Illusions of grandeur

Yesterday we went to China.

We got started on our adventure a little late because Grant had a test at noon. He's working on getting his degree by taking CLEP tests, otherwise known as College Level Examination Program Tests. He wants to get his degree. He has taken two so far and passed them both. Next up - French.

We met Haji on the train platform around two o'clock and headed to Yokohama. From there we took the subway a couple of stops. It was our first time on the subway which is about the same as the trains except that the stations were underground. We were able to use our train passcards to pay for the trip.

By three we were staring at one of the gates that mark the entrances to China Town. The Chinese have a more extravagant flair than the Japanese - just wait until you see the temple.

China town smells burned. Like the smell you get when you leave popcorn in the microwave for too long after it stops popping. The smell wore off after a while to be replaced by other smells I couldn't name. One of them might have been duck.

Or maybe lobster - though I'm pretty sure these ones were fake.

"Proof," Haji said. "That lobsters really do grow on trees." He paused and seemed to think about this sentence, then added. "Not that it was ever in question really."

Just staring at the food took up most of our attention. The crowds accounted for the rest. A surprising number of sales people spoke English and tried to use it to get our attention.

I wanted to see three things while we were there - two temples and a museum - but my map was useless so we just wandered around until we tripped over one. Chinatown was big, but not big enough that you'd get lost.

The first temple we found was Kantei-byo, which is dedicated to the god of business. Chinese temples seem to have less vegetation and far more decoration than Japanese temples. Everything that could be carved painted or gilded was. Gold sparkled everywhere and incense was thick in the air.

The second attraction we found was the China Museum, billed as food entertainment, it's often equated with the Ramen Museum we went to a few weeks ago. This was nothing like that. For one there was no feeling of being shot back in time fifty years and trapped on a narrow street with the sun setting above you.

Also it was much, much cooler. The first couple of floors were shopping the second couple were food and a little booth that said information and ticketing. Beside the booth was a little silver turnstile through which we could see two copies of the Mona Lisa hanging side by side next to a clock. The sign under the clock said let's challenge. Obviously we were intrigued. The banner showing a woman being plucked up and eaten by a six foot tall head further fueled our curiosity.

Inside we found this:

and this:

And the aforementioned copies of famous paintings hanging in pairs. This turned out to be a spot the difference exercise. The Mona Lisa, for example, was sticking her tongue out in one version. Evidently, we were in an optical illusion museum.

We found the real fun on the second floor. As we rounded the landing on a flight of stairs we saw this.

Almost all the illusions were flat paintings that looked 3-D enough to interact with. Except for one. A painting of a town that looked flat from the front but turned out to be formed of three protruding triangles. You can see it in the background of the picture below.


Grant said this one looked so real that he didn't want to walk on it to get to the next room.

Once we had escaped the clutches of the huge man we rushed across the street to see the last temple before it closed.

It was the temple of Ma Zhu Miao. They call her Holy Mother of Heaven but she's a sea goddess. Her temple is shaped like a gazebo.

For a 100 yen, an English speaking woman will bring you into the temple and show you to pray in the Chinese fashion. They kneel on square red cushions and press their hands together in front of them. Then they bow three times and then tell the goddess their name and address and what they wish for. I assume this is so the goddess can find them later. There are a lot of people in China after all.

Woody Allen"I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown."