Hi friends and family,

I know this is the only time you hear from us, but you've probably come to expect that by now.

Arrived in Memphis and went straight to Blues City Cafe on Beale Street to meet and party with the Missing Peace group here, mostly friends of Darlene Markovich who have helped put together this Memphis event with the Dalai Lama. The Missing Peace is branching into music and concerts. Ate some of the famous Memphis barbecue ribs (I'm afraid probably the only food they are famous for). However, they were quite good. Listened to a local band with a singer channeling Johnny Cash.


One of Darlene's friends, Krysia Swift, had put together a very packed schedule of events for our short stay in Memphis. Got a bright and early start the next morning (Tuesday, September 22) for Graceland, a place I never expected to see in this life. The surprise is that it is so un-grand. It looks like a 'fifties or 'sixties suburban house on a larger than average lot with larger and more than the usual number of chandeliers crowding the modest-sized rooms. There are some unexpected touches, olive green shag carpets and very heavy carved furniture from a tiki lounge in the rec room - Elvis didn't drink mai-tai's or any type of alcohol -- not his drug of choice, but he did love Hawaii; a rather creepy, but weirdly compelling white porcelain monkey in the 3-screen tv room. Also, perhaps part of the time warp, but the management had neglected to update to our current President of the USA and there was George W with his What, Me Worry? grin on the wall. The horror, but he kind of fit in.


It was a lot of fun to explore this place with a group of like-minded people, including Loten Namling, a Tibetan musician, who has lived in Switzerland for 20 years and has dreamed of coming to Memphis, the home of the blues. Loten plays and performs a Tibetan blues and has a beautifully Buddha-like photogenic face. We got a number of photos of Loten, meditating at Elvis's grave, posing in front of Elvis's hundreds of gold and platinum records, hamming it up in Graceland.



Later that day we met a woman who had grown up in Memphis. She said Elvis was so generous that it is unusual to meet a Memphisite who hadn't either personally benefitted from Elvis's generosity or hadn't known a relative or close friend who had. She is also a practicing Buddhist, but had a father who was a secret KKK member. She never found out about it - altho according to her she had a distraught and scary childhood - until he was actually on his death bed. It sounded so stereotypically Southern to me, with the deep, deep secrets and dark mysteries, though, of course, we have plenty of that in other parts of the country also.


Camera man with a great smile, taking pictures of all the tourists.


Just about Elvis'ed out.

We came back from Graceland, Elvis'ed out. Most of us couldn't complete all the attractions. We noticed a small group of excited people milling around the Peabody hotel lobby. The Dalai Lama was maybe going to be arriving and was maybe going to be passing thru the lobby. Soon, all traces of fatigue shed, we had our white silk scarves and were waiting with the rest of the growing crowd. As time got closer, more and more security and hotel personnel arrived. We wondered if we would even catch a glimpse of His Holiness.


No, this is not the Dalai Lama. This is Era with Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche who has a meditation center in Tennessee.

This is Don's description of what happened:

I, a skeptical sort, had a camera in one hand when the Dalai Lama (and security) worked their way along the well wishers and strolled to where Era and I were standing. As I might  expect, he passed me up and reaching out, tenderly and deliberately touched Era, her scarf (which she held reverently in her hands) and said a few words; then, rather surprisingly, he backtracked to me and reached out and held my hand; then looked me in the eye, said a short blessing (or something kindly) before moving on - I raised my camera to get a shot, but the security was so close by and so dense that a good photo was near impossible  - My attention went to the tingling in the hand that had been touched - because the small initial - almost unnoticeable tingle seemed to travel up my arm. Taken aback, I started paying attention to the tingle phenomena which went full strength to my chest before running up to my head and simultaneously  down my legs and out my feet. - Odd - I was wearing rubber soles.  Needless to say I had a dumb grin on - shock and awe.

Yes, the Dalai Lama actually touched and blessed us. I'm afraid I was so totally spaced out that I couldn't tell if my body was tingling or not. I wasn't anywhere near my body. Unfortunately, we were not in a state to take good photos. In fact, I didn't take any photos at all. This is the best one Don managed to snap that day. However, we have a lot more photos of the Dalai Lama in the next email.



That evening we all went to a special showing of Kundun on the big screen. Our friend Loten and a Tibetan flautist, Nawang Kechog performed also. I held Nawang's mike as there was no stand available. We had only seen Kundun on a small screen previously. The program was very beautiful and moving.

More later. Much love,

Era and Don

Hi Friends,

It's been said a million times, I'm sure, but Tokyo is a city of great contrasts. We're going to tell this story mostly in pictures.


The Asahi Building, designed by Philippe Starck, dubbed The Golden Turd. In neighboring Asakusa, where we were staying, Sensoji Temple, completed in 645 (below), Tokyo's oldest and perhaps busiest temple.



Also Sensoji, under one of the giant sandals made of rice straw, belonging to one of the Temple Guardians.



 Boots and short skirts are the order of the day. I had to look long and hard for the costumed figures. Unfortunately, I guess that is not as trendy as it once was.


School girls; We happened to catch Chandra in the train in back.


Love,

Era and Don

Hi all,

How the monks can make this delicious food without meat, fish, onions, garlic or dairy is amazing. They've been practicing, practicing for over 1100 years.

We arrived in Koyasan after taking the bullet train to Osaka Namba Station, a huge station with several different shopping plazas, then a local "express" and then a cable car up a very steep mountain, and finally a short bus ride to our beautiful temple. We will write more on Koyasan later; this is just the start of the food. This is the gorgeous Daienin, where we stayed.


Don and I have just been served 2 red lacquer trays each, laden with food. The dinners are served normally at 5:30, but since we arrived late (at 5:30) they served us at 5:45. We weren't really hungry yet, but we did our best.


On the closest tray, starting again with the tempura and proceeding clockwise.

The tempura is grated carrots with some chopped green herb. Delicious. Also there was green pepper, eggplant, squash and potato. I could not begin to finish this.

Tempura dipping sauce in small blue and white bowl.

Sake cup for a special sake the monks make in Koyasan. Very good and also supposed to be medicinal (good for the nerves).

The red lacquer bowl with sprays of gold contains a clear soup with noodles, a decorative tofu shaped like eggplant, strips of fried tofu and lemon slice.

Rice, which we wouldn't be eating until later in the meal if we were proper Japanese.

3 kinds of pickles. Very good, not as salty as the type we get in the States.

In the squarish bowl, a delicious salad consisting of shirataki (clearish, white noodles made from konnyaku, I think), slices of devil's tongue jelly (a different grade of konnyaku, slices of different vegetables and seaweed. All in a vinegary marinade/dressing. There was more to this salad; it's partially eaten.

In the red bowl, my absolute favorite. What is called Goma-tofu. It is made with sesame seeds and starch, as well as the usual soy beans, I guess. It is in a sauce with a little mound of wasabi on top. This is apparently a secret recipe passed down from monk to monk for 1100 years. I have never had anything like it. It tastes like the lightest, most delicious cheese with a very creamy, cheese-like consistency. I hope they give us some more tonight.

Tray #2, starting with the eggplant and proceeding clockwise.


Grilled eggplant. Half of it has a dark miso sauce. The lotus root has been pickled in rice vinegar. The 2 green vegetables under the lotus root are okra.

A miso nabe, or stew, in a wire net which has been lined with a stiff paper. There is a flame underneath, the stew is simmering in the paper and nothing burns. The stew has more normal, but very good tofu, clear noodles, shiitake mushrooms, mochi (which is a rice cake made from pounded sticky rice), all in a miso broth.

In the small blue and white striped, hexagonal bowl, a vegetable which has been stewed in a gelatinous broth. I wish I could describe the flavors better, but it seems beyond me. I think this vegetable may be the type of gourd which is dried and made into a loofah. I can't think of the name, but I've had it before. Very delicate and good.

The white bowl is for the nabe (stew).

The blue flowered bowl has tofu, a very different type. It was extremely juicy, had soaked up a lot of delicious sauce. I wish I could describe or figure out how they make their sauce without onions, fish or meat. I can't imagine what the base is. The rest of the dish is Japanese pumpkin, okra, gingko nuts, and a decorative piece of tofu shaped like a maple leaf.

Dessert was Japanese pears and grapes.

BREAKFAST the next day


Starting at the top LH corner, tofu with bits of vegetables and seaweed mixed into it, formed into a patty. Again, very juicy with broth. 2 pieces of an unidentified mountain vegetable on top which has also been stewed.

A clear broth with chrysanthemum leaves, enoki mushrooms, and tofu in the iron pot with the flame under it. Not easily seen in this photo, but there was also a flat square of what looked like a very fine moss. It fell apart when touched and made a beautiful pattern in the clear broth.

A little dish of soy sauce.

In the turquoise bowl to the side, gobo or burdock root, marinated with toasted sesame.

In the white bowl underneath, bowl for the broth with a lime to squeeze into it.

Back on the tray, miso soup with seaweed and a frothy sort of tofu.

Teacup and rice bowl.

Pickles and salted plum.

Wish you could be here to help us with all this food.

Love,

Era and Don

Hi folks,

We came to Japan to attend the reception of The Missing Peace in Tokyo. The location is Hillside Terrace, an art space near Shibuya and the Omote Sando area. I cannot now remember the exact name of the area, Daikan something [Daikanyama - ed.]. Tres chic. In fact, the women you see shopping in the department stores are so incredibly put together; we have not seen anything like it since Paris and Rome of 20 or 30 years ago.


Era and Chandra with Ron Haak, Darlene's husband. Lewis' mammoth sleeping Buddha is stretched across the front of the picture. Don and my Dharmakaya is on the wall to the left. Rupert Garcia's canvas is to the right in red tones.


The opening was well-attended. Some of the staff told us it was the biggest crowd they had ever had and that the space never looked better. That was gratifying to hear.



Era, Yoko, a local writer, and I think her name is Valerie, a famous Tokyo drag queen.


A couple of other local characters, showing their support.

At the Itami Airport on our way to Tokyo and then home. Boo-hoo.

Love,

Era and Don

Hi friends and family,

By popular request, a Japanese food email. Mostly pictures.


This is a fairly typical Japanese lunch, especially in this hot, humid climate: cold buckwheat noodles (soba) with shredded dried nori (toasted sheets of seaweed) on top, a dipping sauce into which sliced scallions and wasabi is mixed. Dip cold noodles into cold dipping sauce and slurp away. Tempura'ed shrimp also over soba in a clear, dashi-based sauce with chopped scallions. This is served hot. Again, slurp away. We had this at a small restaurant at Daikoku-ji Temple, Kyoto.


Sashimi with intricately carved carrots. Don't ask me what the different fish are. I know one of them was sea bream. Very delicious, but we later went back to another restaurant which was equally delicious and served larger servings. Does anyone really care about those gorgeously carved carrots? Chandra and I had this at a restaurant in Pontocho, the (I think former) geisha in training area in Kyoto.


A beautiful and delicious kaiseki meal at a Tokyo restaurant recommended by a Japanese friend of Lewis'. We had another beautiful kaiseki dinner in Naoshima, but it just didn't measure up in taste. I don't even know the name of this restaurant, as I never saw it written in anything but calligraphy, but it was in the Ginza in a building called the Jujiya (or perhaps Jijuya) building, across from Matsuya Ginza, next to Chanel and on the 5th floor of the building. As Lewis' Japanese friend said, she took some friends there and they said it was the most sublime dining experience they had had in all of Japan. I think we all agreed - sublime. It came to about $30 each, including the beer. Great value. Cooking like this is incredibly labor intensive.

The first course is salad with a lovely dressing and tuna sashimi in the cantaloupe bowl. The little glass holds the dressing. The little round bowl contains what I think is a tofu and root vegetable mixture lightly fried or perhaps baked and then stewed in a savory jelly-like sauce, apparently made glutinous by some mushrooms. Very subtle and delicious, although it may not sound that way.


The main course: Starting from what we all know, the tempura, shrimp, eggplant, some type of green pepper.

In the bowl shaped like a yellow and green leaf: some type of tofu baked with what appeared to be raisins inside of it, sesame on top - Not my favorite; the red ball made to look like a little fruit is actually a small egg yolk of a bird smaller than a chicken, marinated in something which made it go clear and red; grilled eel sushi with a piece of pickled ginger.

In the white eye-shaped bowl: a salad of seaweed, cucumber, fried tofu, sliced and marinated, and a Japanese dried gourd, sliced and marinated. Excellent.

In the little square blue dish: I think this was some type of almond milk jelled and cubed (or made from some sort of nut), with a caviar sauce.

In the polka dot cup: Chawan mushi, a savory egg custard (not sweet). It usually has little bits of shrimp and fish, perhaps vegetables inside.

In the red lacquer cup: A cube of tofu with sauce.

In the shallow bowl to the side, a dipping sauce.

There was a rice course with shredded egg and other things, which we all forgot to photograph. Can't remember very exactly now.


Dessert course: Very good ice cream, which had bits of rice in it. It was rice flavored. Japanese apple pear in the little maple leaf plate.

Just this evening (back in Kyoto) we found a restaurant which served delicious Japanese vegetable dishes, buffet style, over 20 items to choose from, and brown rice. Just what we had been hoping for. Then we heard from Lewis and Chandra, back in Napa. They just had an Italian dinner at some friends' house with a bottle of Napa red wine, that doesn't sound bad either.

Last night we broke from Japanese food, went to a Spanish restaurant and had Sangria, grilled vegetables, a tortilla and a paella. Not as good as Cesar's or our paella, but it was pretty darn good. Our waiter was a young Japanese who spoke English and Spanish and has traveled to 13 Latin American countries on his own. He said Era looked like his mother, and the family is from the Kyoto area. Don has not been feeling tip top and the Sangria helped to settle his stomach.

Tomorrow we go to Mt. Koya (Koya-san) to stay in a Buddhist temple for a couple days. One of the attractions is all vegetarian food which the Buddhist monks have been developing for centuries. Then we float home. But I'm very behind on my emails. Still have to tell you all about Tokyo and our opening. Hopefully I'll get to that before we return home (maybe on the plane) or it will never be written.

Best to all, and Envision Obama as President,

Era and Don

Hi friends and family,

Thank God we went to Naoshima. Although Edie had highly recommended it and urged us to go, I am not sure if we would have made the effort without Lewis and Chandra's planning and motivation. The route involved taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama, transferring to a smaller local train, wheeling our luggage to a ferry terminal, and finally the ferry to Naoshima, a small island in the Inland Sea of Japan.


We were picked up by the bus service provided by our hotel, Benesse House. Benesse is a Japanese publisher of textbooks with exquisite taste in art (with a few exceptions). The Park, where we stayed, was designed by Tadao Ando, a former boxer and an absolute genius of an architect who apparently has no formal architectural training. The Park, which is the least expensive of the 3 hotels which are part of the Benesse House, was barely affordable for us, esp. considering our trip is 2 and a half weeks long, but it so beautifully designed, so perfect in every way, that we were very glad we opted to stay for 2 nights. It's like staying in the most gorgeous contemporary museum with a James Bond flair. In fact, they are thinking of filming a James Bond movie here.


Hall from Reception to the Elevators.

The island is dotted with outdoor sculpture, installations and museums. In one of the fishing villages, old houses have been converted into art installations. Finding all of the art projects is like a scavenger hunt. In fact, we realized afterwards that we had missed one: Cai Guo-Giang's Cultural Melting Bath, a rock garden installed by the sea. However, I think that was the only installation we missed, not a small feat, as this same mysterious Japanese holiday caused the museums to be closed on Tuesday, instead of Monday, so we had to see the Chichu Museum and the art houses on the morning before we left for Tokyo.


The Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama


Cliff Screen by ??


Walter De Maria sculpture, local boy, born in Albany, CA. There was an absolutely gorgeous Walter De Maria installation inside the Chichu Museum which we were not allowed to photograph.

Photos from inside one of the art houses:



Sea of Time by Tatsuo Miyajima. You walk into a small Japanese house, inside are shoji screens, wood walls and frame, the wooden beams holding up the house and dark water where the tatami mats would be. The liquid crystal lights in varied colors blink silently in the water. Stunning.



Go'o Shrine with "ice" stairs by ??

Water Garden outside the Chichu Museum. The Chichu has a number of Monets in their collection.

Naoshima, a place unique on this Earth. I would only wish that we had planned an extra day to visit Isamu Noguchi's studio, which is nearby (another ferry ride) and is supposed to be great.

Love,

Era and Don

More Day 4 in Kyoto and Morning of Day 5

After Fushimi-Inari, the place of the 4,000 red Torii gates, I dragged everyone to Kiyomizu-dera, one of my favorite places on my last visit to Japan, almost last lifetime now. It is a long trek up the hill, past our ryokan, and smaller temples (see a couple below), to the huge wooden temple in the SE hills overlooking Kyoto. Because of the mysterious holiday (we still don't know what it is. It seems to be complicated to explain) the street was absolutely jam-packed with people heading both up and down the narrow lane. Fascinating people watching. This is where we saw some of the geisha and also quite a few young people, both male and female, decked out in kimono and other interesting garb.


When we got to the temple the huge wooden deck, built on a steep hillside and overlooking the city, was packed with people. I felt nervous that it might not hold all the weight, but needn't have worried, as you can see from the next photo. That structure is so completely overbuilt that there was no danger at all. It is a beautifully designed and massively constructed temple.


Winding our way down the hill, we passed families waiting in line to partake in some ritual cleansing by sacred water, or that's how it seemed to us. Maybe the water simply tastes good. Good cheer, as usual. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.


We were thinking of going to a famous unagi (grilled eel) place where the family has been serving eel for hundreds of years. It's in the Gion, a little ways down the hill. However, looking over the menu and the street-side displays we discovered that a simple bowl of rice with some grilled eel on top was over $60. It was probably delicious, but yikes. Went instead to a small restaurant in Pontocho, near the river, which we stumbled into on our first night, and where we all agreed had the freshest, best sashimi any of us had ever had in our lives (or since we were last in Japan). We will be showing you a series of photos of courses we had at an elaborate Japanese dinner, coming soon.

Next morning, our last in Kyoto (until we come back after our Tokyo stay), Don and I decided to walk around our neighborhood. Almost everything was closed. It was Monday, and it was still a holiday. Our ryokan is in the Higashiwara, in the hills of SE Kyoto, above the Gion. Every block seems to have a temple on it. It is also surrounded by many parks. The day was already hot, we walked up a long flight of beautiful stone stairs across the street from us to Kodai-ji temple. We ended up sitting in what we thought was a secluded spot in the shade, contemplating a beautifully carved and ancient gate with a forest on the other side. A young woman dressed all in black, who turned out to be a priestess, was standing modestly to the side. People appeared, many with a packet wrapped in a silk brocade and presented it to her with a bow. More and more people showed up and she soon had a tray filled with the packets. 2 other priests appeared, dressed in sky blue, white and black. They opened the ancient gate, chanted in unison, took the packets into the forest and reappeared empty-handed. Everyone bowed numerous times. We saw this re-enacted a second time, and left while the 3rd group was gathering. This is what I mean by not really having a clue, but it was all very gorgeous and fascinating.

We walked on through little wooded trails and came to a huge temple complex, which I think now was Chion-in. There was an elaborate Buddhist ceremony taking place inside the gigantic main temple. Many priests chanting under huge lacy golden hangings. The congregation sat to the left, stragglers, including us, kneeled on tatami mats, facing the back of the monks. Families with young children lit incense and tossed money into wooden offering boxes during the ceremony.

The Japanese seem to be able to multi-task very easily and deal with all kinds of sensory input. Kids were running back and forth, people coming and going, while a solemn ceremony was going on in a wooden shrine the size of a football field. Nobody seems to be at all disturbed or suffer from broken concentration. I've heard the same thing goes on at kabuki theatre: eating, talking, getting up, coming and going, anything goes. Nobody is bothered in the least. They do keep their voices down, though. No loud, raucous voices are heard, except occasionally when they're drunk at restaurants.

In this photo, you can see the back of a monk's shaven head under the railing; the priest, just to the right, has a yellow silk headdress on. The congregation on the left is barely visible.


Walked back through a park, Maruyama-koen, to our ryokan, grabbed our luggage, caught a cab to the Kyoto train station, bumped into Lewis and Chandra. Had a quick lunch and jumped on the Shinkansen to Naoshima, via a few transfers.

I know things are in turmoil at home. We would not have picked this time to travel, but we were locked into the trip and are very glad to be here. Good thing we're spending all our money here and not watching it plunge in the stock market.

Best,

Era and Don