Little World
Spring has sprung! At last, I can turn off the heaters and enjoy a couple of months of reasonably sane power bills. It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, this was the view from my balcony...
...and my poor little half-dead garden - we'll see if it pulls through this year.
As I mentioned before, when the weather becomes more clement, then the travel bug strikes. Midori and I decided to cure our cabin fever with a trip to a place that was not too far away and not too high on my list of places to go, but amusing nonetheless - Little World.
"The Little World Museum of Man" is a popular local tourist trap that has collected houses and other buildings from around the world (or from the Meiji Era in the case of Meiji Mura (which we checked out last summer, but which I can't seem to find any pics of for some reason), or from the early Edo Era in the case of Hida no Sato in Takayama), transported them here and lovingly restored them, so people here can travel the world without ever having to leave the safety and convenience of Japan. The alarm bells started ringing when I spotted a sign on the highway from the bus that read リトルワールド, and, since all the traffic signs around Nagoya (I expect due to the internationalising effect of hosting Expo '05) have names in both kanji and the Roman alphabet, provided the painstaking transcription "Ritoruwaarudo". This is despite the fact that the area has plentiful and prominent English signage, provided by the "Museum" itself. Alas, I was too stunned to think to take a picture.
So, on to the world tour! First stop is from around my hometown: a lodge, complete with totem pole, from the First Nations of British Columbia.
Bali
Somewhere else in Indonesia
Samoa
Bavaria
A French farmhouse
Apparently, this was collected from a remote mountain village in Italy, but I wonder how many people now think all Italians live in places like this...
Zimbabwe
Nepal
Thailand
and, last but not least, Korea
By the end of the day, we both agreed the highlight of the trip was the authentic Indian food (being cooked by a real Indian-looking guy!) available in the Indian section, and thought it might be worth returning for Octoberfest in the Bavarian section. At least it was a pleasant day out, and now Midori can't complain that I haven't shown her the world... ;)
To wrap up with, another beautiful Nagoya sunset...
...as the sun vainly tries to burn its way through the thick haze. This haze, in distinction to the regular summer haze, is called Kousa, yellow dust from the deserts of China, Mongolia and even Kazakhstan, whipped up by the late winter winds, and carried all the way to Japan. For those with delicate respiratory systems, it forms a triple-whammy with the onset of hayfever season and the inevitable change-of-season colds, making facemasks a very popular fashion item. Fortunately, it only shows up for a day or two at a time, but there's supposed to be another one coming any day now. Better take in the washing...
...and my poor little half-dead garden - we'll see if it pulls through this year.
As I mentioned before, when the weather becomes more clement, then the travel bug strikes. Midori and I decided to cure our cabin fever with a trip to a place that was not too far away and not too high on my list of places to go, but amusing nonetheless - Little World.
"The Little World Museum of Man" is a popular local tourist trap that has collected houses and other buildings from around the world (or from the Meiji Era in the case of Meiji Mura (which we checked out last summer, but which I can't seem to find any pics of for some reason), or from the early Edo Era in the case of Hida no Sato in Takayama), transported them here and lovingly restored them, so people here can travel the world without ever having to leave the safety and convenience of Japan. The alarm bells started ringing when I spotted a sign on the highway from the bus that read リトルワールド, and, since all the traffic signs around Nagoya (I expect due to the internationalising effect of hosting Expo '05) have names in both kanji and the Roman alphabet, provided the painstaking transcription "Ritoruwaarudo". This is despite the fact that the area has plentiful and prominent English signage, provided by the "Museum" itself. Alas, I was too stunned to think to take a picture.
So, on to the world tour! First stop is from around my hometown: a lodge, complete with totem pole, from the First Nations of British Columbia.
Bali
Somewhere else in Indonesia
Samoa
Bavaria
A French farmhouse
Apparently, this was collected from a remote mountain village in Italy, but I wonder how many people now think all Italians live in places like this...
Zimbabwe
Nepal
Thailand
and, last but not least, Korea
By the end of the day, we both agreed the highlight of the trip was the authentic Indian food (being cooked by a real Indian-looking guy!) available in the Indian section, and thought it might be worth returning for Octoberfest in the Bavarian section. At least it was a pleasant day out, and now Midori can't complain that I haven't shown her the world... ;)
To wrap up with, another beautiful Nagoya sunset...
...as the sun vainly tries to burn its way through the thick haze. This haze, in distinction to the regular summer haze, is called Kousa, yellow dust from the deserts of China, Mongolia and even Kazakhstan, whipped up by the late winter winds, and carried all the way to Japan. For those with delicate respiratory systems, it forms a triple-whammy with the onset of hayfever season and the inevitable change-of-season colds, making facemasks a very popular fashion item. Fortunately, it only shows up for a day or two at a time, but there's supposed to be another one coming any day now. Better take in the washing...
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 10:51 pm
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