My life as a waterbaby
I have done so many water-related activities this past few days . . . I realise that I do really love the water. My issues with it mainly arise from bad ears, a massive (and substantially reasonable) fear of sharks . . and a less reasonable one of crabs - of the larger variety that inhabit the shallows of Henley and Grange and like to snap onto innocent waders who even have the decency to scan the water for them before they enter - hmpff!!
I am a water sign so it all makes sense . . the bit I don't get is that I'm cancer and all - what's with the crab attacks ??
We went on a holiday holiday to far-flung Shimane-ken . . . yes, the one above us about two hours away - how terribly tiring by Japanese terms. As an Australian it's rather laughable!! I got up early to help Kumi get stuff organised but she seemed a little behind in all the things she wanted to get done the night before. I stayed up quite working in a sudden frenzy of luggage packing and paper sorting - you see the amount of paper - I'm sure I have enough for a couple of trees - how hideous!! But as those of you who have received recently sent packages you will be aware I am doing my best to recycle and provide either edifying, unusual, interesting and/or illegible items as wrapping for your enjoyment!!
Anyway . . .
We went to Aquas - the aquarium in Shimane and it was a little depressing because the tanks were so bare of foliage in the main that despite a large majority of the creatures being sharks I did feel for them. Didn't look at all like an interesting place to live - except for a couple of the tropical/Australian fish tanks.
But there were two humorous displays of the Sealions and Seals . . well I'm not so sure what they all were exactly because they used the Japanese names. But one was definitely like the type you see on Kangaroo Island - I think~. It was amusing because there were three of one kind and only one of the other but the solo animal was evidentally the smart and capable one of the bunch. One of the slower ones was used in the show to wave rather feeebly at the end of the show whilst the other one that I shall name KI was the star. It made me wonder whether though he seemed popular in fact the keepers thought he was a stuck-up jack-ass whom one must put up with as best as one can simply because he's the crowd-winner. Kind of like rockstars who smash things in hotels and the like . . . or maybe the aquatic world is less fickle and just because you can't walk about on either simply your front or hind flippers, instead lumbering in an ungainly way, maybe you don't burn rage and jealously and you enjoy the fish. Maybe deep down he's a kindly down-to-earth seal/sealion who will end up with the girl next door type of sealess because he's intrinisically such a good guy.
. . . made me wonder what that Sea World place used to be like in Adelaide - I only remember it through photos of me being there as a little kid before it closed.
That night we ate grilled meal on a balcony outside of what I'd always imagined the Loveshack of tacky sing along, dance along drunken haze song of the same name, would look like if it existed. It seemed very relaxingly natural and unJapanese to me. Beautifully cool by the crashing waves, with the horizon blazing with the lights of the squid fishing boats. Apparently from space they are the brightest thing on earth . . . brighter than Manhatten, Tokyo . . various places depending on the time of telling, teller and amount of alcohol imbied.
The next day we decided the sea would be overcrowded by the time everyone got going so we headed inland to a forest and splashed about in a river. I ended up just jumping in fully clothed with exhiliration of how nice it all was. This turned out to be a bad choice for my new tshirt which is now rather saggy but a good thing for my skin as I remain relatively pale despite hours of sitting in the cool waters for hours on end.
Yesterday was hot and I had three showers before I left the house. I went to the beach with Keinan, meeting him half way and then meeting up with others already there with a little shaded platform all sorted out for us. I was feeling a bit out of sorts about it all but we had a fantastic time. I got the better of my sunscreen-hatred and lathered up, but kept the old painted splattered cargo shorts on - Ugg! Skinny Japanese girls! No boobs - I must console myself on that one. There was a big wall and net surrounding the swimming area which meant that despite the rather extreme depth of the water I was able to calmly swim about and all the way out to the wall. People were surprised that I could swim 'so well' - I'm sure people who know me well enough will realise this must just be a case of relativity!! But it was a lovely way to spend the hot day. I also broke the whole don't swim for 30 minutes after you've eaten rule for the first time that I remember - and lived to tell the tale. I wasn't worried about the depth thing at all but maybe that was helped my the cloudiness of the water - not quite as unclean as when we braved the water at Miyajima after the festival there some months back just before exams. *See the photo featured in the post of the ladies taking a dip with rain clouds coming in on the horizon over the oyster harvesting bays and the distant coast of Hiroshima city.
Why is that that whenever I go swimming with boys I slice up my toes ?? The blood was quite incredible. I find that people here tend to overreact so much to injuries which makes me tend to downplay them. Did make walking home up the hill to Keinan's a bit too difficult as my birkis were slicked with blood that wouldn't stop running even hours later. So once we were safely past the police station (amusing because POLICE was written in english on the outside and the English-ignorant Keinan tried rather hopelessly to work on his pronunciation of the word - He does okay with 'promise' and 'i knows (nothing)'='eye nose'. My Chinese is equally hopeless so I can't really make fun) I ended up riding pillon on his bike - yet another rule-breaking experience all in one day!! How reckless! Felt quite vulnerable on the bike - haven't ridden once since I was quite small and Dad would drop me to school on the back of a much bigger one than Keinan's.
Surprisingly lovely afternoon when I hadn't been looking forward to it at all for random other reasons. And it turns out that the two other girls who were there will also be on the club trip to Etajima later in the month - that I had forgotten. They said they had seen what they thought was my name on the list but I said I hadn't been invited and wasn't going though I knew about it. An hour later it occured to me that Marie had invited me ages (2 months or something) ago!!! Crazy me! That's more time suddenly gone - but nicely filled with what should be an interesting experience - haven't yet made it to Etajima.
Woke up kind of late (9am) this morning and had to getting going to meet up with Risa back near my place in Hesaka, so whilst showering Keinan made more yummy Chinese food for brekkie and dropped me off at the station on the bike again . . . I used to want to get a bike license . . . maybe I will one day.
I got home and had a lot of emails from the family concerning issues in the home - hugs peeps. Then dashed off on my mama-chari to grab a half a watermelon and pineapple from the shop and hot footed it over to Omachi to meet Risa. Were intending to go to her house because she'd invited, hence the fruit=presents, but when I rocked up she said today wasn't such a great day (lots of relatives around for Obon and stuff. NB Her Dad is one of those Japanese blokes who's been moved about for work and thus lives separately from his family - he's currently in Chiba, near Tokyo and comes home about twice a year - Sometimes I think, what kind of a society is this ??) So instead we headed off to Sandankyo in her flash car that she OWNS!! It was fantastic - not what I had imagined would exist in Japan despite having been to lots of places here, I still wouldn't have thought that any places like this still remained in Japan. It was brilliant despite the difficulty of my slow healing cuts to my toes and finally dying Birkis - way do the soles always give out on me within about a year of purchase??? I won't struggle to describe it but say that water was involved, of course, and it was quite a bit cooler than Hiroshima in the city. Other than that I shall sleep on it and post some photos soon.
Well, seems like despite block I can still spin a wod of a yarn once I get rolling.
Have also come up with some really good ideas of some new and interesting places to take the Beenz when she comes!
Night peeps.
I am a water sign so it all makes sense . . the bit I don't get is that I'm cancer and all - what's with the crab attacks ??
We went on a holiday holiday to far-flung Shimane-ken . . . yes, the one above us about two hours away - how terribly tiring by Japanese terms. As an Australian it's rather laughable!! I got up early to help Kumi get stuff organised but she seemed a little behind in all the things she wanted to get done the night before. I stayed up quite working in a sudden frenzy of luggage packing and paper sorting - you see the amount of paper - I'm sure I have enough for a couple of trees - how hideous!! But as those of you who have received recently sent packages you will be aware I am doing my best to recycle and provide either edifying, unusual, interesting and/or illegible items as wrapping for your enjoyment!!
Anyway . . .
We went to Aquas - the aquarium in Shimane and it was a little depressing because the tanks were so bare of foliage in the main that despite a large majority of the creatures being sharks I did feel for them. Didn't look at all like an interesting place to live - except for a couple of the tropical/Australian fish tanks.
But there were two humorous displays of the Sealions and Seals . . well I'm not so sure what they all were exactly because they used the Japanese names. But one was definitely like the type you see on Kangaroo Island - I think~. It was amusing because there were three of one kind and only one of the other but the solo animal was evidentally the smart and capable one of the bunch. One of the slower ones was used in the show to wave rather feeebly at the end of the show whilst the other one that I shall name KI was the star. It made me wonder whether though he seemed popular in fact the keepers thought he was a stuck-up jack-ass whom one must put up with as best as one can simply because he's the crowd-winner. Kind of like rockstars who smash things in hotels and the like . . . or maybe the aquatic world is less fickle and just because you can't walk about on either simply your front or hind flippers, instead lumbering in an ungainly way, maybe you don't burn rage and jealously and you enjoy the fish. Maybe deep down he's a kindly down-to-earth seal/sealion who will end up with the girl next door type of sealess because he's intrinisically such a good guy.
. . . made me wonder what that Sea World place used to be like in Adelaide - I only remember it through photos of me being there as a little kid before it closed.
That night we ate grilled meal on a balcony outside of what I'd always imagined the Loveshack of tacky sing along, dance along drunken haze song of the same name, would look like if it existed. It seemed very relaxingly natural and unJapanese to me. Beautifully cool by the crashing waves, with the horizon blazing with the lights of the squid fishing boats. Apparently from space they are the brightest thing on earth . . . brighter than Manhatten, Tokyo . . various places depending on the time of telling, teller and amount of alcohol imbied.
The next day we decided the sea would be overcrowded by the time everyone got going so we headed inland to a forest and splashed about in a river. I ended up just jumping in fully clothed with exhiliration of how nice it all was. This turned out to be a bad choice for my new tshirt which is now rather saggy but a good thing for my skin as I remain relatively pale despite hours of sitting in the cool waters for hours on end.
Yesterday was hot and I had three showers before I left the house. I went to the beach with Keinan, meeting him half way and then meeting up with others already there with a little shaded platform all sorted out for us. I was feeling a bit out of sorts about it all but we had a fantastic time. I got the better of my sunscreen-hatred and lathered up, but kept the old painted splattered cargo shorts on - Ugg! Skinny Japanese girls! No boobs - I must console myself on that one. There was a big wall and net surrounding the swimming area which meant that despite the rather extreme depth of the water I was able to calmly swim about and all the way out to the wall. People were surprised that I could swim 'so well' - I'm sure people who know me well enough will realise this must just be a case of relativity!! But it was a lovely way to spend the hot day. I also broke the whole don't swim for 30 minutes after you've eaten rule for the first time that I remember - and lived to tell the tale. I wasn't worried about the depth thing at all but maybe that was helped my the cloudiness of the water - not quite as unclean as when we braved the water at Miyajima after the festival there some months back just before exams. *See the photo featured in the post of the ladies taking a dip with rain clouds coming in on the horizon over the oyster harvesting bays and the distant coast of Hiroshima city.
Why is that that whenever I go swimming with boys I slice up my toes ?? The blood was quite incredible. I find that people here tend to overreact so much to injuries which makes me tend to downplay them. Did make walking home up the hill to Keinan's a bit too difficult as my birkis were slicked with blood that wouldn't stop running even hours later. So once we were safely past the police station (amusing because POLICE was written in english on the outside and the English-ignorant Keinan tried rather hopelessly to work on his pronunciation of the word - He does okay with 'promise' and 'i knows (nothing)'='eye nose'. My Chinese is equally hopeless so I can't really make fun) I ended up riding pillon on his bike - yet another rule-breaking experience all in one day!! How reckless! Felt quite vulnerable on the bike - haven't ridden once since I was quite small and Dad would drop me to school on the back of a much bigger one than Keinan's.
Surprisingly lovely afternoon when I hadn't been looking forward to it at all for random other reasons. And it turns out that the two other girls who were there will also be on the club trip to Etajima later in the month - that I had forgotten. They said they had seen what they thought was my name on the list but I said I hadn't been invited and wasn't going though I knew about it. An hour later it occured to me that Marie had invited me ages (2 months or something) ago!!! Crazy me! That's more time suddenly gone - but nicely filled with what should be an interesting experience - haven't yet made it to Etajima.
Woke up kind of late (9am) this morning and had to getting going to meet up with Risa back near my place in Hesaka, so whilst showering Keinan made more yummy Chinese food for brekkie and dropped me off at the station on the bike again . . . I used to want to get a bike license . . . maybe I will one day.
I got home and had a lot of emails from the family concerning issues in the home - hugs peeps. Then dashed off on my mama-chari to grab a half a watermelon and pineapple from the shop and hot footed it over to Omachi to meet Risa. Were intending to go to her house because she'd invited, hence the fruit=presents, but when I rocked up she said today wasn't such a great day (lots of relatives around for Obon and stuff. NB Her Dad is one of those Japanese blokes who's been moved about for work and thus lives separately from his family - he's currently in Chiba, near Tokyo and comes home about twice a year - Sometimes I think, what kind of a society is this ??) So instead we headed off to Sandankyo in her flash car that she OWNS!! It was fantastic - not what I had imagined would exist in Japan despite having been to lots of places here, I still wouldn't have thought that any places like this still remained in Japan. It was brilliant despite the difficulty of my slow healing cuts to my toes and finally dying Birkis - way do the soles always give out on me within about a year of purchase??? I won't struggle to describe it but say that water was involved, of course, and it was quite a bit cooler than Hiroshima in the city. Other than that I shall sleep on it and post some photos soon.
Well, seems like despite block I can still spin a wod of a yarn once I get rolling.
Have also come up with some really good ideas of some new and interesting places to take the Beenz when she comes!
Night peeps.
posted by Eleanora Martinez at 11:43 PM
1 Comments:
What fun holiday times! I was actually not surprised that we hadn't heard from you in a little while because that is what always happens on holidays....who needs procrastination in the form of blogging from holidays?? However, it works very well when one is supposed to be writing assignments on studying for exams! Enjoy yourself!!!
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