20 07 2004

Tue, 20 Jul 2004

Ceramic art

Yesterday I taught another "summer party" and consequently fell asleep at 7pm last night - though I hadn't slept much the night before. They're pretty fun, though, and I'm getting lots of exercise.

Sunday was a good day. My girlfriend picked me and her best friend up, and we drove about 15 minutes to an interesting set of shops, run by her best friend's fiance's uncle. On the drive there I got to see some more of Kumamoto that I hadn't seen before. I think it's a bit bigger than I'd imagined.

When we got there, we walked to the back of the shop where there was a building with one wall missing - sort of like a big garage. Inside were tables, and lining the walls were ceramics in various stages of completion. It turns out my companions had been here previously, and they were going to paint their previous concoctions - a deliberately wonky vase and a bowl. I watched with interest and amusement as the ojisan (uncle) prepared some ceramic paint and showed them how to undercoat and drip paint on to make interesting patterns.

In one corner of the room was a showcase of some of the things that had been made there - painted and gloss coated. Some of the art there was really cool.

Once they'd finished painting, the ojisan got out some new clay, and put the clay on a rotary plate and started it rotating. He molded the clay into a pillar with expert efficiency, and then gave us all a chance to work our magic on the pillar - turning it first into a cup-like affair, and then into a plate. I remember having a chance to make a clay mug when I was in primary school, but I don't think I've ever had a chance to mold clay on a rotating platform before. It was fun.

In front of the ceramic workshop is an onsen (hot spring), which we didn't check out. But beside the onsen is a traditional Japanese-style restaurant, and we stopped by on our way back - ordering a cold udon dish. I've only ever tried thick udon noodles before (like the ones you can get back home), but these udon noodles were cold and thin, almost like the soumen I've mentioned before. They were really tasty.

Speaking of tasty, I had an opportunity to try a Japanese hotdog for the first time a few days ago - the sort of affair you'd buy from a guy in a trailer back home. The hotdogs were interesting - slightly smaller than a normal hotdog bun, and there was no conventional "big wiener" in sight. There were various options to choose from, like a hotdog comprised primarily of cheese, or tuna. There was a wiener dog, but that was made from a few little wieners, each about the size of a little finger. I opted for the tuna hotdog (after asking for a recommendation), and it was actually really nice - tuna, mustard (that tasted almost like wasabi), and a few other random ingredients.

In other news, I've finally got the internet connected at home. It's about 6 times faster than affordable broadband in Australia, and from some sites close to 30 times faster. Wow.

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