Palette

Located in Sasaguchi, the south side of Niigata Station is a tiny cafe and gallery dedicated to local photography.

Palette is run by a photography enthusiast and he uses his space to also offer photography classes and occasionally craft courses. When we went the current exhibition was a collection of historical photographs from the big Niigata earthquake 45 years ago. The owner and his wife were delightfully friendly to us and the children. They provided the children with free tea jelly (minus the brandy) and cut the sandwiches into quarters with a selection of 4, it was fun to sample. The food was simple but lunch sets were very cheap. For around 800yen a lunch set can be had that consists of 2 sanwiches, tsukemono salad, tea jelly and a pot of time from their small but fine selection. They are members of the Japanese Tea Association so the pot comes with tea cozy on and tea timer- this provided a source of interest for our 5 year old, who enjoyed playing with the mini hour glass.

Exhibitions change frequently (monthly perhaps). The gallery space is free to enter.
The cafe also offers homemade Japanese curry on the menu but is only available on certain days. The only 2 drawbacks were 1) The restaurant space lacked character and not the type of place I would go to relax and soak in a charming atmosphere 2) The smell of tsukemono was a bit strong for the tiny space and over powered the senses, hindering the enjoyment of the fine tea.

Address- 1-9-29-103 Minami Sasaguchi, Niigata City, Chuo-ku
Phone- 025-244-8008
Hours- 10:00- 20:00
Closed- Tuesdays
Website- http://.to/pallette

Tsunan Greenpia

August 18 2008
Tsunan Camping Trip

Our latest attempt at camping was more relaxing- no bears and (ok don't laugh at us if you are serious campers) it was actually located at a resort. There was, at the simplest level, auto camping, little more upgrade= a cabin, and finally, on the luxury end, a hotel. The property was huge so the different style of accommodations were far enough apart. I prepped lots of food and it turned out really yummy. We arrived early enough and since the land was snake free the boys could play contently without us as we set-up camp. We packed better this time- I did take too much food so have to remember that next time. In the evening we walked to an Onsen and then came back to our site to do fireworks (those little hand sparklers). Next day I woke up VERY early and out of the four people camping in our area I was the first up making breakfast. They must have thought I was a crazy foreign woman- always cooking. Masa and I were up late the night before cooking and eating porkchops until goodness knows what time- not wanting to waste the meat I brought along *lol*. At the crack of dawn I had my pot of chai boiling. The boys had so much fun wandering and dicovering. The clean, relatively threat-free site was such a peace of mind. Until they get a bit older, or until we have more experience or if we have extra adults along it may be a good idea to avoid getting too rustic (but not a resort everytime).

After a huge breakfast we packed up slowly and went swimming before heading back to Niigata City. As I write this Tomo is busy playing with toys setting up a tent (validating that he had a good time).


As far as Tsunan Greenpia goes- I recommend it, it is affordable, fun, safe with tons of options- tennis, onsen, pool, hiking, gameroom (we tried video car racing. Reo and I won- strange considering Masa and Tomo had no major accidents and I actually drove our car off a cliff), playground, restaurants in the hotel and more that I am sure I have forgotten to list. The campsite had toilets, washing stations near the sites, buckets provided for doing fireworks, discount tickets to the onsen and even gave us some free veggies!

July 31 2008
I made zucchini muffin
s last night so that this morning I could let the boys eat while in the stroller. This morning we walked to Daiwa Department Store in Furumachi, it takes about 40 minutes and I was dripping with sweat because of the humidity- yuck! Good thing I made some lemonade to take with our muffins. We were the first to get to the kids playroom in Daiwa. It is a clean, wide area equipped with play equipment, books, climbing wall, huge blocks and of course air conditioning :) Two thumbs up for that place. It ended up getting really crowded after an hour or so though.


Both boys enjoyed it more than I expected. Reo was hooked on the little play house. Maybe tomorrows project is to build a playhouse with all those cardboard boxes I have.

Mitsuke Ohirashinrin Forest

July 21 2008
A very last minute, quick camping trip to Mitsukes Ohirashinrin Forest. We arrived just in time to get enough daylight to set-up. To camp next to the car cost 1000yen (about 10 bucks), san car 0 yen! We even had a bonus bonfire set up for us because the park attendant said a bear was seen near the campsite. He also recommended playing music throughout the night to keep the bears from stumbling upon us. We didn't prepare a radio and neither did the young couple nearby who happened to be the only other campers. The night was pleasant and uneventful aside for constant rain- luckily we accidentally set up camp next to a small creek 'didn't realize it `till everything but the tarp needed to go up. Thus, we squeezed our table and chairs between the car and tent and hung the tarp there. Cosy. It was serendipitous because we could easily run to the car for something in the pouring rain and really was unaffected by the weather. I think the thought of aggressive monkeys were scarier than the threat of bears- but we really were not very concerned.

Fukushimagata

My favorite place in Niigata City is Fukushima Lagoon. The scenery is beautiful, it is a delight for birdwatchers, flower viewers, naturalists, hikers, photographers and the grabber for me is that it is very family friendly. There are paths that one can ride a bike or even push a stroller. Events are scheduled monthly such as early morning walks. The boys love the little traditional hut where we can eat our "brown-bagged" lunch. Volunteers keep it very clean and provide warm tea to visitors. There is even a basket of old-fashioned wooden toys provided for children to play with. Today I became aware of the fact that they have a campsite too! That is definitely something I want to try with the family- imagine the beautiful bird sounds to wake up to.

Saifukuji- Uonuma

We went to Yuzawa and stopped at Uonuma to see Saifukuji, a buddhist temple that is a prefectural treasure. The reason we were interested in seeing it was because they currently have the Niigata version intro playing on Sazae San. On it they show this gorgeous ceiling that we were not familiar with. The ceiling was created by master artist, Ishikawa Uncho. It was commissioned to honor the priests of the temple. It was completed in 1857. I have no pictures of the ceiling because of course no photo's are allowed to prevent damage to the work. The ceiling consists of a wood carving, painted and flows down onto the walls to include wooden lintels and plaster work.
Tomo was mesmerized. A story of Dogen-zenji unfolds in which he travels to China in pursuit of his buddhist education. While walking he has a close encounter with an aggressive tiger. Dogen-zenji is saved by his walking stick which transformed itself into a dragon- his guardian. The scene also consists of 7 hidden animals so you can image how it captured the imagination of a 5 year old boy. He asked me to recite the story a dozen times and quietly had his head tilted, mouth open entranced by this magical work. I took a number of pics of the temple and grounds which remind me what a wonderful, soul immersing place a temple can be. Not just for adults but also for children who can walk around and are naturally intune with the spiritual. The lintels and plaster works also told stories that were equally facinating and symbolically thought provoking.

Seoul and Suwan Korea

April 2009

We got back from our vacation in Seoul and Suwan a couple of days ago. It was fantastic! We had a chance to see Nanta- which had the boys laughing, clapping, engaged and mesmorized. It helped that our seats were 3rd row, center section.

The boys loved Korean food and had fun tasting all sorts of kimchee. I loved it even more considering I went through a couple of months of minimal eating.

Tomoya had a lot of space to run around, it was very pedestrian friendly at the center of the city. Suwan was an hour subway ride. The world heritage fortress had a beautiful view and of course lots of space for the boys to move. Tomo's request was to see the farmers dance and totem poles which was easily accomplished by a visit to the cultural village ( I bought him a picture book about Korea about a month before we went- so he knew exactly what he wanted to do and see and made his experience more enriching). Korean traditional dance and music is dynamic and the colours used in clothing and architecture are bright and bold. It was a short flight from Japan but a world away. Reo enjoyed his time there but spent alot of time sleeping in his stroller at the most unfortunate times- usually at places where he would have loved to wander around on his little legs. Instead he slept through much of that and woke up often in places where he had limited freedom.

From the markets, the spicy and visually enticing food, the exciting colours, movements, much more aggressive language than I am use to and charming restaurants and teashops- Seoul ended up being a wonderful trip for the kids and a great short refreshing vacation for the adults.