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Ueno Park.
With the weekend free to myself, I decided to take a jaunt out to Ueno Park. B. and I agreed to meet there at the park exit of the station around 10am. Unfortunately, we didn’t take into account that there are two separate park exits depending on whether you arrive by metro or JR line. He went to one exit, I went to the other, and since I had forgotten to bring his phone number with me--and since I was still without cell phone at this point--we wound up going our separate ways in the beginning.
I went straight to the Bentendo, a little temple dedicated to Benzaiten--the goddess of music and beauty. The temple sits on a tiny islet that is surrounded on three sides by the Shinobazu pond. Upon first approach, I didn’t realize I was looking at a pond. I thought, rather, that it was some kind of field. Closer inspection revealed a waterway overwhelmed with luscious lotus plants, their slender forms lilting back and forth with the breezes. Consequently, I didn’t spend much time inside the Bentendo, but instead sat down under a vine-laden loggia by the lotus pond.
I sat there for a good hour, listening to soft music and watching the movement of the in the wind. It was so beautiful and moving that I was hard pressed to leave, but eventually I stirred--after taking a photograph for a pair of passing Japanese visitors.
On my way out, I stopped at one of the food stands that line the causeway leading to Bentendo and bought a portion of grilled squid. It was so delicious! The fresh squid was grilled right on the spot, with just a dab of soy sauce for flavoring. It was tender and sumptuous, and I wolfed it down in record time. Once done with my meal, I deposited the trash and headed out again. On my way toward the park’s main drag, I walked right up to B., who was on his way to Bentendo. We spent a moment marveling at the irony of not being able to find one another at an appointed spot while apparently being able to randomly find one another in a park the size of Nebraska purely by chance. That done, we roamed on.
We revisited Bentendo and the Shinobazu pond, and then we passed through the Kannondo and began walking for the Toshogu. On the way there I bought a scoop of murasaki imo (sweet potato) ice cream, and we caught the end of a funny little puppet show that was being performed in one of the numerous squares. The ice cream was, of course, delicious. There’s nothing quite like sweet potato ice cream.
It’s funny that I bought the ice cream, however, because directly afterward we were invited to a tea ceremony at one of the temples. We had stopped to view the “pagoda” (actually a stupa), and the tea mistress came up to us and invited us in. I was hesitant to enter the temple because I was eating, and we were actually standing just outside, looking in, when she came up to us. She gave me the go-ahead to enter, however, and so I finished my ice cream in double-quick time (while B. laughed at me, I might add) so as to be able to eat the manjuu (a little soft rice bun with red bean jam inside it) and drink the tea. When we were finished, I told her the balance was perfect, and she complimented us on our tea drinking skills.
Apparently, they perform free tea ceremony at this temple every third Saturday of the month from 10 to 2. We told them that we’d try to bring more students to next month’s tea ceremony--an offer that made them very happy. Of course, I later realized that on the next third Saturday I’ll be in Nasu-Shiobara with Takako-sensei and Paul, but I will spread the word and hope for the best.
A round of sightseeing done, we parted ways and I made for Nakameguro, where I went through the process of securing a cell phone and then had my dorm mother explain how to use the washing machine so I could do a round of laundry. Each of those processes involved a good deal of concentration, and I was reminded each time both of how far I have come, and how far I still have to go.
And so it goes.
I went straight to the Bentendo, a little temple dedicated to Benzaiten--the goddess of music and beauty. The temple sits on a tiny islet that is surrounded on three sides by the Shinobazu pond. Upon first approach, I didn’t realize I was looking at a pond. I thought, rather, that it was some kind of field. Closer inspection revealed a waterway overwhelmed with luscious lotus plants, their slender forms lilting back and forth with the breezes. Consequently, I didn’t spend much time inside the Bentendo, but instead sat down under a vine-laden loggia by the lotus pond.
I sat there for a good hour, listening to soft music and watching the movement of the in the wind. It was so beautiful and moving that I was hard pressed to leave, but eventually I stirred--after taking a photograph for a pair of passing Japanese visitors.
On my way out, I stopped at one of the food stands that line the causeway leading to Bentendo and bought a portion of grilled squid. It was so delicious! The fresh squid was grilled right on the spot, with just a dab of soy sauce for flavoring. It was tender and sumptuous, and I wolfed it down in record time. Once done with my meal, I deposited the trash and headed out again. On my way toward the park’s main drag, I walked right up to B., who was on his way to Bentendo. We spent a moment marveling at the irony of not being able to find one another at an appointed spot while apparently being able to randomly find one another in a park the size of Nebraska purely by chance. That done, we roamed on.
We revisited Bentendo and the Shinobazu pond, and then we passed through the Kannondo and began walking for the Toshogu. On the way there I bought a scoop of murasaki imo (sweet potato) ice cream, and we caught the end of a funny little puppet show that was being performed in one of the numerous squares. The ice cream was, of course, delicious. There’s nothing quite like sweet potato ice cream.
It’s funny that I bought the ice cream, however, because directly afterward we were invited to a tea ceremony at one of the temples. We had stopped to view the “pagoda” (actually a stupa), and the tea mistress came up to us and invited us in. I was hesitant to enter the temple because I was eating, and we were actually standing just outside, looking in, when she came up to us. She gave me the go-ahead to enter, however, and so I finished my ice cream in double-quick time (while B. laughed at me, I might add) so as to be able to eat the manjuu (a little soft rice bun with red bean jam inside it) and drink the tea. When we were finished, I told her the balance was perfect, and she complimented us on our tea drinking skills.
Apparently, they perform free tea ceremony at this temple every third Saturday of the month from 10 to 2. We told them that we’d try to bring more students to next month’s tea ceremony--an offer that made them very happy. Of course, I later realized that on the next third Saturday I’ll be in Nasu-Shiobara with Takako-sensei and Paul, but I will spread the word and hope for the best.
A round of sightseeing done, we parted ways and I made for Nakameguro, where I went through the process of securing a cell phone and then had my dorm mother explain how to use the washing machine so I could do a round of laundry. Each of those processes involved a good deal of concentration, and I was reminded each time both of how far I have come, and how far I still have to go.
And so it goes.
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