Shelley Dark
May 5, 2017
21. post-Japan planning
With the wisdom of hindsight, here are my thoughts on planning a trip to Japan. I've given links just for your information - they aren't...
Shelley Dark
Apr 28, 2017
20. last day in Tokyo
When we've wanted to say goodbye to shop employees, doormen, wait staff or taxi drivers we've been saying matane rather than sayonara. I...
Shelley Dark
Apr 26, 2017
19. Gyoen and Ginza
Each morning for breakfast we've had a table at the window looking at the fabulous view over Tokyo. Today we had this dinky little alcove...
Shelley Dark
Apr 25, 2017
18. Tokyo Sunday
This message by a vendor on the website of the Nogi Antique market convinced me we must go there. How could you not visit someone who...
Shelley Dark
Apr 24, 2017
17. komingei, kanji and kobe
There's a word in Japanese I just love. It's hai, pronounced hi, a clipped expulsion of air from the throat, short and swift. It's a very...
Shelley Dark
Apr 21, 2017
15. Daikanyama day
You know what we could say about Tokyo's weather so far? Beautiful one day, perfect the next! Yesterday was hot with a blue blue sky,...
Shelley Dark
Apr 20, 2017
14. konnichwa Tokyo!
Gosh it seems so long since I've written to you yet it's only forty-eight hours. We've left Shiragawa, visited Kanazawa, come back by...
Shelley Dark
Apr 18, 2017
13. Daishoji cruising
a simple bamboo vase on a wall at Beniya Mukayu holds a single red camellia Had things gone as planned today, we would have been visiting...
Shelley Dark
Apr 17, 2017
12. where food is art
An extraordinary art installation, Tsukubai 2006 by Kenya Hara donated to the hotel by the maker. This is between the hotel library and...
Shelley Dark
Apr 16, 2017
11. Beniya Mukayu
We negotiated our way from hotel to the metro to JR Shinkansen train line this morning without getting lost and in time for me to wander...
Shelley Dark
Apr 14, 2017
10. happy Easter from Kyoto
Hello buddies, happy Easter! Let me tell you a little folk story I learned on the walk home today. Once upon a time, in 769, brave Lord...
Shelley Dark
Apr 14, 2017
9. we meet a maiko
Today was truly the epitome of chi-go ichi-e (once in a lifetime). I can't wait to tell you all about it! Get a cup of coffee. It's a...
Shelley Dark
Apr 12, 2017
8. a philosophical walk
This is the system for seating guests at breakfast at the hotel in Takayama. I think we were blue on the far side, with a window...
Shelley Dark
Apr 11, 2017
7. Takayama
Remember the forecast for today? Rain which occasionally stops? It didn't. Stop. At all. The temperature (6-11C) was fairly chilly but it...
Shelley Dark
Apr 10, 2017
6. Konnichiwa Japan!
Sunday (was that only yesterday??) could not have been a more perfect day for a flight! We had a bird's eye view of the CBD of Brisbane....