Kings adventures: Wednesday May 22nd - Japanese Garden, Hasselt; University Library, Leuven.

On Wednesday morning we spent a lovely morning in the beautiful Japanese Garden at Hasselt. The Japanese Garden is a result of the friendship that existed between the towns of Itami (Japan) and Hasselt since 1985. Itami created the garden in 1992 to provide an opportunity to become acquainted with Japanese culture and customs. In turn, Hasselt donated a carillon to the people of Itami. The garden is divided into 3 parts: the first part is adjacent to the Kapermolen Park and forms a transitional zone between the Western-styled Kapermolen Park; the second part is the central Japanese Gaeden; the third part is filled with an extensive collection of Japanese cherry trees and has room for events and celebrations as well as a moment of reflection at the Shinto Shrine.

Throughout the garden there is always the sound of water. The path has many bends and the garden has lots of slopes. Because of this, you never see the entire garden from a single point. There is always something to be discovered at every turn.

The water in this part of the garden symbolises life. It begins as a wild waterfall in the east. and ends quietly as standing water in the west.
The access to this waterfall is a zigzag bridge which is called Yatsuhashi. It is always used in an iris pond so that you can view the irises up close.

The inspiration for the waterfall can be found in the 14th century garden of the Tenryuji temple in Kyoto. The rock under the curtain of water represents the Japanese carp, or koi, that jumps up against the waterfall. Once he reaches the top, he turns into a dragon that, according to ancient, oriental culture, is the most important, purest and fairest creature on earth.

There is a lavish use of rocks in the garden because rocks are everlasting. Despite nature and time they remain unchangeable elements in the garden.

The Ceremony House.

Lots of petitions.

This is the beach in front of the sea. In the ancient Japanese Gardens, places such as these were used to feed the koi.

Needless to say Jim had a go at the gong - several times!

The Shinto Shrine.

Lots of donations.

More petitions.

The Ceremony Room.

An Oribe stone lantern

Back in Leuven we wandered about again. There is a really great wool shop where I was enticed to buy some lovely wool.

De Kotmadam. This is a statue by Fred Bellefroid built in 1984 in honour of the kotmadam. "Kot" is Flemish slang for a student room and the kotmadam is the landlady of the rooms who would prepare meals for the students, tidy their rooms and help them when help was needed. It is in the Oude Markt. She looks exhausted!

We paid a visit to the museum but it wasn't open but we could wander about in the open spaces.

This is The Totem in the University Library Square. It was built in 2005 by Jan Fabre to celebrate the 575th anniversary of the University of Leuven. It's a giant bug impaled on a 75 foot needle. I'm not sure what the insect represents - could it be something about libraries and collections like collections of insects?