2. HAMA-RIKYU GARDEN, TOKYO

Saturday morning, February 9, 2013

Our hosts Shinsuke and Maho kindly drove us into Tokyo to see a beautiful garden. The 359 year old former shogun garden is now completely surrounded by towering glass office blocks. A typical Tokyo contrast of old and new, natural harmony amidst man made technology. Although it was severely damaged in World War II and the Great Kanto Earthquake it was repaired just a year after WWII and opened to the public for the first time.

Entry gate.

Hinge detail.

It's mid winter but already some cherry blossoms are out

Surround wall

300 year old black pine

Maho and Shimsuke tell us that this is their first time to visit this Japanese garden.

Glass and grass

This straw band is intended to prevent certain insect pests from attacking the tree.

Cedar bridge to an island tea house

Nakajima-no-Chaya (tea house) from the Edo period. Built in 1707, burnt down in 1724, rebuilt in 1788, burned down in an air raid in 1944 and rebuilt in 1988. Life wasn't meant to be easy...

 

Raked gravel garden

Beautiful interior with tatami mats on the floor and sliding paper shoji screens for walls.

Warm matcha (powdered green tea) and soy bean confectionary

Following the tea ceremony instructions with Maho and Shinsuke. As you can see, Japanese are very serious people...

 

 

 

 

 

"What is in that little cupboard?"

The sliding night doors

What is the girl in the the little green coat photographing?

Roof details of course.

Don't you just love that corner detail?

 

 

Shoes off and on again

Entry gate

Path

Otsutaibashi bridge

Matsu-no-Chaya (Swallow tea house) recently rebuilt from old drawings and photographs

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese Camillia bush

 

A wedding party

 

The happy couple

 

Cedar water gate.

The thing about visiting a garden is that you really don't want to leave. How dare Adam do this to us. I often quote a line from a 1960s Joanie Mitchell song; "we all want to get back to the garden". Oh well, not long now I'm sure...

Where will we go now? Tokyo here we come.

Lloydnalex

 

1. OUR MONTH IN JAPAN

FEBRUARY 8 TO MARCH 8, 2013

OUR MONTH IN JAPAN

If there is one country we have always, always, always wanted to visit, it would have to be Japan. For many years we have fostered a love of traditional Japanese art, architecture, gardens, design, and of course, food. Friends who visit our Bethel room in Australia have often asked, "when did you visit Japan?" because of our decore and bonsai collection, and the the odd teapot here and there. So we were very excited to receive a 3 week work assignment to visit the Bethel here in Ebina City.

Now, I'm under strict instructions from Alexandra, not to go rabbiting on with copious facts n figures that nobody needs to know and that require me to stay up late blogging, especially as I'm going to be rather busy working and will not have the time or energy do so anyway... But...

Here is a bit of information about Japan that I found amazing... If you, like me, tend to think of Japan as relatively small, think again.

"Japan is smaller than California, but because of the shape of the nation, it experiences almost as many climates as the United States. In fact, the northernmost part of Hokkaido is at the same latitude as Montreal, while the southernmost tip of Kyushu is parallel to Pensacola, Florida."

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong... You won't be the first.

We arrived on Friday evening and were whisked to Bethel which is in Ebina City on Honshu, the largest, and and most populated island of Japan's thousands of islands. Its about 2 hours drive from Narita International Airport and about one hour southwest of Tokyo give or take an hour for traffic.

Just a snippet of some Bethel buildings.

Meet our special hosts, Maho and Shinsuke whome we met on our very first day.

"So, what would you like to do tomorrow?"...

To be continued

Lloydnalex

 

 

WE ARE NOT IN QUEBEC CITY ANY MORE ALEX...

January 17, 18, 19 2013

Our weekend in Leeton with our good friends, Jez n Lids.

Just over one week after we returned from crunching through the snow in sub zero Quebec... We were off for a weekend in country New South Wales. In Leeton we found ourselves slapping on 30+ sunscreen for the ministry in 43 degree heat. That's 104 degrees farenheight for our American friends... and 316 degrees kelvin for the scientists among you.

Meet Lydia and Jeremy, our good friends from our congregation who left Penshurst in Sydney to moved to Leeton to serve where the was a need.

The round trip to Leeton was 1100 kilometers. Thats almost as far as as we drove in all of New England USA, and we never even left the state of New South Wales.

I love a sunburnt country...

Leeton KH... One of the oldest in the land and scheduled for a quick-build in a few months.

On the ministry with the locals

Ray and Em who also moved to serve where there was a need

Nathan and Mel, special pioneers

Lydia and Jeremy, before we go, "Are you enjoying your assignment???"

Didn't think so...

And home again to our "normal" life... Whatever that may be.

The question is... Where are we now??? Stay tuned

Here is a clue from our home...

Lloydnalex