Hey all,
I hope this post does not come off too negative, but recently I've returned to The Wars of Light and Shadow, an epic fantasy series by Janny Wurts that I started to read in the late 90s. It is still not finished two decades later, but it looks like there is only one book left and it might be published in the next year or so, so I decided to give it a re-read, as I remember rather enjoying at least the first four books.
Well, I soon found myself disgusted, annoyed, and flabbergasted that I had made it through the first book back in 1997. Janny Wurts writes unnatural, stilted flowery prose that is painful to read. Nearly every noun must be modified with a 3-7 syllable adjective, and God forbid that a sentence, adjective, or verb should remain plain and without adornment by an adverb.
Add to this the fact that every character reacts to every action of every other character, and the reasons for each reaction are patiently explained to the reader (as if the reader is an anthropologist from Mars, unfamiliar with human psychology) in the same overly descriptive prose that the actions are.
As something of a reverse tribute, below please find a delicious chocolate mousse recipe written in her style.
Consumed by obdurate desire for forbidden chocolate, procure the following:
4 large eggs, of cups one half of sugar, one quarter cup of butter lacking of the essence of salt, one quarter cup plain water, 3 tablespoons of coffee liqueur, 4 teaspoons of chili oil, 7 ounces of exquisitely tempting bittersweet chocolate, and lastly 1 cup of cream which has been whipped by hands unfeeling to its natural status.
Spurning the humdrum use of whisk, instead expose an electrical beater, and, impelled by stark yearning, combine egg yolks, water, coffee liqueur, butter, and chili oil, and in a designated bowl inter them and thrash them until frothy. Conjointly, smelt the chocolate and commingle with egg amalgamation.
Rapaciousness not yet slaked, savage the pearly egg whites in a sundered bowl until stiff and glossed. Senses piqued to the proclivities of the recipe's requirements, tenderly fold egg whites and chocolate admixture. Oblige this to congeal in a device whose manifest purpose is thus: chilling. Do this for three hours, then consume.
I hope that gives you some idea of what reading an 800 page book by her would be like.
Cheers,
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
Thursday, November 01, 2018
It's Not Over 'Till Paul McCartney Sings
Hey all,
What ludicrously busy month October was! To start it off, Michi and I went on a four day hiking trip to Kamikochi in Nagano Prefecture. We had hiked Mt. Yarigadake there several years before, and I had gone back to try to hike Mt. Hotaka last year but was rained out. This year, we were planning on hiking the "Daikiretto" route, a kilometer long scramble along a knife-edge ridge with lots of ups and downs. A hiking guide book of this route said something to the effect of "If you see a big pile of cigarette butts, you've either just come through something nasty or you're about to."
The trip started out really well. We made good time to our first lodge, and got a good nights rest. The weather and views the second day were great, and we made it to our second lodge just before it started raining. That's where things went pear-shaped. The forecast said it would rain through the next morning, and then turn to snow, and we had planned to hike this death route where a single misstep could lead to hundred meter plunges. SO, we decided to hike down a different route, spend the night at a different lodge, then return to Tokyo on Friday, October 12th as planned. The route, which I argued for and which Michi argued against, was a nightmare. Even from the light rain the night before, it was slippery and quite steep, with lots of mud to slide in and a lot of rocks with slick faces to slip off and jagged edges to cut yourself on. It was supposed to be a three hour hike to the next lodge, but it took us about six hours.
When we finally arrived, it turned out that the lodge had closed for the winter season literally the day before. We didn't know, as we hadn't planned on staying there originally anyway. By this point, the rain was beginning to come down, the temperature was dropping and the sunlight was fading. We could have stayed at the emergency winter shelter, but decided to press on to the next lodging, another several hours away.
To cut the story short, we made it to a really nice hotel around 7PM, having started hiking that day at 7AM. Michi's headlamp had run out of batteries the day before, so we had been hiking in the rain through unlit forest and mountain trails for about three hours with only my headlamp to guide us when we spotted the lights from the hotel. We were soaked, and we didn't have a reservation. Luckily, the hotel staff let us stay, and it was actually cheaper than staying at the mountain lodges. We pulled off our soaked clothes, took hot showers and went down to soak in the luxurious hot springs before passing out.
After spending Friday recovering in Tokyo, on Saturday we went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The tickets were pretty expensive, but we both really enjoyed the sets, costumes, and of course the music and singing.
The next week was somewhat uneventful.
The following weekend, we went to Meiji-mura, an open air museum housing many buildings from the Meiji-era located near Nagoya. The motivation for making this rather long day trip was multi-factored. I had been interested in seeing one of the few Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Japan, the old Imperial Hotel, for several years but had never gotten around to making the trip. It was demolished in the 1960s, and the lobby was rebuilt in its current location a few years later. Then Michi's company announced that they were holding a "walking day" to promote their employees' health, and one of the locations was Meiji-mura. So off we went to Nagoya.
I must say, it was amazing. The Imperial hotel itself is pretty well cared for, and exploring it only made me feel a little sad that more of the hotel had not been preserved. It is a real treasure of design.
There were several other buildings that were interesting as well, although the Imperial Hotel was the main dish. For example, they had the house where Natsume Soseki wrote several of his famous novels, for instance, "I am a Cat" and others.
Just last weekend, I visited the in-laws's place, which they had recent had renovated. Before, it was a typical old style Japanese apartment with design and layout from the 1970's. They completely redid the interior partitioning, and redesigned the kitchen, bedrooms and living rooms to more modern sensibilities. It looks great now.
And finally, we get to the end of October. Michi and I attended Paul McCartney's concert here in Japan on Halloween. It was a great performance, and he belted out Beatles classics, his own pieces from the 70s and 80s and even a few tunes from his latest album, which weren't half bad. Like the Rolling Stones, he still gives his all in his performances and he can still rock it when it counts.
The next few months will be busy as well, but probably not quite as packed as October.
What ludicrously busy month October was! To start it off, Michi and I went on a four day hiking trip to Kamikochi in Nagano Prefecture. We had hiked Mt. Yarigadake there several years before, and I had gone back to try to hike Mt. Hotaka last year but was rained out. This year, we were planning on hiking the "Daikiretto" route, a kilometer long scramble along a knife-edge ridge with lots of ups and downs. A hiking guide book of this route said something to the effect of "If you see a big pile of cigarette butts, you've either just come through something nasty or you're about to."
The trip started out really well. We made good time to our first lodge, and got a good nights rest. The weather and views the second day were great, and we made it to our second lodge just before it started raining. That's where things went pear-shaped. The forecast said it would rain through the next morning, and then turn to snow, and we had planned to hike this death route where a single misstep could lead to hundred meter plunges. SO, we decided to hike down a different route, spend the night at a different lodge, then return to Tokyo on Friday, October 12th as planned. The route, which I argued for and which Michi argued against, was a nightmare. Even from the light rain the night before, it was slippery and quite steep, with lots of mud to slide in and a lot of rocks with slick faces to slip off and jagged edges to cut yourself on. It was supposed to be a three hour hike to the next lodge, but it took us about six hours.
When we finally arrived, it turned out that the lodge had closed for the winter season literally the day before. We didn't know, as we hadn't planned on staying there originally anyway. By this point, the rain was beginning to come down, the temperature was dropping and the sunlight was fading. We could have stayed at the emergency winter shelter, but decided to press on to the next lodging, another several hours away.
To cut the story short, we made it to a really nice hotel around 7PM, having started hiking that day at 7AM. Michi's headlamp had run out of batteries the day before, so we had been hiking in the rain through unlit forest and mountain trails for about three hours with only my headlamp to guide us when we spotted the lights from the hotel. We were soaked, and we didn't have a reservation. Luckily, the hotel staff let us stay, and it was actually cheaper than staying at the mountain lodges. We pulled off our soaked clothes, took hot showers and went down to soak in the luxurious hot springs before passing out.
After spending Friday recovering in Tokyo, on Saturday we went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The tickets were pretty expensive, but we both really enjoyed the sets, costumes, and of course the music and singing.
The next week was somewhat uneventful.
The following weekend, we went to Meiji-mura, an open air museum housing many buildings from the Meiji-era located near Nagoya. The motivation for making this rather long day trip was multi-factored. I had been interested in seeing one of the few Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Japan, the old Imperial Hotel, for several years but had never gotten around to making the trip. It was demolished in the 1960s, and the lobby was rebuilt in its current location a few years later. Then Michi's company announced that they were holding a "walking day" to promote their employees' health, and one of the locations was Meiji-mura. So off we went to Nagoya.
I must say, it was amazing. The Imperial hotel itself is pretty well cared for, and exploring it only made me feel a little sad that more of the hotel had not been preserved. It is a real treasure of design.
There were several other buildings that were interesting as well, although the Imperial Hotel was the main dish. For example, they had the house where Natsume Soseki wrote several of his famous novels, for instance, "I am a Cat" and others.
Just last weekend, I visited the in-laws's place, which they had recent had renovated. Before, it was a typical old style Japanese apartment with design and layout from the 1970's. They completely redid the interior partitioning, and redesigned the kitchen, bedrooms and living rooms to more modern sensibilities. It looks great now.
And finally, we get to the end of October. Michi and I attended Paul McCartney's concert here in Japan on Halloween. It was a great performance, and he belted out Beatles classics, his own pieces from the 70s and 80s and even a few tunes from his latest album, which weren't half bad. Like the Rolling Stones, he still gives his all in his performances and he can still rock it when it counts.
The next few months will be busy as well, but probably not quite as packed as October.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Nasu Dake Trip, July 2018
Hi all,
Things have been busy as usual in the land of the rising sun. Michi came down with first pneumonia, then empyema, and that knocked any trips out of the question. Then there's the fact that we only share one day off together now, making trips a little tricky to coordinate.
But last weekend she took a Friday off and we went to Mt. Nasu, a three-peaked mountain in Tochigi Prefecture.
It takes about an hour to reach Nasushiobara Station by bullet train, plus another hour or so by bus to reach the entrance for climbing. You could hike all the way to the top, but we elected to take the rope way until just below the summit.
It was a very relaxing trip, and most of it went really smoothly.
Things have been busy as usual in the land of the rising sun. Michi came down with first pneumonia, then empyema, and that knocked any trips out of the question. Then there's the fact that we only share one day off together now, making trips a little tricky to coordinate.
But last weekend she took a Friday off and we went to Mt. Nasu, a three-peaked mountain in Tochigi Prefecture.
It takes about an hour to reach Nasushiobara Station by bullet train, plus another hour or so by bus to reach the entrance for climbing. You could hike all the way to the top, but we elected to take the rope way until just below the summit.
 |
| At the rope way exit, you are greeted with a mix of rock, gravel, and grass. |
 |
| He who would cross the bridge of death must answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side he see... |
 |
| Between Mt. Chaus and Mt. Asahi, two of the three peaks comprising Mt. Nasu, you can find some striking rock formations. |
 |
| Our main course at the hotel: some grade A5 beef steak. |
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| A rock that according to legend, kills everything that touches it. |
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| The view of the path leading to the killer rock. All those red dots are knitted caps for small statues related to Buddhist religion. |
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
New Years 2017-2018 Spain Trip
hey all,
So it is time for the annual or semiannual blog post here. Michi and I haven't taken too many trips in 2017, especially compared to 2016 or even earlier. Some of that is due to lack of will. In the past, we'd head out on a day trip no matter what the weather was, but in recent years if the weather looks bad, we'll stay in, watch a movie, go shopping, or otherwise occupy our time.
Compounding that is lack of funds. Michi switched jobs about halfway through 2017 after a several month job search, and I've been working part-time since January. So even if we wanted to go somewhere, monetary concerns might have prevented it.
Anyway, enough whining. Lack of will and lack of funds had nothing to do with our trip to Spain for New Years 2017-2018. We flew over to Barcelona on December 30th, arriving around 10 or 11 PM. The flight itself was pretty smooth, only one brief stop in London's Heath Row Airport, and the service on the plan beat the socks off our previous flights. I will say that British Airlines has really great service staff, but could use a wider selection of on-board entertainment.
On December 31st, we woke up bright and early and dropped off our luggage at our second hotel in the Eixample district, then headed over to the Sagrada Familia. For those not familiar (ha ha) with this site, it is a huge cathedral designed by Spanish architect/homeless person impersonator Antoni Gaudi. He started work on it in 1883, and spent the last years of his life focused on it. After he died in 1926, work has continued on it and it is planned to be finished on the centenary of Gaudi's death, 2026. Although I am not religious, I love this building. The exterior is too busy for me, especially the facade which illustrates the birth of Jesus, and the facade which illustrates his death is simply too grim, but the interior! The ceiling seems to go up forever, and the tall slender columns draw the eye to explore the forest-like branches and leaf patterns on the arched ceilings. The curves are graceful and could have been taken from a page in Thompson's On Growth and Form, a another masterpiece that explores and celebrates structures of nature at all scales. Stained glass windows let in tons of light.
After exploring for about 2 hours, we got some lunch and went over to the Casa Mila, another of Gaudi's works. Although not as spectacular as Sagrada Familia, this still features a lot of Gaudi's design hallmarks and weirdness. We walked back to our hotel, and actually passed out for a few hours, then went to El Yantar de la Ribera, a nearby asador (barbequed or roasted meat restaurant). There, we ordered cochinillo, which is the Spanish equivalent to roasted turkey or chicken, except of course they use suckling pig instead. Not a bad way to finish 2017. We again returned to the hotel and passed out until around 1 AM, having been exhausted from the flight the day before, and the walking and exploring of Gaudi's buildings.
We spent January 1st at Park Guell, another area which features structures designed by Gaudi. In the evening, we returned to the Sagrada Familia to see it illuminated at night, and for dinner we had some tapas and paella at an outdoor restaurant near there. And yes, even though it was the middle of winter and quite cold, we still ordered sangria.
January 2nd was a busy day. We left the hotel in Eixample, left our luggage at Barcelona's main train station, then headed up to Figueres to see the Teatro Museo Dali, where Salvador Dali actually lived during his final years. I went here before in 2004, but I wanted Michi to see it as well. After lunch, we picked up our luggage at Barcelona and flew down to Grenada and checked into our third hotel.
Although I won't name names here, the hotel we stayed at in Granada was really crap. The rooms were cold and unheated, and there were not enough blankets to really stay warm. The staff was unhelpful and lazy, and did not provide us with the WiFi code until we requested it in the morning, and seemed really disgruntled that we had disturbed him at 8:31 AM to ask for such a trivial thing.
January 3rd was spent on a tour of Alhambra. To be brutally honest, Michi really disliked it and has said that we should have just skipped the whole excursion to Granada in the first place. For my part, I really enjoyed the classical Arabic architecture and learned a bit from the tour, but the tour service and access to different areas of Alhambra were really poorly managed and could have gone a lot smoother.
At the Granada train station we learned that Google Maps and Spain's transport system need to do some communicating, because there was actually no way to get from Granada to El Chorro by the time we finished the Alhambra tour, despite several showing up when I had checked the route earlier. So we had a slow lunch and then got on a bus and then a train to the closest we could get: Bobadilla. By the time we got to Bobadilla, it was after 8 PM and there were no taxis at the station, so I called one and we got to pay 74 euros for the 25km ride to El Chorro.
From January 3rd to January 6th, we stayed in El Chorro. Why, you might ask, would we spend three days in a dinky little town with a name that sounds like the famous Spanish donut? Three words: Caminto del Rey; in English, Path of the King. Besides sounding like a cheesy fantasy novel title, Caminto del Rey is a several kilometer hike through forested valleys and along walkways literally built into the sides of and crossing over chasms and gorges. But let me go back. We hiked Caminto del Rey on January 5th. On January 4th, we hiked Escalera Arabe, the Arabic Staircase, which is another fantastic hiking trail in the El Chorro area. For dinner, we had a traditional bread and vegetable porridge, roasted rabbit and roasted chicken.
After hiking Caminto del Rey on January 5th, we relaxed in the room and had lamb chops, and some more traditional Spanish desserts for dinner, including a raisin pudding and a huge mug of Spanish style hot chocolate, so thick and heavy you could use it as mortar.
Unfortunately, January 6th was quite rainy, so we stayed in most of the morning and hiked the Escalera Arabe again after the rain had cleared. We then chilled at a restaurant near the train station for the daily train to Seville.
And that is about it for our trip. We spent the night in Seville, then headed over to the airport for our flight first to Madrid, then back to Narita Airport, Japan.
So it is time for the annual or semiannual blog post here. Michi and I haven't taken too many trips in 2017, especially compared to 2016 or even earlier. Some of that is due to lack of will. In the past, we'd head out on a day trip no matter what the weather was, but in recent years if the weather looks bad, we'll stay in, watch a movie, go shopping, or otherwise occupy our time.
Compounding that is lack of funds. Michi switched jobs about halfway through 2017 after a several month job search, and I've been working part-time since January. So even if we wanted to go somewhere, monetary concerns might have prevented it.
Anyway, enough whining. Lack of will and lack of funds had nothing to do with our trip to Spain for New Years 2017-2018. We flew over to Barcelona on December 30th, arriving around 10 or 11 PM. The flight itself was pretty smooth, only one brief stop in London's Heath Row Airport, and the service on the plan beat the socks off our previous flights. I will say that British Airlines has really great service staff, but could use a wider selection of on-board entertainment.
On December 31st, we woke up bright and early and dropped off our luggage at our second hotel in the Eixample district, then headed over to the Sagrada Familia. For those not familiar (ha ha) with this site, it is a huge cathedral designed by Spanish architect/homeless person impersonator Antoni Gaudi. He started work on it in 1883, and spent the last years of his life focused on it. After he died in 1926, work has continued on it and it is planned to be finished on the centenary of Gaudi's death, 2026. Although I am not religious, I love this building. The exterior is too busy for me, especially the facade which illustrates the birth of Jesus, and the facade which illustrates his death is simply too grim, but the interior! The ceiling seems to go up forever, and the tall slender columns draw the eye to explore the forest-like branches and leaf patterns on the arched ceilings. The curves are graceful and could have been taken from a page in Thompson's On Growth and Form, a another masterpiece that explores and celebrates structures of nature at all scales. Stained glass windows let in tons of light.
After exploring for about 2 hours, we got some lunch and went over to the Casa Mila, another of Gaudi's works. Although not as spectacular as Sagrada Familia, this still features a lot of Gaudi's design hallmarks and weirdness. We walked back to our hotel, and actually passed out for a few hours, then went to El Yantar de la Ribera, a nearby asador (barbequed or roasted meat restaurant). There, we ordered cochinillo, which is the Spanish equivalent to roasted turkey or chicken, except of course they use suckling pig instead. Not a bad way to finish 2017. We again returned to the hotel and passed out until around 1 AM, having been exhausted from the flight the day before, and the walking and exploring of Gaudi's buildings.
We spent January 1st at Park Guell, another area which features structures designed by Gaudi. In the evening, we returned to the Sagrada Familia to see it illuminated at night, and for dinner we had some tapas and paella at an outdoor restaurant near there. And yes, even though it was the middle of winter and quite cold, we still ordered sangria.
January 2nd was a busy day. We left the hotel in Eixample, left our luggage at Barcelona's main train station, then headed up to Figueres to see the Teatro Museo Dali, where Salvador Dali actually lived during his final years. I went here before in 2004, but I wanted Michi to see it as well. After lunch, we picked up our luggage at Barcelona and flew down to Grenada and checked into our third hotel.
Although I won't name names here, the hotel we stayed at in Granada was really crap. The rooms were cold and unheated, and there were not enough blankets to really stay warm. The staff was unhelpful and lazy, and did not provide us with the WiFi code until we requested it in the morning, and seemed really disgruntled that we had disturbed him at 8:31 AM to ask for such a trivial thing.
January 3rd was spent on a tour of Alhambra. To be brutally honest, Michi really disliked it and has said that we should have just skipped the whole excursion to Granada in the first place. For my part, I really enjoyed the classical Arabic architecture and learned a bit from the tour, but the tour service and access to different areas of Alhambra were really poorly managed and could have gone a lot smoother.
At the Granada train station we learned that Google Maps and Spain's transport system need to do some communicating, because there was actually no way to get from Granada to El Chorro by the time we finished the Alhambra tour, despite several showing up when I had checked the route earlier. So we had a slow lunch and then got on a bus and then a train to the closest we could get: Bobadilla. By the time we got to Bobadilla, it was after 8 PM and there were no taxis at the station, so I called one and we got to pay 74 euros for the 25km ride to El Chorro.
From January 3rd to January 6th, we stayed in El Chorro. Why, you might ask, would we spend three days in a dinky little town with a name that sounds like the famous Spanish donut? Three words: Caminto del Rey; in English, Path of the King. Besides sounding like a cheesy fantasy novel title, Caminto del Rey is a several kilometer hike through forested valleys and along walkways literally built into the sides of and crossing over chasms and gorges. But let me go back. We hiked Caminto del Rey on January 5th. On January 4th, we hiked Escalera Arabe, the Arabic Staircase, which is another fantastic hiking trail in the El Chorro area. For dinner, we had a traditional bread and vegetable porridge, roasted rabbit and roasted chicken.
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| The view from our hotel in El Chorro |
After hiking Caminto del Rey on January 5th, we relaxed in the room and had lamb chops, and some more traditional Spanish desserts for dinner, including a raisin pudding and a huge mug of Spanish style hot chocolate, so thick and heavy you could use it as mortar.
Unfortunately, January 6th was quite rainy, so we stayed in most of the morning and hiked the Escalera Arabe again after the rain had cleared. We then chilled at a restaurant near the train station for the daily train to Seville.
And that is about it for our trip. We spent the night in Seville, then headed over to the airport for our flight first to Madrid, then back to Narita Airport, Japan.
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