"The Last Samurai Temple"

"There is life in every breath." -The Last Samurai

One of my Aussie gals took me to Mt. Shosha

where scenes from The Last Samurai were filmed.

Can you see why?
It's so beautiful.

The air was rich

with crackling incense.

The moss carpeted the tree barks

and stone lanterns.

The pathways beckoned us to ascend.

Rocks are frequently added to the tops
of statues and shrines,
each one representing
someone's prayer.

This mountain was filled with
stone guardians.

[hai, chiizu!]

We found a pilgrim path
to a fox shrine.

Many generations
of fox spirits.
The kitsune.

This is a dormitory
for priests-in-training.

The famous hall and temple
where the movie was filmed.

Looking out from the carved balcony.
So tranquil, I could've knelt there forever.

The Mirror Well
where the warrior-monk, Benkei
saw his graffitied reflection
and burned down the temple in retribution
towards the priest
who scribbled on his face.

Hmmm...
If geisha training doesn't suit my fancy,
I think I'll join a ninja clan.

Breathtaking.

A silent tomb garden.

Carpet of leaves.

Army of guardians.

I'd feel pretty safe, living up there.

Descending the mountain,
we entered Koko-en
the gardens of Himeji Castle.

The Japanese worship nature

and all its wondrous beauty.

Kat and I have decided to take that

nature-admiring mindset

home with us.

I'll definitely style my garden like the Japanese do.

Japan breeds enormous carp.

Though the frost will bite soon,

blossoms are just opening up

in the mountains and gardens of Japan.

There is life

in every season.

{Music © Brand X Music}

"Lions, Tigers, Bears--Fireworks!"

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not." -Uncle Iroh

My friends told me about a bus in Tokyo

that took them through a den of lions.

I wanted to give it a go.

Tokyo's a bit far,

so I settled for the safari bus in Himeji.

Two words:

Gorgeous.

Expensive.

But the animals were so close to my camera,

and so friendly to the little Japanese children,

I kinda was okay with paying

¥3,700 for the whole thing.

This goose loved

my Aussie friend Vera so much,

it honked goose tears

when she ran away to chase a chicken.

You could throw food down at these bears,

and they'd stand on their back paws to catch it.

White tiger love.

暑い〜！

The thinking chimp.

Aw, Vera made a friend. ♥

After the zoo,

we went to the pond near my school,

said "hello" to my bashful students,

and watched fireworks.

A fantastic weekend with fantastic people.

{Music via Cee Lo Green}

"Call Me Anytime"

"I'm sure you could do just fine without me for a friend, but I couldn't get along without you." -Ermengarde (A Little Princess)

One way to escape the melty heat of summer in Japan

is to have so much fun, you forget about it.
{hee hee}

Friday night found me in Himeji

with two Aussie gals.

We dined at a little Indian restaurant in the backstreets,

and I can't believe I wasn't a fan before.

{The spices scared me---my tongue is so wimpish.}

But no more.

When I fly back to America,

I will patronize the local Indian restaurants

until Bryn cries for variety.

Mmm, nan.

At 8:30 the next morning,

I got a phone call from my host sister

that went something like this:

"Hello, Ashley? Are you busy today?"

"Well, I've got a huge test to study for..."

"Oh, because I have these two tickets to USJ..."

"..."

"And I can't go, so would you like them?"

"...I'll call you back in five minutes."

And thus,

Lauren and I

wound up in Universal Studios Japan.

And I do not regret one second of it.

We loved the Jurassic Park ride so much,

we decided to reenact it with turkey legs.

And even they

got into the spirit of the dinosaur.

I used to dream of velociraptors

chasing me through my house

and perching on the telephone wires outside.

I also dreamt of sharks

watching me climb up a diving board,

waiting to catch me in mid-jump

with their jaws.

I got over it...

Haagen Dazs is the best

ice cream

in the entire universe.

Unless they make ice cream on Pluto.

'Cuz that would probably be chilly-yumcious too.

Do you have any stories of

"I was going to do my homework, but THEN..."?

Do tell. Let's be guilty together.

{Music via Caro Emerald}
{Textures via Regular Jane}

"Wherever the Wind Blows... in Kobe"

"We could learn a lot from crayons:

Some are sharp, some are dull,

some are pretty, some have weird names,

but they still have to learn to live in the same box."

-Anon.

Sannomiya is a place for finding romance,

or something close to it.

And Motomachi is a place for finding your Zodiac,

Brooke being the snake,

Celestia, the ox.

Next to Harborland

is the Kobe Earthquake Memorial.

{A 20-second, 6.8-magnitude, 6,434-killing quake.}

A sober place,

as you may imagine.

Cute Brooke

in a rock.

Maybe the pirates will let me

borrow their ship

so I can sail home for the weekend

to see you all

before spring break's over.

He'll be the next Bruce Lee;

you can see it in those eyes.

Liz flew home to America,

Lisa is bussing up to Tokyo,

Leon's on his way to Germany soon,

leaving Brooke & Celestia

and me

together for a few more days.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

{Music via Paper Tongues}