vegetarian in bali !

vegetarian food is easy to come by in Bali ! anyplace is easier than Japan though. we fell in love with their fresh tempeh curries, kailan greens, and gado gado. mmmm and of course the banana pancakes can't be beat.  we also tried durian for the first time ever on this trip.  Ben liked it and compared it to a creamy roasted garlic.  I'd pass on it next time, I don't care for the rotteny part about it.  But I was happy to try it after seeing/smelling it before.

8 hours in taiwan

in taipei, taiwan along the way to Indonesia. 

heavenly blooms

white sakura from m.d. on Vimeo.

parkdaze

the sakura at this park in kirishima over the weekend hit

f u l l   b l o o m.

sakura sunset from m.d. on Vimeo.

└A holiday love

3 weeks at home was as always . . . a  m  a  z  i  n  g  !
here are some of the sights ~

 

little things around our home

knowing how small our space is by western standards, and the fact that our living here is only temporary, I have decorated with little things that we can either say goodbye to, or will fit into a suitcase eventually; the latter will make the trip back to California with us next year. One new little thing I gifted myself, in the upper left, is a tape dispenser that's shaped like a mix tape!

週末, もみじがり と サーフ

we drove to Miyazaki on saturday morning to spend the day soaking up what I'm guessing was the last mild and sunny weekend of the fall.  I know that's not very optimistic of me, but I feel like it was so much colder at this time last year.  Ben surfed an autumn swell (finally!!) and I relaxed and strolled along the beach, and hung with some dogs. isn't it funny how everyone leaves their sandals at the concrete edge before 'entering' the sand!?

sunday we day tripped up to kirishima shrine because, well. . . 'tis the season!  the fall leaves were gorgeous shades of copper, red, orange, yellow... you get the picture.  everyone and their mom was out snapping fall foliage photos along with us as anticipated.  We also ran into an awesome antique market, right up my alley, and bought a vintage magazine from 1952 just because we loved the cover.

I can't believe this is our last fall here.  I'm sentimental again ~ なつかしい。。。

森

my cousin visited over this past week (his 3rd time since we've been in japan!)  we took him to some of our fave places around kagoshima.  Over the weekend we caught the brightly colored leaves up in the mountains, not to mention hiked the tallest peak up there. We also went to maruya gardens and found a few new little cafes on the top floor... tried passion fruit italian sodas and riceballs (quite a combo!) . . . and of course he couldn't get through a visit without taking some purikura snaps :D