Mountain View, California

Last year, hubby had to make a few short work trips out to California, once to SF in late July and twice to Mountain View in the fall (beginning of September and end of November). I tagged along each time and took some photos while wandering about (and yes, I'm still perpetually behind on posts...).

Both of the trips were super short. Each time, I had just a couple of hours in the afternoon to explore and get myself some snacks while hubby got some work stuff done, then we met up with old friends for dinner and went home the next day. So I ended up just wandering up and down Moffett Boulevard/Castro Street (downtown Mountain View) and took pictures of the shops that caught my eyes (mostly food :P).

InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco

While visiting SF for a few days, hubby and I stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins, simply because hubby's company put him there. 

An Afternoon in Asakusa, Tokyo

My brother was visiting us in Tokyo around late September, and during one weekday he and I took a stroll around Asakusa after lunch. No, we didn't go to Senso-ji again. Been there a million times. Instead, we started out at the famous and crowded Asakusa Nakamise and made our way through all the surrounding shotengais.

An Afternoon in Akihabara, Tokyo

Before hubby and I moved home from Japan last October, my brother flew out to hang with us for about 10 days around late September. Free place to crash in Tokyo, so why not, right? When he was there for the holidays season 2015, he got the explore the city a little bit. The second time around he was a lot more comfortable venturing out by himself, knowing how the subway system works, how much things cost, etc.

One Sunday he convinced us to go with him to Akihabara, or Akiba for short. We both have been once, though only briefly a long time ago, back in 2010-2012 when we were living in Yokohama. So hubby and my brother went out there after breakfast, and I joined them after lunch.

Atago-jinja, Minato, Tokyo, Part III

A few days after we returned from Taipei, hubby and I took a late afternoon stroll in the neighborhood and promptly stumbled upon a festival at Atago-jinja. As you can see, it was still gloomy and wet after having rained cats and dogs earlier that day. We were quite surprised to see a festival going on as they usually just cancel and move to the next day.

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Part VI (故宮)

Last of the National Palace Museum (故宮) photos and the conclusion of our [too] short Taipei trip :(

Here are some really intricate carvings on a variety of materials like jade, stone, ivory, bone, wood, etc. Click to zoom.

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Part V (故宮)

Still more photos from the National Palace Museum (故宮)! We're almost through, folks. Almost.

These are of metal-crafts in a religious context, in this case, Buddhism.

Top row: Mahakala ("beyond time/death," Daheitian or Daikokuten, 大黑天), the ultimate form of Shiva and consort of Kali. 

Bottom row: Virudhaka Lokapala, ("he who causes to grow," Zeng Zhang Tianwang or Zocho-ten, 增長天王), one of the Four Heavenly Kings, namely the Heavenly King of the South.

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Part IV (故宮)

Even more photos from the National Palace Museum (故宮), this time of the ceramic and calligraphy collections. Click to zoom.

Taipei Tianhou Temple (臺北天后宮)

As J., hubby, and I were leaving Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡), we spotted an interesting sight right across the street: Taipei Tianhou Temple (臺北天后宮), she of the many names, one of which you'll probably recognize: Mazu (媽祖).

Much like Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟), what really drew our attention was the neat sight of the temple snuggling in between two neighborhood buildings. 

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Part III (故宮)

More photos from the National Palace Museum (故宮). These are from the jade collection.

TL;DR: jades were tools first before they became jewelries. From a practical stand point, it makes sense. We use diamonds as tools now too. Other than in a social setting blinging others into blindness, diamonds are set into gold cutting and carving machines, for example. They are rocks, after all.
 

Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟)

On the way to Sanmin (三民) Book Co. store, we walked by Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟) and decided to cross the street for a quick peek.

Taipei Eats - Ximending area Part III (西門町)

After a failed attempt to visit the National Palace Museum, we took J. to Ximending (西門町) for her to try Yu's Almond Tofu (于記杏仁豆腐). Yup, even a typhoon couldn't stop us from getting some delicious almond shaved ice and as you can see, we weren't the only ones there.

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Part II (故宮)

After snacking through brunch at Yongkang Street, hubby and I thought to go back to the National Palace Museum. It was a rainy day when a typhoon was slamming into Taiwan, so spending the day indoor at a museum was preferable to trekking outside in the wind and rain. Plus when we were there last with A-san, my sister, and my cousin Q. and her friend, we rushed through the whole thing because a bigger group means people get bored faster. Now with just the two of us, we could take our time and see the whole place in leisure.

Turned out the typhoon forced J. to cancel her hiking plans at Maokong, so she ended up tagging along with us also. After checking with the National Palace Museum website and saw no warning for closure, the three of us headed over by train then bus. Holy cow it rained cats and dogs, and the wind was so strong it blew over my umbrella a few times.

ALoft Hotel Taipei Zhongshan

Last September, having just one month left in Tokyo hubby and I decided to take a quick trip to Taipei just to visit our favorite eats. J. joined us and helped book our camp site: ALoft Hotel Taipei Zhongshan. It was centrally located and convenient, being just one block away from the MRT Zhongshan Elementary School Station (中山國小站).

A day in Nezu, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Part II

After having a delicious kamameshi lunch and taiyaki snack, T. and I walked over to Nezu Shrine famous for Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azalea Festival) during the month of April.

A day in Nezu, Bunkyo, Tokyo

While in Tokyo, I frequented a cafe and made friends with a gal who works there. T. had spent a few years in Australia as an international student, so we had lots to chat about. In the second week of September, she had a few hard-earned days of vacation and was kind enough to spend one of those days introducing me to her hometown Nezu (根津).

On another note, I made it to the middle of September in my photo backlog. Will post about a quick and gastronomically satisfying trip to Taipei soon ^.^

Anyway, T. and I met up at Nezu Station and she suggested a kamameshi restaurant. I had zero objections as I love kamameshi. Turned out the place also serves yakitori. What's better than having one of your favorite foods? Why, it's having two of your favorite foods, of course! 

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku, Tokyo

The end of August took me to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building with my friend K. and her two year-old toddler, K.

K. and I have actually known each other since 2005, when I was a JET in Takaoka, Toyama, at the same high school where K. was teaching. She was one of the teachers I taught with and we've kept contact intermittently over the years. When hubby and I moved to Tokyo in the late summer of 2015, we met up for lunch every few months or so.

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part III

The final installment of Nanzen-ji and the last of our adventures in Kyoto.

Having waited out the pouring rain in the pond garden of Nanzen-in, we moved on to the Hojo next (方丈, head priest's living quarter).