I've contributed to the Yahoo! Time Capsule project. It seems like a cool idea and it will be interesting/strange to see it in 25 years or whenever it reopens.
Click here to see my contribution.
p.s. You should contribute too! Yahoo is donating money to charities and the more contributions the more is donated (I think)! Click here to put in your two cents (or yen or centimes or pennies or yuan, etc).
31 October 2006
30 October 2006
Halloween - Tokyo gaijin (foreigner) style!
It was Amazing/Awesome/Incredible/Unbelieveable/Too cool for school/A MUST/Super fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check out the videos @:
Click on the picture below to view the photo album:
Check out the videos @:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FkqVtfPe8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh_IGuFgiG8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Em3TgPv_g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpCn4iQ9Rsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QhK2-LUU0s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVc6o33XecQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmeMGxA9pMI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4POXcr77CYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd6TvuXqbb4
Click on the picture below to view the photo album:
29 October 2006
23 October 2006
New posts...
Blogspot basically sucks for putting up pictures, so I'm in the process of finding another blogging host. I've got like 2 or 3 posts waiting to be added with pics, but I keep having problems with the system. I'll put the other posts up, but with a limited number of pics. Sorry for the lag time!
-miki :)
-miki :)
13 October 2006
No more Noh
Monday I visited Kita-Kamakura, home of the world's oldest seated bronze Buddha. However, I didn't go visit the Buddha, I saw him the last time I was there. (I do recommend a visit - the monastery is very pretty and, as they say in France, très zen.) This time I visited two temples. I don't remember the first's name, but here are some pretty/cute pictures I took on the grounds.
Bamboo forest from first temple.
Cave burial grounds.
Winter's coming soon, gotta keep the deities warm, happy, and modest.
The second temple we visited is the area's largest temple, Engaku-ji (click on link to see temple pics and get more info on temple's history). The temple grounds were very pretty and nice to visit as it had been raining the whole previous week and what better way to celebrate good weather than a temple visit? Again, I didn't take any pictures of the temple itself, mainly because I didn't think about it at the time. The last time I lived in Japan, I think I got "templed-out" (akin to the "cathedraled/churched-out" phenomenon that occurs in Europe, a condition I also suffer from). So, this time I just took pictures of other stuff around the grounds. We also took a macha tea break. Macha is the powdered type of green tea. It was served with these little bird-shaped sweets. Oishikata!
For some post-temple, pre-noh refreshments, we ate nagashi somen. Somen is a noodle dish, usually eaten cold. Nagashi somen is somen that is served down a stream of water in a bamboo shoot. It's hard to explain, so hopefully the pictures will give you a better idea. You basically use your chopsticks to catch the noodles as they pass by, then dip the noodles into your personal cup of dipping sauce. I think some of the other gaijin (foreigners) had a little trouble with the catching part, but once you're adept with the chopsticks, it's not too bad - definitely not a beginner's chopsticks meal.
Finally, the main reason for our trip to Kita-Kamakura, we went to see a noh performance. The best way to describe noh is kind of like opera, but in slow motion. Because the language is a very old form of Japanese and the performers saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooooolyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, it's difficult even for Japanese people to understand. So, you can imagine how, um, "interesting" this was for us gaijin. I fell asleep maybe 20 times before the intermission. I felt like a totally un-sophisticated, not-art-appreciating sort... until the second act, after I'd had some coffee and a snack and was therefore more awake and attentive, when I noticed that there were a lot of Japanese people also nodding off. So, I guess noh just isn't for everyone.
The title of this post should now make a lot more sense.
p.s. I also passed another Japanese milestone at this noh performance, actually two, in a way: 1) I used a Japanese style toilet for the first time; 2) Not only was it a Japanese toilet, it was a Japanese-style port-a-potty! I'm so talented.
Bamboo forest from first temple.
Cave burial grounds.
Winter's coming soon, gotta keep the deities warm, happy, and modest.The second temple we visited is the area's largest temple, Engaku-ji (click on link to see temple pics and get more info on temple's history). The temple grounds were very pretty and nice to visit as it had been raining the whole previous week and what better way to celebrate good weather than a temple visit? Again, I didn't take any pictures of the temple itself, mainly because I didn't think about it at the time. The last time I lived in Japan, I think I got "templed-out" (akin to the "cathedraled/churched-out" phenomenon that occurs in Europe, a condition I also suffer from). So, this time I just took pictures of other stuff around the grounds. We also took a macha tea break. Macha is the powdered type of green tea. It was served with these little bird-shaped sweets. Oishikata!
For some post-temple, pre-noh refreshments, we ate nagashi somen. Somen is a noodle dish, usually eaten cold. Nagashi somen is somen that is served down a stream of water in a bamboo shoot. It's hard to explain, so hopefully the pictures will give you a better idea. You basically use your chopsticks to catch the noodles as they pass by, then dip the noodles into your personal cup of dipping sauce. I think some of the other gaijin (foreigners) had a little trouble with the catching part, but once you're adept with the chopsticks, it's not too bad - definitely not a beginner's chopsticks meal.Finally, the main reason for our trip to Kita-Kamakura, we went to see a noh performance. The best way to describe noh is kind of like opera, but in slow motion. Because the language is a very old form of Japanese and the performers saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooooolyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, it's difficult even for Japanese people to understand. So, you can imagine how, um, "interesting" this was for us gaijin. I fell asleep maybe 20 times before the intermission. I felt like a totally un-sophisticated, not-art-appreciating sort... until the second act, after I'd had some coffee and a snack and was therefore more awake and attentive, when I noticed that there were a lot of Japanese people also nodding off. So, I guess noh just isn't for everyone.
The title of this post should now make a lot more sense.
p.s. I also passed another Japanese milestone at this noh performance, actually two, in a way: 1) I used a Japanese style toilet for the first time; 2) Not only was it a Japanese toilet, it was a Japanese-style port-a-potty! I'm so talented.
Let's party, buddhist style!
Last week my aunt told me that she wanted to take me to a festival on Thursday night. I thought it would be some local festival in the neighboring small city with maybe a small parade and a small crowd of people. I still believed that when I got off the train and basically the entire train got off at the same stop with me. I still believed that when I walked out to the street and saw, in fact, a little parade with a small crowd of people. I still believed that when I left a message for a friend saying that I couldn't meet up that night because I was attending a small, local festival.
When my aunt and I first started walking with the parade, I didn't really notice that there seemed to be a noticeable larger than normal crowd of people around me because I was too preoccupied with all the food stalls and what they were selling. The first big line of people was full of hungry revelers lured in by Japanese cowboys touting barbecue. What are Japanese cowboys, you ask? They're Japanese guys dressed up in denim button-down shirts, leather vests, red neckerchiefs, cowboy hats, and long black aprons. I don't know how authentic the BBQ was, but the outfits were for sure the real deal. (This statement comes with a big WINK and a heavy dose of sarcasm, by the way.) Then there were stalls selling all kinds of food on a stick - mochi on a stick, grilled chicken and beef on a stick, lollipops, cotton candy... oh, and fish on a stick. Oishisoo!! (That means, "Ooh, looks yummy!" Personally, I wasn't thinking that, but I'm sure my dad is probably drooling over this picture.) There was also squid on a stick, for when you're craving something a little more chewy.
Eventually we came to the main road leading to the temple... um, yeah, that's when I finally figured out that this wasn't some local festival. This was a major Buddhist festival with groups from all over Japan participating. Appartently, last year had about 350,000 attendants. I don't know how many were there this year, but it was a lot. Fortunately, I thought to film a bit of the parade to give you guys an idea. Unfortunately, I filmed most of it sideways, so for the best viewing, please tilt your head sideways to the left.
Videos can be accessed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGKr9kCbTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CDH37cJRUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPv84G81EyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvkoW7iuRnU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SXkiC1yWiM
Sorry the videos aren't that great, these were my first attempt. Future vids will be better.
When my aunt and I first started walking with the parade, I didn't really notice that there seemed to be a noticeable larger than normal crowd of people around me because I was too preoccupied with all the food stalls and what they were selling. The first big line of people was full of hungry revelers lured in by Japanese cowboys touting barbecue. What are Japanese cowboys, you ask? They're Japanese guys dressed up in denim button-down shirts, leather vests, red neckerchiefs, cowboy hats, and long black aprons. I don't know how authentic the BBQ was, but the outfits were for sure the real deal. (This statement comes with a big WINK and a heavy dose of sarcasm, by the way.) Then there were stalls selling all kinds of food on a stick - mochi on a stick, grilled chicken and beef on a stick, lollipops, cotton candy... oh, and fish on a stick. Oishisoo!! (That means, "Ooh, looks yummy!" Personally, I wasn't thinking that, but I'm sure my dad is probably drooling over this picture.) There was also squid on a stick, for when you're craving something a little more chewy.
Eventually we came to the main road leading to the temple... um, yeah, that's when I finally figured out that this wasn't some local festival. This was a major Buddhist festival with groups from all over Japan participating. Appartently, last year had about 350,000 attendants. I don't know how many were there this year, but it was a lot. Fortunately, I thought to film a bit of the parade to give you guys an idea. Unfortunately, I filmed most of it sideways, so for the best viewing, please tilt your head sideways to the left.
Videos can be accessed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGKr9kCbTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CDH37cJRUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPv84G81EyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvkoW7iuRnU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SXkiC1yWiM
Sorry the videos aren't that great, these were my first attempt. Future vids will be better.
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