...More adventures...
I apologize for neglecting my blog. I'm sure all of my four viewers have their browsers up, hitting "refresh" in desperation and wondering why I have forsaken them.
Suffice it to say I've been busy, but then again that's not really an excuse. It's not that nothing has been going on, I've just been too lazy to write anything. So let's whoop it on. Click on the pics for bigger images.
Last weekend we had a little engagement party..! My friend organized it for me, which was really cool of him. We atually stayed out until the trains started back up again at 5:30, which is good because instead of spending $40 for a cab ride, you spend $4 for the train. I think I spent a total of $15, because people were buying us drinks, and we just walked past the cover-charge desk and no one said anything. That's how we roll, folks. Before the club though we went to an izakaya and had some beer and food. Izakayas are a great deal of fun.
Here's me and the Akinator with our engagement icecream.
Here's a closer look at it.
It says "Paul *heart* Aki" and "Congratulations on the Engagement".
After the izakaya, we went to a club called "Camelot". I think that's a pretty ridiculous name for a club, but it's always a good time, and we're usually the only roundeye there. Here's me and the wimminfolks.
And no, that's not Quest Love in the background. That's my friend Damon. He's a cool dude, and caters parties here in Tokyo specializing in soul food. It's fun to get him going on local soul food places here run by Japanese people, and how disgusting he finds them. "I saw him making fried chicken with salt and pepper!! What's that?!" Here's a picture of him and Henry.
I was glad Henry came out. It was his first time "out on the town" after a year and a half in Tokyo (he's married) and he hung like a champ. He's a mutant, one of my best friends out here, and makes me feel like a defenseless infant on the mat 3 times a week. He really kicks my ass.
All in all it was an absolutely awesome night, and I really appreciated everyone coming out and paying for me and the future missez.
A couple weeks ago a friend of mine from the states came to visit -- one Wade A. We were in the Marines together, and due to some unfortunate events that he was very much in control oh, his parting from the marines was, how shall we say, under other than favorable conditions. He's still my friend though and I've known him since 1998.
We went out for the obligatory drunk fest over the weekend, and I took a day off during the week so that we could go to Kamakura, home of the really huge freaking Buddha.
Here's me standing in front of it.
Kamakura is like the Las Vegas of temples. I mean, if there were temples instead of casinos in Las Vegas. And less lights. We went to an assload of little templets -- that's a word I made up referring to little temples kinda tucked away here and there. It's easy to get all templed and shrined out when going to places like Kamakura and Kyoto; it's hard to keep track after a while. Here are some cool pictures though.
This picture was taken at Hasedera. I kept referring to it as the Smurf Army, until I found out that the figuring are actually for unborn babies that have died.
Here's another shot.
It's a little sad, because people who have lost children bring little toys and bibs and hats for the figurines. I of course didn't know this, and felt bad later.
Here are some big Buddhist feet. I'm not really sure what it means.
The little sign says "Please don't 'ride' on top." I know those look like swastikas, but they're not.
Here's a little waterfall I posed by.
We also walked along the beach, and since I love birds, even ravens, I took a picture of a few of them enjoying the view with us.
I also played with a squirrel, which tore the shit out of my finger. He didn't get his picture for that.
So there you have it. Adventurepan, Adventures in Japan guaranteed.
Suffice it to say I've been busy, but then again that's not really an excuse. It's not that nothing has been going on, I've just been too lazy to write anything. So let's whoop it on. Click on the pics for bigger images.
Last weekend we had a little engagement party..! My friend organized it for me, which was really cool of him. We atually stayed out until the trains started back up again at 5:30, which is good because instead of spending $40 for a cab ride, you spend $4 for the train. I think I spent a total of $15, because people were buying us drinks, and we just walked past the cover-charge desk and no one said anything. That's how we roll, folks. Before the club though we went to an izakaya and had some beer and food. Izakayas are a great deal of fun.
Here's me and the Akinator with our engagement icecream.
Here's a closer look at it.
It says "Paul *heart* Aki" and "Congratulations on the Engagement".
After the izakaya, we went to a club called "Camelot". I think that's a pretty ridiculous name for a club, but it's always a good time, and we're usually the only roundeye there. Here's me and the wimminfolks.
And no, that's not Quest Love in the background. That's my friend Damon. He's a cool dude, and caters parties here in Tokyo specializing in soul food. It's fun to get him going on local soul food places here run by Japanese people, and how disgusting he finds them. "I saw him making fried chicken with salt and pepper!! What's that?!" Here's a picture of him and Henry.
I was glad Henry came out. It was his first time "out on the town" after a year and a half in Tokyo (he's married) and he hung like a champ. He's a mutant, one of my best friends out here, and makes me feel like a defenseless infant on the mat 3 times a week. He really kicks my ass.
All in all it was an absolutely awesome night, and I really appreciated everyone coming out and paying for me and the future missez.
A couple weeks ago a friend of mine from the states came to visit -- one Wade A. We were in the Marines together, and due to some unfortunate events that he was very much in control oh, his parting from the marines was, how shall we say, under other than favorable conditions. He's still my friend though and I've known him since 1998.
We went out for the obligatory drunk fest over the weekend, and I took a day off during the week so that we could go to Kamakura, home of the really huge freaking Buddha.
Here's me standing in front of it.
Kamakura is like the Las Vegas of temples. I mean, if there were temples instead of casinos in Las Vegas. And less lights. We went to an assload of little templets -- that's a word I made up referring to little temples kinda tucked away here and there. It's easy to get all templed and shrined out when going to places like Kamakura and Kyoto; it's hard to keep track after a while. Here are some cool pictures though.
This picture was taken at Hasedera. I kept referring to it as the Smurf Army, until I found out that the figuring are actually for unborn babies that have died.
Here's another shot.
It's a little sad, because people who have lost children bring little toys and bibs and hats for the figurines. I of course didn't know this, and felt bad later.
Here are some big Buddhist feet. I'm not really sure what it means.
The little sign says "Please don't 'ride' on top." I know those look like swastikas, but they're not.
Here's a little waterfall I posed by.
We also walked along the beach, and since I love birds, even ravens, I took a picture of a few of them enjoying the view with us.
I also played with a squirrel, which tore the shit out of my finger. He didn't get his picture for that.
So there you have it. Adventurepan, Adventures in Japan guaranteed.
So spake Paul at 8:49 PM
9 Comments:
Templets! I like it. Consider it adopted. Also, its about damn time you updated. I'm one of the idiots hitting 'refresh' every day.
I got "templed-out" after about my third week in Thailand. They got templets everywhere. And for some reason the huge buddhas are everywhere too. I don't understand the feet thing either, but I've seen huge feet around the temples too. Its especially wierd because Thai people think feet are totally bad or something.
Congrats again on the engagery. Isn't the wedding in a couple weeks? You better post some pics of that shit, that's for sure.
That's the type of post I've come to know and love. Paul hanging on women. Paul making some ethnocentric comment about another culture. Paul drawing swastikas on feet. And birds.
cory-- i dunno what the deal is with feet either. i think we should drop foot fetish DVDs on thailand and iraq (thairaq) and see how they like it.
brando-- ive been known to defile a 1500 year old relic a time or two.
hoss-- thanks for the advice! also i think that if you remove the circular top of that buddha feet thing, it contains sand inside. and if you look at it, your head explodes. CLOSE YOUR EYES!
You know, I've spent the better part of the day trying to wrap my head around the concept of soul food restaurants in Japan, but I just can't do it. The wiring of my Southern brain makes it an impossible equation - an intellectual "can't get there from here."
And then I look at the picture of your friend and I understand a little. Because you never said the soul food joints there were any good - you just said they were there. I look at the expression on your friend's face - part incredulity and part sheer terror at the state of soul food in Japan, I see not an entrepreneur, but a missionary. A missionary named Damon doing God's work on the other side of the world. And God's work is chicken, biscuits and cornbread that "taste so good it will make you want to slap your momma."
He is my new hero.
yeah, he was insensed by the notion of people claiming they were peddling soulfood just because they spent some time in the south. "Salt and pepper!!", he repeated incredulously.
another thing damon can do is drink an entire bottle of that polish spiritus potato booze in a single night and still seem not-so-drunk. that amazed me the most.
Don't mess with squirrels or with Henry apparently.
I saw a Darce choke for the first time this weekend in the UFC. I was really disappointed that there was a submission that I had never seen before. I've been trying to choke myself with it ever since.
Tony, choke yourself!
In other news, I'm going to the cubbies game tomorrow. Maybe we can hook up. blankenshipbrandon@yahoo.com
isn't a darce choke just a modified arm triangle? kind've? head 'n' arm choke? those are always horrible -- anything where you are effectively choking yourelf out is a suckfest.
i had a miserable roll yesterday. one of our training partners is a combat wrestler/sombo blackbelt, i,e. neck cranks, ankle locks, and knee bars. rolling with people who know all those subtleties is a nighmare, because they come out of nowhere and they fucking hurt.
here's a rundown of the darce choke. I might try it out because I've been playing a lot of knee on belly a lot lately. Kendall Grove is a beast, and I love seeing people go nigh-nigh instead of just seeing ground'n'pounds.
I've decided to start taking notes on my rolling sessions and putting them up. If you're training still and want to contribute, let me know -- it'd be cool to see some other perspectives.
http://jits-notes.blogspot.com
Dude, lockflow is an awesome site.
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