On Sunday night Elspeth stayed over at my place after the Anjo Tanabata Festival. Yesterday morning after booking our capsule hotel in Osaka (Yes, I will be staying in a CAPSULE HOTEL - google those for info/pics) we decided to head over to Atsuta Shrine. I went there the first day I was in Japan but I had been so jet-lagged/hot/akward that I didn't stay long or get a really good look at it. We hopped on the subway and walked over to the shrine. It was one of those burning hot sun days so it was nice to walk around the shrine, which is surrounded by a forest.
It was a Monday so there weren't many people there. We took a ton of pictures. We saw a huge tree inside of which lives a snake that the people at the shrine feed eggs. At first I thought one of the many pigeons/crows/roosters (!) around the shrine had laid eggs and they were hatching because of the people standing around this tree. On closer inspection I discovered this snake eating the eggs. Lets just say my thoughts of cute, fluffy chicks were quickly dashed.
After checking out the shrine we quickly looked inside the museum where this massive, historic sword is displayed. It seems completely impossible that someone once fought while holding this sword...and while riding a horse! We decided to get something to eat (of course there's a restaurant at the shrine!) and headed towards the restaurant. Unfortunately, blocking our path were two roosters we had encountered earlier. Elspeth tried to get closer to take a photo of them and that's when the male decided to attack!! BACK UP ELSPETH!! RUN AWAY! It would have been a great photo and I was contemplating the risks of trying to get closer but man, like every other creature here, it was larger than back home (rooster, spiders, mosquitos, cicadas, cockroaches, crows). After almost having a heart attack we got some kishimen soup (Nagoya's famous flat udon-like noodles) and relaxed.
While we were eating this little boy who was with his mother started coming by our table and looking at us. Elspeth decided to play 'rock, paper, scissors' with him and soon he was running by our table, with a mouthful of food to play. He was so adorable that I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures.
After we finished eating we walked by the carp and turtle pond, where we saw the little boy again. SO CUTE. We took a couple more photos (bridge, lanterns, torii, etc) and then decided to head to Sakae, either for a little afternoon karaoke or shopping. When we arrived we found this underground mall and then saw a sign for Tokyo Hands ("The Creative Life Store"). It is a huge multilevel store that has EVERYTHING. We browsed the floors (so much cute stuff, so expensive) and made wish lists of things to come back for after our Obon trip and our next paychecks. I bought a fabulous polka dotted bag to carry all my stuff and a long sought after day planner.
We ran out of time for karaoke and quickly grabbed some dinner before jumping on the subway back to my place. Elspeth picked up her stuff and then headed back to Akaike. We both agreed that living in Japan rocked and that shopping here was the best! Thanks for coming over Elspeth and once again thanks for being my translator. You have some mad Japanese skills!
2 comments:
Look at you! So Japanese that you might just pop in for some afternoon karaoke? This is like no L'Elliott I have ever known, casually considering public singing!
And I had no need to look up what a Capsule Hotel is, because everyone knows that this is where the girls of the Eva The Diva season of ANTM had to stay whilst in Japan! And they say that tv never teaches us anything... Have fun in your creepy coffin/morgue bed! :P
SAKE, not wine...come on Aaron...and you claim to know so much about the Japanese.
And the capsule hotel 'rooms' are larger than a coffin, they are open at one end, they have airconditioning, they have a tv, etc. I'll let you know if i hear the kill bill music and am forced to escape using my karate chop move.
The shrine is in Nagoya. Did you bro visit here?
Post a Comment