Inari Temple in Kyoto, Osaka
I may not have updated the last few days but it does not mean they were not eventful. As for today, I want to write it down before I forget anything.
Today I met with my friend Noah, who is probably my favorite on Twitter from the pixiv group. One reason is because we are Alice fans together, probably.
Anyway, I woke up very early today to ride the Shinkansen from Saitama-ken to Osaka. I woke up at like 6am, left at like 6:45, got to Osaka around 11:15 or so. In any case, I was supposed to get off the Shinkansen in Kyoto, but was sleeping... thankfully they stayed long in Kyoto unlike the other stops, and I managed to wake up in time to ask if this was Kyoto, and went on my way to the JR lines to meet up with Noah in the Osaka prefecture.
Since check-in time was much later, Noah suggested I stuff my crud into a locker at the station, and off to an Inari Temple we went.
Inari Temples are full of torii, and there was a way to go all the way to the top of the mountain/hill whatever, it's just a ton of stairs going all the way up. But before that, we went around the lower areas to look at what was being sold, what people were doing. We donated a little and did a little praying at one of the shrines.
We came across these stones, which are called Omokaru Stones. They mean "light or heavy"... if you make a wish and they feel light then your wish will come true. So many people attempt to lift the rocks to see if their wish will come true... this man kept continually lifting it after taking a break each time, I guess it felt "omoi" or heavy to him...
I lifted it and expected it to be heavier, but it was very light for me! Noah said that was very positive, so I was pleased with the result. I really was seriously surprised, I totally thought it would be super heavy, and it sure felt like it may have been when it was still in the resting position.
The torii are constantly replaced with new ones, so it was just about never ending. Noah and I must have walked for a good hour or so to reach the top-- they lined the stairway up to the top. Each time we came to a rest area, we checked the map to see how much farther we had to go to get to the top. It was so difficult after a while, we must have walked at least a good hour before both of us really dying in our legs... we spent a little time drinking some orange drink thing and then decided to continue on our way up.
I got bitten by another mosquito at the Inari Temple... Noah got a first hand look of how it reacted. lmao, terrible.
We passed Noah's previous point and Noah said it was "初めて," the first time Noah had gone further. So I said 「一緒に頑張りましょう」 "Let's do our best together." Even though I said that, with each step, we felt extremely tired, some way through it Noah would suggest turning back, but I wouldn't reply and keep going onward, so Noah had no choice but to follow. Noah worked hard! We both reached the top and took celebration photos. There was a osaisen box there, so we prayed and donated at the shrine there.
Down was also difficult for some reason, it was strange. But, we were proud because this was Noah's first time reaching the highest, and I felt happy that I could be there for that moment.
It was also funny when we reached the time, I said it was very ひどい、or cruel... they have drink machines along the way in each rest area up the stairs and as you get closer and closer to the top, the prices go higher and higher for less and less drink... !!!!!
Anyway, after all of that, we headed to the game center for little, Noah and I played this shooting game that was super difficult to figure out what was what since the graphics were so all over the place. Then we went to go eat at a cafe that was super reasonably priced. We took out my sketchbooks and started to draw in it-- that was a lot of fun! Noah wrote some English at some point, so that gave me an idea to request a comic in English. So, English manga was drawn... but Noah needed some help translating and it was a lot of fun even just trying to write what Noah wanted to express in the comic... the best part is the punchline, which English readers can't comprehend since it's purposely written in a way that is difficult to read.
It was totally fun and the entire day I wished time could stop because I knew this would be the only day I could hang out with Noah alone and the next time would be... a long time from now, if there is ever a next time. I was fortunate to at least have alone time with takami and Noah, after having online conversations with them it just seemed fitting.
Today I met with my friend Noah, who is probably my favorite on Twitter from the pixiv group. One reason is because we are Alice fans together, probably.
Anyway, I woke up very early today to ride the Shinkansen from Saitama-ken to Osaka. I woke up at like 6am, left at like 6:45, got to Osaka around 11:15 or so. In any case, I was supposed to get off the Shinkansen in Kyoto, but was sleeping... thankfully they stayed long in Kyoto unlike the other stops, and I managed to wake up in time to ask if this was Kyoto, and went on my way to the JR lines to meet up with Noah in the Osaka prefecture.
Since check-in time was much later, Noah suggested I stuff my crud into a locker at the station, and off to an Inari Temple we went.
Inari Temples are full of torii, and there was a way to go all the way to the top of the mountain/hill whatever, it's just a ton of stairs going all the way up. But before that, we went around the lower areas to look at what was being sold, what people were doing. We donated a little and did a little praying at one of the shrines.
We came across these stones, which are called Omokaru Stones. They mean "light or heavy"... if you make a wish and they feel light then your wish will come true. So many people attempt to lift the rocks to see if their wish will come true... this man kept continually lifting it after taking a break each time, I guess it felt "omoi" or heavy to him...
I lifted it and expected it to be heavier, but it was very light for me! Noah said that was very positive, so I was pleased with the result. I really was seriously surprised, I totally thought it would be super heavy, and it sure felt like it may have been when it was still in the resting position.
The torii are constantly replaced with new ones, so it was just about never ending. Noah and I must have walked for a good hour or so to reach the top-- they lined the stairway up to the top. Each time we came to a rest area, we checked the map to see how much farther we had to go to get to the top. It was so difficult after a while, we must have walked at least a good hour before both of us really dying in our legs... we spent a little time drinking some orange drink thing and then decided to continue on our way up.
I got bitten by another mosquito at the Inari Temple... Noah got a first hand look of how it reacted. lmao, terrible.
We passed Noah's previous point and Noah said it was "初めて," the first time Noah had gone further. So I said 「一緒に頑張りましょう」 "Let's do our best together." Even though I said that, with each step, we felt extremely tired, some way through it Noah would suggest turning back, but I wouldn't reply and keep going onward, so Noah had no choice but to follow. Noah worked hard! We both reached the top and took celebration photos. There was a osaisen box there, so we prayed and donated at the shrine there.
Down was also difficult for some reason, it was strange. But, we were proud because this was Noah's first time reaching the highest, and I felt happy that I could be there for that moment.
It was also funny when we reached the time, I said it was very ひどい、or cruel... they have drink machines along the way in each rest area up the stairs and as you get closer and closer to the top, the prices go higher and higher for less and less drink... !!!!!
Anyway, after all of that, we headed to the game center for little, Noah and I played this shooting game that was super difficult to figure out what was what since the graphics were so all over the place. Then we went to go eat at a cafe that was super reasonably priced. We took out my sketchbooks and started to draw in it-- that was a lot of fun! Noah wrote some English at some point, so that gave me an idea to request a comic in English. So, English manga was drawn... but Noah needed some help translating and it was a lot of fun even just trying to write what Noah wanted to express in the comic... the best part is the punchline, which English readers can't comprehend since it's purposely written in a way that is difficult to read.
It was totally fun and the entire day I wished time could stop because I knew this would be the only day I could hang out with Noah alone and the next time would be... a long time from now, if there is ever a next time. I was fortunate to at least have alone time with takami and Noah, after having online conversations with them it just seemed fitting.