A little while ago, Constant Companion and I joined one of the periodic cultural tours that the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau organizes to introduce the diverse communities of our area. We had already taken an informative and enjoyable walking tour in Little Havana a few months ago. This time we were off on an exploration of the multiple Asian communities in the southern part of the county. As we traversed the county we went from Cambodia to Thailand to Japan; our most enjoyable day ended at a well-known Chinese restaurant.

The bus tour started with a drive through the Redland* area and Homestead, both have long histories of being rich agricultural areas. Now, their expansive fields are growing homes to accommodate the needs of the growing populations of the county.

*Note, In South Florida it is the Redland in contrast to California’s Redlands.

We drove south for a meeting at the Sat Buddha Metta, the Cambodian temple (https://www.facebook.com/WatBuddhaMettaFL/?locale=cs_CZ). Who would have known there were so many Cambodian immigrants here? Dade County and the ready availability of farm land in the 1970s is one of the areas that attracted them after the decade-long occupation of their country.

We were greeted warmly by many members of the community and proudly shown their Temple, still under construction. According to our guide, all of the statues are being built locally.

Our group was also welcomed with a huge buffet of traditional food, including the tropical fruits grown in South Florida.

Next stop was the much more established Wat Buddharangsi of Miami of the Thai community (www.thaitemplemiamifl.org). I had read about this temple and their annual programs. Honestly, the long drive to Homestead put us off participating. It is another very beautiful venue in the fields of South Florida.

Our next stop was Pinecrest Gardens, the former site of Parrot Jungle one of the older attractions South Florida used to known for (https://www.pinecrestgardens.org/Home). The city of Pinecrest transformed/rehabilitated the site into a gorgeous botanical garden filled with many activities. There the local chapter of Ikebana International Miami greeted us and quickly taught the group the basics of ikebana, a Japanese floral arranging art.

At lunch, one of our tablemates taught us a new way to create a chopstick rest from the long paper holding our chopsticks!

I know there’s quite an art to this at which some people excel, I usually make a simple knot.

Now I can make this new style!

Summer heat and rains have set in. I imagine and hope that the fall will bring another cultural tour so Constant Companion and I can learn more about where it is that we live.