Blood

This is Blood. He lives behind our house.

Well, I think his name is Blood. That's the best I could get talking with the landlady about him. Apparently he's 11 years old, and only gets a bath once a year. The last part I infered because only after the New Year did I not get my hands dirty from petting him. He's a real sweet guy - I think he's got some vision problem but he's always really happy for just a little attention, which I fear he lacks spending his life chained to a dog house. I like to go see him and play with him for a little bit whenever I get back from a run. I assume that living in Japan for so long, he only understands Japanese, and it fills me with a great sense of pride that I can communicate with him.

missing my friend back home...

Thailand

Thailand was definitely a visit that I was fortunate to have made, as it was both comforting and strange. It was comforting that it reminded me a great deal of India, which is entirely understandable. It was strange as it was filled with international tourists. Being used to the random spotting of gaijin (foreigners) in Japan, it was a bit overwhelming seeing so many farang (foreigners) in Thailand. In addition to that, the temples were quite glitzy, highly in contrast to the subdued beauty of Japanese temples. There was also that certain emptiness that pervaded all of the city: the emptiness of mass tourism and commodification, coupled with the obvious emptiness that comes from the popularity of the sex industry (which makes two times as much annual income as the Thai government).

Thailand definitely has an in-your-face type appeal.

We started out at the Sirocco, a restaurant on the 64th floor of the State Tower, with no railings but a spectacular view.

We started out the second day with a bike trip through the Bangkok Countryside, which I felt was a great way to see a part of Thailand that we would not have been able to see otherwise.

One of the bike trip stops landed us up at this temple in the countryside, which was a rendition of heaven and hell reminiscent of an abandoned carnival. You had to climb up many narrow steps in the building in the background of the picture to achieve heaven, but when you arrived at the temple grounds you were already in hell, and it only took three steps down to be fully inside of hell, which is a place where coin-operated torture reenactments are prevalent. Please note the graphic representation of birds eating the humans in the foreground.

We took a boat down the river after the biking.

This is a picture of a Buddha that was encased in concrete so that it could be transported without fear of theft. Years later, after the secret was forgotten, the concrete accidentally started falling off and the magnificent Buddha underneath was revealed.

The Grand Palace

The glitzy Grand Palace glistened in the sun.

The Reclining Buddha was one of my favorite stops - he really looked quite at peace.

At Soi Cowboy, one of the original red light districts.

Midnight snack.

Bike trip number two - through the Bangkok Jungle.

Muay Thai fighting is a type of kickboxing that is the national sport of Thailand. It is considered one of the world's toughest combat forms because it involves no pads and is marked by blows struck with the knees and elbows - punches are considered the weakest blows.

We ended our trip in Pattaya, just relaxing on the beach.

Setsubun

Setsubun is a ceremony celebrated to bring in the spring and send out the Oni (demons). People gather at the shrines during the midday to not only observe the rituals, but to have things thrown at them. Well, that's not quite right. What is supposed to occur is that roasted beans are thrown a the Oni to ward them off in the coming year. At different shrines, celebrities gather (whose birth year coincides with the current year - i.e. year of the dog) and throw goodies into the crowd, which causes a bit of a commotion. There's nothing quite like seeing businesspeople and the elderly in suits fighting each other and scrambling on the ground for oranges, packets of roasted beans, and chocolates.

Some line up well in advance to have a spot right up front to get the best goods. One man int the first row even had brought a huge plastic bag, the mouth of which took in most of the thrown candy.

During this day, you are also supposed to eat your age in roasted beans for good luck and eat an especially long roll of sushi without stopping, while facing the southwest(?) (convenient stores even have signs that tell you which way to face).

Pictured here are the steps to the shrine that we visited. These are called the Steps of Promotion because in ancient times the emperor placed a palm at the top of the stairs and the emporer asked, "Who is brave enough to ride their horse up these stairs and bring down this palm?" Most just looked at him thinking, "For real?" but one brave soldier rode up and rode back down these steep steps, and for risking his life in such a manner, dude got a promotion.

Tsukiji

Last Wednesday, Sam and I decided to make our way to Tsukiji - the world's largest fish market.

Since most of the customers are wholesalers, the action at Tsukiji begins early and ends as the city of Tokyo is waking up. This being the case, we awoke at 3 AM (hence the three finger gesture) and ate some avacado sandwiches to supercharge the day (Sam's suggestion).


The ride through the empty streets in the light rain was strange - it was so early that we made record time on our bikes, and our voices echoed off of buildings.

We followed our maps to where we thought the market was, and after some searching went to ask a guard in the parking lot. "Ooki-na maguro wa doko desu ka." (Literally: "Big tuna where is?")

Following his directions, we knew we had found the place.

The market consists of rows and rows of stalls, where vendors sell their goods daily. There is little space to walk, and as such there is even less space for the touristy type to walk around.

Forklifts like this one zoom around, not expressing tolerance for the gawking tourist. They've got business to attend to.

The tuna auction is perhaps the most impressive portion of the market. Every day these massive fish are hauled in, inspected, and auctioned off. Good thing we saw the "No Admittance Without Permisson" after coming out of the warehouse.

These tuna account for a lot of the money exchanged at Tsukiji. Annually, over 6 billion dollars worth of seafood passes through Tsukiji.

Over 2000 metric tons of seafood is handled every day.

After the tuna is auctioned off, it is shipped to the respective purchasing stall for slicin'. The cutting of the tuna was amazing to watch. These men had mastered an art, working with supreme efficiency and skill.

Getting out of the cold for this sushi meal was great. My hands were so cold I couldn't operate the chopsticks well, and my right foot was freezing because it had been splashed with icy fish water. It was some of the freshest, most delicate sushi I've ever eaten.

Two Weeks Ago: Snow

It snowed.

Holiday Hiatus: So this is the New Year

We returned from Kyoto just in time for some New Year's festivities, which resulted in one of the most memorable New Year's that I have ever had.

Alysha and I went to spend the traditional Japanese New Year time at a shrine with Rieko, Viki, and Viki's younger sister. The tradition is to travel to the temple to ring in the New Year. We lined up at the base of the stairs below before midnight, waiting to get into the temple grounds.

The New Year arrived while we were in line, and we said "Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu" (Happy New Year) to our fellow cue-mates. The line passed by a fire, where people burn the wishes and good luck charms of the past year in the fire, ready to pick up new charms and fortunes for the coming year.

After throwing change into the collection pot at the entrance to the temple, bowing, and clapping, you pull on the bell's rope, subsequently ringing in the New Year. As you bow, the preist blesses you by shaking his... pom-pom?

Following this, you pay 100 yen for a fortune for the coming year. Don't worry - both the Kambeyanda children drew good fortunes.

Musicians on the temple grounds played the drums and flute (an interesting musical combination), while dancers shook their ribboned staffs. Sake and anko (red bean) soup were provided and were delicious. Some people said the bean soup was too sweet, but some people have bad taste.

Making anko soup.

A day or so after Rieko helped us translate our fortunes, we traveled back to the shrine to tie up our fortunes, so that they would come true! Please note, there is some contradiction over this: some say that you should tie bad wishes so that they will not come true, and others say that you tie the good wishes so that they do come true. We're banking on the latter.