2008年6月20日金曜日
2008年6月19日木曜日
2008年6月18日水曜日
Transitions/Translations
the telling moments are the ones in between
as i`m perched on a platform
leaning against warm bodies packed in a train
stepping across skinny roads
avoiding grandmothers on bicycles
listening to the cries of boys playing baseball
smiling at girlish heels clicking past
squinting under the glare of flourescent lights
picking plastic wrapped fruit at the 100 yen shop
those are the moments when i notice ...
i am no longer crying inside.
as i`m perched on a platform
leaning against warm bodies packed in a train
stepping across skinny roads
avoiding grandmothers on bicycles
listening to the cries of boys playing baseball
smiling at girlish heels clicking past
squinting under the glare of flourescent lights
picking plastic wrapped fruit at the 100 yen shop
those are the moments when i notice ...
i am no longer crying inside.
2008年6月15日日曜日
Liquid Happy!
For people who ask if I'm enjoying myself in Japan!
It's melon soda with vanilla ice-cream, enjoyed at a cute little cafe in Shibuya. Oiishi!
2008年6月10日火曜日
NIHON Temple at Mt. NOKOGIRI
After an exciting evening out with Nicole and friends, we decided to do a little sightseeing on Sunday. We ventured out to a mountain at the seaside in western Chiba. It's called Nokogiri mountain, and features a gondola ride to the top. The "Ropeway" was totally out of a 1970's James Bond movie! We even had a fully uniformed "Ropeway" girl who talked into a microphone the whole way up (even though there were only 4 of us in the gondola). Once we got off, we found this super old cafeteria complete with an old school arcade. Check out the "Magic Mushroom" air hockey game. Strangely enough, there's also a temple founded in 725 A.D. Plus, the temple has Japan's largest Buddha that was carved out of the mountain side. I guess the magic mushroom metaphor is fitting because it was like going back in time!
This is where I provide a link because I don't have a camera:
http://www.town.kyonan.chiba.jp/nokogiriyama/nokogiriyama.htm
There are some really great photos, especially of the views from the cliffs that overlook the forests and ocean below.
Luckily, Shun (one of our Japanese friends) had a cellphone/camera, so there are some low resolution photos.
Every trip to a famous Japanese temple usually entails lots of exercise, and Nokogiri-yama was no exception. In all, we climbed nearly 2,000 steps to the different areas of the temple. It was nice to see young and old people alike huffing and puffing to see stone carvings from the 1700's. Plus, there wasn't a single liability release form or 'climb at your own risk, blah blah' sign anywhere! Nice to be back in a country that doesn't assume everyone is an idiot.
Nicole's Post
hey everyone,
i'm busy compiling the photos from my trip to yamagata, but in the meantime ...
go to nicole's site and read the post called LOCAL FLAVOR. that is what we did on saturday night. lots of fun.
all of nicole's posts are pretty great, actually. you should bookmark it because they are super entertaining to read. we hang out a lot so i appear in her posts occasionally. she's a real foodie, so we get along great! :)
http://www.misskoco.com/
until next time, ne!
i'm busy compiling the photos from my trip to yamagata, but in the meantime ...
go to nicole's site and read the post called LOCAL FLAVOR. that is what we did on saturday night. lots of fun.
all of nicole's posts are pretty great, actually. you should bookmark it because they are super entertaining to read. we hang out a lot so i appear in her posts occasionally. she's a real foodie, so we get along great! :)
http://www.misskoco.com/
until next time, ne!
2008年6月5日木曜日
SOBU SEN
so i ride the sobu local line everyday to get to and from work ... it takes an hour each way. that adds up to WAY TOO MUCH time!
5 things i hate about riding on the train:
the little song they play at each stop (to signify that the doors are closing) totally gets stuck in my head and i whistle it all day.
how can so many trains be so full all the time? where are all these people going?
there's always some salaryman with a serious case of halitosis who manages to stand right next to me.
no matter how much i try to predict who will get up first, i always end up in front of the people who are riding to the end of the line.
and when i do get a seat, the only thing at eye-level is everyone's crotches. great.
5 things i like about riding on the train:
in the mornings, i ride the women-only train car. so wonderful!
it's okay to fall asleep on the train, which i totally do. sometimes i even accidentally slump to the side, but a lot of people do that.
in this PDA-phobic society, it's occasionally nice to have a pretty lady sleeping on my shoulder.
there's always a train about to arrive ... i only have to wait a couple of minutes.
i can practice reading japanese because the trains are plastered with ads. some of them are pretty crazy! they make me giggle.
plus, every once in a while, i look out the window at the neon jungle spread out under the tracks and think, "wow! i'm in tokyo!"
well, look at that. i found 6 things that i like but only 5 things i hate about riding the train. i guess it's not so bad after all ...
5 things i hate about riding on the train:
the little song they play at each stop (to signify that the doors are closing) totally gets stuck in my head and i whistle it all day.
how can so many trains be so full all the time? where are all these people going?
there's always some salaryman with a serious case of halitosis who manages to stand right next to me.
no matter how much i try to predict who will get up first, i always end up in front of the people who are riding to the end of the line.
and when i do get a seat, the only thing at eye-level is everyone's crotches. great.
5 things i like about riding on the train:
in the mornings, i ride the women-only train car. so wonderful!
it's okay to fall asleep on the train, which i totally do. sometimes i even accidentally slump to the side, but a lot of people do that.
in this PDA-phobic society, it's occasionally nice to have a pretty lady sleeping on my shoulder.
there's always a train about to arrive ... i only have to wait a couple of minutes.
i can practice reading japanese because the trains are plastered with ads. some of them are pretty crazy! they make me giggle.
plus, every once in a while, i look out the window at the neon jungle spread out under the tracks and think, "wow! i'm in tokyo!"
well, look at that. i found 6 things that i like but only 5 things i hate about riding the train. i guess it's not so bad after all ...
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