Kyoto iii

Trip to Nishiki Food Market in downtown Kyoto. So fun! Lots of strange yummies everywhere. Roasted chestnuts (got a bag for munching: warm and buttery), seaweeds, fish, unidentifiable dried berries, and Kyoto specialties of sweets, sweets, sweets, and an amazing array of alien pickled veggies.

Scored some beautiful Touan pottery for gifts. And more amazing pottery by an artisan who was throwing in his shop - his designs are based on an an 12-13 century scroll (The Chōjū- jinbutsu-giga), from to the Kōzan-ji temple in northwest of Kyoto: Wind-in-the-Willows-esque adventures of a rabbit, monkey, cat/tiger, and frog. These characters formed the basis for modern day Manga. Sooooooooo cool!

Also bought the best Gyokuro tea I could find.

Ventured to Tenryu-ji Temple in the Sagano area … lovely, singing, bamboo forest, tons of shops and street treats. Had green tea goo wrapped in a crepe. Nothing is too sweet here...

When we were leaving the temple, an old man who worked there (and was leaving for the evening) was walking in front of us. He turned around and handed us a lovely, wrapped, watercolor of a Tiger with a hand written page, in Japanese, about the auspicious, coming Year of the Tiger! Everyone here is so kind and generous.

Stopped by a shop where a woman was grinding macha tea!

I think our culture would advance by leaps and bounds if we instituted a simple bow for gratitude, salutations, and parting. Wow.

Train ride back to Kyoto city center was JAMMED!

Kyoto ii

Impossibly thick macha tea with sweets at little yummy shops everywhere - especially liked the rice balls with gooey-ies and powder-ies, cinnamon-ie and nutty...

Gion District rickshaw guys and Maiko/Geiko/Geisha at the temples, in the streets, and with photographers…

Bought some beautiful, old water color repros and one crow block print...

Stumbled upon an AMAZING Shinto wedding in progress at Kodai-ji Temple...

Beautiful, very foreign tasting (!) trad Kyoto lunch box...

Homemade tofu (yuba) everything…

Walk, walk, walk... Feet hurt, back hurts...

Why, yes, yes, you do eat the heads of the shrimp tempura...

Giant Buddha at the tomb of the unknown soldier...

Temples, temples, everywhere…

Bamboo...

Evening...Teppanyaki …. mmmmm …. Kobe beef…..

Walk through the giltzy lights and gazillon clubs and restaurants of modern Gion…

Cold!

Kyoto i

Our first two days in Kyoto

Temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple

Gardens, gardens, gardens, gardens, gardens, gardens, gardens

Rock & sand gardens….

Monks chanting

Plum wine. Sake. Sashimi. Tempura. Soba. Udon

Crows crows crows

Temple kitties

Last bits of autumn red red red orange orange orange yellow

Cold Sunny Breezy

Tofuku-ji-Temple - OMG

Shiatsu massage

Bliss

Two Days in Tokyo

Mt. Fuji from the train to Kyoto

On the super high speed Shinkansen train, Nozomi, to Kyoto. It leaves every ten minutes! Where are our US bullet trains leaving every 10 minutes?

To pass Mt. Fuji soon.

Spent 2 days in Tokyo staying near The Imperial Palace. Tokyo feels a bit like NYC in another dimension: beautiful, big, clean, efficient, world-class everything - except everyone is Asian and you feel illiterate because reading is a non-option. Of course, we weren’t exactly exploring the city’s underbelly. And no jeans. I think I saw 1 person in jeans in 2 days. And the color is black - very serious stylishly dress. Denim is not the new black here. And neither is brown. Nothing is the new black, because black is not out. And I could not resist snagging a new, down, hooded, long, puffy-coat (whatever they’re called). All the rage.

We took in Asakusa where Old Edo was and the Sensoji Temple. Its awesome market streets were full tiny restaurants, yummy, unidentifiable treat vendors (we had some semi-sweet green tea battered puffs), and stalls full of everything from the chopstick hawker to the Old Man Seaweed Specialist. In front of temple entrances were giant, intoxicating, incense offering braziers. I always feel at home in Buddhist cultures. The offerings of incense, cleansing smudging, taking of holy water, coin offerings tossed over clangy metal bars to awaken spirits - all are completely natural to me. Feels very grounded, connected…

We took a boat ride down the river to the feudal hunting grounds of the Shogun family, Hamarikyu Gardens - a large park full of ancient, expertly pruned conifers (some enormous with wooden supports for their branches), and unbelievably aged wisteria...Gianormous crows swooped, cawing their conversations...D said they were the spirits of the Shogun. I liked that. A lot. Autumn remnants of Japanese maples and other deciduous trees: impossibly fiery red, pumpkin orange, almost hot pink...

Dinner atop the hotel overlooking the lit city and its brightly colored electro signs. Freakishly fresh Asian-Euro fusion…. indescribable tuna tartar, scallop ceviche, mystery fish. Kooky, pimpadelic, lava lampish decor.

Then a walk through the sparkling, uber-shopping district, Ginza. Dizzying spaceship-like convention center; karaoke bars stories high; rows and rows of tiny bars and restaurants tip-top full of people and built-squeezed end-to-end-under the expressway overpass.

Even though I only know a couple of Japanese words and cannot possibly read the language, communication is a non-issue. Actually much easier even than in France where I know plenty French. A little scary navigating the ---

Just passed Mt Fuji, OMG. Amazing. Amazing. Beautiful. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Breathtaking.

--- Tokyo train station with few transliterated signs and 10min to board the train. Whoosh to Kyoto!

TMI alert.

I am a total germaphobe and LOVED the public restrooms where you squat! Very clean and I think we need to get these and do away with the yucky ones we have in the US replete with the recorded sound of running water in the curved door stalls...

And so far, narry a tourist in sight! Weather: sunny, chilly.

The Week of Living Dangerously

Sunset in the mountains, Batangas, Philippines

Taal Lake & Taal Volcano

Ok, ok, it isn't dangerous. But it is kinda like a movie.

December 7-14

Batangas City, Philippines

This has been a relatively long week away from home, and is the “work” part of our travel before the fun part starts: 11 days in Japan, fly tomorrow. I am crazy excited about that.

Since this is my second long haul trip, I am more used to how sick I get from jet lag (more than I’ll admit) and how long the gosh darn plane ride is (but thank you Singapore Air biz class). We flew Houston--->San Fran--->Hong Kong--->Manila. Then drive a couple hours south to Batangas City. It is a small city on the water with an industrial/shipping economic base (thus the trip here for D’s biz).

I was, not, at all, prepared for the pollution here. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Bangkok in July is pristine comparatively! Jeepney’s and sidecar moto-bike taxis clog the air with leaded particulate. And the traffic is unreal. The city has a Mad Max-Mos Eisley-Year of Living Dangerously feel. Dear Corrupt Philippine Government, Please take care of your wonderful people and beautiful islands. Thanks, Fussy American.

We ventured up the nearby low mountain area to see the Taal Volcano. It is a tiny volcano in large Lake Taal - a crater within a crater. Very cool. Very beautiful. The ride was lovely - cows and goats everywhere, farms, and FRESH MOUNTAIN AIR!

Facebook Bodhisattva

"It is senseless to blame others or your environment for your miseries. Change begins from the moment you muster the courage to act. When you change, the environment will change. The power to change the world is found nowhere but within our own life."-Daisaku Ikeda (via Bodhisattva Rahki DeShon Marcelous)

Istanbul morning

The teeny tiny amaza-crazy mosaics in the Hagia Sofia. OMG. 

Favorite international spots to date: 

Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Bangkok

Hagia Sofia, Istanbul

Wowzie!

Youtube is blocked in Turkey. Weird.

Leaving this afternoon for Amsterdam. Will organize photos on plane.

Sapphire Bosporus...

Thursday, July 2, 2009. 8:05. Istanbul

Oh, the changing color of the Bosporus! Last eve: sapphire!

Istanbul I

Wednesday, July 1, 2009. 8:41am. Istanbul

Got in last nite around 5pm. O’s driver picked us up at the airport to whisk us to a biz meeting, then the hotel, and then we all met for dinner on the Bosphorus. Beautiful views of the bridge in changing colored lights. Fab contemporary mezze. The octopus salad was outrageous. Whacky Euro “nite life”…

D is working today. I’m having a little resty (I know a jet lag headache now when I feel it!), workout, and maybe a shop later. Tomorrow: sights!

Turkish tea rocks my socks.

Dubai of the Desert....

Tuesday, June 30, 2009. 12:59. Dubai, UAE

Dubai Emirates airport lounge. Heard the Call to Prayer here in the airport. V. cool. Glorified layover: checked in to the hotel at 2am last nite and have a 230 flight today to Istanbul. Saw camel riders on the beach from the hotel. Desert haze clutches impressive skyscrapers in a 113 degree F, dry-death-hot grip. Note to Lawrence of Arabia (P. O’Toole and Mr. Lean): Larry would have died from heatstroke out there in a matter of hours...no long treks on foot across the dessert….

Must come back in winter….perhaps...

Hummus, dolmas, etc deelish….

Last Bangkok morning...

Monday, June 29, 2009. 8:30am. Bangkok

Above: Elephant topiary at the Summer Palace...

Yesterday’s trip to Ayutthaya was spectacular...the giant gold Buddha was amazing and completely overrun with the faithful... lighting candles, making lotus and garland offerings...I was delighted by the giant Ganesha also…and intoxicating incense everywhere...

The whole area was tourist-free and the ruins were completely deserted...

I think the highlight of our trip here has been meeting and spending tea time with Mr. Hong and his family at the antique shop. We stopped by yesterday on our way back and he gave us a large package of chinese tea to take home!

Today will be mostly resty day --- this eve we leave for an overnite stop in Dubai en route to Istanbul...

Tea in Thailand

Sunday, June 28, 2009. 7:07am Bangkok.

We spent some of yesterday afternoon with Hong, again, in his antique shop drinking tea. He’s my new adopted grandfather!

Surprisingly, the search for Thai silk has been less fruitful that I’d hoped.

Off to Ayutthaya today...

Ah, another nite in Bangkok!

Friday, June 26, 2009. 6:13pm. Bangkok.

Amazing, amazing Bangkok. The river culture is astounding and the Grand Palace far outshines Versailles (so sorry my Frenchie amis!). Visited the Reclining Buddha today too, and meditatively dropped coins into the long long long line of pots along one wall of the temple. Love the temples and altars everywhere. And the bowls of water with cut lotus blooms next-to for blessing yourself and each other.

So much fun taking the tuk tuks and river boats...

Last eve we spent wandering the locals’ flower market and river back alleys. Piles of veggies in baskets, both mysterious and intoxicating. Roses bound in newspapers, jasmine offering wreaths...huge cut bird of paradise...Stray cats and dogs, altars, Buddhas, scooters, rock music, tattoo stalls…..Stumbled upon a tiny bar of teens drinking some very strong rice-wine like concoction.

Amazing food. Amazing people. Spent the better half of the afternoon today with a lovely family and their passionate patriarch in his colossal antique shop.

HEAVEN!

Now to B-day dinner with D…

Bangkok!

Thursday, June 25, 2009. 5:03pm. Bangkok Thailand

ZANY boat ride through the canals on super crazy scary skinny boat! YIKES!

Flight

Stardate: Thursday, June 25, 2009. 1:06 pm - Leaving Brunei Darussalam

Now aboard the Royal Brunei Air 2.5 hour flight from Brunei’s capitol city, Bandar Seri Begawan, to Bangkok. Once onboard, before departure, a Muslim prayer was sung for safe travels. I totally loved that. 

Last nite we strolled around Bandar Seri Begawan in the evening...I’d never heard the Muslim Call to Prayer before, and was really, completely, transfixed...so very, very beautiful against the dark and quiet of the small city…

I will not miss the conservatism of my first visit to a (liberal!) Muslim country -- kinda made me want to run around like Joan of Arc…I am strangely relieved to soon disembark in a nice, old-fashioned, hedonistic culture, thankyouverymuch. And I’m looking forward to a deep glass of red wine upon arriving. Brunei is a “dry” country, and though the Empire Hotel was a lovely delight, a glass of wine would have been welcome in watching the crazy-spectacular sunsets. But, having finally discovered the array of available teas, I pretty much kept nice and caffeinated.

We hadn’t really expected to stop in Thailand (had been talking about it)-- we don’t really have an itinerary -- and I’m super exited to see the city.

Not sure if I will maintain my blogging. Before I left, I fancied flexing my travelogue muscles, but find too much pressure in the commitment to post! As we head into Thailand, our activities will surely escalate with the hustle and bustle, leaving less time for writing. However, dealing with photo organizing is a must, regardless of how tired I might be at the end of the day: I still have 10 (of 20) full discs that I have not gone through from our summer trip to France two years ago -- I don’t want to face that, so I’d rather cull and post as we go along.

Hallelujah High Tea!

Ah...Brunei's Colonial past reached forth and calmed us with most exquisite tea! Hurray!

Brunei

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

7:39am (slept til 6, instead of waking at my recent norm of 3am. And happily not obsessed with the itchy certainty of imaginary (I hope!) bugs in the bed, as I was nite before last!)

Morning in Brunei Darussalam. Brunei, Abode of Peace…

We left Labuan yesterday afternoon in a whirlwind, barely making the last ferry (“death machine” scary boat) of the day to Borneo’s Brunei, and with no hotel reservations, though we knew where we wanted to stay. We really did have every intention of calling the hotel before we left Labuan, but the 430 ferry was cancelled and the last ferry out was 330. We made the boat, had no problems getting in at the wildly opulent (in a bit of a Vegas kinda way) Empire Hotel, and witnessed the most amazing sunset I’ve ever seen, sinking over the South China Sea.

Brunei is a sleepy Sultanate on Borneo, somewhat full of expats (which I am beginning to feel a lot like, as nearly the only Anglo anywhere, in our travels so far). Peaceful, perhaps because His Highness has his pleasure with caning and zero tolerance drug death penalties, in a tiny country rich on oil sold to North Korea -- but nonetheless, (relatively) ecologically pristine, tax free, with (for native Bruneis) free education, health care, free land for homes, and interest-free loans. But I digress, I’m not here for the politics!:

The views of the ocean are glorious, the surroundings, tropical rainforest, the absurdly sumptuous buffet last nite saved me from my previous Labuan starvation, and yet, I subsist, in (marginally) The Orient no less, on Lipton tea. Help! Perhaps serious tea awaits at our next port of embarkation!

Adventures today to be determined...

PS. I was previously remiss in telling the tale of the mall pharmacist in Labuan who, after I broke his door, happily sold me all sorts of bandages and meds for my little blistered feeties. Perhaps not much of a tale after all... 

PSS. And don’t even get me started on the delightful presence of the bidet! Oh! And the dragon fruit! More on that later!

Note from Labuan...

Labuan is a sleepy, relatively idyllic, industrial port with a tiny downtown replete with a KFC, merchant market, and a large dollar store-like mall, full of (mostly) junk from China, some traditional medicine folks, massage therapists, salons, travel agents, and a food court. The downtown shops are a ghost-town because all the successful merchants have moved into the mall. Interesting that it seems trade is what is doing in indigenous cultures, taking away their arts and crafts and replacing them with cheap consumer crap. D’s here consulting for a firm that owns a power barge right across the bay from the hotel (I can see it from the window). 

I’ve been, well, “challenged” the the food...I think I’ll write a book about weight loss and exposure to SE Asian cuisine!

Trekked through the small town's market in the hot, hot, hot. Skipped the fish-sellers, thankyouverymuch. Scored an awesome multi- string (mostly real!) fresh water pearl lariat necklace and a trad Malaysia outfit.

D’s wrapping up work obligations and thus, we’re moving on soon...

Malay Jet Lag, etc...

After 23 hours flying and layovers in Moscow, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, we are finally on the small island of Labuan, just off the northern coast of Borneo. Dave is here on business, I, however, am not! This is my first morning here and although sleep was iffy (melatonin is a jet lag life-saver), after a workout and copious amounts of tea, I am feeling pretty darn good. Much exploration to do, more travel plans to make, and pics later!

Phoenix!

In an attempt to re-create and re-define this blog, I'll be writing a bit about my current creative life as singer and Artistic Director of Divergence Vocal Theater, and the mayhem that ensues. I haven't posted an entry in ages! And of course, tons of cool things have transpired in the interim, including the founding of DVT (and its website) and my brand new, shiny website.

Here's the current dish on Divergence Vocal Theater's spring production, The 10th Muse:

"This past weekend was the second production from new indie performance company, Divergence Vocal Theater. The 10th Muse was a musical, theatrical, poetic meditation on love, heartbreak, and other such manipulations of Eros. Artistic director, Misha Penton, pulled from Berlioz, Gounod, and Boulanger (among others) for music. For text, she appropriated text from Sapho and also 4 poems from neoNuma poet, Jill Alexander Essbaum. Throw in some modern dance choreography by Toni Leago Valle, and you begin to get an idea of how fully packed a one-hour performance from DVT can be...So I can't really do a review of what I saw this past Saturday night. What I want to do instead is talk a bit about one artist's evolution into a force for re-imaging opera for the 21st Century...performance art as much as performing art. It's juxtaposition of ancient and modern art, it's a collection of thoughts on a theme, it is a collection of impressions intended to evoke feelings. An evening with DVT, then, is a feast for the eyes and ears, with video projection, dancers, and highly trained voices and musicians. Mixing in spoken word fragments and poetry ups the intellectual involvement. It seems unlikely that someone would leave a performance without having seen or heard something that stimulated them on some level. If this interdisciplinary approach to performance piques your interest in the least, I recommend you head over to DVT's website and subscribe to their email list. There are sure to be new and exciting things developing in the months to come and you won't want to miss out. Neil Ellis Orts. NeoNuma Arts. March 2009

"A lot of people are doing a lot of things to “save” opera these days – from staging brand-new world premieres the way Houston Grand Opera does almost every season to staging nothing but the oldest, most-proven seat-fillers like Carmen and La Boheme. This new Houston-based troupe led by singer-artistic director Misha Penton finds yet another way, mixing the musical form known as opera with modern dance, poetry and just about anything else that strikes their fancy". - John De Mers, ArtsHouston

"Misha Penton...has created something utterly new on the Houston music and arts scene: fearless, authentic, flawless fusion of old and new opera, dance, instrumental music, technology/multimedia, and literature." - MaryBeth Smith. SomaQuest. March 2009

"And- what a great show. You've created another powerful creative meditation- with music, voice, and dance and words. Really awesome. The poetry was blindingly beautiful...Thank you for being courageous enough to create these special experiences." -- Scott Sawyer. Praxis Collective