Sweet Xmas--I wish you a very merry sweet Christmas!

Merry X-mas as it is written over here all the time. Happy holidays everyone! I will be unable to write til after the new year as I will be going to Kyushu for a twelve day holiday. I'll be visiting volcanos, and onsens, and crater lakes, and big cities! I'm pumped! It is a much needed, well deserved vacation! We're leaving today (it's almost 2 AM now), so I should get some sleep. Merry X-mas and happy New Year!

Himeji Castle, Part 1

Long time, no post, I know. So, still not internet at home, but I brought my laptop to work today, and it's a slow week, thankfully, so I'm posting from my backlog of pictures today (Dec. 18th--the date may show up wrong on the post because I started it earlier, but didn't finish it). Anyway, this is from our August trip to the Kansai region. Himeji Castle is famous not only because it wasn't destroyed by war or fire like most Japanese castles, but also for it's incredible size. The castle itself is huge and so is the complex within the walls. It's usually considered the number one castle in Japan.

Above: Tourist shops outside the castle walls, since Himeji is a big attraction for both Japanese and foreign tourists.

Below: The bridge to cross the castle moat to enter within the castle walls.

The next few shots are of me on the bridge with the castle as a backdrop. Markian took a bunch of them for me.



In these two pictures may you can tell how hot it was. We've both kinda got a look like, "Ok, hurry up and take the picture already!"


Above: The large castle gates were quite impressive.

Below: A close of the detail....hmmmm....that looks strangely familiar...what a suggestive door...
Below: Markian REALLY liked the castle doors! And no, he's not carrying a man-purse...I made him carry my bag with the water in it and the maps.

Now we're finally within the castle walls. I don't know what that rock says below, but people were waiting to get their picture taken in front of it so I did too..haha...I didn't wanna feel left out.

The view of Himeji before starting the long approach up the hill. It's so pretty and white!


Above: The first gate inside the moat where you go after you've purchased your ticket.

Below: Me and the gate.



Above: Markian posing in front of one of many, huge, stone walls. We wondered what kind of poor people had to drag all these huge stones up here.

These holes in the wall are part of the castle defenses. People could shoot arrows through the holes at people down below. There were SO MANY of these things! The castle has lots of traps and things to help it defend itself from outside invaders. It must have worked because the castle is still standing today! The castle complex that survives today is the from the last construction in 1609.

Above: What those little holes for shooting arrows look like from further away.

Below: An awesome shot of the castle. Isn't it beautiful? I'd love to come here during Cherry Blossom Season.

Angela Aki, Live in Concert

Alright, first off I didn't take this picture. There are no photos allowed at Japanese concerts, so I found this on the web just to show you what our concert looked like. So, the show was tonight. It was really good, but strange for us. The concert hall was very close by and easy to find, so that wasn't a problem. The venue was full and we were on the fifteenth row center stage. She sounded great. She has such a beautiful voice. My favorite live performance was "Kiss Me Goodbye" but I also really enjoyed, "Sakura-Iro" (in English is means "cherry blossom color) and "On & On" as well, because they are some of my favorite songs which I always sing when we go to Karaoke. The band that played with her was cool too. I liked the guitarist. Markian really liked the lighting affects.

The strange thing about it was that it was the most talking I'd ever heard at a concert, and I couldn't understand much of it at all! I was proud for what little I could decipher, but I was mostly lost. I have improved my Japanese language skills greatly though in the past couple of months thanks to my new Japanese teacher. Angela covered The Police's "Every Breathe You Take" . She gave this English lesson to the crowd on what the words meant, which even though I couldn't understand everything I found quite humorous. Angela Aki's father is the president of Aeon, possibilly the biggest language school in Japan now that NOVA has gone under. I guess I haven't spoken much about that. If you didn't know, F.Y.I, the largest English teaching company in Japan was shut down by the government for selling contracts they couldn't fulfill. There are thousands of unemployed English teachers and it's quite a mess and this happened a couple months ago. Anyway...Angela speaks English not only because of that, but she's half American, so she's bilingual.

After the show we tried to meet her. It didn't work out so well. I found some girls waiting for her. They spoke a little English and I tried to ask them a couple questions with a mixture of broken English and Japanese. We did find the band and waved goodbye to them in their black van with darkly tinted windows. She must have snuck out somehow before we got to the door. It was kinda disappointing because we were so close, yet so far.

The one difference I noticed about concerts in Japan is there are no opening acts. What you came for is what you get. Some people may not like that, but I love it. Usually (not always, but the majority of the time) the opening act blows. This way I don't have to suffer through it, and the concert ends at a reasonable hour so I'm not a zombie for work tomorrow. Granted it's almost one in the morning and I'm still up writing this anyway because my mind is really active. Oh well....


So yeah, we had a great time at the concert. I'm really glad I got up early three months ago and stood there for hours to get those tickets. It was well worth it! I can't wait to go home and use try out some of her pieces on piano for myself! I miss my piano!

Cats Chill'n in Osaka

These were too cute not to take pictures of! They were hanging in a shopping arcade in Osaka. They are banners of cats hanging out in places in Osaka. For example, the first cat is hanging out at one of Osaka's many giant ferris wheels.
Speaking of cats, I seriously miss Miw; so bad I just want to go home sometimes because of him. He was such a great companion, and I can't wait till I can see him again! I hope he's okay! We haven't heard from our friend who is watching him in a while. I'm sure he's fine though, I just miss him and it sucks.




Above: A kitty at Osaka Castle.
Below: A kitty at the Osaka aquarium with the whale shark.


Above: I have no idea where this kitty is at. You tell me...

Below: Maybe he's enjoying sushi and fireworks? August is known for fireworks...so maybe...not really sure...

Osaka Nightlife

So back in August in Osaka, we wondered around one night randomly. Here are some pictures of things we saw. Above is a Chinese restaurant. I just thought the dragon was cool.
Here are some nice lit up billboards. Asahi is a popular beer here and also a girls name. They also make good coffee drinks.


I took the above picture just to show how busy the city was and how many people there are. This is on a pedestrian only street.

Below, me still dying from the heat even though the sun has gone down! I felt like I was back in Memphis!

Above: A Fugu fish, which I would presume is a fugu restaurant. Fugu are the poisonous blowfish that if it's prepared wrong you die from the toxin. Mark ate some at a recent party he went to. He said there was not taste, but it was rather chewy. Not bad though.

Below: I think it was a Pachinko Parlor, but I can't quite remember.


Ok, above wins the best picture award. I had to read it about four times because I thought I was reading it wrong. Read it....the picture speaks for itself...
A ferris wheel and some lights. The lights in Osaka are very nice. Not quite as good as Tokyo, but pretty close. I'd forgotten how big of a city it is. It makes Hiroshima seem so small. Hiroshima seemed so big when we moved here!
I just liked the whiskey billboard. It was GIGANTIC but you of course can't tell that from the picture.

Oni

Some pictures I took in Osaka in August. So, while I've been having fun lately, Markian hasn't so much. A little kid pooped and peed himself while he was teaching him yesterday. That is never cool. I want him to write about it on here later, because I was amused when he told this story. but he probably won't. He's sick right now. I think it's a migraine or something. So today has kinda been poo (no pun intended). I'm hoping he'll feel better tomorrow.

Good news, the concert I bought tickets for a few months back is only a week away! I'm very, very excited! I can't wait! Trip plans are still in the air...I should know sometime this week hopefully.

A little pop quiz for you. This week a student wrote they wanted to visit the USA because of the "Freedom Venus". It took me a few minutes, but I figured out what they meant. I'd never heard anyone call it that! Can you guess what it is?

What a great day!

Seriously, I had such a great day; I thought I should write about it! Today was a national holiday, basically like a Japanese labor day, so I didn't have to work! This morning I got up and went out to the western suburbs to an ashtanga yoga class taught by my Japanese teacher. It was difficult and challenging for me, but I really enjoyed it! It was very good exercise. The students there were nice. My Japanese teacher and I and two of the girls from the class went out afterwards, eating and shopping. It was so nice to get out and spend time my girls, shopping, eating, talking...etc. I work mostly with guys, and I've really been missing my girlfriends from back home! The day went by so, so fast! We ate Italian for lunch and sushi at one of those sushi conveyor belt restaurants. It was really good and cheap!

The picture is of girl in the yoga class my Japanese teacher introduced me to. We went to a shopping mall that I'd never been too and it was all decorated for Christmas. She was really cool!

So yeah it was a super awesome day! Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow, but it will be an easy day, so no biggie. It's after one AM though and I'm not really tired, which is strange considering I got up early today...