09-19-2018
03:44 PM
- last edited on
04-19-2022
07:04 PM
by
grazittiApiTest
Hello everyone!
Last Saturday's morning we had a photowalk in the Japanese Garden of Buenos Aires. We wanted to organize a meet up that day because @FaridTDF was in the city, he wanted to do a photowalk and we chose the Japanese Garden as, besides it being a great place to take beautiful photos, that Saturday was one of the 3 days per month that the entrance is free for Argentines and Argentine residents.
Without counting me as I created it, 5 of the 9 people who signed up attended: Farid, @ValeriaA_, @santiagoirale, Norma and Daniel. The last two aren't members of Connect, as far as I know.
Farid's son, Maximiliano, also joined us and Norma came with her family, that spent some time with us too.
The Japanese Garden of Buenos Aires was founded 51 years ago, it was donated by the Embassy of Japan to the Municipality of Buenos Aires to show their gratitude to Argentina for accepting Japanese immigrants with open arms. It's one of the largest gardens of the type, outside Japan.
It regularly hosts events like Manga and Kendo-Dō Workshops, Haiki contests, Taiko shows and more.
The garden is full of flora typical of Japan, like Cherry Blossoms, and many trees of South America and some other places. It has a lake too, with many Koi fish. It also has it's own restaurant, a gift shop, a plant nursery, a reading room, a tea house and an event room.
We met at 10 am in the entrance called Hokkaido, waited some minutes, and decided to start as some else came they could easily join us.
As the sign reads, the garden is accesible. There are some brigdes that aren't, but I believe that all of the areas can be accessed in some way by everyone.
As soon as we entered we quickly started taking photos. We took photos all through the Flat Bridge, the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) path, the Chasitsu tea house, the Food Court and Memorial to Japanese Immigrants Efforts. We also saw two cats and took some photos of them ?
As we were going to the restaurant we met Norma and her family, who had arrived a bit after we started the photowalk. As we were talking, a tour guide told us there was going to be a guided tour about to start, so we decided to go to the tour instead of the restaurant, and went back to the Hokkaido entrance, where it started.
Of course, we continued taking photos on our way there:
On the tour, that lasted around 40 minutes, we learned plenty of things about the garden, Japan and it's culture and traditions. Here are some things that the guide explained:
Throughout the meet up, Daniel also gave us more information about these traditions and Japan as he studied Japanese in Tokyo for 6 months some years ago.
Unfortunately, when the tour finished Norma had to leave us.. but the rest of us stayed, and went back to the Food Court to have lunch.
After our lunch, we entered the main building, that has a small library, and exposition room and a balcony with has great views of the garden. To visit the exposition and the balcony you can use the stairs or an accesible elevator.
We first visited the exposition room, it usually showcases traditional and modern japanese products, but this time Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) was being showcased.
After taking some photos there, we went to the balcony, took some more photos and talked a bit, enjoying the view.
When we left the building we went to some areas of the garden that were still uncovered by us, like most parts of the islands of the lake, a bridge, and the gift shop.
In the gift shop they sell traditional products such as Daruma dolls, japanese sweets, stickers, and more.
Darumas are dolls that despict bearded man, they are a symbol of good luck and perseverance. When purchased, both of the Daruma's eyes are white, then the person who uses it selects a goal or wish and paint in one of the figure's two eyes. Once the goal is achieved, the second eye is filled in.
At the end of the year, all the Daruma are brought back to place they were purchased from for a traditional burning ceremony. I've bought one on my previous visit to the park and filled in one eye, selecting the goal of graduating from university, so in a few years I will come back to the annual burning ceremony the garden hosts!
Despite it was raining a bit some times, it was a nice photowalk. It lasted 3 hours, yet we all agreed it didn't feel like that much time had passed. It's true that time flies when you're having fun ?
You can click here to see our shared album of the photowalk.
Here's a video with more videos and photos we took, that show more of what we did on the meet up:
Please mention me with @Jesi on your reply, so I get notified
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09-19-2018 03:56 PM
again a fantastic post from Buenos Aires!
Are you Local Guides officals to promote the country? 😉
Really, I soon have no choice and MUST go there...!!!!
09-19-2018 03:57 PM
@JavieraAu ya está el recap del meet up en el jardín japonés! Hay más fotos en el video y en el albúm compartido que está en el link, ambos están al final de la publicación. Perdón por escribirlo en inglés, pero no estoy segura de que tan bien se traduce el español rioplatense a otros lenguajes..
@Ivi_Ge The recap of the meet up in the japanese garden is here! There are more photos in the video and in the shared album, whose link is in the post. Both are found at the end of the post.
Please mention me with @Jesi on your reply, so I get notified
#TeamArgentina | Argentina Local Guides | ♿ One Accessibility
✏️ More control over Lists | 7:1 Contrast on Maps
❤️ Local Guides equals Connections, of all kinds! | Every Contribution Matters
⭐ Guiding Star: Sustainability Star 2022 & Inclusive Mapper 2020
About me: Connect Moderator | Accessibility Champion | Meet-up Champion
Connect with me, outside Connect too! My Maps profile | Instagram | Twitter
09-19-2018 04:02 PM
Just a moment!!
Why @ErmesT is already in the photo book???
Is there a perversion for super heros on Connect???
I hope he already sleeps to be prepared for the long trip tomorrow to the European Meet Up in Kraków...
09-19-2018 04:09 PM
That's great @Jesi
As I already told you, I was waiting for this recap to appear.
I love the photos, and I love to see so many active Local Guides all together, and two Connect Moderators too. Looks like a pre Connect Live event.
I am not a superhero, @TorM, I have seen some photo in preview on Instagram, so I have asked to see the full album. I am just preparing for living tomorrow, as in Krakow we have two CM too, see you for dinner, Torben
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09-19-2018 04:10 PM
@TorM, thank you so much! hahah yes, we all secretly work in the Tourism Ministry 😉
Germans do make a lot of great posts too, with beautiful photos... it's suspicious.. it wouldn't be a surprise if you were working with the German National Tourist Board.
In all seriousness, you're more than welcome here! Just say when and we will organize meet ups for your stay 🙂
Please mention me with @Jesi on your reply, so I get notified
#TeamArgentina | Argentina Local Guides | ♿ One Accessibility
✏️ More control over Lists | 7:1 Contrast on Maps
❤️ Local Guides equals Connections, of all kinds! | Every Contribution Matters
⭐ Guiding Star: Sustainability Star 2022 & Inclusive Mapper 2020
About me: Connect Moderator | Accessibility Champion | Meet-up Champion
Connect with me, outside Connect too! My Maps profile | Instagram | Twitter
09-19-2018 04:15 PM
Thank you, @ErmesT!
@TorM I hope all of you have a great time in Krakow! It seems like it should be really fun, it would be amazing to do something like that in South America someday, but it wouldn't be so easy..
Please mention me with @Jesi on your reply, so I get notified
#TeamArgentina | Argentina Local Guides | ♿ One Accessibility
✏️ More control over Lists | 7:1 Contrast on Maps
❤️ Local Guides equals Connections, of all kinds! | Every Contribution Matters
⭐ Guiding Star: Sustainability Star 2022 & Inclusive Mapper 2020
About me: Connect Moderator | Accessibility Champion | Meet-up Champion
Connect with me, outside Connect too! My Maps profile | Instagram | Twitter
09-19-2018 08:20 PM
hi @Jesi! It's wonderful story! Thanks for sharing 🙂
09-19-2018 08:34 PM
Great meet-up thanks @Jesi
For sharing this with us I enjoyed reading your post.
Cheers
Saudi local guide 🇸🇦
09-20-2018 02:52 AM
Hey @Jesi, amazing photos and thank you so much for sharing with us your great experience. I really love Japan and Japanese culture, and for me was very interesting to read your recap. Thank you again.
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