If you don't know this by now, I consider myself an Asian-o-phile. My writing includes several things I find awesome about Asian culture, like martial-arts, calligraphy, religion, mysticism, and so forth. I don't know exactly where that love comes from, but it's been there as long as I can remember.
My daughter Kylie is the same, except she is really fascinated by Japan, in particular. She's already taught herself to speak some Japanese, and even write the simplified form (Hiragana and Katakana, as opposed to Kanji, which is the more complicated writing most of us are familiar with).
Anyway, the point is, one of the most beautiful places we visited while in Seattle was the Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. They have a real Tea House, which was unfortunately closed when we visited, and a pond that is filled with some of the largest Koi I have ever seen.
Here are some photos:
These lanterns are either iron or stone, I can't remember. They're absolutely beautiful at night, though.
Here come the Koi.
For some reason I couldn't capture one with his mouth wide open. They look really funny if you can.
This lantern was a gift from Seattle's sister city, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It weighs three and a half tons, and is hand carved out of granite. It is nearly 200 years old.
That's my daughter, Madison, pouting on the grass. We had a bit of a meltdown that day because we'd been doing so much walking.
Those are turtles, sunning themselves on the rocks. Madison would not believe us that they were real because they literally did not move for hours.
Our camera is shite, and none of us are great photographers, but these pictures turned out okay, don't you think?
If you'd like to know more about the Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum, please visit the website.
