get a good picture of the crows. They are huge and squawk very loud. They accompanied us throughout the city today as we walked about six miles around town.

This was the front of the temple. The word that is cut off is birth.