Friday, July 8, 2011

Kimonos compared to Dirndls and Aquabats: Why bats need a drink too

During our stay in Japan we got to visit a Japanese bathhouse (Onsen). At the beginning a clerk gives you a bathrobe (Yakuta) which you put on and enter the Onsen. Quite unexpectedly you enter a Japanese Disneyland. Everyone is wandering around in Yakutas and there are stands selling everything from food to tourist trinkets. The food was a little overpriced but the barley tea was free. The entire experience was pretty great, although it was definitely geared towards tourists, both Japanese and foreign. That raises the question as to when you become a tourist. Are you a tourist in your own country, your own city? I would love to hear your thoughts.
A few days after going to the Onsen, Fred and I were in store looking for Yakutas. As you can see on the picture, they are pretty great looking and I thought it might be worth investing in one. We began looking around the store only to discover that they are pretty pricey, until we suddenly found some that were a lot cheaper. We started looking through them to see if we could find the right sizes, when a lady working in the store waled up to us and said: "Those are lady kimonos." We must have looked pretty foolish for our inablility to tell the difference and so we moved on quite embarrassed. Fred joked that had we been in Austria or Bayern, the equivalent would have been us looking at a Dirndl. I guess there is a lot to learn about other cultures.

 To the Aquabats. Yes, they are a band and I think I discovered how they came up with that name. Last night Fred and I were in the pool and the sun disappeared beyond the hills on the horizon. As night fell the bats came out of their hiding places to grace us with their presence. Suddenly the bats came swooping down and would glide above the water while sipping up a drink. Maybe not the easieset way to get a drink, but its the bats only chance to drink something without drowning. We felt a lot like batman as all the bats flew around us skimming over the water. We will try and get a picture. Wish us luck.

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