Thankful

I am thankful for P's love.

The joy of onsen in the deep north

Just read an article in the NY Times about hidden natural hot springs in Akita. It was almost four years ago that I went to Akita's Lake Tazawa and had my first wonderful onsen experience.

In addition to food, onsen is really one the things I like most about Japan. Few things are more relaxing than soaking butt-naked in a spring, even better when it's outdoor. My favorite is Sukawa onsen on one of the peaks of Mt. Kurikoma, with its milky spring water in an outdoor pool.

First Snow

Rain turned into snow briefly this morning. It is very possible we are going to have a white Xmas this year.

Today's class: Transitional Justice
Topic: Hybrid Tribunals
Speaker: Caitlin Reiger

Friday night at the Met

P and her classmates went on a field trip to the Metorpolitan Museum, so I went with her and looked at the other exhibition while she was with her class in an exclusive exhibition of Islamic arts. I walked through several new exhibitions before arrivng at the new "Excellence and Elegance: Decorative Arts of the Eighteenth-Century Qing Court" exhibition, with some exiquisite porcelain and jade artwork.

I then sat down on the balcony and had a beer while listening to live classical music.

We wanted to go to Yakitori Totto, but as always the wait was too long, so we went next door, which turned out to be quite nice and the food was decent.

A Tale of Two Girlfriends

Courtesy of our wonderful photographer and friend J.K. Xie: