Japan/3

4 Dec 2015 – Kanazawa

IMG_7107IMG_7105IMG_7110

Sat: arrived Kanazawa in the dark and the rains. After leaving our baggage in the house, headed straight to Hakuza the gold-leaf shop to brighten the evening 🙂 Presently, Kanazawa produces 99% of domestic gold leaf. Was JPY10,000 S$117 poorer when we left the shop!

IMG_7122IMG_7115IMG_7123

Dinner at Plat Home***pub food with the best tasting roast chicken and a good roast pork, moist, tender and pink. JPY4,900 S$57

IMG_7136IMG_7137

IMG_7131IMG_7129IMG_7133IMG_7130

Sun: woke to clearing sky and a cool morning to discover the charming accommodations and area we are located in. 2nights for S$250 including cleaning charges. Delightful walks and also a day pass on the Green Loop Bus was a good decision. JPY200 S$2.50

IMG_7164IMG_7153

IMG_7158IMG_7179IMG_7183IMG_7188

Amazing Kenrokuen Garden (FOC for seniors) and strange to see so many trees with their branches tied either to support or to manipulate their growth or both? The Seisonkaku (成巽閣) is one of the few buildings in Japan to display the possessions of a daimyo family in their original surroundings.

IMG_7212IMG_7210IMG_7214

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art…

IMG_7205IMG_7203IMG_7207

with a fascinating swimming pool in one of the courtyards. When viewed from the deck, the pool appears to be filled with deep, shimmering water. In fact, however, a layer of water only some 10cm deep is suspended over transparent glass. Below the glass is an empty space with aquamarine walls that viewers can enter.

The work sets up an unfolding sequence of experiences, from our astonishment at peering down and finding people under the water to our gazing upward from the interior of the pool. While undermining our everyday assumptions about what we think to be obvious, the work invites our active involvement in its spaces—once we catch on to its deception—and produces a sense of connection between people looking at each other.

IMG_7244IMG_7246

IMG_7232IMG_7235IMG_7239IMG_7243

Nice walk to and from a Samurai’s home.

IMG_7228IMG_7225IMG_7227

Enjoying our lunch and being as greedy as we are, strolling around the food market to look at more food! That is why we travel well together hahaha 🙂

IMG_7273IMG_7275IMG_7279

Dinner at Aoi Sushi***Had a whole snow-crab to celebrate JohnW’s Bday. The other 2 had sushi and sashimi but I have to be more careful with raw foods after the KCH food poisoning a few years ago.

Total bill dinner JPY28,750 S$336 for 3 and I ate a whole crab!!

 A long productive day!

A samurai should always be prepared for death – whether his own or someone else’s – Stan Sakai

13 Dec 2015: edited…