On our first day in Thailand...

...we saw amazing architecture.

This is Chad standing at one of the entrances to Wat Pho, a temple.

We were really impressed by the temple colors and detail. We were also impressed by the giant sleeping Buddha:

After Wat Pho, we headed to the Grand Palace.

It may be hard to see here, but there are mermaids in this mural. It was my favorite mural there.

(Toothless!)

Above is the entrance to the palace.

I know there are many pictures here, but it was very hard to eliminate any! We hope you find the pictures as interesting as we felt the sites were in person. And in our next post on day two, we hope you don't faint with hunger! Food awaits!

Weed Beer

We live in a country in which drugs like marijuana are not only prohibited, but strongly stigmatized. So you can imagine our surprise when we discovered this:




It's called Cannabia, and it's weed beer--complete with a scratch n' smell label across the bottle neck. According to the website, it was only recently that Japan permitted importation of the product, but other products sporting a marijuana scent, taste or picture have been around for years. (We often see pot-shaped air fresheners hanging from rear-view mirrors, for example.) I'm guessing these things aren't a gateway to the drug, however, because many people are oblivious to the leaf's meaning. Not too mention marijuana's (in)famous reputation for inducing lethargy. Nobody wants a lazy salary man!

ただいま！

We're home!

Our flight got in from Bangkok this morning a little after 7:00, and we got back to our apartment around 10:00. With only a few hours to rest up before work, we were two tired (but happy!) travelers. Thailand was amazing, and we can't wait to share our experiences with you as soon as we have a chance to settle back into things.

As for now, it's a rainy night, and I am reminded of a road patch I stumbled upon during a rainstorm on my way to Kuwana station a couple weeks ago:

Have you stumbled upon anything lovely lately?

~

Monday Mountain Climbing

Today we finally got around to climbing Gozaisho Mountain. We took the middle path, which is an intermediate climbing course. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top, and it was both challenging and fun. I actually enjoyed the climb more than when we climbed Mt. Fuji because there was a lot more rock climbing (as opposed to the steady slog of Mt. Fuji).


Last year we took the ropeway up and saw a few hikers, so it was fun to be the hikers being seen from the ropeway this time around.




At the top, I met a really great musician:


After eating lunch at the top of the mountain, we headed to Yunoyama Onsen--an area of natural hot springs. I had been to sento, or public baths before, and was excited to finally go to a hot spring. We chose an onsen many of our students recommended called kibouso, which means something along the lines of "place of hope." It didn't disappoint!

We felt really relaxed, not only due to our hard climbing, but due to a very busy schedule over the past month. As those of you connected through facebook may have seen, we've been having many adventures, most of which happened in August with Tina. Picnics, beer gardens, karaoke, Akame Falls, a trip to Korea and fireworks made for a busy and fun month! (And also for an excuse as to why we haven't had a chance to update much here!)

Wednesday we'll be off to Thailand for about 5 days, but we'll be sure to keep you as up-to-date as possible after that!

Dreams Come True

This isn't about the famous Japanese pop band. This is about a delectable desire becoming a sweet reality. The day we discovered Club Harie in Shiga.

Club Harie is especially famous for a German sweet called baumkuchen, but the location our friends brought us to featured something much more: a cake buffet. That's right, all-you-can-eat-cake for 90 minutes (and about 2100 yen!). Hope you have several napkins to wipe your drool.

Above is what we saw when we entered the French country-style bakery. First: the cake bar, lined with staff waiting to serve beautiful slices of cake. Connected to the cake bar was a drink bar with several coffee and tea choices, juice and water. In the second and third picture above you can see some of the accompanying goodies, ranging from brownies and sweet breads to delightful petits fours.

We sat at our table, anxiously waiting for our waitress to give us the go-ahead and noticed the following warning:

But that looks WONDERFUL!

Finally, it was time for round one. We headed to the counter, and came back with this:

And this:


Heaven!

When we arrived I thought for sure we'd give the place a run for its money. However, I was surprised to find that even I, a girl with a mouth full of sweet teeth and an insatiable saccharine desire, was slowing down before finishing even the first plate of cakes.

Chad, on the other hand, fell in love.

What a striking contrast between the red strawberries and his blue eyes! Amore!

Soon the staff brought out freshly made baumkuchen, still warm. Below you can see the cake on the spit (the bakers layer cake batter on the spit while turning it) and get a glimpse at the cute style of the bakery.

The cake was served with ice cream, banana cream and whipped cream. See the rings made from the layering of the batter? They resemble the growth rings of a tree, and give the cake its name (Baumkuchen translates to "tree cake").

Everything was delightfully displayed, and the flavors matched the presentation. Subtle, sweet, and oh-so-satisfying!

Maybe a bit too satisfying? We'll definitely never forget it, that's for sure!