Still Off My Bearings!

It’s been more than a week since we were here.

The place with the crazy amount of stone lanterns.

The place that I can’t remember nor pronounce the name of.

The place that won’t leave me.

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Of Jet Lag and Rejuvenation.

My body doesn't know what day it is, what time it is, and I guess that is to be expected.

When it is midnight in Tokyo, it's 10am at home in North Carolina, but only 8am here in Arizona -

I hear strains of the musical group Chicago's 1970's hit "Does anyone really know what time it is, does anyone really care?" playing through my head.

I have slept well at night, much longer than I usually do, but still find it hard to pull myself out of bed and am mad at the world that it is light outside my window.  

The struggle is real!

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From Here to Home Again.

Our Japan group at the Golden Pavilion.

11am Phoenix time feels like somewhere in the middle of the night and I am moving slowly, quite frankly!

I know that is to be expected, and I am just going with it - whatever comes, at the comfort and quiet of my dad's house in Sun Lakes, Arizona.

It feels worlds and days away of where we were before loading up on the bus that would take us from the Toyko Dome Hotel to Narita airport - boarding our flight to Los Angeles before we scattered like a bag of dropped marbles to head to our separate destinations.

When you spend this much time with a group, it feels surreal that we could be hugging and heading off to our own domestic airlines and gates not knowing if we will see each other again.

"But wait!  I didn't say goodbye to [fill in the blank!]"

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A Day at Tokyo Disney!

This was the day of great escape!

It was a day for NO QUILTING - a day to play as our last full day in Japan.

We'd seen all there was to see at the show - the press of humanity several people deep, the booths overflowing with customers and merchandise, and we just wanted to get out and about and see something we likely would never have a chance to see again.

Tokyo Disneyland!

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It's All in the Details!

The Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Japan!

This was what we have all been waiting for - the highlight of our trip to Japan!  The Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival!

It pays to have friends who know friends - This show is VERY crowded (Boy am I glad that I am tall!) and people are stacked several folks deep making it hard to see anything, or move anywhere.

When Mary Koval said, "I have a pass for you to get in early!" I jumped at it.  I had the show floor mostly to myself as we moved from quilt to quilt to quilt, snapping photos as quickly as I could before they opened the floodgates of humanity.

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Makers Gonna Make, Japan Style!

No matter where our feet are - 

Our hands MUST create!

And create we have.  Our time in Japan has also included mini workshops where we could try our hand at traditional Japanese art forms such as Cloisonne, Yuzen dyeing with stencils (shown above) Japanese folded fan panting, a kaleidoscope workshop and then my own intro to English Paper Piecing workshop!

Busy hands are happy hands!

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Temples, Food & Gardens Oh My!

"Three Little Maids From School..."

Each morning I tell myself - just pick your 5 best photos from the day before and write a small post - you can always go more in-depth when you get home.  But there is SO MUCH to share!

Yesterday was no exception - we started out visiting the Imperial Gardens, then moved on to a Shrine, a Temple, a fabulous shopping area (HUGE) where we could get lunch on our own, Japanese style, and then to the fabric district for much fabric shopping and excitement - and then back to the hotel for my Intro to English Paper Piecing mini workshop and lecture, and we weren't done yet!

We loaded up on the bus to be taken to a traditional Japanese dinner served "family style" where plates of food were passed and sampled filled with much conversation of everything we had seen, experienced, and purchased that day!  It was a full day all the way to 9pm.

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A Fushimi Inari Shrine kind of Birthday Pilgrimage!

We made our pilgrimage to the Fushimi Inari Shrine yesterday.  Something I have been looking forward to for months!

And getting to visit this place on my 57th birthday made it that much better.

The magical, seemingly unending path of over 5000 vibrant orange torii gates that wind through the hills behind Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine makes it one of the most popular shrines in Japan. The walk around the upper precincts is a pleasant day hike. It also makes for a delightfully eerie stroll in the late afternoon and early evening, when the various graveyards and miniature shrines along the path take on a mysterious air.

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Shopping, Japan Style!

And they found FABRIC!

Look at all the happy smiles!

It's not like they are going to a HUGE quilt show in a few days or anything.  You would think they haven't seen, felt, touched fabric for months - 

Like ducks to water, they all dove in!  And I love it!

We had some time to explore some shopping areas while in Nara and Kyoto.  The shopping voyeur inside me just LOVES to see and hear what treasures others have found - some edible, some wearable, some gifts for special people back home.

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