We turned into one lane after another, each narrower than the one before, until we spotted Kim waiting at an intersection on her bicycle. She led us the final mile to the restaurant, uphill all the way. (Kim is in much better shape than most of the ladies in the car.)
Before entering the restaurant, we walked down the road and up some steep stone steps to Zuisenji Temple.
Our first view of the temple:
Kim (left) lives in Kamakura and knows all sorts of interesting information. Robin (right) was my guest today. It turns out they know each other through serving on the Ikebana board of directors.
The flowers and trees surrounding the temple are not the temple garden. The original garden is behind the temple and not open to visitors. It was laid out in 1327 in a style called wabi-sabi which, loosely translated, means "naturally imperfect." I intend to incorporate this word into my vocabulary, as in "I do not need a comb because I prefer to wear my hair wabi-sabi style" or "Sometimes I wear mascara but usually my face is wabi-sabi."
Most of the trees surrounding the temple have limbs propped up by mallets.
Victoria, 26, posing here with Mimi, is a welcome addition to the group. She arrived in Japan in July, just a few weeks after her wedding. Next I'll show you what we ate (well, what we were served) for lunch at the Chinese restaurant.
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