The last four entries are taken straight from emails I’ve sent during this trip. It’s kind of a cop out, but I’ve been having a hard time getting any posts up at all, as I’m sure anyone reading these has noticed, so I just figured that something was better than nothing. One or two of them have been slightly edited, but, for the most part, they’re the same as when I wrote them in a hurry. Therefore, they’re all pretty sporadic and patchy, but, like I said, something’s better than nothing. Right?
Cheers.
April 17, 2009
Japan
Japan was a lot of fun, but logistically overwhelming. Japan is EXPENSIVE. It was something of a shock to my wallet to be back in a country with a powerhouse economy. Some parts of Hong Kong and Shanghai were close, but not at all like Tokyo. Most of my money was spent on transit-- trains, buses, subways-- from Kobe to Hiroshima back to Kobe to Tokyo to Mt Fuji to Tokyo to Yokohama back to Tokyo back to Yokohama. Japan is a beautiful country, and we were lucky enough to be there at the peak of cherry blossom season. All the streets and parks were lined with the beautiful trees, and they made it easy to take a picture worth saving.
Hiroshima was a pretty memorable experience for me. The monument was beautiful and moving. The museum was devastating. You read about things like shadows being burned into stone. I saw one. It’s so strange to see something like that. I’m not sure I would have recognized it for what it was had it not been labeled. It’s surreal and astounding-- astounding the horrific force that could leave such a remnant. I was surprised at how objective the whole thing was though. In Vietnam, war memorials and museums were still very anti American-- maybe Japanese wounds had just had more time to heal-- but the Hiroshima museum was so effective because it was just a reflection. It presented facts, stories, and numbers without passing judgment or blame. Instead they just hoped to prevent such a tragedy from ever ever happening again.
The clothes were the worst. Most of them were of children, and all of them had stories of the owner's life before being incinerated. One shirt-- a little girl's shirt-- was just dirty and white, pretty unremarkable. There were stains from dirt and dust, and it was torn almost to shreds just like the other clothes in the exhibit. Then I examined it closer. I realized that the mud stains were blood stains-- 60 year old pieces of one victim out of thousands infused into the fabric of a plain cotton shirt, and it broke me down.
Despite the heart wrenching feelings one inevitably feels browsing through that museum, the end result, I think, is, ultimately, a hopeful outlook on humanities ability to learn from its mistakes, that, perhaps, someday, the world will be rid of the nuclear threat. It’s a very cool thing. particularly when the cherry blossoms are blooming, creating a pink and white rustling frame around the infamous dome devastated by the blast, there's a feeling that renewal is happening, has happened, and it's a testament to the people who live there. They always live under the unforgivable shadow of that disaster, but they have managed to conquer it.
Mt. Fuji-- Fuji-san-- was probably the other most signifant experience I had in Japan, and seeing it is an experience. It's breathtaking and marvelous, living up to, and surpassing all the hype. Its no wonder its inspired poets and artists for thousands of years. I’ve not dealt with it all the literature or all the art work, but I think the best a poet or an artist can do is pay homage to the magnificence of Fuji. They can never capture it. No poem, no painting, no photograph, no song can contain Fuji on a page, on a canvas, or behind music bars.
Hiroshima was a pretty memorable experience for me. The monument was beautiful and moving. The museum was devastating. You read about things like shadows being burned into stone. I saw one. It’s so strange to see something like that. I’m not sure I would have recognized it for what it was had it not been labeled. It’s surreal and astounding-- astounding the horrific force that could leave such a remnant. I was surprised at how objective the whole thing was though. In Vietnam, war memorials and museums were still very anti American-- maybe Japanese wounds had just had more time to heal-- but the Hiroshima museum was so effective because it was just a reflection. It presented facts, stories, and numbers without passing judgment or blame. Instead they just hoped to prevent such a tragedy from ever ever happening again.
The clothes were the worst. Most of them were of children, and all of them had stories of the owner's life before being incinerated. One shirt-- a little girl's shirt-- was just dirty and white, pretty unremarkable. There were stains from dirt and dust, and it was torn almost to shreds just like the other clothes in the exhibit. Then I examined it closer. I realized that the mud stains were blood stains-- 60 year old pieces of one victim out of thousands infused into the fabric of a plain cotton shirt, and it broke me down.
Despite the heart wrenching feelings one inevitably feels browsing through that museum, the end result, I think, is, ultimately, a hopeful outlook on humanities ability to learn from its mistakes, that, perhaps, someday, the world will be rid of the nuclear threat. It’s a very cool thing. particularly when the cherry blossoms are blooming, creating a pink and white rustling frame around the infamous dome devastated by the blast, there's a feeling that renewal is happening, has happened, and it's a testament to the people who live there. They always live under the unforgivable shadow of that disaster, but they have managed to conquer it.
Mt. Fuji-- Fuji-san-- was probably the other most signifant experience I had in Japan, and seeing it is an experience. It's breathtaking and marvelous, living up to, and surpassing all the hype. Its no wonder its inspired poets and artists for thousands of years. I’ve not dealt with it all the literature or all the art work, but I think the best a poet or an artist can do is pay homage to the magnificence of Fuji. They can never capture it. No poem, no painting, no photograph, no song can contain Fuji on a page, on a canvas, or behind music bars.
Mauritius
We were only in Mauritius for a day, but it was pretty spectacular. I really wish we could've stayed longer. There're a lot of really interesting things going on on that island. There were no indigenous people, so the inhabitants are truly a blend of all the people that ended up, or were brought there, for various reasons. Mauritius was also home to the dodo bird. There were several other flightless birds that evolved on volcanic islands like Mauritius and Hawaii because there were no large mammals or predators, people wiped them all out pretty quick. There was a big pigeon, kind of wren, and even a big flightless parrot, among others.
My day, and most everyone's, in Mauritius was a bit obscene. We pretty much got off the ship, and went to a smaller, sort of private island. There we spent the day lounging, snorkeling, swimming, and overall enjoying the Indian Ocean. There was also a huge cookout which was scrumptious in every way. Because the people come from everywhere, so do the culinary influences. There’s Indian, Creole, French. So good. And there was homemade rum. Man was that good. Mauritius was developed by the British for sugar cane, so the presence of rum is not surprising, but the quality of it blew me away. Better than even any Jamaican rum I’ve had (granted, I’ve never been to Jamaica, so I only get the import). To flavor it-- instead of the nasty syrups or whatever it is they use in flavored rums back home-- they just take plain rum and then drop fruit straight in the bottle. So the coconut rum has a bunch of real, fresh (coconuts everywhere in Mauritius) coconuts floating in it. When you finish the rum you can eat the fruit if you want.... though coconut flavored rum is a lot better than rum flavored coconut. Oh yeah, and they have this beer called Phoenix. I only had some because it's consistently ranked among the top like 5 or 10 beers in the world. Well, it was pretty good I must say.
In case you get the opinion that I just spent my day drinking, I didn't. I explored the little island and went snorkeling, too. Lots and lots of soft corals. Some was brilliant royal blue like I’ve never seen in coral before. And the lava rocks on the shore line made lots of interesting tidal ecosystems.
Neat.
My day, and most everyone's, in Mauritius was a bit obscene. We pretty much got off the ship, and went to a smaller, sort of private island. There we spent the day lounging, snorkeling, swimming, and overall enjoying the Indian Ocean. There was also a huge cookout which was scrumptious in every way. Because the people come from everywhere, so do the culinary influences. There’s Indian, Creole, French. So good. And there was homemade rum. Man was that good. Mauritius was developed by the British for sugar cane, so the presence of rum is not surprising, but the quality of it blew me away. Better than even any Jamaican rum I’ve had (granted, I’ve never been to Jamaica, so I only get the import). To flavor it-- instead of the nasty syrups or whatever it is they use in flavored rums back home-- they just take plain rum and then drop fruit straight in the bottle. So the coconut rum has a bunch of real, fresh (coconuts everywhere in Mauritius) coconuts floating in it. When you finish the rum you can eat the fruit if you want.... though coconut flavored rum is a lot better than rum flavored coconut. Oh yeah, and they have this beer called Phoenix. I only had some because it's consistently ranked among the top like 5 or 10 beers in the world. Well, it was pretty good I must say.
In case you get the opinion that I just spent my day drinking, I didn't. I explored the little island and went snorkeling, too. Lots and lots of soft corals. Some was brilliant royal blue like I’ve never seen in coral before. And the lava rocks on the shore line made lots of interesting tidal ecosystems.
Neat.
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