No one? I thought so. I decided to channel my inner tourist this weekend before school began and headed to the mountain towns of Furano and Biei in the very center of Hokkaido (in fact, it is because of this center placement that Furano holds the annual Navel Festival, and I'm not talking national seafaring-defense!) These two towns are known for awesome skiing in the winter, and fields of fragrant lavender and other brilliant flowers during the spring, summer, and fall. The area looks more like France or Holland rather than the yukata-wearing, green tea-sipping, plastic-toy-making Japan we all know and love. This is yet another reason why they say Hokkaido is like a whole other country.
Lavender fields galore...
I liked this sign...my great-grandma's name was Vera.
Um...Kansas??? Is that you?
Insert "over-quoted 'Wizard of Oz' line" here:
Okay...flowers are nice, but let's talk about something more important: what I ate. Yes, yes...for those of you that know me, you know that I love to take food photos, especially when traveling. I just would like to remember these delicacies of the world by more than just the added inches on my thighs, you know!?
What I learned from this trip is that lavender is not just for potpourri anymore. First up, lavender cream puff:
Next, lavender and honey "pudding" (was actually more like custard or flan):
Ahhh, the ever popular lavender soft cream (notice 2-D and 3-D similarities):
Lavender soda...taste-buds can no longer discern lavender flavor at this point.
Next...what?...oh, real food! This is called sake chan-chan yaki, a popular and traditional dish from Hokkaido. It consists of a sizzling plate of cabbage, salmon (sake), scallops, shrimp, musrooms, summer squash, and famous Hokkaido sweet corn all under a generous drizzle of a sweet miso sauce.
Okay back to more flowers, because that's what you came to this post for...can you believe this scenery (the mountains in the background really are snow-capped and Alps-like, however I was cursed with photographer-hating droopy clouds)!?!
A nice "hearty" variety...one of your favorites and mine (thanks, Chinese-tourist-photographer):
I leave you with my own interpretation of the ghastly scene below:
Japanese Scott Baio: "I'm 100% back-country, bear-lovin good times!"
Bear (Me): Ummmm...raman (That's the only hiragana I can read on this thing).
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3 comments:
Beautiful!! I love the flowers. It's stunning!
It is so fun to read your blog and see those pics!
Things here are not as fun. We just finished week 1 (it's 8/26/08 when I'm writing this). And I think we have the rosters finalized. There was a lot of--or so it seemed to me--moving students around to different levels. And a whole lot more confusion about it.
Val & I are teaching two classes each, so we didn't end up hiring another part-timer to fill your shoes. We'll see how that works out.
Hey, nice to know u & yr pics its so amazing...
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