Sunday Explorations and Observations

Today I had one goal.  Bike to the store and stock up on lunch supplies.  Apples, rice, yogurt, seaweed....stuff like that.  Well...I decided to try taking a different route to the store, and I suddenly switched to explore mode.  It was so much fun to notice things that are so new to me, but everyone here has grown up with their whole lives.

Tis spring.  There are lots of blossoms out, though they are disappearing fast now.

There are a lot of this type of tree around Nagoya.  I do a double take every time I see one.  The color is SO vivid, so beautiful!!

Plant loving nature nerd alert. 

 I was taking some side roads today.  They tend to be less windy than the main roads.  I love spotting the big sets of cherry blossoms.

This is something all Japanese forums are spot on about.  These vending machines are everywhere.  In front of a store, in between 2 houses in the middle of nowhere....everywhere.  I have yet to buy anything from them.  Mainly because I haven't had the desire to yet.  But I figure I will at least once.

This is the big park where we took the little kids to on cherry blossom day.  It is right next to a little bamboo grove.

I couldn't help myself.  Something I am still not used to is the teeny-ness of the automobiles.  This looks like a regular slug bug right?  If I were to be standing next to it, the highest point of that car would be just under my bust line. 

I have found that watching the bamboo blowing in the wind is incredibly soothing.  It was so beautiful to watch and listen to.  And I didn't realize until today that the trees on the hills just outside the city are all bamboo.  So pretty!!

Blossoms blossoms!!!

Another thing you can't help but observe when you go out are the amazing differences between houses.  Some of the gardens look so fun.

I started finding some really fun streets.  They got skinnier and skinnier.

A rose tree of some sort!  Those colors are so bright!!!

 Some lots are used for orchards.  This one is for a kind of orange. 

These trees are so fun.

Another one of those beautiful rose trees, matured.

This street is as wide as the length of my bike.  I kid you not. If a car had been coming towards me on this road, I would've been screwed ha ha ha

Gotta love biking past the mini orchards.

 Everything is so packed tight here, and then you'll come across a random lot that is used for farming, gardening, or not quite anything just yet.

I took this to show that no one here owns a drier.  NOBODY.  Everyone has a balcony, whether you have a view or not.  The main purpose of a balcony here is not for a view, it is for a place to hang your laundry.  I have a strange balcony with a clothesline setup as well.

 The Japanese seem to dislike having sloped driveways or sloped yards.

You see futons hung out to dry all the time.

This is my favorite house on my route to school.

I couldn't take cool angled shots or anything because I didn't want to get mistaken for peeking in on them or something.  But man, look at those trees.  So angular with the branches!

I love this tree.  Who wouldn't love this tree???

Anywho, back to checking out blossoms and such.  There is a really cool tree right in front of the school, that has two shades blossoming. The man who's yard it's in is always out taking care of his garden.

To me it seems that the Japanese people tend to choose a spot and make as much out of it as possible....

.....and then leave everything outside of that to nature.

This pic below is just a street away from where I live. 

This pic was taken at the exact same spot as above, just turned 90 degrees.

....and another 90 degrees.

Next bike trip I take, I'll be riding out in that direction.  Yet again, with no idea what I'll come upon.  It's an adrenaline rush.