Land-based animal!


This weekend we saw this fellow on the side of the road. He is a kamoshika, or Japanese antelope. I have seen a few of these beasties before, when we were snowboarding in Nagano... but that was a bad day. We were SO close to this little dude. It was pretty exciting. Yes, I am a loser who is really excited about a deer-looking goat creature.

drowning in neutral

Dreams freak me out.

I was on a beach, in a very desolate area, almost everything is of a neutral tone. The sand looks grey, the water a pale foamy nondescript color. I enter the water wearing scuba gear, and am pulled out from the shore. We are off the shore of an island, and I have trouble submerging. The water is a bit choppy, and I try to go under with my snorkel, but end up coughing and choking a bit on the sea water. It tastes thicker in my mouth, almost a bloodlike viscosity. I spit it out, and remember to clear it with my regulator, as I switch to breath through it. I have about 3 breaths of air before I am sucking at nothing. I remember how cold the water was, and the feel of the rubber against my lips. I keep trying to clear my mask, and I can't see anything. I open the bottom to let the cold water in, hoping that will de-fog it, but to no avail. I realize that my tank had been prepped, and then the air valve had been closed again. I noticed that all the people around me (maybe 4) had their heads in the water, and seemed to be heading in the same direction. I blindly followed, but was concerned, because I didn't think we were heading the right way and I couldn't breathe. I finally caught up to a girl, her hair was short and blonde, and her ear was half-covered with water. I began calling to her, to help open my valve. I thought about doing it myself, but would have had to take the vest off. Plus, I was already having difficulty keeping bouyant, with no air in my vest and fighting the current that was pulling us further out. I watched her ear the entire time I called to her, mesmerized and terrified by the water, which was keeping me from breathing, as it covered her ear with each wave. She didn't hear me until the third call for help, and when the valve opened, I immediately lifted a bit out of the water as my vest filled. I had this calm over me throughout the whole experience. I was really scared, but its like my body refused to convey it. I was moving mechanically, felt out of myself.

The dive was over, I had spent all my time trying to breathe/etc. Everyone still seemed to be heading the wrong way, though. I began to panic, and finally got oriented. I walked out of the water with some difficulty, and dropped my gear on the shore. There was still no color anywhere. I felt drained. I felt like the landscape around me had lost all its life, and felt like the air I so desperately needed in the water was taken away from me again. On dry land, I couldn't breathe. No sun, no color, no life, no air. I felt the sand, I could still feel, but it just felt empty running through my fingers.

Deviancy Tour 2006



The Bunny and I graced the town of Osaka with our presence last weekend. I was in need of a retrospective weekend, and she was in need of a distraction. We descended upon the Amerikamura area after a 6 hour local train adventure. I finally used up those damned tickets.

My first tattoo, which the piercer did a fabulous impression of. The original.

Me and Magoshi.






Bunny also got a lovely haiku upon her left arm. It is quite striking, and was the talk of the train on the way back to Toyama. Alas, I have not a picture.

Delicious Thai food was consumed, then the capsule hotel! HERRO!



Goodbye.


How many dog kennels come with their own TV!?!


So, after all that madness... we went to get pierced! I wasn't planning on it, but I couldn't resist the temptation. As a bonus, I got to practice my Nihongo with the really cool appointment dude at the studio, Masami. He was telling me how he implanted a ring underneath the epidermus on the top of his hand, all by himself. Dude. That is pretty badass. COMPLETELY disturbing, but the idea that he did it all himself is impressive as hell. Oh yeah, so I got another piercing of my conch (that's my ear, perverts), above the previous one. All went smoothly, and we actually got the man to accept our tips, which is a huge accomplishment in Japan!

I am tired, so will stop there. It was a great weekend. Hope to get back to Osaka soon, its great to get out of inaka for a while sometimes.

the taco hats cometh


Having lived in Toyama-ken for a year now, I figured it was time to see the famous Owara matsuri. It takes place for 3 days in Yatsuo-shi, about 20 minutes outside of the prefectural capital by train (in case you wanted to know). The Owara festival is based around the Owara dance, or dance of the harvest.

Bunni and I braved the throngs of Nihonjin tourists and vicious obaachans to witness the taco-hatted splendor. There were lines upon lines to get a ticket to get in a line to take the train to Yatsuo, then follow a massive crowd down a tunnel-like street to several spots where you would witness the dancing. Along the way, we were entertained by adorable children in yukata, and a man with a teddy bear riding on his head.


There was also a plethora of festival food. The takoyaki vendors were out in droves. They also had kakigori (with optional condensed milk on top), which I partook of. It was not as good as the one J and I had in Osaka, though. I guess I will just have to go back to Osaka for true icy goodness.

We sat outside of a temple for 40mins or so, waiting for a dance performance, and surrounded by a crowd with the average age of 60. It was worth the wait.

kemushi!


Today is apparently the caterpillar *fuzzy-type exodus. I went to the bank to send an overdue furikomi (nice to know I am on top of things) for my upcoming winter vacation, and the madness began. I was about 2 blocks south of my humble abode when I noticed the little fuzzy bastard on my thumb. I flicked it off, and continued on my way. No harm done. After noticing the main bank was closed, I turned tail and headed back home. I put my hand on my bike, and felt a squish. I looked at my hand, it was green and moist. I looked at the handlebar, and half a kemushi remained in fuzzy death spasms. I felt simultaneously saddened and disgusted. Then my attention was drawn to the front of my bicycle where another little beast was wiggling its tufted bum at me in mockery. I waited for him to get into position... FLICK! Oh... bad shot, straight into the bicycle wheel of no return.

One kemushi, ok, I can understand. Hell, I have been attacked by two slugs before after a battle of wills between me and the evil bicycle ojisan of Takaoka eki. But, never have 3 creatures of the same species come at me at once. To make matters worse, last night, whilst making my green pepper hummus, I sliced into one to find a horrible horrible surprise. A kemushi had boored its way into the pepper and set-up shop. There were more eggs than seeds in there! And the cherry on the cake was the carcass of the mommy just chillin in there, awaiting consumption by its own young. EEEW.


Back to the onslaught. Upon returning to my apartment, I noticed what was happening. It is easy to miss at first glance, but if you look carefully, you will see hundreds of fuzzy creatures inching their way up the wall, across the ground, and over anything in their path. This included about 4 of the bikes parked there, 2 of mine. I am sure some of you are thinking, "awww! how cute!" But you would be wrong. It was just creepy.

Last night was a party in the fountain park. It was good times until the neighborhood party-pooper and the police came to shut us down. Boo hiss! Here are some of the revelers. Enjoy!

A new rating scale


We decided today that the awesomeness of a house/apt will from henceforth be judged by the number of didgeridoos present. Today's total was 5, 4 of which were handmade. where you can get your very own!!

My Tokyo eikaiwa folks invited me to a flowing somen party. A what? A flowing somen party is basically built around the idea of creating the most nonsensical way to serve food to your guests.

It involves constructing a 10-12 food long slide out of halved bamboo stalks, and putting a hose at the top. You have a catch-all at the end of the slide (the one today was a bucket with two river fish swimming around in it, topped with oven cooling racks), and a somen master at the top. People line up with chopsticks in hand to catch the somen as it flows down the chute in the cold water. You then dip the captured somen into your sauce bowl and slurp away. There is a lot of missed noodles, laughter, photos, and of course LOUD slurpy noises.


On top of the somen, there was smoked river fish, smoked eggs, smoked cheese, sesame balls, edamame, potatoes, mountain vegetables, cactus sashimi, chocolate cake, pumpkin cake, and mass quantities of beer and tea. It was a feast, and the company was better than I could have ever hoped for.

The host family, the Okadas, live in Tonami, in an old-fashioned Japanese farmhouse. The father is a craftsman/artist who has two Harley Davidsons, and makes things out of wood above his garage in his spare time. The wife is a sweet beer drinking woman, who is incredibly humble about her cooking. Their son made his appearance after lunch... Dreadlocks, Rasta t-shirt, and didgeridoo in hand. We sat in the living room playing his massive purple and green didge, and two of his father's handmade wooden ones for about an hour or so. He busted out the bongo and a mouth-harp as well, while I jammed on guitar for a bit. Their daughter has recently passed away, but they display her psychadelic paintings all over the house, and proudly show the pictures of her traveling in India.

Put all this together with wacky obaachans who continuously hug and giggle and you have a nearly perfect day. I was sent home with a tissue holder (fabric pocket to hold tissues) that one of the obaachans made for me out of gorgeous brown kimono silk, and a bungload of smoked eggs and pumpkin cake! Omiyage! They have these parties once a month or so, and I was invited to next month's, where one of my new grandmas is going to perform tea ceremony, and we will probably help harvest some rice.

Now I know how Yuki feels


For those of you caught unaware, Yuki is the name of my cat. I say "my" loosely, as I have not seen this particular kitten in over a year now. He is residing in the great city of Chicago, and for that I am excessively jealous this week. You see, Yuki is a special needs cat. At least that is what the nurse at the kitty shelter told me. Turns out my furry black friend is an amputee. I won't tell the sad saga that is his early life, be happy to know that he is probably the luckiest cat in the western hemisphere at this moment.

I allude to the cat because Yuk used to have attacks of phantom limb. He would often sit on the floor, hike up his stump and shake it vigorously, in an attempt to scratch his ear. It nearly made me cry the first time I saw, and I would dive across the room to take the place of his foot and scritch it for him. Many people found it amusing, but to me it was devastating. The only way I could think to stop it would be to give him a peg leg, or perhaps a whisk leg. I didn't want a traumatized AND embarassed cat, so I decided against prosthetics.



The past few days I have had a similar feeling. My best friend left Japan several days ago and I feel rather like I lost a limb myself. I keep reaching for my keitai to tell him about something hilarious that happened, knowing he would appreciate it. Last night was the worst, though. I stood up in bed, searched around the room for him, even looked on the balcony for him, and as I opened my sliding doors to search the kitchen and bathroom, it hit me. He is not here. I know I was half asleep, but I was really confused and sad.

It doesn't help that I have very vivid dreams. Sometimes I wake up and don't know where I am, or crying about something I can't remember. The phantom will fade with time, I suppose. But there is something almost comforting and justifying in feeling it.

Kyoto and Nara

J had a Kyoto enkai on Friday night, so I headed into Kyoto on the early train Saturday morning. I wandered around most of the morning, just temple/shrine hopping. I got a bus to Kiyomizu-dera (clear water temple), and spent a few hours tasting the holy water, getting my shuin (calligraphy and stamps from individual temples and shrines), and being amused by all the school kids who were on class trips.

Next up was Sanjusangen-do (33 bays temple). It houses 1001 images of Kannon. 500 on each side, with a gorgeous and massive Kannon in the centre. Sorry, would have liked to use my own photo there, but it was prohibited. This temple was also famous for holding an archery event every year, where and archer would shoot for 24 hours to attempt to break the "most arrow to hit the target" record. Its currently held by a 19 year old (at the time he shot) who hit the target 8000 times. Damn!

In the afternoon, we went to the Fushima-Inari Taisha, with the famed vermillion torii. It was huge, and the torii path led over 4km up the mountain. I think I favor the inari shrines over just about anything else. I'm not sure if its the idea of the fox, or the really bright unabashed colors they use, maybe both.

That night we went out with an old student of Josh's and her father (Kocho-sensei at Kamiichi). We had dinner, and then sang karaoke for bout 2 hours. It was great, we were tipsy... there was dancing, singing in English and Japanese (yeah, I sang 2 songs ALONE in Nihongo, which was fun as hell, but absolutely terrifying!).

I haven't even started on Nara yet.


Josh and the antlered school boys in Nara.


I swear I didn't wear this shirt on purpose! The deer were chasing everyone around for food, one tried to smell me, but ended up blowing in my face. Two school kids were trying to show off by harassing a few deer and accidentally stepped in a pile of shika-unko (deer shit), so we laughed as they made a big scene about wiping it off their shoes.


Nara - Todai-ji!


As a true art nerd, I have been yearning to go to Nara all year. Todai-ji was at the top of my "things to do" list. Not only the Buddha, but the architecture, the size, the history... oh man, I totally dorked out. I even got to crawl through the nostril hole of enlightenment! There is a pillar located on the right side, kinda behind the Daibutsu, and at the base of it is a hole that is the same size as the nostril on the actual statue. After waiting for a few adorable children and one very determined man to shimmy through, I took a few moments to ponder my hip width and dove in. J was on the other end taking pictures but he said I shot through so fast that he couldn't get a good shot, and that I really didn't look like I was enjoying myself. In actuality, it was awesome, I was just really focused. Watching him get through was almost better, though!

After the nostril episode, I purchased another nokyocho (blank book that you collect stamps and calligraphy (shuin) from Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples throughout Japan), because I had finished mine at Kagusa Shrine earlier that day. I think of the first nokyocho as my 1st year in Japan, and felt it was appropriate to start my 2nd with the temple I had been most looking forward to all year. J then surprised me and bought us a roof tile. It turns out, for a donation, you can write in calligraphy, your name and whatever you want to personalize a roof tile that will be put on Todai-ji! So, we have our own little part of my favorite temple now.

We went hunting for yukata to no avail and headed back into Kyoto to catch the late train home. I am still exhausted, but it was an amazing weekend. Please enjoy the new hats we will be sporting this upcoming snowboarding season! Thank you deer-obsessed Nara!

Saipan, here we come!

For the past few weeks, I have been attempting to plan a trip to visit the infamous Emma and Angelo in Saipan. I say trying because the Japanese airlines are fighting me every step of the way.

All that aside, I am really excited to see my bestie and my replacement boyfriend. Its only been a few months, but I miss your attendance at my yoga classes, our random coffee and beer guzzling, and scrabble is never the same without you! J and Keddie will be joining me, and Adam at a later date. Keddles and I will will be diving everywhere we can, while J gets his certification and then joins the madness.

Here is a new little segment I would like to call

Mindless Drivel (currently...)


reading: the wind-up bird chronicle


on repeat: amelie soundtrack


playing: Some kanji learning game that Bunny gave me slime forest


craving: Santoshi curry (droooool)


happening in the office: office dude is cleaning the ceiling vents again!


weather: surprisingly nice for Toyama, kinda sunny (through the clouds)


downloading: samurai champloo


watching: mahou sensei negima

Himi



We went to Himi on Saturday for a sushi and beach adventure. I was blessed with a fudgesicle (thank you Dave!) and delicious sushi. Some of the best I have had in Japan yet. There were also fish with hats that talked, a kissing tako, and a bridge show reminiscent of "its a small world" (shiver).



I nearly forgot, Dave and I had a fountain photo shoot as well!



Classy...

The beach was an something else. I have only been to the Shimao beach once last year, and it seemed a lot cleaner. This beach looked as if red tide had struck, but instead of rotting fishy carcasses, there was GOMI. Enough to make a tree-hugger wretch. It made me very sad, and I think that I will have to organize a beach cleanup. The most confusing part, though, was that there appears to have already been a beach cleanup! There were piles of trash formed upshore every 200 yards or so. It looked as if they were waiting to be burnt. Gomi still covered the beach, it didn't make any logical sense. We wondered if disgruntled pirates were throwing their gomi overboard, or perhaps a landfill accidentally leaked into the river system and shot out into the Sea of Japan. There has to be some reasonable explanation. And NO it wasn't Korean trash, as another great myth of Toyama leads us to believe.

The waves were fun, as always. I miss waves. Yeah, you heard me... I miss Florida. Not enough to come home for at least another 6 months, but I miss it. Warm weather, tropical plants, the beach within 3 blocks of my apartment, papayas, sigh... Enough of that though.

The saddest part of the day wasn't the trash. It was the monkeys. If you are not too quick on the draw, or perhaps have only read this blog once or twice, you may not be aware of the fact that I am obsessed with monkeys. Monkeys are downright adorable. They are most adorable when living in their happy, open, free, entirely liberated, natural monkey habitat. So, when you see monkeys trapped in a cage, behind fencing, standing on urine-stained concrete, and looking forlornly at you from within their dreary empty hell... you cry. I love Japan, but this shit is too much. I have seen some horrible things in my time, but there was NOTHING for these poor animals. The cage was empty. No toys, no fake foliage, no ropes, no nothing. They had each other, and their miserable little faces. The Takaoka zoo is along the same lines, and I am currently boycotting it. They at least have something to entertain their trapped animals, though.

It's finally over!


I say that with a tear in my eye. The past 4 months have been great, and stressful, and fun, and a pain in the keester, all rolled up into one.

A big thank you to darling Chamise for lending me her wings, and Casey for the excessively loud "SUGOI!" after my cartwheeling in the second performance. It nearly made me fall offstage.

One of my favorite aspects of the day was Rachel (and Jacqui helped too!) doing my hair up ala Big Time Sensuality Bjork.


witness the striking resemblance!


I took them out with the assistance of Timmy's teeth and Jacqui in Saturday night, and still have some gnarly dreads because of them. I am a little scared to wash them out, and am kinda happy with them as they are. I don't want to be a false Rastafarian, though. So... I am torn as to what I should do.

This was them after the show... they are a bit mankier now.

Whew!

I survived another week of madness, and the charity show is tomorrow. Thank GOD! After 9am tomorrow its all downhill. My supervisor informed me today that this is the beginning of our "break." That means the kids have no more serious classes. Good thing I arranged for a music/fun lesson next week. My kids would probably kill me if I gave them something they didn't want to pay attention to.

I love my kids. I love them more everyday. I know I sound like a sap, but seriously... I could be having the shittiest day in the history of feces-smothered days, and my kids can snap me out of it. I leave my house every morning and bike to school. I inevitably meet up with the same kids at the stoplight, and we chat a little.

Me - "Your bike tire is flat! Kiotsukete!" random-kun - "I know!" Or the usual, "RORA!?! Ohayo Gozaimasu!"

No matter how many times I run into them in the grocery store, on the train, outside of the conbini while I breeze by on my bike, they still have the same reaction. COMPLETE AND UTTER SHOCK. They have to be somewhat accustomed to me at this point. I live in their town, I do townish things, I am rather boring really. I often get, "hana!? EEeee!?" Yes, my nose is pierced. I cannot wear it in school. Secret. Secret! They like to touch it, and lately sticking pencils and (for the kindergarteners) paper ken (swords) through my 00 gauges is all the rage. Also, there is the "Oh hello! I love you!" from my baseball boys. The past few weeks I have ridden by them daily on my way home from eikaiwa, charity show practice, yoga, and or Japanese class. They are always passing me on their way to the station. I approach and notice that they are mine (Dalenna's school has nearly identical uniforms, so its hard to tell from far away), as I get closer one of them bellows, "OOOOOhhhh! Rora-sensei!" The rest follow suit. I have ridden blocks away before still able to hear their whoooping.

I don't know where I was going with this. I just wanted to talk about my kids. If some of them show up at the Charity Show tomorrow, I would be ecstatic!

Charity Show

is ruling my life. That is ok, its for the kids, and the blind dogs, and whatnot. I promise updating will occur (if anyone cares) after this Saturday happens, and perhaps after a nap.

Till then, I will leave you with this...


click here for toyama charity show tv spot



I have never been so excited about one of your balls!

Minor things and Shakespeare



These past couple weeks have hijacked all my spare time. I finally got over the evil disease that had been plaguing me for weeks on end.

I went to see a Japanese interpretation of Shakespeare's Titus Adronicus the next afternoon. It was superb! Eri, the Pope, and I went... alas I had to leave early for Charity Show practice, and thus missed my favorite part of the play. Overwhelming sadness. The only thing lacking from this version of the play was definitely my favorite heathen Goth, Jonathan Rhys Meyers.


Yesterday, J and I took a trip to Kanazawa to go shopping for his sensei's sayonara presents. It was a really nice day, and getting out of Toyama is always good. Don't get me wrong, I love my ken, but the sunshine is missed. We were both off school, which I was tricked into thinking was a lovely holiday. Nay, I have to work tomorrow (Saturday). Balls.

Other things that happened these past 2 weeks.

Charity Show practice - make it stop. I enjoy it, but want to just do the show already!

Got schooled by Yamashita-sensei - started my new Japanese class and was basically informed that I am a moron and need to work double extra special hard. sigh... ego bruised.

Watched Colin get humped on his bike by a random Russian dude - scary

Tulamben's Nyepi Festival



Laurac and I ventured to the stunning island of Bali at the end of March and stayed there for about 5 days. While there, we stayed at the Scuba Seraya Resort and took the PADI diving course with our kick ass instructor Renaud and his wife Marielle. The owner of the resort is Patrick, a really sweet Swiss man. He is very laid back and took care of us as if we were family. The bungalows were in Tulamben, which was about a 2-3 hour drive from Denpasar, the main airport.

As I mentioned, Bali is gorgeous. It's is the first place I have ever visited with black sand, and such deeply dark volcanic soil. Because the vegetation is so lush, and the backdrop is so deep, the green on black color of the whole island is beyond amazing. I loved it, even though it was raining the whole time we were there. And, I managed to get food poisoning from my very first meal! hurrah! We arrived on the 28th and two glorious days later was Nyepi, the day of silence.

The night before Nyepi was the best part.

Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)
Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches.The procession is usually organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of Banjar. When Ogoh-ogoh is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.


I was lying in the back of the resort van for a good portion of the celebrations, but when we were wandering the streets, what we saw was amazing. The young men of the village would lift a brightly painted demon effigy over their heads on a bamboo float of sorts, and run around in circles. They fell into the gutters a few times, and looked like they were going to get dizzy and keel over. The little boys of the village all had torches and walked on the sides of the road illuminating the madness. After they parade through the streets for a few hours, they take the effigies, set them on fire, and hurl them off a cliff into the sea. We saw some remains the next morning when we were diving near the cliff.

The next day was actually Nyepi, and we finished all our book work for the license, since we couldn't dive. The 31st was three dives and completion. In our four dives, we saw lionfish, sea turtles, parrotfish, garden eels, scorpion fish, sea cucumber, spotted rays, etc. The diving is supposed to be phenomenal, I can't wait to compare it with other dive sites.

Bali and Western Honshu... check!

I left for Bali 2 weeks ago today (I think). Laurac and I got our PADI diving certification and saw numerous pretty fishies. More on that later. Less than 24 hours upon my return, J and I set off on a 5 day roadtrip. We saw nearly all of Western Honshu, and hit 13 ken. If you look at the lovely map I have provided, you can see we started just north of Fukui and hit the following:

Miyazu (Amanohashidate, one of the 3 great views of Japan)
Tottori (Tottori-sakyu, famous sand dunes)
Izumo (Izumo Taisha, the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan)
Tsuwano (Taiko-Inari-jinja, fox shrine on top a hill on which you have to walk through 1100 red torii (gates))
Fukuoka (Tocho-ji where the biggest wooden buddha presides, and Shofuku-ji the oldest Zen temple in Japan)
Iwakuni (Kintai-kyo the 5 arched Brocade Sash Bridge, and happened to be having a festival when we came)
Kurashiki (old black-tiled district that serves as a craft centre and lies along a stretch of moat, and where we finally found birthday presents for each other)
Okayama (U-jo (crow castle) we got to see it at night and in the daytime, and Kouraku-en, one of Japan's 3 finest gardens)
Bizen/Imeda (town known for its distinct pottery)
Himeji (white egret castle, most famous in Japan (I had seen it before, but Josh never had, so we took a quick detour), and wicked falafel at an Iranian restaurant I found last time I was there)
Eihei-ji (one of the two head temples of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism founded in 1244 the surrounding town was also having a festival when we came, mmm... chocolate dipped banana!)
Tojinbo and Ojima (rock formations similar to Giant’s Causeway in N. Ireland, and a grilled squid on a stick!)

I crashed in Toyama on Sunday because I am a lazy bastard and J is a saint. More details and pictures when I get my camera back from the blackhole of Sunshine 88.

Coming to school on Monday was like walking out of the calm eye of the hurricane into the chaotic debris flinging madness.

Today I issue you all a challenge.

These are places that are supposed to be some of the greatest architectural, artistic, religious, and historical contributions of mankind, as well as the world's finest known natural wonders. Some of them are in your frigin backyard and I bet you never knew it. Hell, I had been to one twice on school field trips as a child, and just found out it was listed. Who knew!? This is along the lines of the dream list I made for myself with Pat Garrett and Lou Jobst (you guys are amazing) back in PSD at MSA 1997. Damn I am old. Use it to spur yourself to get off your lazy duffs and move around the big planet we live on. See the world!

I am writing this today because of some sad news I received yesterday. My nana has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She may have as little as 6 weeks to live, and has this precious time to accomplish anything she still wishes to, before she leaves us. She always told me that my wanderlust was like hers, and she urged me to travel and never regret. I know that by being here now, I am doing what she wants me to do, and she is proud of me. She wishes she had the chance to see more of the world when she was able. So, do it now, people! Don't put your life on hold till you think the timing might be right. Buy a ticket, hop a plane, a boat... GO!

Anyways... World Heritage Site List


Cambodia
Cambodia: Angkor

Czech Republic
Czech Republic: Historic Centre of Prague


France
France: Chartes Cathedral
France: Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
France: Palace and Park of Versailles
France: Amiens Cathedral
France: Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
France: Cathedral of Notre-Dame
France: Paris, Banks of the Seine

Italy
Italy: Historic Centre of Rome
Italy: Vatican City
Italy: Historic Centre of Florence
Italy: Venice and its Lagoon
Italy: City of Verona

Japan
Japan: Himeji-jo
Japan: Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
Japan: Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama

Morocco
Morocco: Medina of Marrakesh
Morocco: Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddiou

Poland
Poland: Historic City Centre of Warsaw

Switzerland
Switzerland: Junfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn

United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Frontiers of the Roman Empire
United Kingdom: Westminster Palace, Abbey, and Saint Margaret's Church
United Kingdom: Tower of London
United Kingdom: Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
United Kingdom: Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City

United States of America
United States: Everglades National Park
United States: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
United States: Statue of Liberty

Woot! 29! Let's Challenge!

Sento + Yuki = Wow



I know I am not the first to experience the wonder, but I had to jot it down anyways. Eri and I hit up the huge Takaoka sento (apparently part of the Supa Sento chain) after my Toide eikaiwa last night. It had all of the same baths as the one in Tonami, but was a little different in design.

Upon walking in, we passed a sign that refused admittance to tattooed heathens. Some sento and onsen have a no tattoo policy because of organized crime (yakuza) membership being displayed via tats. As we bought our tickets, I was specifically singled out and asked if I had a tattoo. I understand that my piercings might lead you to think I had more hiding under my coat, but seriously... I am gaijin. What is the point of keeping a gaijin with a tattoo, who is OBVIOUSLY not yakuza affiliated out of the sento? I said no and happily trotted inside.

The outdoor baths were great as usual, and was also a utatane, or nap space, where you submerge yourself in 42 degree (celsius) water and rest your head on a rock. Its true, I could have fallen asleep in there easily. I learned a song using old style Japanese counting about frogs jumping, and utilized my magical gaijin abilities. My particular superpower is nudey forcefield. Basically, whilst bathing, I have a magical barrier around myself, so any bath I approach is immediately evacuated by all Nihonjin. Eri is immune to my power. I think she built up a tolerance living in the UK.

The entire point of this post was to describe the snow. As we emerged from the utatane area, we noticed it was snowing. We ran to the open-air section of the bath and sat in individual tubs while the snow fell on us. Oh! Beautiful!

Other important news. My san-nensei graduated yesterday. Many of the girls were teary, and the boys actually threw each other in the air a few times. Awww... high school. I will miss you little bastards. And you good kids too!

fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads...

This weekend was utterly fabulous. Robyn, my Canadian friend who I met when we lived in Lancaster, was visiting from Seoul, where she teaches English as well. Her aunt and uncle live just outside of Kobe in a little town called Obayashi. They had a great little place, and live on the campus of a private Catholic girls school. They were great and made me feel like family.

Saturday afternoon, Robs and I headed for Osaka. We needed to expose her to Japan, and I think we were pretty thorough. First, there was general wandering. We located a few restaurants we we intrigued by, and of course, a British pub! I taught Robs about the true heart of no public drinking regulations, and we drank our conbini Asahi whilst walking the streets. We went to a great little temple that had beautiful lanterns, and a very unique stamp for my shuin book.

After that, we trotted back to the English pub and threw back a couple happy hour cocktails. Then it was off to the rotating sushi bar. This place had the best wasabi I have had so far in Japan. The texture of it was soft, and it was STRONG. There was no maguro, but we still managed to gorge ourselves. Next, introduction to pocky and chu-hi.

We sat and people-watched. Very relaxing. We fumbled around in a purikura booth and managed to get some good shots. I wanted to hit up Pachinko, but wasn’t sure about etiquette etc, in there, so I figured I better not embarrass both of us. After a lot more wandering and photos near the river, we headed back to Obayashi.

Sunday morning, we headed to Himeji.


Himeji is known primarily for its castle, Dai-tenshu. It was built in the early 17th century, and represents the highest achievement in Japanese castle architecture. The white heron castle (named so because it is covered in white plaster, and its eaves resemble a white heron in flight) is the most famous in all of Japan. It was enormous, and the interior was all wood and gorgeous. It was simple, with some glass cases with armor, scrolls, sculptures, etc on display. There was a small indoor shrine located at the very top of the castle, and a wacky old dude screaming out the window to his friends on the bottom level. Very serene, dude.




Here is a shot of the pathway made up partly of old tiles from the castle roof.



We got a joint ticket to the Himeji Castle Nishioyashikiato Garden Koken. It was built on the site where the Himeji Lord and his men's samurai houses existed in the Edo Period. There are 9 gardens, but we didn’t have enough time to walk through more than 3. We were appreciating beautiful nature as quickly as possible (sadly ironic, I know!).

There was time to stop in the Soju-an (teahouse) so Robyn could have some macha and sweets. The ladies inside were ridiculously attentive and adorable. The head mistress tried to explain something about kocha (which apparently means black tea, and therefore makes NO sense in the following context) to me for about 10 minutes. I offer you this poorl translated version, (iow) what I got out of it...

"You eat the sweet first, then drink the tea. do you speak much Japanese? Where are you from? Missouri? Misery? giggle. Oh, a teacher in Toyama-ken. Kocha... Oh, you do not understand kocha... oh you can read hiragana! please wait a moment. (at this point she goes to get a paper for me to read, which is half kanji, half hiragana.) oh, you cannot read kanji (she goes away again and gets her reading glasses, she proceeds to read me the entire paper, as I sit in confusion). Kocha, kocha...Japan has 4 seasons that you can appreciate in this garden. Green, green... nani nani... how did you hurt your arm? Oh, that is unfortunate. Anyways, (counts seasons on her fingers) spring, summer, autumn, winter. Different plants and flowers bloom in different seasons. green... beautiful... castle...."

That's about it. But damned if she wasn't convinced I could understand her. Then she went into the backroom and I heard a little girl asking how to say, “does it hurt?” in English, so she could ask about my arm (awww!). She brought out her two little apprentices. They were about 6 or 7 years old, and were so cute! They asked if we would like more tea, and brought it out, bowed, the whole 9 yards. We took this photo with them.


I also give you my second drained macha cup. I will keep track of these on here, for my own amusement.



After a great weekend of drinking, catching up, and tanuki hunting, Robs and I parted ways in Sannonomiya, and I managed to return to Takaoka in one piece. I will end this by settling a dispute between J and myself...

this is trout!