The Akabeko

I've written a bit about the Akabeko in my earlier post on Aizu-Wakamatsu some time back, but I just thought I'd post it up again. Why? Because it's sooooooo cute! That's why.

When we first see this, we thought of it as a dog mascot or a pig or something. Arriving Aizu-Wakamatsu station, we saw this red animal but had no idea what it was. It's one of those times that I learn about something of the place after visiting, by searching for info on it.

Yup, I only learnt about the story/legend of akabeko after our trip to Aizu-Wakamatsu. But, better late than not knowing at all, right?

Raimie and a mechanical akabeko in frontof Aizu-Wakamatsu station, while waiting to board the steam locomotive SL Bantetsu Monogatari Go from Aizu-Wakamatsu to Niigata.

Anyhoo, an akabeko ( 赤べこ) is a toy from the Aizu region, made from two pieces papier-mache covered bamboo or wooden frame and shaped & painted to look like a red cow/ox. One piece represents the head & neck and the other piece for its body. The head &neck hangs from a string and fits into a hollow body, enabling the head to bob up and down whenever it is moved.

The toy is based on a real cow that helped in the construction of a temple; Enzo-Ji. Upon completion of the temple, the cow had willingly give its soul to Buddha. Another version mentioned that the cow had refused to leave the construction site and became a permanent fixture there. The cow then became a symbol of zealous devotion to the Buddha.

Akabeko toys was reportedly created during the late 16th or early 17th century and became popular as charms to ward off small pox and other illnesses, and the superstition prevails until current time.

I wish I bought an akabeko as a souvenir. Even without the superstition, the red cow makes a totally cute souvenir.

Trolley Tour, Fish Creek, Door County, Wisconsin

We started at the Orchard Country Winery and Cider Mill

It was so windy 2 days before we got there and with the weight of all the grapes, the fence broke.

The vines were loaded, I have to admit, I just could not resist the temptation to take one. It was so sweet and juicy. 

I wasn't the only one who thought the grapes were tasty.

 

Just an art gallery who allow people to acknowledge their visit.  When it is all covered, they paint over it and start all over again. 

GREEN BAY!!!!

And the shoreline.

Cheap Eats

I think if you are not that particular about what you eat, eating for below RM15.00 (350yen) per  person per meal is extremely doable. You can enjoy ramen and curry rice at about 300-400yen. (No ramen or curry rice for us though!) Of course it is easier to find cheap stuff when one has no issues on what to avoid.

Yoshinoya's beef bowl and curry rice will only set you back for about 280-330yen.

Or if you have eat like a bird, just like our son, an onigiri (rice ball) cost less than 200yen a piece.

A cheap bento place. Everything on sale for less than 250yen a pack. Cheap, no frills meal to keep the hunger pangs away if you somehow blow your budget. xD

Ekiben (bento sold at train stations) can be rather expensive with an average price of 1,000yen per box but konbini (convenience store) or supermarkets bento can be quite cheap. Buying them later at night (say around 9.00pm) you can get discounts off them too. But you may have to fight for them with the "obachan" next to you!

Set meals can be affordable too, with outlets offering set meals at less than 1,000yen.

There are many cheap eats restaurants out there as those in Japan can attest to. Us visitors to be more adventurous and venture out to look for them and not be afraid to poke around and ask questions. Unless of course, you totally don't mind eating at posh places and hotel restaurants while you are vacationing in Japan, that is (or you are travelling with a tour group and all meals are already taken care of).

Why would you want to eat instant noodles brought over from home there in Japan when you can eat other stuff there?

What's your favourite affordable eatery in Japan? Share, please!

Chicago High WInds 9/29 Water Jumping Sea Wall

On September 29, 2011 even in Chicago, the Windy City,  the winds were really high. And so were the waves on Lake Michigan. It was an overcast day so the photos tend to be foggy looking.

The Lake is about 10 feet below the ground we were standing on at the golf course in Lincoln Park.

This wave is only about 6 feet above us but others were alot higher.  Giving the 10 feet down those waves were 16' plus. 

 

It was fascinating watching them.  They started on the north end and rolled all the way down the wall to the south. 

The Shogun Mound

More on sites to see at Bessho Onsen.

There are plenty of stuff to see in the few hundreds metres from the hotel we were staying in. With the information board on all the sites in Japanese and English, it is easy to appreciate the sites here after reading about their history even if one goes there without much research beforehand.

The Shogun Mound - 

During the Kofun period (250 - 538 bc) this 10m diametre 3m tall circular mound was constructed as the tomb for powerful local rulers.  It's also calle Koremochizuka.

In 969,  during the reign of Emperor Reizen, a female demon named "Koyo" lived on Mount Tagakushiyama and was tormenting local folks with her sorcery. In response to an imperial order, Shogun Yogo successfully destroyed after praying for success at the Kitamuki Kannon and the Koremochizuka mound is said to be his burial site.

OLA: Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway

Fall colors at the New Trace

Not only Bill drove. I drove 10% of the Natchez Trace Parkway!

Fall colors at the Old Trace

We were in Tennessee last year, making our way back to the Northwest from our first winter in Florida. We only visited its largest cities: Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. This time around, we passed through in the opposite direction….towards Florida for our second winter! We found the drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina so memorable (and the blog post is one of the most popular) that this year, we chose to drive the Parkway. Besides we wanted to cover Mississippi and it leads there!

Falll colors at the lake in Natchez Trace RV Resort

                                        

The Natchez Trace Parkway (the Old was started in 1801 while the New began in 1930) gently winds among low hills from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, crossing Alabama at its northwestern tip.  This All-American Road, like its sister Blue Ridge, is maintained by the National Park Service, to commemorate the original route following the ’traces’ of bison and other game. In essence, it was the original path of the earliest Americans on the move (much like us)! Parts of the Old Trace is preserved and an added bonus was the fall colors draping its sides (my favorite season!).

them ol' cotton fields back at Donnivan Slough

Improved communications (steam boats, stagecoach lines, and railroads) and the development of ports along nearby rivers made the route obsolete as a means of commerce. As a result, no major population centers were born or developed along it. Thus the Trace and its alignment between Nashville and Natchez come down to us today almost completely undeveloped and unspoiled as an unhurried forest lane, with the exception of the cities of Tupelo and Jackson, Mississippi which developed later.

native-American ceremonial mound at the Trace

                                                                       There are many hiking trails in this quiet forest lane. Clear streams, little falls, shallow swamps, gentle meadows, pretty trees, and wild turkey are abundant. At Donivan Slough, I was fascinated by the cotton fields that almost look like acres of pock-marked snow.  Then there were the native-American burial mounds, bigger and higher (though not in special shapes) than the ones we saw at the Mounds National Monument in Iowa.  There was even a grave site of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers.  And near the Northern Terminus at milepost 444, a 155-ft. double arch bridge commands the intersection of the Parkway and Tennessee 100 at Birdsong Hollow.

155-ft. double-arch bridge over Tennessee 100

Tuscumbia, Alabama

Despite being rendered blind and deaf from a high fever at the early age of 19 months, Helen Keller, through the dedication of her beloved teacher Anne Sullivan, was able to graduate from Radcliff, cum laude. She went on to write 14 books and was a sought after inspirational speaker until she died at age 88 in 1968. A moon tree, from a seed carried in the Apollo 14 space flight to the moon, is growing well on the grounds of Ivy Green, her birthplace and childhood home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, a short diversion from the Trace.

Helen Keller's birthplace and childhood home in Alabama

 My mother was the Principal of the Philippine School for the Deaf and the Blind for years, having been sent by the government as its scholar to the Central Institute for the Deaf in Missouri. As a matter of fact, my sister Julie is now Executive Director of a nonprofit school called the Philippine Institute for the Deaf which we founded in her honor.  Thus I was so interested to make the short diversion to the Museum of the First Lady of Courage. She was my mother’s heroine. And my mom was mine!

Elvis Presley's birthplace and boyhood home in Mississippi

Tupelo, Mississippi

Another draw to the Trace is Tupelo, Mississippi which is the birthplace and home of Elvis before he headed for Memphis and stardom. Gospel singing influenced the star’s music so much that the church which he attended as a boy and teenager was relocated to the site of the home and museum, only one block from its original location. We were surprised that the Elvis landmark had so many more visitors than Ivy Green. I guess pop music and rock n’ roll has a wider appeal than rising above one’s handicap! But I enjoyed holding young Elvis’ hand for a photo!

flock of wild turkey fleeing from Bill's camera

We were not able to complete the Trace. But we promised ourselves that when we cross the Gulf States again, plying between California/Arizona and Florida for snow birding, we will complete the southern portion around Jackson, Mississippi most especially to see the unique Windsor Ruins, the patches of red clover, and yellow wildflowers on a river bend!

Jack Daniel’s Distillery 

the natural spring from where Jack Daniels comes from 

Two weeks ago, I wrote that 95% of bourbon-making is in Kentucky. Well, a day when I was not feeling well, Bill went to Lynchburg, Tennessee to tour the only Jack Daniels Distillery. Daniels started working at the general store owned by the man that owned the still when he was only 7 years old. He bought it for $25 when he was only 13!  One morning he went to work early. Not able to remember the combination to the safe, he kicked it in frustration, breaking his big toe.  Gangrene set in and eventually resulted in his death.  (The lesson is: ‘Don’t go to work too early!’ ) The company now has 400 employees in a town of 500 in a dry county in Tennessee!   

13 gravesites of unknown Confederates on the Old Trace

                                                                          Next Stop: Atlanta and Macon, Georgia

Almost There! The Yen Is Sure Expensive!

OK, we just figure we might as well change some now looking at the trend of Yen rates going up, up and up against the Ringgit. From just RM3.00+ for 100yen five years ago to RM4.00 - RM4.15 now... 

I am so not going to shop much in Japan this year! Boohooo!

No, not going to charge anything not budgeted to our credit cards. I don't want to be adding more debt just for going on this vacation!