Koi Koi

A trip to the Japanese Friendship Garden is not complete without a visit with the koi...and how cute is this little girl drawing them?

Koi Koi Koi

 I can't stop taking pictures of koi...they are so weird/beautiful/strange/lovely...

A Day at the Park

 The koi are in a frenzy because they were being fed...pretty little piggies!

Guess where I was...Japan! No, alas, not really...

 I was with a friend last week at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Parts of the garden really do make one feel as if you're in a garden somewhere in Tokyo or Kyoto. Lovely!  My friend and I went to see the garden and an exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art entitled "Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland." A really fun and interesting exhibition that includes paintings, prints, photos, and objects--including this fellow, who apparently used to be atop the fantastically named Spook-a-Rama ride.

Japanese Friendship

I became a member of the Japanese Friendship Garden this year, and a few weeks ago they had a very nice Membership Tea.

Top photos show a very condensed version of the traditional tea ceremony, lovely.
Then, koi (of course), lovely (I never tire of photographing them).
And, sakura (cherry blossoms)! Lovely!