A Month of Updates part four

This is actually a retrospective already.  When we first trekked out to Nishio on our bikes, we (or i, really) thought that we were going at the right time to catch a Noh play that i had received tickets for from a student of mine.  However, we found that there were no people about, so i took a closer look at the tickets.  Despite all the kanji, i was able to determine that we were in the right place, but 2 weeks early.

We looked around anyway, and saw Nishio castle, a small example of a rebuilt  classical fortress.  Most of the traditional buildings have been 

in wars or accidentally burned down.  Or maybe arsonists were the culprits!

I like the layered, curvy roof.  

Nearby the castle, we saw a quaint, cozy looking building, so we went in for a closer examination.  We were greeted by a nice man named Shige, who spoke to us in english and informed us that the building is a tea house that was brought to Nishio from Kyoto about 40 years ago.  It's a beautiful classical building.  

We tried 3 types of local green tea.  

Nishio is famous for its matcha tea powder.  You know that fad going on at Booster Juice?  Well the powder that feeds the fad likely comes from the Nishio area, unless they found a way to chemically produce it...

Outside the building is a lovely 'Zen' garden, with a stone river that has been raked to look a bit like a current flow, and some nice trees.  There are a few cherry trees, and in spring they will spill forth with beautiful bright blossoms.  We'll have to try and get some pictures of the cherry blossoms in april.  

Mandy was pointing at something here.  Maybe it was the castle.  The castle was off in that direction somewhere.  But i can't be sure what she was pointing at exactly.  Sorry.

The floors are called 'tatami' mats, and we have them in our apartment too.  We have them in our bedroom and in the living room.  The rest of the apartment is hardwood.  

Tatami mats are nice and they give the real Japanese feel to the place, but they can get infested with tiny bugs that bite.  We had to get a special spray thing that you inject 
into the mats to kill the little buggers. Now they're gone, thankfully.  

Right now, i have a sore throat and Mandy's knitting us some mittens, because it's getting a bit chilly here these days!  Can you believe it?  November and already it's chilly.