Monthly Archives: August 2011

Ice Sculpture Festival

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There just are times when you unexpectedly walk into something beautiful.

The first thing we saw when we entered Isezaki Mall in Kannai were two huge blocks of ice facing each other across the street, both positioned upright unlike the one below. This one’s a bit melted already since I took it much later so yeah, the blocks of ice were initially really big.

A few steps farther, we saw this. What with the midsummer heat scorching us, I sort of envy the flowers. But husband pointed out I wouldn’t be able to move. Yeah. Right.

A few steps farther and we discovered there were several big blocks of ice spread out on the street mall. We did some purchases (more books for Atsushi and wooden clips for me for a wedding e-group friend) and when we went out the shopping store, we saw that each big block of ice was already manned; each person manning the ice blocks were already busy chiselling ice, with sharp-looking tools right beside them.

She’s the only woman among the 21 sculptors but she’s handling the big ice saw (?) quite efficiently.

Was sitting just right in front of her hence it was colder in the area near my seat; the chipped-off ice released its cold as it took in heat.

An ice sculpture in progress.

Turned out it was a couple of dolphins. Featuring Atsushi.

A mermaid.

A cockfight. We saw this much later and hence was probably already past its glory as we can’t make out the two cocks fighting anymore. The other sculptors were luckier they had a tree nearby to protect their work. No tree for this one though.

I found this one beautiful.

It was called, in Japanese, “Something to be Protected”. This beautiful bird’s eggs are indeed something to be protected.

Apparently, it was a contest. These two men were among a number of people walking around with checkboards with them, marking their grades for each sculptor on a sheet of paper.

A Kanagawa Ice Sculpture Committee member tallying scores.

Trophies!

Hubby with the trophies.

A woman committee member was writing the participant sculptors’ certificates, shodo-style. Shodo is the Japanese calligraphy or the traditional artistic writing of the Japanese characters. Her penmanship is beautiful and amazing. Such control!

We didn’t wait for the official tally results to be announced but based on the initial results, the winner was “Tama, abunai!” which literally means “cat, dangerous!”.

A photo with the winning sculpture.

The ice sculptors were amazing, making something artistic and beautiful out of something that would just eventually melt. And they have to race with time and the sweltering heat which threatens to melt their masterpiece no sooner than they were finished.

Witnessing the ice sculpture festival reminds me of a loooong-time dream to witness the Snow Festival in Hokkaido. Hopefully someday.

Mitsuike Park

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Seeing the need to exercise and burn some calories, Atsushi and I were determined to go out and explore even when it was terribly humid what with nowadays being the peak of summer.

I initially proposed to go to Taya Cave and then to the Zoological Garden but thinking that it was already 1pm and we’re yet to set out and the sightseeing places close at 4:30, I urged Atsushi to go to Mitsuike Park in Tsurumi area instead.

Mitsuike Park is considered one of the 100 best places to go for hanami or sakura/cherry blossoms watching in Japan and the only one among the list that’s located in Yokohama. They boast over 1600 sakura tress with a number of sakura varieties.

They even have a variety that blooms not only in early Spring but in October ~ December as well. Curious.

My best friends and I went there years back (and I distinctly remember it was a month before Atsushi and I worked together 😀 ) but we went there towards the end of the sakura season already so we weren’t able to witness its full glory. Still though, the place was still beautiful even with only a few lingering sakuras.

Got above photo from my other personal and teetering-to-being-defunct blog because I can’t find yet my set of photos during this trip.

Now that it’s summer though, the place is wholly green.

Some kids were having fun catching small fishes with their handheld nets.

There was a man-made stream near the bench where we rested and the sound of trickling water indeed helped us relax some more.

I wonder if the designers of this fountain had Zen in mind when they made it.

So yes, even sans the flowers (and sans the hotdogs which we thoroughly enjoyed during our last visit there!), we still got what we looked for – a place to relax and enjoy nature and at the same time get some much-needed exercise albeit it’s just walking.

Thinner us?Hoping.

It’s easy to reach really. One can take the bus from Tsurumi station to get to the place. If you’re worried where to take the bus, just look for the friendly map near the station exits. Direction points bus station is accessible from the train station’s West Exit.

As is typical with any Japanese bus stations, the route of the bus is displayed by the bus stop.

Yes, it’s in Kanji so you just have to memorize the Kanji character of your sightseeing destination which in this case is 三ッ池公園北門.

What I love with trains and buses here in Japan is that they also post train and bus schedules hence very convenient for planning tours.

And mind you these schedules are strictly followed although buses can sometimes be delayed by a minute or two.

Bus fair from Tsurumi station to Mitsuike Koen is 210 yen.

Let’s go there come Spring, shall we? 😀

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A side story.

There was a Book Off outlet by the bus station and so Atsushi urged me to go there after our Mitsuike Koen walk. We went home 9 books richer but 5,000yen poorer. Thankfully they’re all second hand books so it’s really much much cheaper than they should have been. This time though, half of the purchases are mine. Bookworms!

Frûche

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Frûche is a soft and creamy traditional European style fromage frais that is really much less viscous than fromage frais which has the consistency of cream cheese. As one would surmise from the name, it does have real bits of fruits mixed in with the cream, reminding you of flavored yogurt that’s popular nowadays.

This dessert is much loved in that a ready-to-make one is available in any supermarket, convenience store (konbini) and even in some 100 yen stores. And it comes with many other flavors besides.

This 150g needs only to be mixed with 150ml of milk and with a few stirs, you already have your frûche that’s good for 2~3 persons.

When I showed husband I bought frûche for dessert, his eyes grew big and exclaimed how he loved it when he was a kid. He then went on sharing his childhood stories with frûche. Listening to him, I was thankful for giving in to my whim to buy this pack even when I initially had no idea what it was nor how to prepare it. Love.

world map

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Atsushi was attending their department’s party hence I was left to my own devices for the night. Alone at home, I was searching frantically for the world map book that Atsushi has. Not able to find it, I waited for Atsushi.

No sooner than 2 minutes after he got back, I asked him for the world map.

M: Atsushi, do you know where the world map book is?

A: It’s here

He then hurried to the bedroom, with me following closely behind him, and retrieved the book.

A: Why were you looking for it?

M: I’m looking for a place where we can go tomorrow to get some exercise and possibly invite our officemates to.

A: The world map book? tomorrow? Which country do you want to go?

There was actually a detailed map of Japan in it with some tourist sites. But yeah, he does make some sense. No wonder he was very surprised. Why the world map indeed. 😀

Would you want your baby to be a model?

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Every now and then, Atsushi and I daydream on what sort of persons our kids (hopefully!) are gonna be. We wonder if they are gonna be geeks and become scientists or be engineers like their parents. Or, they can be gifted with triple the talents in music Atsushi and I have and establish a successful career in the music industry. There are lots of possibilites for them.

I wondered though if there’s possibility for them to be models. I’m only 5 feet so if ever my child would inherit my height and yet would grace the modelling industry, she/he’d be probably modelling only baby wear or kids wear. But if she/he be gifted with height and the beauty and has interest, would I allow my kid to be a model?

If truth be told, I can imagine myself glowing with pride if I see my baby making the catwalk on the stage. And I can imagine myself telling everyone that my baby has been in the cover of some fashion magazine. Yes, I think I can be quite a stage mom.

Yet again, if truth be told, I am afraid for my babies to have an interest in the fashion industry lest they grow up insecure. Not that I’m saying models have peronality problems. It’s just that I do think it takes a strong and grounded person to be in and survive the fashion and entertainment industry.

Given this, here lies the question: if your baby, your 10-year-old baby be asked to pose alluringly and suggestively, and dress up in sexy and provocative dresses, wouldn’t you worry for your baby’s well-being? Wouldn’t you think that your child has been robbed of her/his right to being a child, robbed of the opportunity to mature in time so as to gear themselves ready when it’s time to mingle in the adult world? If you are Thylane Lena-Rose’ parent, would you allow her to post like this?

(a stickler for copyright issues that I am, I decided to screencapture the article and post it here, rather than copy the pictures from the article and embed them here. I could have done what I usually do – watermark in the photo the website where I took it but I figure for this one, a “clipping” of the article might be better).

Looking at Thylane’s photos, wouldn’t you get fearful on how she’d fare in the future?

But then again, one would argue that a hundred years or so back, women as young as 12 get married and have babies. But then again, it’s not the 19th century anymore. I do think that the world now is a lot more complicated than how it was back then.