Brad & Mere's Honeymoon Adventure

Going out with a bang

2010-04-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's 10:22 pm Saturday night in Bangkok and with many mixed emotion we are prepping for our 8 am flight out of here. For hours we have been listening sirens, as police, ambulance, army and who knows what else go between protest sights where peaceful protest has become violent.... we have witnessed many police in full riot gear marching through the streets, army vehicles, helicopters etc. Apparently about 300 have been injured. Amongst this chaos we bumped into our dear friend Matt whom we met in India at the Garden of Peace. Alas, our heads our swimming and we have packing to do!! So we will see you all sooner then later!!

Japan's Next Generation : one last Japan retrospective...

2010-02-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

Well my plan to party and be a beach bum is paying off splendidly...I've just escaped our beach paradise for the party town of Haad Rin where they're gearing up for a full moon party in a few days. We've intercepted Mere's cousin Kylie & her friend Emma who I'll be joining for the big event as it happens on Monday which is a school night for Mere so she's not allowed out...actually now that she's older and wiser and has contributed enough brain cells to the cause of partying on the beach in her 20's, Mere's not much interested.
Anyhow, I wanted to make one final blog about a night out we had in Japan as it was to say the least a unique experience I thought worth sharing so you folks at home get a sense of what the next generation of Japanese youth are up to in terms of the night life....so here we go:

Although it was crazy expensive to go out on the town in Japan, by the time we hit Kyoto we were ready for a night out. I had connected with someone who teaches English in Kyoto through http://www.couchsurfing.org/ and she'd told me of a couchsurfing get together on a Friday night when we'd be there. As you may remember from a previous blog, Kyoto is a city of temples so we spent the day checking out the fall colours at some spectacular temples, hunted for geisha in the downtown district they're know to frequent, and made our way to the pub where we'd meet other couchsurfers who either lived in Kyoto or were just travelling through like us. We got to the "Bar Monte Bello" with beer "only" 500 yen (~$13 cdn) but we were early and hungry and the place was incredibly small and very empty. Since it was too small for a kitchen we headed out for food and found a very great little restaurant that served organic whole foods which would healthfully compensate for all the beer we'd be drinking later. Arriving back to the Bar Monte Bello we found a table full of "geijin" or "outsiders" like us who welcomed us to join them. We sat down looking forward to conversing in English for a change but we quickly befriended Annie & Christophe from France and of course, I was determined to use what little I could remember from high school's French 12.class. A few over priced beers later, I found myself incredibly fluent in a strange hybrid of newly learned Japanese and very old broken Quebecois. But the place was getting packed and although closing time was 3am, we were all ready for a change of scene and there was some strange sounding "Anime Toro" happening at one of Kyoto's few nightclubs called "The Metro". So we settled our bills and headed into the cool brisk evening in the hopes of getting some dancing under our belts.
We walked up this large canal that runs through the city and with the help of those in our small group who knew the city found our way to a nondescript basement with the familiar night club sound dull thudding bass.
Encouraged by music that sounded danceable and curious about the stipulation that anyone coming dressed as your favourite anime* character got in free, we headed down the stairs to check it out.
*anime is a cool form of Japanese comic books that are incredibly popular in Japan
We were quickly wishing we'd dressed up as the cover charge was about $30 cdn but with few options and a sense of adventure we paid the guys at the door and entered into the dark, loud, subterranean concrete bunker that is the Metro. I was immediately shaking hands with a young Japanese guy who looked really high and introduced himself as some kind of real estate sales person. He was very welcoming with pretty good English but whatever drugs he was taking were making him annoying so I thanked him in Japanese and plunged deeper towards the stage where the dj was playing.
We'd only just gotten our free beers that came with the cover charge when suddenly the dj finished his set and a band started to set up. We later found out that to cover their bets and appeal to as many tastes as possible, most clubs only have bands & dj's play for a half hour so if you don't like what's playing you're less likely to leave.
As to be expected, the crowd was mostly Japanese, some in very cool & kooky anime get ups. The place was getting packed and seemed like mostly a university aged crowd with it's usual percentage of people stumbling around wrecked. Despite us not exactly "fitting in" and starting to feel tired, we waited for the band to come on in the hopes of getting some bang for our yen. 5 guys finally took the stage which was tiny but that didn't stop them from immediately jumping and bouncing around and hanging from the ceiling. It was a sight to behold as all of them were only partially clothed, some wearing masks that looked like they'd just warped a roll of packing tape around their head ( would hate to see them remove it ). The music was loud , full of non stop yelling which of course was in Japanese so totally incomprehensible.
With my jaw wide open in awe, I turned to Mere and said "Is that bass player naked?" to which she merely nodded and said, "Yeah I think so" with her jaw wide open in awe. Half way through their set the lead singer, wearing only a jock strap and packing tape mask, came out into the audience and did sort of a pole dance while hanging from the ceiling right beside us. It was all kind of amazing and disturbing at the same time. Fortunately, it was over all too soon and we decided to stick it out to continue getting a fuller experience of what the youth of Japan was producing for entertainment these days. Somehow the crowd had seemed into it even though I couldn't hear anything worth dancing too.
So with our minds firmly open, the next act was a guy with a lot of keyboards & electronic equipment and a big screen behind him. His set was this bizarre collage of video game theme music that spanned the history of arcade games from Frogger to Mario Bros. Sadly, the novelty and nostalgia wore off in seconds and just when I started to force my body to move to some of the catchier themes that sounded familiar, it changed to something less cathcy and left us disappointed.
By now it was late and we started feeling our age and admitted defeat despite the fact we could've stayed and continued exploring Japanese youth culture first hand. Good things may come to those who wait, but going to bed is even better.
With little encouragement, Annie & Christophe from France were ready to go as well so we split a cab as we were staying close to each other. They were great to meet and we ran into them a few more times while exploring Kyoto over the next few days so the evening wasn't a complete write off!
In retrospect, the Kyoto night scene we saw reminded me all too much of going out when I first went to College: Lots of wrecked people in dark, loud, overpriced venues, drinks you can't afford and randomly bad bands trying to push the edge with music designed for hearing loss. The more things change, the more they stay the same, or as they say here in Thaland: "Same same but different".

My First Thai Massage

2010-02-18T02:51:00.000-08:00

True to form we'd been in Thailand 48 hours and we've made it to the beach. After a short & sweet arrival in Bangkok we hopped on an overnight bus to a catamaran ferry that took us to the backpackers haven of Koh Phangnan where partying and nursing hangovers on the beach are the number one pastimes.
But best of all is we have a noble excuse to spend at least a month in this shangi-la of over-indulgence and late night action. Yes, Mere is doing a 4 week yoga teachers training here where she'll learn to design & lead sequences of postures that will bring a body back into healthy alignment as well as vipassana meditation to straighten out the mind & awareness. Meanwhile, my plan is to get decidedly bent out of shape physically and mentally from long hours rocking out on the dance floors of the many all-night (and we're talking 11pm-11am here!) house/trance/techno parties you can find on our neighbouring beaches almost every other night of the week. All the better for Mere to practice her new found skills on, eh! Fortunately, Mere's schedule has weekends free which means she'll be rocking her body next to mine at Guys Bar on Haad Thien on Friday nights.
For those of you familiar to this party party island, we are staying in the very beautiful and quiet Why Nam Bay resort in a gorgeous beach hut, once again over looking the ocean and very private. Why Nam is a little cove next to Haad Thien beach which is next to Haad Yuen beach, both of which are a 200 baht ($6) boat ride from Haad Rin which is where the infamous "Full Moon" Parties are held.   Mere marvels at the growth of this quiet little beachside town was into a fully commercialized industry devoted to the partying needs of Westerners but it's been 9 years since she was here helping to establish it's nefarious reputation.  Here's my ethical stance on unchecked tourist-driven growth after the conservative Hinduism of India: I just love the ability to buy a beer and a monster fatty* in a restaurant/club which I can then drink and smoke in until 6am while the dj continuously cranks out quality thumpin' house to move my body to. And, Red Bull's only 30 baht ($1) here too!
(* for those of you over 60, a "monster fatty" is a marijuana cigarette that is large in proportion)
So after first arriving and exploring what will be our playground for the next month, Mere & I stumbled upon a large hut by the beach with a typical palm thatched roof. Outside were 5 beautiful & burly Thai women hanging out, waiting for customers like us, with a sign that said "Thai Massage, Foot Massage, Oil Massage". We eagerly stepped off the sand as an hour would only cost us 250 baht ($8) and Mere was committed to putting her feet into an hour of bliss that she'd been missing since the last time she was here.  Since we were in Thailand and having heard only good things about them, I opted for a traditional Thai massage.
The hut was one large room with 5 futons in it so after our feet were scrubbed and washed we were brought inside and Mere laid down with a big smile on her face and feet. I however, hadn't dressed for success, as I was wearing my bathing suit & sarong which the ladies looked at disapprovingly.   Rin, who would be working on my computer-atrophied muscles, quickly produced a pair of loose fitting Thai pants for me to wear but there was no where to get changed. So as awkwardly as possible I got to perform my best imitation of a big dumb white guy getting changed under a towel in front of giggling Thai women.  I followed this with demonstrating how NOT to wear a pair of Thai pants (who knew there was a right way when you've never worn a pair?) and finally lay down expecting a soothing and relaxing one hour treatment...unrealistically.
Now that I've survived my first Thai massage experience I can set more realistic expectations like...my muscles will be worked deeply...or I may experience some discomfort as she works her forearm & body weight into my neglected tendons and ligaments...or ask myself, do I really feel like going to the edge of my physical comfort zone right now?
Regardless, there I lay and Rin, whose about a third the size of my body with long black hair and intense eyes, began to work my feet.with expert hands and shoulders like a line backer. I took some deep relaxing breaths as I've had my fair share of body work and have always been told to focus on my breathing to help relax. Rin's hands were honing right in on every major muscle group and soon I was breathing hard, trying not to flinch as I could feel she was doing a good job on the countless tight spots she was uncovering. I quickly learned that Thai massage is very much like being in a pro wrestling match where you get to play dead and your opponent exerts all their effort into releasing and working out the years of accumulated micro trauma in your body.
As Rin progressed up my body she started doing all sorts of foot and leg holds while plunging her fore arms into my arches, my calves, my thighs. Soon my breathing was getting laboured as I was doing my best to not succumb to my muscles instinctive response to flinch, guard or run away from the deep work they were getting . But I've never been that good at keeping quiet and soon I was wimpering and flinching involuntarily. Rin looked up from embedding her elbow into my inner thigh and said "You okay?" to which I responded with a guttural grunt of "Uh-huh" and quick nod of the head. My wimpering and grunts were soon bringing giggles and shaking heads from Rin's co-workers as she worked me over like a rag doll.   But I was way past caring as Rin was meticulously and thoroughly getting into every major knot and restriction I had and opening them up in the most direct way possible.
Unfortunately, my increasing state of relaxation got me into trouble as at one point Rin had me put my hands behind my head and told me to 'lock fingers". She then put her arms so that she had me in what wrestling fans know as a full nelson and started to open my chest out by pulling my shoulders back and shoulder blades together. It all felt great but as I relaxed into it my fingers pulled apart allowing my head to fall back onto Rin's forehead with a resounding "thunk". This slap stick maneuver brought even more laughter from those observing and fortunately, I could feel Rin chuckling as well so no permanent damage was done other than to my ego. It's hard to appear graceful in moments like that let me tell you.
After a few more full body wrestling moves that cracked parts of me like a walnut, Rin lay me out on the matt, slapped me on the shoulder and declared "You finished". My body and mind were in complete agreement.
Groggily I eventually sat up, turned to Rin and seeing her hands in prayer position, immediately followed suit and we bowed to each other, looking each other in the eyes. Rin's had the look of the tigers that live here in Thailand and I definitely felt like she'd had me for lunch. As respectfully as I could I croaked out the only Thai I've learned which sounded like "Cap coon cap" and hopefully translates to "Thank you" if spoken by a man.
As I dazedly paid, the women continued giggling and shaking their heads at the stunned, dopey expression on my face.  Mere and I shuffled our way back to our secluded hut with it's comfortable, mosquito netted king-size bed. That night, with my body feeling delicate, I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep with the sound of surf from the beach lulling me away. It was only a little bit sore the next day and I was even able to get it through a morning yoga practice overlooking the ocean while Mere started the first day of her course.
And so I survived my first Thai massage, now we'll just have to see if it will survive the constant schedule of all-night dancing this place is famous for!

Same same but different

2010-02-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

We have arrived in Bangkok!! Apart from the hour long hair-raising, anxiety provoking, nail-biting ride from Palolem to Denbolim airport at 5 am.... our journey to Bangkok was smooth and uneventful. No tears were shed saying farewell to Indian modes of transportation! 8 years ago when I arrived in Bangkok... I remember feeling overwhelmed, uncertain and very excited. I believe Elisa and I spent our first night in a crappy guest house on Khao San Rd, with cockroaches, dirty sheets, lots of noise..lots of heat. Well.. as they say here.. same same but different. Khao San is more built up and developed then when I was here last... but arriving was sooo easy!! No sketchy bus ride, no haggling for the price of the room, clean everything... there are sidewalks here! and despite the traffic and hoardes of western people.. it seems so quiet!!! Today we are running around doing stuff... and tonight we hop on an overnight bus and ferry to Kho Pangang. I start a month long yoga teacher training on Sunday... and Brad will be doing a whole lot of chilling. Stay tuned... the blogger will be back in action soon.

Alive & Well & Still unenlightened...

2010-02-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody that's concerned about us since there's been no word of us 5 days since our silent retreat is over.
We had a great retreat but re-entry into all that is India was a bit of an adjustment and by the time we'd adjusted we were out in the country with limited internet access. We just left 3 days here:
http://www.navadarshanam.org/ and that too was a great experience in some beautiful countryside with some very educated veterans of the Gandhian principles Mahatma himself tried to live by.
Anyways, we're in Bangalore right now, getting our visas to Thailand sorted out and tomorrow visiting with David Miller, one of the best men from the wedding, who's also travelling in India at the moment.
More exciting, fast paced action and adventure filled blogs will be coming your way as we're headed for the beaches of Gokarna next to do some preliminary training for the beaches of Thailand. Sitting in beach huts, watching sunsets, ordering more drinks and food and writing blogs are all skills that we will be honing before flying out of Goa.
We've booked our tickets to Bangkok for Feb.10th so our time in Mother India is slipping through our fingers as I type.
We're doing great and look forward to sharing the road so far wth you in the next few weeks...
More to come,
B & M

In Silence Jan 17th - Jan 27th

2010-01-16T21:10:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody, Mere & I are heading for an ashram just north of Tiruvannamalai for a 10 day silent yoga meditation retreat with Open Dharma ( http://www.opendharma.org/. For some reason using the internet isn't a part of that so we will be out of contact until then.
We look forward to sharing the enlightenment upon our return...
Much love,
B & M

An early April Fools Letter from Auroville

2010-01-13T04:41:00.000-08:00

When I was 18 years old and travelling Australia with a buddy, I sat down to write an overdue letter to my Dad & Step-Mom Val and noticed it was April 1st (aka April Fools Day). This got me thinking about what would be the worst letter a parent could receive from their son overseas and I proceeded to write an entirely fictional account of us being at fault in a serious car accident, one of us was in hospital, money was all gone, and we wouldn't be able to leave until the law suits were settled, etc, etc. I finished off the 3 page parental nightmare by saying it was all an April Fools joke and being younger, dumber, and less caring than I am today, I chuckled an evil laugh all the way to the post box and mailed it.
To this day my Dad & Val continue to plot revenge to pass on that letter as an inspiration to any grand-children Mere & I provide.
Last week Mere & I have been staying at the world's largest intentional community called Auroville about 10kms from Pondicherry. It was founded by 2 spiritual seers, Sri Aurobindo & a French woman known as "the Mother" who helped interpret Sri Auro's rather obfuscated mystical writings and got Auroville started back in the 60's as a spritual community that will demonstrate world unity. Since then Auroville's been transformed from a barren, clearcut wasteland to the huge thriving web of farms, projects, businesses, and spiritual seekers it is today.
At the centre of Auroville is a giant Science World like dome building used for meditation (see photo below:

) that Mere & I went to.
Because John & Bibi have been my
parent-in-laws for just over a year now and they haven't seen their daughter in over 3 months, I started to speculate what would be the worst letter they could receive (and still be willing to talk to me at Xmases & family get togethers) as Bibi made reference to the place sounding a bit "cult like" to Mere.
So here's what I came up with so far...

Dear John & Bibi,
Mere & I have wonderful news! Today while meditating in the Matrimandir, the spritual soul of Auroville, we both had a vision from the Divine Mother. She spoke to both of us directly which our course leader, Asreef says is a very rare and auspicious event.
The Divine Mother said to both of us that we've been chosen to become shining spiritual lights that will guide humanity from the Dark and into the Light of her unconditional Divine Love.
As you can imagine, we're super excited about this and can't wait to begin our new roles as beacons of hope for the new world based on love, unity, non-materialism and harmony.
Since receiving our vision we haven't been able to stop talking about it with all the new friends we've made here in our free two-week long Introduction to the Divine Spirit Course (we call it the ITTDS for short). The course has been intense as sleep and time alone are strictly forbidden but we can really see it's laying the foundation for us to bring humanity back from the brink of destruction through love, unity, non-materialism and harmony.
All Mere & I need to do next is to complete surrendering all of our attachments to the old material-based world so that the Age of Divine Love can begin for us and all our loved ones. With your help we think this won't be a problem as Mere & I have already given away our entire travel fund from the wedding to Asreef and the Keepers of the Divine we've been taking the course from. We're feeling so much closer to being completely free and you wouldn't believe the levels of joy and exhiliration we've experienced from letting go.
Now we'd like you to experience the power of the Divine Mother's love for yourselves.
Since you recently sold your home in West Vancouver, Mere & I think this is a unique opportunity right now for you to shed your burden of materialism and join us in the Light.
After hearing about your financial situation,
Asreef is very keen and anxious to meet you so you can do your own ITTDS. We're sure you'll like him and all the people here as many of them are from your generation. After the 60's rather than focussing on career and family like you both did, they've been devoted to the evolution of humanity and it's spritual well-being. We're certain they can teach you as much as they've taught us. What do you think?
Since Mere & I have sold our plane ticket home, we're also hoping you can help us liquidate any of Mere's remaining assets before you fly down. We can't wait to hear what kind of vision the Divine Mother will give you too.
As we're beginning our new roles as Beacons of Light we're told to avoid the negative energy of the outside world as we accummulate more and more of the Divine Love. That means we won't be able to communicate with you until you arrive here and take the ITTDS which we promise will be the beginning of your own journey into the Divine Love of the Divine Mother.
We can't wait to see you,
In love, unity, non-materialism and harmony,
Brad & Mere

Big Night Out

2009-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone. Well, it sounds like you have all been enjoying Brad's wit and charm online, I thought I would broadcast a quick update, as it is a rare occurrence we have internet access and Brad is not feeling so hot. Today is my birthday... the ripe ol age of 33. Last year, I would not have guessed that this is where I would be. I am sitting in a hotel in Vellore, the second biggest city in Tamil Nadu. My ears are being soothed by the sweet sound of Indian traffic.. honk honk honk in as many versions as you can imagine. The power has gone out 3 times as I have been sitting here on the computer.. likely just "switching lines", the air con is blasting and my guts are turning.

Brad arranged a special birthday night in a nice hotel. We had been looking forward to this for several days, planning on taking advantage of the laundry service, having hot showers, dining in the roof top cafe.. and maybe having a few beverages! (the garden of peace is a "dry" zone.. as many places are around here). While we did get to enjoy some of it... I came down with the flu the night before our booking. We managed to get here.. although I didn't tell Brad.. I was ready to cancel the whole thing. However... we arrived at 10:30am and I spent the entire day in bed with a fever.. and unable to eat. I did manage to enjoy a hot shower.. the first one since we left Japan and that was a true birthday gift!!! Pure luxury!! Brad ordered a special birthday cake for me a few days before... and I had a couple mouthfuls with my dry toast and clear soup for dinner. Anyway..I am feeling better today.. my actual birthday, except now Brad is down and out..and it looks like our big night out may turn into 2 nights.. as it is a wonderful place to be sick! C'est la vie...I think this is typical in India and we are lucky it is just a 24 hr thing.

Our friends from the Garden of Peace are coming to meet us for a day of shopping in the big city before we head back to our little farm. We are stocking up on the necessities (like duracell batteries and candles... ) hard items to find!! We plan on spending New Year's on a little hill behind the farm/school... observing the thousands of worshipers who have rented the land next door for the evening.. Apparently they believe the world is going to end and are all gathering to do who knows what. Creepy.

Happy New Year's Everyone!

Have a Happy Hindustan Xmas Everybody!

2009-12-22T03:47:00.001-08:00

Mere & I have been tucked away on a permaculture farm and elementary school called Garden of Peace near the town of Vellore in Southern India.
http://maps.google.co.in/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109908084835357627514.000472c3522de12a22fd9&ll=12.812222,79.146522&spn=0.001248,0.002368&z=19
We're hoping to talk to family over Xmas but we can't call out long distance on the office phone line. But, you can call us if you let us know when you're going to. The phone number is :
0091(0)416 2917555.
We've been busy working on the farm with motley collection of other rag tag permaculture enthusiasts. We've got Matt from Britain, leading the team as volunteer coordinator, Bryan for New Jersey, writing his thesis on international trade for his Masters, Claudio, a chef from Italy that we've chained to the kitchen, and Gabriella ) and Anjin ((from Austria and Mumbai, India) and their daughter Nitja.
So we'll be slumming with these cool cats in the balmy climes of Tamil Nadu over Xmas and will stay here until New Years. Then we're off to Pondicherry and some post farm pampering before hitting a yoga/meditation retreat in the spiritual hub of Tiruvannamalai for 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll finally reach enlightenment so we can fully enjoy each moment back on beach further south in Kerala.
More stories to come, the 2 person internet "cafe" in the local village is about to close.
We're missing you all so let us know how you're doing as most of you don't maintain a blog we can check...
We're in good health, in good spirits and in good company and wish the same for all of you over the Christian Holiday Season while we're having a Happy Hindustan Xmas!
Much love,
Brad & Mere

Mud, Banyans & Sadhus in the Jungle

2009-12-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

"Tomorrow I will take you both to the most beautiful place in Arambol!", Sreesh says as he finishes telling us of his days adventures. Mere & I are enthusiastically fulfilling our mandate of doing as little as possible which in this moment, looks like sitting in plastic picnic chairs on the edge of the chaotic main drag of Arambol while sipping the best chai we've found at the Shri Ganesh Cafe where we've been watching the evening's bedlam of traffic roll by. We had been watching the random pedestrians (ranging from dark skinned, brightly dressed locals to pasty white, beach-punk Russian princesses in bikinis and blonde dreads) dodging the scooters, trucks and taxis bombing down the dusty one lane dirt road in both directions. Suddenly, to our surprise we'd seen a familiar face, Sreesh, who we'd met the night before around a campfire on the beach near our hut. Sreesh is from Kerala, further South down the coast of India and is travelling with his lovely French girlfriend Elodie, whom he'd while studying art in Lyon for a year. She is also an artist and was accompanying last night but this evening he is with 2 other similarly beautiful women. Indeed, our suspicions that Sreesh is flirt of the first order are becoming more and more confirmed since he is tall, dark, has long black hair in a ponytail, is well built, and we continue to see him around Arambol always talking to different, attractive, scantily clad women. Ah, these artists.
The next day we don't see Sreesh or Elodie until dusk, when we find them in the middle of sculpting a giant head of the Indian god Siva in the sand out front of a beach side restaurant. The face looks like it's emerging from the sand and we're blown away as it only took them an hour to do it as the sun set. So we agree to have dinner together which consists of very fresh local fish as Sreesh orders in Hindi for us and we select the fish from an bin of the iced catches of the day. One of the fish we pick is appropriately named "Honeymoon Fish". We pay a lot less thanks to Sreesh growing up on this coast and he knows what fish should cost when you're not an easily exploited tourista.
After a fun evening together we meet the next morning for a peeled fruit salad breakfast at their favourite stand and after polishing off a fresh coconut we head for the jungle to discover what Sreesh was referring to as "the most beautiful place in Arambol". So we go beyond the end of the beach, beyond the mediterranean styled cliffs covered in plaster buildings, vendors & restaurants, beyond the next beach which is sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the fresh water "Sweet Lake" to where we reach the edge of the jungle.
The heat of the day has been creeping up on us so it's a relief as we reach the sign that tells us the best karma can be found by not littering in the jungle ahead. As we move underneath the jungle canopy, the shade it provides is refreshingly cool and calm as the sound of pounding surf from the beach disappears.
We follow Elodie, who's been here before, as she takes us up a trail that is soon following the stream that feeds Sweet Lake. We reach some shallow pools where it's deep enough to submerge ourselves in the wonderfully cool water. And right beside the pools is mud that she tells us to smear all over our bodies and then bake in sun with. Now since Mere's no stranger to spa treatments and since I'm a big fan of not paying for one, we strip down to our bathing suits and slather the mud on. As we sit on the rocks in the sun, we're looking like we're getting ready for some kind of primal ritual and get some overly enthusiastic stares from the men of a few Indian families that hike by.
Here's Mere and me getting our mud on:

After washing off, our skin feels born again and amazingly smooth after a week of being covered in the salt and sand of the beach.
Feeling revitalized, we continue on the path deeper into the jungle where we've heard is an ancient banyan tree considered sacred since Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment while meditating under one. After following the creek bed for a while it feels very different from our familiar beach environment and we pass a few squatters camps of folks who are living in this cooler, quieter jungle. The only sounds we're hearing now that disturb the growing stillness are the occasional breeze in the branches overhead or exotic bird calls in the distance.
We climb up a slope and emerge into a small flat plateau with about 6 or 7 other travellors sitting around a small fire under a huge tangle of branches and roots that's the banyon tree we're looking for. I'm startled to find so many people here as it's so quiet and even more startled to find an older Indian man in amongst them wearing round glasses, a big smile, little body fat, a string of mala beads draped over his shoulder and not much else besides a sarong around his waist. Everyone else sounds or looks like their from Israel or Russia and a couple of them have recently shaved heads so it's all got a bit of a cult-like feel to it. But we're gestured to join the circle on some beach mats on the packed dirt floor around the fire and our apparent host, known as a Sadhu here in India, a sort of holy man, lights up an Indian cigarette known as a 'Beedie'. Hoping something stronger will be passed around, we sit down and proceed to hang out under the Banyon tree in the coolness of the jungle as the heat of the day passes.
Here's a quick snapshot of our Sadhu and the banyan tree scene:

Not much gets said. We watch the fire. We admire the banyan tree. We listen to the sounds of the jungle. We notice prayer flags and a bell in the branches of banyan trees. Mere & I spot monkeys high up in the branches. I reflect on how old the stone work is at one side of the clearing. I keep looking for suspicious behaviour but it's all pretty mellow.
I'm still wary but Sreesh looks like he's starting to do a meditatation which inspires me to do the same along with thoughts of Buddha doing this just before enlightenment was achieved. Sadly, I don't reach enlightenment but am surprised when I open my eyes. Directly in front of me a leaf of the banyan tree has been placed and the centre of it is a scoop of what looks like some kind of cooked yellow grain like cous cous. Looking around I see the Sadhu is just finishing serving similar leaves out to everyone else in the circle and my fears and suspicions dissolve as I realize he's feeding us. I'm feeling the contrast of his generosity and my paranoia and Sreesh tells us later that people usually bring gifts or offerings to him since we weren't asked to pay for our food. On our way out down the hill we also notice a stone bowl with the engraving "Take if you need to, Give if you're able to".
We eat the food we're provided slowly with our hands and I'm again surprised as it's so delicious and tasty with hints of coconut milk. Then we go back to sitting quietly, staring at the little fire, listening to the jungle.
I look up above the branches and see a large hawk swooping down into branches above. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I see something fall beside Elodie who moves away from it startled. She says a snake had just landed on the ground beside here and took off into the bush! We're reassured that it wasn't a poisonous one and once again things settle down until we hear a chorus of voices coming from the hill above us where there's no trail.
Out of the jungle appears 4 beautifully dressed young Indian women in very bright and colourful saris, each carrying in their hands bundles of flowers and speaking in Hindi very quickly.to each other. They sit down with us and Sreesh eventually translates that they've been chased off the beach by the police and ran into the jungle since they weren't supposed to be selling flowers there. They take some leaves from the banyon tree to add to their arrangements of flowers and then, wishing us namaste, take off down the trail we'd come up.
The stillness of the jungle returns and I start falling asleep until finally we decide to go as Mere's scheduled to clothes shopping with our neighbour Naomi from Colorado. Enlightenment definitely won't be reached today.

Japan in Retrospect 2 : Conveyor Belts, Tattoos, Onsens & Bullet Trains

2009-12-03T04:29:00.000-08:00

Well it's been yet another leisurely morning consisting of yoga on the beach, an amazingly tasty & filling 120Rs (~$3Cdn) breakfast, a nap in the shade of the blistering hot Indian sun and plenty of time to write down memories of Brad & Mere's time in Japan where they rarely had time, money, or internet access to keep their blog up to date.

I humbly submit to you, our reading audience, "Conveyor Belts, Tattoos, Onsens & Bullet Trains"...

We have finally arrived in the lap of luxury. Mere and I are being very well taken of courtesy of friends Teruyo and Rodney, who I've mentioned previously as they're living in Japan(again) for a year with Teruyo's parents in their lovely home not far South of Tokyo near Shizuoka. They've picked us up from the train station and immediately leaped to our aid by helping us take care of a very overdue need for doing laundry.
After quickly meeting Teruyo's parents and seeing their 3 ever-growing kids again (Brooke, Jay, & Cady), we played taiko on their Wii and washed every dirty article of clothing we had (which was pretty much all of them). Afterwards we were treated a rare night out with Rod & Teruyo with Grandma & Grandpa babysitting.
So off the mall the four of us went because we were hitting their favourite conveyor belt sushi restaurant where we were hard pressed to not grab every delicious looking plate that rolled by. Finally, however , the plates we'd emptied were piling up and even I had to declare I was full and could eat no more.
But the highlight of our visit awaited as Teruyo had booked us in for a decadent night at the exclusive health club/spa they belong to which is like an all-inclusive members-only kind of wellness resort with gyms, onsens, massage, acupuncture and more ways to indulge yourself than we'd have time for.
On checking in, Mere and I dropped our back packs off in our room, grabbed the pajamas that all guests (almost all of them Japanese) were encouraged to lounge around the resort in, and headed down with Rod & Teruyo to hit the onsens where Teruyo's sister would join us.
Boys and girls went their separate ways and as I was staying at the resort I was given a different locker than Rod and headed off to strip naked and hit the showers with my "modesty towel" (used for covering your private parts if you need to and applying hot water to your head while soaking). So I'm heading back to where I'd left Rod and suddenly I hear a woman's voice calling out something in Japanese which, as usual, I don't understand so I just keep walking and start using my modesty towel as I'm not wearing anything else. I'm sure I'm in the men's locker room and a woman in the resort's uniform appears so I assume she's letting everyone know she's there to get towels or something. I find Rod, who's very conversant in Japanese even though he's white because he's worked in Japan several times as a academic at some universities here (and of course, his wife is Japanese). I ask him what she's saying as it now appears like she's following me and he says "She saying these lockers are for people using the onsens", and we shrug as I say, " I know" so we both shrug, he talks to her and she leaves.
So we hit the showers and I'm done before Rod and slip into my first bath of gorgeously hot water when another attendant who works there (this one male) comes over and starts telling me something in Japanese, which, as usual, I don't understand. But the attendant's not smiling politely like they normally do and he's pointing at the tattoo on my left arm, so I'm thinking something must be amiss. Fortuantely, I'm able to tell him in Japanese that I don't understand and gesture for him to follow me as we look for Rod to translate. We find him and Rod's puzzled by what the attendant is saying, translating it as "This tatoo is okay in New York, but not here". So we both shrug and the attendant leaves to find someone who works there that speaks better English.
Rod & I are thoroughly enjoying our second hot pool, this one with jets working out any tensions in my lower back, and he's explaining his work at Nagoya University to me. There he's applying his research and development work on electron microscopes to a way that he believes (and will eventually prove) will allow them to scan and diagnose soft tissue in the body (along with many other applications). This is real Star Trek stuff he's talking about but Rod's a lot smarter than your average Canadian so I'm struggling through the soothing steam and relaxing jets to keep up with his big fancy science words like "holograms" and "phase" and phrases like "measuring the atomic signature of a particle" and "using sound or laser beams to gather phase data as opposed to xrays". But as my head starts to hurt from trying to follow what he's telling me, another resort employee appears, and sure enough, he's better dressed, and fluent in English.
He explains that we are more than welcome to use the shower facilities of the onsen area (which we just did) but to avoid members complaining about "foreigners with tattoos", I wouldn't be able to use the onsens because of the tattoo on my arm. I wisely didn't bring up the one on my chest or back of my shoulder). So I tell him I understand but want to know if I would be reimbursed since we've spent a lot of money to stay there and use all the facilities. He asks if I have a room there, which we do, and he uncomfortably says that he wouldn't be able to. So I say, well how about we cover it up with my good ole modesty towel just for now as we were only there one night. Reluctantly he agrees and Rod and I awkwardly wrap a towel around my arm and head off to try out more of the onsens they have. Little did I realize though, that Mere was getting similar "customer service" over in the Ladies area and they had come to the same solution although with Mere's tatoo being on her lower back, it was more technically challenging to cover up.
Awkward and a little embarassing though it all was, we definitely got our money's worth out of the onsen and before bidding Rod & Teruyo a good night, spent some quality time in the free massage chairs where we swapped tales of tattooed gaijin persecution.
After a great sleep Mere and I woke up, threw on our resort pajamas, put bandages over our tattoos and got ourselves great massage and acupuncture treatments before hitting the onsens once more, this time with far fewer hassles but still feeling a bit self conscious.
Anyways, it was all entertaining with no harm done and Rod & Teruyo picked us up and took us to lunch at a place that served us the local specialty of "Sakura Ebi" which is "Cherry Blossom Shrimp" since it is pink when raw unlike all other shrimp which are white. Here's a shot of us outside the restaurant:

Rod was taking the Bullet train back to Nagoya and to avoid a 3-4 hour slow train epic journey back to Tokyo Mere & I decided to spend the money and take a one hour bullet train as well, but to Tokyo in the opposite direction. So Teruyo droped us all off at the station and after a hurried good-bye to Rod with our packs on, we jumped onto our train which, of course was pretty full and no else seemed to have luggage, much less monster back packs. After walking through every car on the train and having every pair of eyes staring at us as we went, Mere and I found 2 aisle seats, one in front of the other so we were somewhat together.
Fortunately, I sat next to 2 lovely middle aged women returning from Nagoya & Kyoto who I wisely offered a couple of mandarin oranges since we had plenty and offering gifts is rarely a bad idea in Japan. Of course, this got us talking and one of them could speak enough English for us to dialog. Before I knew it however, I was handed some pickled daikon radish and a bag of cocoa covered beans they'd picked up in Kyoto as "just a small gesture". To further demonstrate the lengths of their courtesy, after hearing about our honeymoon adventure, the ladies insisted on moving seats so Mere & I could sit next to each other. Anyways, it was amazing to see what you get for offering a couple of oranges!
And so it was that Mere & I returned triumphantly to Tokyo, having left 7 weeks previously. We'd been pampered, hassled a bit for being outsiders, and treated once again to the kindness of friends we hadn't met before. It was a great finishing leg of a journey that's been amazing! Big thanks go out to Rod & Teruyo for taking such great care of us during our time with them!

Japan in Retrospect 1 : Hana Matsuri

2009-12-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

Since we're now in the land of cheap food, accommodation (beach side huts as low as 350 rupees = $8/night...does not include toilet paper though), and internet cafe's I thought it time to reflect back on Japan and share some promised tales of our time in old Nihon (Nihon = Japan to the Japanese)..
So as it's too hot to lounge by the surf, and to avoid getting into the habit of drinking away the heat of the day, I'd try and describe some of went on at the Hana Matsuri festival we went to the weekend before we left Japan. We ended up there as my friend Teruyo from Uminari Taiko was planning on going there as she's living in Japan for a year with her family with kids and husband Rodney who's on sabbatical from teaching at UVic.
Hope you enjoy this latest installment:

I am standing in a small crowd of about 20-30 people and the local firemen are stacking burning logs on top of a clay altar until it's taller than me. (The dark photo above shows it half built). Everything smells like smoke and ash keeps falling into my cup of sake. The sake is free, I'm assuming it's provided by the locals here, and it's going down very nicely as it's now my third or fourth cup(who's keeping track, eh?, I'm on a honeymoon!).
I'm standing beside a bonfire the firemen are pulling the burning logs out of to place on this altar-thingy. It's a cold, dark and rainy night and it's all feeling very primal up here in the mountains surrounding the little town of Toei where Mere & I arrived by train yesterday afternoon. But the fire & sake are doing a good job keeping us warm and we're all huddled together with half the crowd taking pictures and the other half talking, drinking or chekcing out the dancers and Onis (Japanese demons pronounced like 'Tony' without the 'T') that have been appearing regularly all day. The Onis here come in varying sizes from child small to full-grown but all are dressed in bright red and have big wooden faces wth bulging eyes, rounded noses,and terrible teeth.

Fortunately, we didn't get close enough to smell their breath. All of them come equipped with wooden axes and many know how to use them. Earlier in the day we saw cool dances with swords and fans by kids, locals and apprentices and members of Shidara taiko who are hosting us here.
But I'll let you in on a little known secret about the onis...The onis here are POSERS. That's right, once they apear before an audience, all they do initially is just let you bask in their glory: Of course there was no shortage of photographers on hand to capture them in action....

This oni in rhe photo above stood there for at least 3 minutes before doing anything interesting. But eventually, after showing itself off to everyone, the oni started doing a very slow, repetitive dance around the cauldron of water you can see in the corner of the photo above.

Now unfortunately, Teruyo, who had gotten us into this whole thing, had left early to take her kids to a tournament early the next day so we no longer had anyone who could tell us what was going on since we were the only non-Japanese in attendance and few people spoke much English, much less drunken English.

Bamboo flutes and a taiko drum from the nearby Shinto shrine are accompanying the oni and we can sense anticipation building in the crowd as someone has told us this is the biggest and strongest oni they have. The oni paparazzi is now going off but it's all a bit anti-climactic because we've been watching dancers and onis do this all day long: they come, they pose, they do a repetivie dance, the crowd cheers, they leave. But at this point I'm becoming increasingly concerned for my safety and the safety of those around me because this tower of burning logs the local firemen have built is starting to really take off in close range to everyone and the spider-sense of my inner camp counsellor is tingling. There's firemen in white helmets around but they seem oblivious of the crowd pressing in to see the oni. I'm thinking the burning log tower will soon tumble onto someone and set them on fire. Finally, the firemen move a few people out of the way as the oni's reaching the end of his dance and the flutes and drum are building up the tempo of the same song we've been hearing all day.

Suddenly, however, the oni seems to lose it and he takes his axe and starts ramming it into the tower of burning logs! I'm thinking "WTF?" as the tower starts teetering and sparks and smoke are shooting all over. But finally the oni has his way and the whole tower is knocked off it's platform onto the ground where the firemen had cleared people away from. The crowd seems excited and pleased about this and since all seems okay, I refrain from taking out the oni and grabbing a fire extinguisher.

But wait, it's not over yet as once the oni heads off, the firemen, rather than clearing people away and extinguishing the logs like you'd think they were trained to do start rebuilding the tower of burning logs AGAIN. Once again everyone moves in and more onis of different sizes suddenly appear, pose, dance and then have a go at knocking off the logs which get smaller and smaller along with the age of the onis.

"Now I get it" says the drunken Canadian to himself. To keep ash out of my cup of sake I've been having to drink from it constantly while all this has been taking place. The onis come and defeat the fire (which historically has been a huge problem in Japan since most historical buildings in Japan have been rebuilt 4 or 5 times after burning down). Then different dancers come out bearing bushels of rice stalks which I'm guessing represent the bounty of a successful harvest thanks to the help of the oni.

So now everyone's watching this new bushel carrying group of dancers who we then recognize as the veterans of the festival as we've seen many of them thoughout the day, helping the children dancers remember their moves, singing the accompanying songs the loudest, pouring beer and sake into the mouths of dancers mid-dance and surely I felt, these are some of the people who are the heartbeat of this festival. Hana Matsuri is a very old and traditional festival which is why we feel fortunate to be here as it feels very intimate and genuine. The downside however is that being gaijin (foreigners), we didn't have the opportunity to verify why the oni was knocking down the burning logs or why this new group of dancers finishes their dance by dipping their bushels of rice stalks into the cauldron of water and spraying the audience with them!.I'd been wondering why people undercover were putting rain covers over their cameras.

Anyways, Mere and I avoided getting pulled into the ensuing water fight and the festival wound down after that.

It was a definite cultural highlight to see all the dances and feel a part of that little community in the mountains. Earlier in the day the local police officer came up to me and asked me something in Japanese which, as usual, I couldn't understand and told him so. He waved me off and walked away so I jokingly told Mere that the cop had tried to shake me down. Teruyo was still there though so I asked her to translate for me and the police officer who had just been curious about where I was from. He said this was the safest place to be in Japan and that in the last 2 years there'd been no incidents he'd had to deal with. He even complimented Mere and I as a good looking couple!

The other example of being included was when 2 dancers came out wearing these very ugly masks and old maid costumes. They were also armed with rice paddles covered in miso which they proceeded to wipe on the faces of anyone in the audience they could find. They were very comical and of course, I got singled out and given a good cheekful. Apparently it means good luck...right.

Having front row seats to the festival wouldn't have been possible without the generous help of our friend Teruyo who I'd like to acknowledge and also the apprentices and members of Shidara taiko who were fabulous hosts while we were there even though they were crazy busy with performances happening simultaeously with Hana Matsuri. So we didn't get much opportunity to meet many of Shidara's members but we had a great time with the apprentices and even got to sleep with their drums (what taiko player wouldn't love that!)

The next morning, before being driven to the train, we got to help take down a lot of the festival decorations and put away everything from swords to oni masks which was also cool and a nice chance to give back.

Ever since I started playing taiko I'd been hearing about Japanese festivals since many of our songs are festival songs . So this was another highlight for me to not only be able to get to a festival while we were there but better yet, to have it be an up-close and personal one in beautiful remote mountains like Hana Matsuri.

Soft Landing in India

2009-11-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

Well, after 29 hours of subways, airports, planes and taxis, we've made it to paradise. Thanks to our good judgment and the enthusiastic advice our very good friend Greg Fenske, we arived in Mumbai and immediately fled by plane to Goa where a beachfront shack awaited us. Not that we could reserve one of course (we're in India now after all). But our good fortune continues as we met veteran travellor Sue from Britain after our flight to Mumbai and shared the ordeal of going from the International airport to the Domestic airport by way of the "free" shuttle service. Now the shuttle is free, it just took 2 hours to get on it for a 15 minute drive. Fortunately, we arrived around midntight and our flight to Goa was leaving at 4:55am. So we banded together with Sue as she was headed back to our destination of Arambol, having just been there 2 weeks ago and returning to meet friends. This worked out exceptionally well for us as we were in little shape to navigate pre paid taxis and the raw culture shock of a one hour drive from the airport in Goa to the promise of a beach side hut we had no reservation for. The one hour drive was intense (you definitely know you're in India when you get on the roads here) but we just focussed on all advice Sue was giving us en route and followed the instructions Greg had generously provided us. On arriving in Arambol all unfolded according to plan and they'd just opened up the huts Greg had recommended the day before so we picked one right on the beach with it's own bathroom that wasn't too close to the chaos of town but a very easy 5 minute walk to it. Again we sent up prayers to our paton saint Greg Fenske for delivering us to this promised land. Our hut also came with friendly neighbours from Colorado who are travelling with their 2 daughters (aged ~2&4). They've been in India for a while and on hearing where we'd come from proclaimed "What a great soft landing in India". Apparently, everywhere else is far more intense, chaotic and confronting. Uh huh.
So here we are in Arambol, a Northern beach of Goa (Goa's a state in Indai that was once a Portugese colony), where we blend in seemlessly with all the other tourists that the locals are determined to separate money from. The upside of this is that Arambol is set up to cater to all our Western needs and after 2 months of being on the fringe of Japanese society, this place is idyllic and right now I'm hard pressed to think of why we'd leave!
I wrote this post while sitting on the deck of our beach hut, listening to the sound of surf, watching the cows roam down the beach while I quietly sweated through the heat of the day in the shade with the salt of the ocean on my skin from my morning swim in the warm ocean and powdery sand on the soles of my feet. Our only goal since arriving has been to do as little as possible until we adjust to the climate and the 4 hour time difference. We haven't spent more than $5 Cdn on a meal with beer and we're eating like kings.
Last night we managed to build up enough energy to make to "Magic Park", and danced with some expat hippies after a scrumptous vegetarian buffet.
If you were kind enough to donate to the travel fund of our wedding, you can rest assured it is being very well spent!
Signing off from a sweaty little internet cafe in Arambol! Yay honeymoon!!!!!

Sayonara...Top things Japan will be missed for

2009-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

Its true..we are sitting in the airport awaiting our long flight to Bangkok and then Mumbai and then Goa..and finally Aranbol. We anticipate a min of 24 hrs travel! Yikes. Things we are sad to say goodbye to..

1. Onsens!! No explanation needed.
2. Heated toilet seats, heated bidets, getting a kick out of the modesty "flush" button.. used for discreet toliet experiences, automatic lid lifter, automatic flush, classical music option while going...
3. Friendly and helpful people..
4. Onigiri, sushi, soba, tempura, asahi, unadon and all the weird and wonderful foods..
5. Efficiency
6. Contradiction and paradox is rampant in the country... it can be endearing and sooooo frustrating!

Well we are outta time, we will catch you all from the beaches of goa where we plan to chill out for a couple of weeks with plenty of time to update you all on our travels!

So long sushi, hello curry.

Kicking it Kyoto Style

2009-11-18T04:33:00.000-08:00

Kyoto is now one of my all time fav cities.

We started off a little shaky.. we had a very hard time finding accomodation in Kyoto, as it is one of the peak seasons because of the leaves changing colours. I called many places.. all full.. and full... and even with the help from the kind gals at our hostel in Hiroshima who spoke Japanese we got turned down at one place because the owners were concerned about our lack of Japanese (or as they put it, because they couldn't give us the attention we needed).. and then we got a break at the Bon Guesthouse.. and they thought they could only accomodate us for 2 nights (it all worked out and we stayed 5)...off to Kyoto.

We confirmed our suspicion on this overnight bus trip.We have discovered that gaijin:s get sent to the back of the bus!! At least these gaijin. Every overnight bus trip, or even a long bus trip we have done we have been seated in the last row of the bus (despite it not being full). even when we have Japanese people book our ticket!! Well the trip from Hiroshima to Kyoto was particularly uncomfortable! which meant arriving in Kyoto at 6am feeling slightly strung out! However, the sun eventually came up and we killed some time on the river Kamo before heading to our guesthouse.

We decided to take it easy on our first day, massages, onsen.. and good food. Now we were prepared to take on Kyoto. The city is magical and mysterious.. it is the spiritual mecca of Japan, and wonderful mix of Hip Urban, Buddhist, Shinto, Samauri, Geisha, Japanese tourist, Gaijin tourist, locals and expats.... there is something for everyone.

We did a walking tour with Johnnie Hillwalker.. (must be in his 70's and doing this for years) he gave us the low down on the history of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan and Kyoto, the history of pottery, mala beads, fans,sweets, tatami matt makers and other industry in Kyoto, aka..Japanese families working out of their homes for generations.... and how that is all changing,Geisha and so much more.

We explored on bikes.. and discovered beautiful temples and gardens.. shops.. canals..restaurants. We hooked up with couchsurfers and danced (well not really) to a Japanese band playing video game music, wearing taped masks, one guy fully naked rocking to a crowd of animae clad japanese youngsters (CRAZY).We spotted Geisha, saw lit up temples...went to a Zen meditation..ate green tea ice cream, went to a crazy craft market at a temple..... and so much more. I look forward to my next visit and I have only been gone a day!!

Kenji & Sachiyo

2009-11-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

The campsite on Miyajima Island is very sad. It's very large with many tenting spots and all of them are empty except for the very tame deer that wander all over the island. They are so tame that one almost bit through Mere's pack during an unguarded moment, trying to get at our mandarin oranges (which we've been eating constantly since we got here). Fortunately, we intervened in time to save Mere's brand new pack from permanent damage and from Brad doing permanent damage to a protected deer.
But the campsite isn't sad because of the deer or that it's too cold for anyone else to want to camp here at this time of year. The campsite is sad because we've just said good-bye to Kenji & Sachiyo who drove us here 3 hours South of their home near Okayama earlier that day.
Kenji teaches high school English and to improve his skills, lived in Victoria for a year. He's also a fantastic taiko player who played with us in Uminari Taiko although he hasn't had time or motive to play since returning from his time in Canada. That's where I first met him and he's one of my main reasons for wanting to come to Japan to visit him and his lovely wife Sachiyo who also lived in Victoria for 6 months.
Kenji had wanted us to come to Okayama on that particular weekend so he could take us to taiko concert and show us around since they both work crazy hours during the week. When we arrived, we felt very grateful to enjoy their (by Japanese standards) spacious apartment in an interesting area sort of between a rural and urban area. The district they live in is called Hayashima and to celebrate its 420th birthday 6 different taiko groups would be performing in the auditorium.of their community centre. Mere & I were the only non-Japanese in the packed theatre so I was very excited to get to see 4 hours of pure 100% undiluted homegrown Japanese taiko. Mere & Sachiyo started falling asleep about half way through the show as the soothing vibrations of the drums bombarded the room and started lulling them to sleep.    Meanwhile, I was on the edge of my seat, savouring this taiko buffet which started with a local kids group demonstrating some impressive skills. The next highlight were 3 women of another local group who just ripped it up, passing solos back and forth between each other playing overtop these driving swing beats that left me in awe and mouth breathing by the end of their set. Then some friends Kenji used to play with took the stage as Fujin taiko showed just how 3 people can leave an audience breathless from flawless fue (a Japanese flute) and incredibly strong, relentless energy. They immaculately performed some very difficult pieces that clearly demonstrated years of continous practice. Another highlight followed their set as suddenly 4 demons came into the audience from the exits banging drums, shaking rattles, waving staffs and giving children in the audience nightmares for years to come. However, demons (aka Oni, pronounced oh-knee) arent't considered all that bad here in Japan so once the screaming children had been removed or medicated, they took the stage and were joined by 8 other fully masked & costumed demons. Now, having worn an Oni mask on stage myself once or twice, I'm blown away by how many of them are in cosutme because I know how smoking hot it is inside them, especially under stage lighting. So I spent most of their set thinking...okay, when are they going to take those masks off and end their suffering?...Well, they don't. They pull out an entire mind blowing half hour set in full regalia which created such an other worldly experience it's hard to describe. But after watching them for a while it really seemed like there was this big pack of hairy demons rocking out on stage. It was so cool and something I'd never seen anything like before (with or without drugs). Sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show or I'd let them do the talking.
Kenji's sister & brother-in-law run a very fine tempura restaurant in Okayama so our visit kept getting better as we woke up Mere & Sachiyo after the grand finale of all the groups playing together. We had by far best tempura I've ever had.  Kenhi's sister served us herself and brought course after course of exquisitely made delicacies we washed down with beer and sake. I didn't think you could do much with deep frying veggies and seafood , but man was I proven wrong. The Japanese word for delicious is 'Oichi'!
We were also very happy to meet the parents of Kenji & Sachiyo. Kenji's Mom sewed up a huge tear in one of my few pairs of pants and his Dad (who'd been a monk before retiring) showed us a dvd over a very fine lunch of the ceremony where Kenji's brother took over the temple he'd built.
On our way out of town to Miyajima, Sachiyo's Mom & Dad were kind enough to print off some cheap bus tickets Kenji & Sachiyo helped us find on-line since we can't read the language here. We arrived at Kenji's with unclear plans for the remainder of our time in Japan and they were golden in helping us sort out our last few weeks in Japan.
Since they hadn't been to our next destination before (Miyajima Island,  renowned for it's floating temple and being "One of Japan's 3 most scenic places to visit"), they offered to drive us down to it on Sunday since the tolls on the highways are cheaper and we could enjoy a short road trip together. They said they loved being reminded of their time in Canada having us around too.
We had some good conversations on the drive down and more fun times on Miyajima, taking a short boat ride through the shine gate out on the water and exploring the floating temple which was very cool.
So it was a bittersweet, sad farewell at the empty Miyajima campsite that afternoon to this lovely couple that took us in and in typical Japanese fashion, gave us far more than we could give them.
Mere and I hiked to the top of Miyajima the next day for a memorable 360 view but it paled in comparison to our memories of spending time with good friends!

BC Ferries Missed the Boat...

2009-11-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

After escaping Tokyo after our arrival we headed North to the island of Hokkaido at the top of Japan. To save money since we didn't get a train pass and from years of conditioning from taking BC Ferries to get off Vanouver Island, we took an 18 hour overnight ferry which cost only ~$90 Cdn each (which is cheap by Jpn. standards). So we got on board and set up in 2nd class room on these fold out futons we'd booked for ourselves and 15 other new friends (none of whom spoke English but boy do they smile politely) we'd be sleeping with that night. After exploring the ship we made 2 major discoveries we will be lobbying for on BC Ferries upon our return. Please note there was no additional costs for these features:
1. HEATED BIDETS -　a joy for any anus. If you thought Mere or I took a long time on the john before, imagine what happens when you introduce heated seats & the option of a warm pulsing sensation where the sun never shines!

2.　PUBLIC BATHES - although we had to split up (men & women are separated to maximize the relaxation), we spent at least 2 hours of our trip in the most civilized and luxurious way possible...in a bathtub built for 20...literally. Steaming hot water continously pouring into a crystal clear pool of water as you watch any new comers take a cleansing shower before they get in. Also on hand was a steam sauna for those wanting some variation and to maximize your time in the bath, a cold pool was close at hand for when you got too hot. I slipped into Nirvana and stared through the picturesque windows looking out over the Pacific Ocean as we made our way North along the Eastern coast of Japan. Sweat soon lightly glistened on my brow as I thought of all our friends and loved ones on the other side of the ocean, working away, dreaming of experiences like the one I was thoroughly enjoying.

So next time you have to a BC Ferry, imagine yourself clean, naked, floating and relaxed in soothing pool of warm water watching the waves go by. Needless to say, we'll be counting on your support once we get a petition for BC Ferries set up.

Chilled out chaos on Sado Island

2009-11-05T17:26:00.001-08:00

Well folks, we have just spent an amazing week on Sado Island...We stayed with Naryo-san, her 3 beautiful children- Noto (2), Rin (4), Foo (7), Ellen another woofer from Canada, her son Marcus (8), 13 sneezy devilish cats, 1 crazy dog and the two of us!! Naryo has a very large,old style home nestled into the mountains of Sado amongst rice fields and bamboo forrests. We tried our hand at cultivating rice, a little challenging given the "natural" state of Naryos rice field (kinda like our back yard used to be!)

Sado is also the home of the legendary Kodo Taiko group.I had my very first Taiko lesson with one of their members..now I really understand why Brad loves it so much. The following day we checked out a fall festival the drum center was hosting... I was in complete awe of the apprentices that played. I have never seen Kodo perform so I cant compare it to anything but it was mind blowing!!

The snow seems to be following us and it got very cold... so we have headed south. We stayed in Osaka last night and hooked up with Jeremy, a friend of Ken Tuppers. We drank lots of beer and ate great food...paying for it today! Headed to Okayama to stay with a friend of Brads for a couple of days and then who knows.....

Interweb Buffet & Photos

2009-10-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

We've made it to a hotel with enough internet to last us for a day or two so we've taken the time to upload photos to our gmail accounts and you can find them at these links:
Brad's photos:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/bmlewis/
Mere's photos:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/merewithers/
Enjoy!
Brad & Mere

Taiko in Tokyo

2009-10-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

"Your fingers leave the bachi as you draw it back", Mizuho told me disapprovingly. She would know better than me as she has been playing taiko for about 16 years with Oedo Sukeroku, http://www.oedosukerokutaiko.com/ , keepers of the Sukeroku style of drumming and one of the oldest performing taiko groups in Japan. I had just finished a half hour review of the history of taiko in Japan with her as part of a private lesson I'd arranged. Now I was finally standing at a drum in the studio below their office near Akihibara in Tokyo, eager to get my money's worth. Mizuho patiently showed me what I was doing wrong and I said one of the 5 Japanese words I knew on day 3 of being in Japan. "Wakarimashita",- I understand. So I tried the pattern she'd just showed me again, paying attention to my fingers but fumbling the pattern. "No, no, the pattern goes like this" she said patiently in very good english fortunately, and demonstrated what I'd tried to do. Flawlessly, of course. I took a deep breath and gathered patience. "Hai", I said - Yes (one of the other 5 Japanese words I knew). I tried again, focussing on the pattern AND my fingers. "Good", she said and came over to me. "But your arm", and here she tapped my elbow down a few inches, "should be like THIS" grabbing hold of my hand and, as though molding (dense) clay, moved it into what is the acceptable Sukeroku position for the hand. "Let's try again". Sweat is now pouring out of me. My mouth is getting drier and I begin questioning if this was such a good idea. We play the pattern for a while and she either graciously ignores any further mistakes or I've improved. Likely the former.
We are working through the first song I ever learned on a taiko drum. I was told it's called "Matsuri taiko" when I learned it 7 years ago (and have played ever since) but have just been told by Mizuho that it's actually based on one of Oedo Sukeroku's original songs called "Midare" which was based on a Bon Odori dance (which is a festival in Japan) and played by Japan's earliest taiko ensembles, "Sukeroku Taiko" formed in 1967. You see Seido Kobayashi, the founder of Oedo Sukeroku, who I'd just met as I arrived at their office for my lesson, was one of the original member of Sukeroku Taiko, so he's basically like one of the Beatles of taiko. I'd say he's Paul as he's aged so well. It was like I was learning the Bob Dylan version of "All Along the Watchtower" after having been playing the Hendrix or U2 version for 7 years.
And I was struggling. It was familiar, but not familiar.
Fortunately, Mizuho had already given me a great drill to practice at home with Uminari Taiko when I get back so learning, or re-learning the song was gravy on the cake.
We carried on with her adding phrase after phrase until I was grateful our time was up as I was sore, sweaty and questioning whether I'd really been playing taiko for 7 years.
But it wasn't over then.
Mizuho says, "Now I'll go get Master Seido so he can have a look at you".
My stomach drops. I contemplate running away or maybe just hiding behind some of the drums I'm surrounded by until they go away. But I don't and resign myself to thoroughly embarrassing myself in front Seido Kobayashi as though I was about to show Tiger Woods just how good I really was on the golf course.
So Mizuho comes back with Seido, and as I'm realizing what an honour it is to be playing with these tremendous taiko players, he starts playing the base beat for Midare and I stumble through the patterns with Mizuho. Now Seido speaks no english so Mizuho translates once we're done.
"Your fingers leave the bachi as you draw it back, he says". Apparently, I'm a slow learner. I say knowingly, "Hai, wakarimashita". He smiles.
The highlight of the lesson has to be after a few more corrections from the man himself, when he asks through Mizuho, "Do play the big odaiko, like that one?" and they're both looking at the drum at the back of the room. I'm excited and terrified as playing the big drum (well) is every taiko player's dream, and here's my shot to blow it completely or make a positive impression in front of a grand master. Plus we're now way past the time I've paid for and Mizuho is a bit taken aback saying things like "He usually doesn't do this with students" and "This is special" so I'm again feeling very honoured and grateful to have this opportunity.
So I say, "A little bit" and he finds the right sized bacchi (drum sticks) for the big odaiko and hands them to me. Not to be presumptuous, I ask for his opinion on how I should stand. He shows me and as I take his place in front of the drum my mind draws a complete blank as to what the rhythm was that they'd just shown me. So I just start hitting the drum hoping it will come to me but it doesn't. I feel my face go red with embarrassment and I'm feeling my body's fight, flight or freeze mechanisms taking hold as I start panicking. And then suddenly I feel arms reach around me from behind and Seido is basically hugging me from behind, puts his hands over mine and moves them in the pattern they're supposed to be playing. I'm literally in shock and awe but finally my brain comes back online and I'm able to play the pattern and demonstrate, that yes, I'm not totally incompetent when it comes to playing the big odaiko. Just mostly incompetant it seems when compared to these two. Anyways, we had a cup of tea afterwards, I gave both of them Uminari Taiko t-shirts as a small token of my gratitude and the following picture was taken with Seido and Mizuho with their very kind office manager:

From Honeymoon Photos 2 - Arriving in Japan

If you look closely at the photo, you can see another photo on the wall above my head of Seido in his glory days. I was floating off the ground when I left their office. I was very humbled to have been able to learn from 2 great players of an artform I'm passionate about and who have spent most of their lives dedicated to it, by sharing, practicing & performing it. It was definitely the highlight of my first week in Japan and a landmark for me as taiko player!

5 Rhythms inTokyo

2009-10-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well..as you know, Brad and I like to dance. Needless to say, we were not disappointed last night as we experienced 5 rhythms in Tokyo. Sahaja our gracious instructor led us through a wonderful dance, with fantastic music, in a small space with about 8 other people. True to 5 rhythms form.. we were surrounded by 7 beautiful japanese women who knew how to shake it, and one male who was not afraid of letting loose. We were blessed to head out with the crew to a Japanese noodle house afterwards.. and experienced a delicious and cheap meal.. our first meal without mystry meat. sucess.

PORK - the new vegetable

2009-10-13T01:26:00.000-07:00

Day one was spent wandering around a nearby temple immersed crowds, jetlag and OMG we're actually in Japan. Hunger finally overtook our cultureshock and we entered a nearby vendor of noodles completely stunned that we had only our phrasebooks to help us and the patience of those in the service industry here. Well after ordering what I thought was a safe vegetarian option of miso dipping noodles ( a miso soup with a plate of noodles to dunk it in), I was surprised to find big chunks of pork floating around in it. Not being all that strict a vegetarian I shrugged and picked out the pork and was happy to have food in my belly.
That night we hit Shibuya which is an area of Tokyo that's like Robson Street in Vancouver on an extemely busy Friday night but multiplied to the power of 100. Numbed by the continual bombardment of video screens on every building, blinking signs we can't read (or in broken english), and a parade of Tokyo's prettiest, most metrosexual 20 somethings, we sought shelter in another place to get some noodles. This I place another sure bet on noodles from the clearly labelled (in english/romanji) "Vegetable dishes" section of the menu but alas, mystery meat was abundantly spread throughout and proudly defined as "pork" by our server. Yes ladies & gentlemen, pork is the new vegetable and my new favourite Japanese expressions are:
Niku wa tabemasen.- I don't eat meat. Bejitarian no ryori ga armasu ka? - Do you have any vegetarian dishes?
These helpful expressions were brought to us by Sara Juel McLaughlin for lending us a very well used Phrasebook!

Touch down

2009-10-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

We've safely landed in Tokyo and here's the view of the runway as we were coming in...

We got to our hostel no problem and despite Brad wanting to hit the clubs, ended up passing out for 12 hours! We're off to explore Tokyo today!

We're OFF

2009-10-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

And we leave our home in the capable hands of Matt(Mere's cousin) and Terisa... ya were not worried either.

2009-10-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Right now I ain't got no car, ain't got no job, and won't have no cell phone neither. Just a plane ticket, the woman I love and a whole world awaiting. Freedom baby. FREEDOM!
Finally starting to pack, cancel phones, clear out our stuff, buy more stuff, and get very very excited. We leave Victoria in 2 more sleeps, then fly out of Vancouver in 4 more sleeps.
Am off to buy more stuff with my good friend Andy Bernhardt who will use his powers of Chinese Medicine & Herbology to keep our bellies parasite free at the Vitamin shop...
4 more sleeps

Our Honeymoon begins...

2009-10-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our travelblog first of all. We'll do our best to keep you informed about where we're at, what we're up to, and how we're doing as we go. Mere & I had our last days of work yesterday and as I stumbled through the door after drinking heavily (that's about 3 beers for me) with the fine folks at Sierra I declared enthusiastically, "The honeymoon has begun!!!!". Mere's no longer using her Masters Degree in Counseling on the landscaping crew she's now finished with and I'm no longer accumulating repetitive micro-trauma in my hands, arms & shoulders as a software developer with Sierra Systems...at least not for 6 months anyways...

It's Saturday today, Mere & I woke up at 6:30am our brains teeming over with things to do, decisions to make, stuff to pack and people to connect with so our typical sleep-in was not an option.
We're having our going away party tonight, which unlike our trip is grossly underplanned but we managed to avoid having Karaoke and now just need to buy a sack of sushi rice, cook it, prep some filling, bake some pot cookies, buy some booze and let the good times roll.

Will do our best to keep you posted on this site as our adventure continues to unfold.
Here's our current itinerary for Japan so we can do a estimated vs. actual comparative analysis as we go:
The itinerary so far is:
Arrive Tokyo Oct. 11th (the day of our first wedding anniversary).
Leave Tokyo Oct. 15th and take ferry from Oorai to Hokkaido.
Spend 4 days on farm wwoofing beside Daisetzuan national Park
Spend 4 days hiking in Daisetzuan national Park
Take ferry from Otaru to Niigata and then ferry to Sado Island.
Spend 4-5 days on farm woofing on Sado Island. Visit Kodo Village where the world famous Kodo drummers are based.
Take ferry to Niigata & bus down to Kyoto for a week.
At that point we'll be in striking range for a visit to Osaka to see Ken Tupper's friend, his wife, his kid and his cat.
I also have a friend in Okayama who wants to take us to a taiko concert on Nov. 11th.
There's a great party in Tokyo on Nov. 14th we've been invited to.
We're also planning on meeting up with Teruyo from Uminari Taiko(www.uminaritaiko.com) and her family for a flower festival in the remote town of Toiei where the taiko group Shidara are from on Nov. 20&21
We fly out of Tokyo Nov. 27th.
All of this is subject to change. We'll see how we go!
Here's an untested attempt at linking to the personalized google map I've been working from of Japan:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109908084835357627514.0004626e56162ca55dd67&ll=36.491973,137.768555&spn=11.771573,19.753418&z=6

and here's my first attempt to embed the same map here:

View Japan in a larger map