Fall colors in the hills...

Was out of Japan for about 10 days...

Returned home to see the temperatures dipping to the mid-teens... 

And the trees in the hills taking on hues of red and orange...

 This Japanese maple tree radiates as it takes in light from the morning sun...

Large tracts of the hills here are inhibited by this 'wax' tree... 

The Japanese name is 'haze' and the tree is apparently very useful albeit having toxic substances that can cause irritation to certain people... 

The sap is used to make lacquer, and wax can be tapped from their seeds to make candles... 

My 'sweeto haato' taking in the sights, as we paced through the paths...

Wooh, autumn in Japan... lovely it is...

Garden lunch party with neighbors...

Did a check on the history of this blog and found out that today is actually the 8th anniversary of my blog...

Hosted a garden lunch party for fifteen of our neighbors last Saturday...

That was the fourth straight year that we had been hosting this event...

Hamburgers are not really in my normal 'to-eat' list of stuff...

But this one was pretty good, I must admit...

One of our neighbors made it for the party and hmmm, my missus was surprised upon seeing my munching on that plate...

Bologna sausage, and smoked salmon... specially ordered from Kobe by another neighbor...

Good stuff...

We were very happy to welcome the presence of the parents of one of our neighbors...

They stay in another city and came all the way to join us...

Last year, only the mother came, but this year, the father came along too...

And the maze-gohan onigiri (mixed rice ball?) made by the mother... wooh, full of ingredients and goodies...

Meanwhile, the daughter herself, who is our neighbor, made this walnut-banana cake...

Urmmm, very good texture and taste...

Yet another neighbor, for the last three years or so, presented us with this made-from-scratch soba noodles...

It was just 'straight' soba... unpretentious, and to the point... very wholesome stuff...

With all these good stuff to enjoy, am sure looking forward to hosting our neighbors again next autumn...

Fishermen in autumn, wood collecting season begins...

Joined my suweeto haato for a walk last weekend...

 Five minutes from our place lies the beach...

 A fisherman or two trying out their luck on the Japanese 'needle-fish'...

A few more minutes down the path, we found some workmen felling trees in an area where there was a landslide...

And some hours later, we returned to the site with our gear... wooh, very nice ubame oak (native to Japan) logs that are most appropriate for the wood stove....

Autumn cleaning at Aji Hamlet...

Every autumn, the residents of Aji hamlet get together for a clean-up of the neighborhood...
Precisely, it means cutting the grass and clearing up the roadways...

Took time out to snap a shot of two neighbors walking down the path after cutting the grass....

Most of the grass is hauled away to another location for disposal... 

But the original residents of the hamlet prefer to burn the grass right there...

There is a law against open fire burning, but... oh well, I always thought to myself... 

And today was such a lovely day spent...
Autumn days in Japan is really, urmmm, pure delight....

Chiang Mai and Beijing, back to back...

Had been very busy lately... while traveling quite a bit since August...

Took a handful of students to Chiang Mai as part of a class...

Besides the classrooms, we took time out for a bit of fun, doing things like riding cow carts, taking elephant rides, and experiencing bamboo rafting...  

And when in Thailand, woah, food... 

Thai noodles... oooh... 

Upon returning home, thought I could take a rest... 

But no... had to do a quickie trip to Beijing to attend to an emergency situation...

Was actually my first time to step on the streets of Beijing... 

And my counterparts suggested, yes, what else but the Peking Duck...

The picture shows the supposedly most delicious parts of the duck that the host normally offers to the honored guests...

And the duck liver was real tasty, I'd say...

And after the duck, we did the touristy thingy of visiting the gigantic Forbidden City Museum...

In the evening, yes again... the Peking Opera it was... 

Thought that was fun to watch...