Queer
AuDHD
Nikkei USian
California <=> Japan
Currently: Kansai
Fediverse since October 2022.
Avatar: White ume blossoms illuminated at night. Photo by me.
Header: Kinkakuji (Golden pavilion) and surrounding forested hills covered in snow. Photo by me.
| Pronouns | they/them |
| Languages | English・日本語・中文・Deutsch |
| Research | Discrimination and Liberation in Buddhisms |
| Blog | https://write.as/allthingsume/ |
Still thinking about the four different ramen we had today…soooo good and so glad they had “mini” portions so we could try as many as we did.
Favorite broth: Shindo’s shoyu ramen with the Thai fish sauce and oyster sauce accents.
Favorite noodles: Ryu Shanghai with thicker, chewier noodles.
Ra-Haku is also just way better than Cup Noodles museum. No, this is not up for debate.
PS: Some restaurants offer vegetarian ramen.
Some other flowers we passed by today. Friend said the weeping-willow style tree at Nishi Hongwanji was sakura but I think it is actually a shidare-ume since the blossoms are on the branches/very short and stubby stems and the petals are smoothly peaked at the tip. And yes, there are varieties of ume with drooping branches just like with shidare-zakura, but sakura have thin, long stems for the flowers plus the petals are notched at the tip.
Went for a lunchtime walk with a friend to see flowers.
The highlight being of course the park’s namesake, ume! There are many different varieties and many are labeled, I just forgot to photo the labels to remember which were which other than the two I know for sure. Umekoji Park has around 150 ume trees of which there are 14 different varieties, some that bloom as early as January or like these which bloom late February to mid March.
21:30, -3C outside and apparently it’s been snowing again.
There is about 1cm accumulation on my balcony railing and probably double that on the roof in the photo.
So if the snow sticks around but is not actively snowing tomorrow morning, I may hop the subway out to one of the mountain shrines. Got my snow covered Kinkakuji photos last year so want to visit a lesser known Kyoto spot this time.
So apparently it snowed in Kyoto city last night/early this morning and I'm all "where? unless they mean Hiei-zan or Kurama..." and yeah that is probably what they meant, the mountains surrounding the city, or that there were flurries in the air but nothing that stuck to the ground.
So unless I wake up to this again, it didn't really happen. 😝
Photo is from Feb 2025.
