lock and loll
I'm back in tokyo, from a short weekend journey to Osaka, Kyoto, Gion, and a few other cities on the countryside of Japan. I got to ride there on the fastest train in the entire world, the Shinkansen (aka Bullet Train). I managed to do a whole lot in just a few days.. including marking something off my "things to do before i die" list...
... i saw a real life Geisha. Actually, I saw 3 of them, and my friends... they are so amazingly beautiful. Words really can not describe. A few years ago, I became so fascinated with the whole Geisha culture, so seeing one meant so much.. it makes me want to go back andre-read all the books I've read about them, which I probably will do when I get back home.
Before I saw these 2 Geisha, I saw another one and took pictures of her on my film camera. I think those will come out
better. But for now.. I got these.
In Kyoto, I got to visit 2 Temples. This was the highlight at Zen Temple Kenninji.
I don't know the name of this temple, but it was right next to Zen Temple Kenninji. There were these huge bells at the top of these long ropes. A little boy, who spoke perfect English, told me to make a wish and then ring the bell. So I did... and now there is video of me doing it and totally struggling at it too. It was hard to ring that bell!
This block of wood here is not just a pretty picture.. but it's a piece of art that you make a wish on, and hang near the big bells.
Now, I'm not a religious girl or anything.. but I did make 4 wishes that I hope come true.
so after that, we walked around kyoto and i came accross this little gem of a vending machine. It's a little hard to see, but this machine sells birth control. yes, birth control. i totally tried to get some (in an effort to make up for my failure to find vending panties), but the machine did not take my money, for some reason. sadddd.
another great vending machine... of course you have probably all heard that japan has beer vending machines.. but this one, it had huge bottles of whiskey and vodka. Those are a rare breed of alcoholic vending machines.
speaking of alchol... this is a can of chu'hi. to be more specific.. it's a can of lychee flavored chu'hi. i love chu'hi now. in all it's wonderful flavors! it's like twice the strength as beer and tastes like candy. it officially ranks in my top 10 of things i will miss the most about japan.
So, in Osaka, I stayed with an old co-worker from the library, Matt, and his roomate Bill. They were extremely nice to me. This is their street.. the street that I thought I would die on. Let me explain... Matt had me ride on the little metal bookholder thing of his bicycle when we'd go out... and this hill is downhill! We'd go so fast and it was so bumpy and crowded with other bike riders usually.. I swear I thought we'd crash.. but thanks to chu'hi, I just enjoyed the ride.
I actually got to see a lot more than I'm posting, but most of the pictures I took on this part of the trip have been with my film camera, so expect to see more soon after I get back home. This here is the backdrop from a little movie called, Blade Runner.
Later that night we went to Karaoke. It's so great in Japan. We got 1 big room for about 6 people for only 1300 yen (about $13.00 usd) with never ending drinks. I got really really really drunk. My karaoke went from shy and meek to crazy and crazy crazy. I did The Rollling Stones, The Shangri-Las, Queen, The Ramones, Madonna, The Go-Gos, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. It was so
much fun!
The Karaoke screens are really funny.. they just have the most random things going on, it's so Japanese! I think Junko and I are going to go do a little karaoke of our own, this weekend.
And I'll end this post with some random engrish for you.
When I get back to America, I need a full body massage. Being in Japan has really damaged my entire body. I have bruises EVERYWHERE. My back is completely out of order.. I can't even bend down. My feet are bruised, scartched, blistered, swallen, blue and red. And sometimes I am breaking into little doses of hives. Jordan, take note that I need a bigtime massage, k?
Tomorrow, I think we're off to Asakusa for some temple action. But now, it is time for sleep.
*Monday, June 14, 2005 11:05 pm