Today's Adventure

We went to the fabric district today. This Tomato store is FILLED with fabric on 5 floors! It was my heaven (and Dad's nightmare)! However, it was Saturday and the lines were so long for both cutting fabric and paying for it so we weren't able to get anything.
There were many other stores besides Tomato, but it had the best prices. They even had tons of bolts out on the sidewalk.

Isn't this cute! Dogs are a big thing here (well, little dogs). I have seen them dressed in all sorts of outfits. There are doggie strollers too. I guess they are more obedient than children!

Can you see the guards in the blue uniforms? There are guards everywhere! These were by the building that was being renovated. (They wrap the whole building in tarps while they are being built or repaired.)

I thought this restaurant looked out of place here but it was fun to see.

The Gibsons by a decorative plaque on a building.

Looking down at the taxis from a crossing bridge.

And a view of the people from the bridge.

Railroad tracks from up above.

We happened upon an old cemetery. Most of the rest of the pictures are of things we saw there!

The long boards with writing on them are prayers that have been placed there by the monks. The family pays to have them do this service for their dead.

Look at the huge trees along the paths.

And I took this for Braydon and the other boys. We could see some boys practicing baseball through the cemetery fence.

This is a "stupa" - not sure of the spelling or the purpose - but it was probably built for an important person's grave.

This shrine was decorated with all sorts of items.

I was trying to get a picture of the interesting brooms they have here - just some sort of twigs tied onto a handle. They are everywhere.

Buddha statue in the cemetery.

There are washing stations where you can cleanse yourself before worshipping your ancestors. We thought that was fascinating!

Love all the lanterns and statuary! The smell of burning incense was everywhere.

One of the many shrines we saw today.

Lily pads in a pot.

It was a beautiful day for a walk. Not too hot and a little breeze was blowing.

We saw several cats - must be some mice they can catch in the cemetery.

Telephone booths still exist!!

This must have been the grave of a recently deceased person - it had lots of flowes on it. I guess that everyone is cremated and then the ashes are placed in the family plot. There can be many generations of ashes at the same site.

Elder Gibson - his feet were very tired at the end of this walk! And my legs were very tired!

Here is a bobtail cat wandering around the gravesites.

Stone mound types of grave markers. Must have been some important persons here in this area.

Two incense burning lanterns.

Mushrooms or fungi of some sort growing on an old stump.

Lots of flower shops near the cemetery.

Here is an old home with a satelite dish on it!

This old gnarled tree was being propped up by these supports. The Japanese try to preserve all trees. You see odd branches being propped up where we would just prunned them off. So some of the trees have very odd shapes.

Some little statues in a garden near a home.

These are some of the old homes in the neighborhood we were walking through. Aren't they wonderful?

Note another sattilite dish on the roof of this one.

This wall was made from old roofing tiles.

As we were walking back to the subway, a little man on a bike was following us. I was lagging behind taking pictures when he motioned to me to come over to him. He was trying to show me something in a plastic bag that he had tied to his jacket. At first I just smiled and kept walking but he was very insistant. So I went over and he began to untie his treasure. Dad and the Browns came over to see what was happening. Dad said that he probably wanted to sell me something. But when he pulled out an antique lamp from the sack and gave it to me, we tried to pay him but he wanted to give it to me! Here we are - what a nice gesture!

Here I am by some bamboo shoots.

Here is a better picture of a broom. Reminds me of something a witch would have.

This little dog was patiently waiting while his owners shopped.

A rickshaw! I think it was just for tourists but I thought it was neat.

We passed this pachinco parlor on our way through town. Lots of men in there - I guess it is some sort of gambling.

And a store devoted to umbrellas! We were back in an upscale part of town here.

This clock opens up and little figures dance and sing on the hour. We were too early (or late) and didn't wait to see it but sometime we will.