KATSUO-JI TEMPLE

I went to a really nice temple in Minoo on Friday, called Katsuo-ji. It is famous for being the "Daruma Temple." Daruma is the little bobble-looking doll figure of Bodhidharma, the wandering monk who is also the Patriarch of Chan/Zen Buddhism.
These particular daruma are divorced of their original Zen meanings and re-appropriated as "kachi-daruma", which means "Winning-Daruma" and are used to pray for victory or a particular wish to come true. They are one of my favorite "characters" of Japan and they are bought for a couple of hundred yen and placed all over the grounds of Katsuo-ji. It makes for an intersting walk through the grounds, to be sure! When i was there the grounds were almost completely empty of other people (i only saw three other visitors) so it was very peaceful and i was able to walk up the mountain quite a ways and discover parts of the grounds that tourists probably don`t usually see. I also nearly broke my neck coming back down the set of muddy ancient stairs that look like they may have been there since the temple was founded in 727A.D.! The view from the top was also amazing.





so many Daruma...


so many stairs... why did i try to run up them?


Statue and Stupa


Spot the Daruma!! it`s the ancient precursor to Where`s Waldo!


The Deadly Ancient Stairs (sounds like a cool band name...)


view from the top of the deadly stairs:


it`s lonely at the top. this statue was all by itself waaaaaay at the top of the deadly stairs and then a little further. someone else had been there recently to offer some juice, coffee and flowers, though.


those Daruma are EVERYWHERE!!! these ones were keeping company with this ogre who was one of four holding the insence cauldron in front of the main alter.

funny cuz it`s true...

lots of friends online? feel closer... at a distance...

check out The Daily Show`s report on social networking online here.

enjoy!

RIZE

so i just came back from watching David LaChapelle`s film RIZE and now i feel like dancing all over the living room. naw, i`ll probably break something. awesome movie, though! there`s a little disclaimer at the beginning that says "none of the film in this movie has been sped up." it`s a good thing that disclaimer is there cuz otherwise you might wonder. those kids can move!! i still like breakdancing much better but that was some very very impressive dancing! the music for the movie (much of which is original for the film) was also stellar. definitely check it out if you get the chance.

the saddest little puppy...

or possibly the weirdest/funniest thing i`ve seen all day... this little hobo (canadian reference there) was just outside my building, lost in the rain. it`s a grey and damp day here in Osaka, which especially sucks cuz it`s my only day off this week. ah well, this cheered me up immensely.



and now back to studying Japanese... by which i mean watching Olympic hockey with the textbook open in front of me...

the cold sports thingy...

GO TEAM CANADA!!!

Canada just beat Italy 7-2 in Ice Hockey!! woohoo!

now we`ll see what happens with Czech and Germany...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!!!

wishing a very happy birthday to the lovely Lady Culligan, and hoping she is well and warm in the wasteland that is Newmarket, Ontario. snowy wastelend, the internet informs me. your package is on the way but i only mailed it on monday so it may not get there for a while. sorry!

in the meantime here is a picture of ReeraKuma (aka "Relax-Bear" or "Lazy-Bear") to tide you over:





my dad and step-mom actually just bought a house and moved to Newmarket. cute little house, but... Newmarket?!? i guess it`s a step up from Aurora where they used to live... meh.

Valentine`s Breakfast

so this morning i woke up really early (7am) and made breakfast for Ulala (my girlfriend). she has to go to work pretty early - well, a lot earlier than i do - and i won`t be home till late so i figured breakfast would be the best time to do something for Valentine`s Day. so i made her french toast in the shape of hearts and covered it in sliced strawberries (so the hearts looked red) and surrounded it all with sliced bananas and a little drizzle of chocolate sauce (just a little - it is still breakfast after all!). am i a sap or what? take a look:

I PASSED!!!!

WOOHOO!!

it says 合格!! (that means "passed")

Last December 4th (also known as Jay-Z`s birthday, thus an auspicious day indeed) I took the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). it has four levels, one being the highest and four being the lowest. i took the level three test, which means that i have at least a basic knowledge of grammar and i know about 1500 words and 300 kanji (chinese characters). AND I FREAKIN PASSED!!! NICE! *victory dance*

in your face, Language Monster!! HA HA!!!

SNOWBOARDING IN FUKUI!!!!

SWEEEEEEEEET!












Ivan, Danyk and i left Osaka at about 4am on Thursday the 9th and drove all the way to Fukui. we got there around 10am, changed, hit the hills until about 5pm and then ate and drove all the way home. long long long ass day but SO WORTH IT!! my body was so sore all day Friday and Saturday. oy.

vending the world

Here in Japan one of the most amazing sights when you first arrive is the incredible amount of vending machines EVERYWHERE. it is also one of the things you get used to most quickly. i was watching TV last night and was curious about one program`s claim to have found "The World`s Biggest Vending Machine." it was of course in Japan and, shockingly, it was not designed to sell beer or sake or even rice. it was designed to sell ICE! the thing was amazing! this monolith of modern technology was placed strategically next to a fishing port for the local fisherman to use. it was forty meters high and one commentator on the show said he thought it was a buidling, not a vending machine. but then the cameras got closer and there was a driveway leading under part of the buidling and a big plastic tube hanging from the ceiling. in the wall there was a panel of buttons and dials and the ubiquitous coin and bill slots. a fisherman pulled up in a small pickup truck with a big blue cooler on the back. openned the cooler and positioned the big plastic tube over it. he walked over to teh panel and inserted two 100yen coins, pressed the button for 10Kg of ice and jogged back over to the tube to hold it. there was a great rumbling noise and a crushing sound and then the ice came shooting out of the tube and filled the cooler in about three seconds!! 10Kg of ice in three seconds for a measly 200yen!! Incredible!! now if only it wasn`t in a tiny little fishing town on the north coast of Japan somwhere.... and if only i could find a picture of it on the net... meh.

p.s. it`s monday morning here but because of the time difference i`m watching the SuperBowl live on satellite TV. i just can`t really figure out why i`m watching....