Today’s Japanese work is: Shiki

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It’s 10:02 PM and I’m sitting here in my tiny apartment in Beijing. I just realized I didn’t make a post today.  I love the view from my apartment at night.  The night is dark and the scene is just as you might imagine Beijing would look from an apartment window.

I’m a city man.  I love the city…I used to tell my parents when I was a kid I was going to live in the city.  I’ve lived in a few…Seoul, Incheon, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, LA, Riyadh and now Beijing.  Once you’ve done the city it’s hard to go back to living in smaller cities.  I don’t know exactly why that is.  Jonathan Frazen wrote a great essay on why he loved the city.  He describes the feeling of being lost in the crowd.  I think he’s on to something there.  There’s always room for exploring, you’ll never get to the end as hard as you might try.  My favorite city is Tokyo but I have a special place in my heart for Kyoto as well.  I could very easily live out the rest of my days in Kyoto.  I think it’s my ideal life.  Spending my days taking relaxing walks and taking photos of the streets and people.  Well..I guess I’m dreaming a little but hey nothing wrong with a little dreaming.

Kyoto is too perfect! I only spent a few days there but I loved my time there.  Getting lost on the city streets.  I went to the Manga Museum and a rock garden as well as a palace.  These are places I had only experienced though books and the internet.  I haven’t been to 137 different countries or anything.  But I can say without a doubt that Kyoto is my favorite place.

I read a few things about Kyoto station online…however when I experienced it first hand I was overwhelmed.  Its a building beyond anything I’ve ever seen.  You don’t see Kyoto station, you experience it.  It’s a beautiful futuristic monster that you’ll fall in love with immediately.  I consider it the future of architecture.

Well…Japan has been on my mind because I might have some vacation time coming up so I’m thinking about taking a trip there soon.