Get Centered: West to the East

Benvenuti amici!

I published a modestly popular entry that "chronicled" our 2015 holidays to Slovenia, Italy and Austria. I sit down to write this entry in much of the same spirit. This time we visited Japan and Australia. We decided to tether them based on good old fashioned geography. The continents of Asia and Oceania readily checked off our collective bucket list in one tidy trip. This is a blog created by and written for FIAT aficionados. So, I seasoned both courses of my travel images with a couple dashes of 'Cento.

Asia holds a very special place in my heart as well as the heart of the missus (when the subject is Japan). So, Japan we chose to receive the lion's share of our time abroad. Arguably the best time to visit the island(s) nation is during the Sakura a/k/a Cherry Blossom season. It's a perfect time of year to reflect and get re-focused and/or centered. Thus, the title of this entry.

See the sights via foot, bicycle, taxi, bus and train if you ever choose to see Japan. Every method of transport offers a different perspective of this simple yet complex place. This trip marks my second time to this wonderful country. I also enjoy the benefit of having friends to visit there.

 Animation, Collectibles and Comics...

... Pop Culture is near sport in Japan

Sunshine, overcast skies or rain...

 ... Prepare to experience all in Japan

There is no shortage of places to blow your mind. Japan is a country that steps boldly into the future with one foot firmly planted in history. This theme has been chronicled in past blog entries about what helps make FIAT S.p.A. so special to me. A visit to the magical place cannot be reduced to the feeling of driving a FIAT for the first time, but the following summarization of what I believe to be true about the Japan Experience could also be used to describe my first drive in a small, economical Italian runabout  "There are two ways to come away from a visit to Japan; 1) you check it off your bucket list, or, 2) a piece of your heart forever remains in the Land of the Rising Sun."

A discovery during a trip to the countryside...

... Feeding massive Koi at a meditation pond...

... Hidden delights for the wandering eye...

... Not to be forgotten historic treasures...

 ... Famous cross-sections: Organized chaos...

... Find one's true place in the masses...

... Marvel at what man has wrought for fun...

... Set aside time for the so-called mundane...

 ... Urban carwash? Nothing is "just" in Nippon

 Check the plate on this Tokyo runabout

Next stop... the Land Down Under. I'm not sure any two countries can be as different as Australia is to Japan. The largest island nation in the world is very modern despite efforts to hold to their traditions and create an architectural historic register. That, in itself, is a stark difference to the effortlessness Japanese ability to marry their past with their present and future. Australians, in spite of their recent "service industry boom", are still in process of learning to be hosts to the world. The Japanese put blood, sweat and tears into the "art of servitude" on every level and the difference could not be bolder.

Aussies may not agree or appreciate me claiming as much, but I liken their landscapes, cityscapes and people to the country and people with whom I coexist in the USA. They're "cowpokes"... just as we are. Their history is stained with activities born of early British exploration. They struggle with grasping theirs is a nation of "immigrants" and what the fact means in the present day. Their cities and outback resemble our cities and deserts.

But they also have some of the coolest native creatures this side of Dr. Seuss. That is something 100% Aussie. Seeing and "interacting" with 'roos, koalas and wallabies... as well as breaking away from the city... is not to be missed. This was true for us and, I imagine, it is true for the majority of visitors to the largest land mass of Oceania.

Fast food is sweeping over every society on the planet. This frustrating, for some, reality has given rise to "fast food alternatives" like Grill'd. This local chain decorates their space with impressive wallpaper of brilliant black & white illustrations and messages like the one below.

Australia, by virtue of how it was settled, offers accessible beaches to a great deal of her inhabitants. We chose to visit two of said beaches. They're clean and beautiful. Sunbathers, swimmers, surfers, and skaters share these spaces in what feels like perfect harmony. Relaxation is something Aussies do quite well... 'good news for weary and overworked visitors. Don't care much for playing and/or resting at the beach? No problem. Go for a hike at Blue Mountains. Just do some research prior to heading out and you'll find what it is you seek in this Western society that resides in the East.

Back to the city and more pedestrian exploration. Many of the travel photos I take I'm sure have been taken by many... MANY... people before. So, I always try to snap a few of things that may only bear some significance to me. Full disclosure: I don't typically share those images. I keep them as a private time capsule of my experience of the world around us. That stated... I did take a few I knew I'd share here. I leave you with these images and the wish for you to travel and enjoy the world as well as her inhabitants.

See you sooner than later...

An artwork that conjured thoughts of diesel gate

The UK chose the A595 Competizione. Australia?

Another cool license plate on another sweet 500

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

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