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				WebGoddessCathy [don't kid yourself]	[talk to me]

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:: Saturday, March 29, 2003 ::

Last night we saw Die Another Day and I should tell you that Rick Yune is my new boyfriend. Too bad he is so young (22!). I suddenly feel old when someone that yummy is five years younger than me.

We also got our photos developed from Kyoto so I will be updating my "Travel" section with those as soon as I have time.

Today, Dave and I are off to an outdoor museum of the Edo period. As soon as I can get my ass away from the computer and into the shower. I find it odd that they don't have a DOOR to their bathroom. Likely just a ploy ;)

:: Cathy 6:30 PM [+] :: 0 comments

:: Friday, March 28, 2003 ::

1am, Tokyo.

Kyoto was amazing. Three rolls of film in three days.

Tonight, we ate at a yakitori restaurant. Below are some of the delicacies that I will not be sampling while in Japan. Unless someone gets me really drunk. (Which is not likely, since Dave doesn't drink and someone else isn't writing me at all, nevermind getting me their friends' contact info in Tokyo so that I can maybe go out one night.)

- chicken gizzard
- ox-tongue
- chicken cartilage
- ox stomach with soy bean paste
- quail's egg

Did Kyoto's Daimonji-yama climb today. It's the main site of the Daimonji Yaki fire festival. They set the Chinese character, dai (meaning "great") on fire on August 16th (my sister Jen and Madonna's birthdays, coincidentally). You can see the character in the middle of this bare patch on the face of the mountain. Not a bad climb. At least it was some exercise; I've been feeling like a lazy bum lately.

Now we're back at "home" in Chiba (a suburb of Tokyo where Dave lives). Trying to figure out what we're going to do for the next 2 days until I leave. Can't believe I have to leave soon. Dave has been fantastic. It's been so good to hang out with him again. I'm sure he'll be happy for me to leave. I'm probably getting on his nerves by now. Who really wants me around them ALL the time?? He's been a good sport though.

:: Cathy 8:22 AM [+] :: 0 comments

:: Thursday, March 27, 2003 ::

kyoto.11:40pm

Must be off this computer soon. Free Internet access at the hotel but limited. The keyboard is a Japanese one and I keep hitting the wrong keys dammit.

I miss people already. very sad. trying NOT to miss people so much and just enjoy. however, kyoto is amazing! dave and I are having a lot of fun. we walked all over the city already. many temples and a samurai mansion with trap door and hidden staircases. very cool. we had a personal travel guide student with us today, hiroshi. maybe he will read my site: I gave him my site address. He was great!

Last night we stayed at a ryokan, which is a japanese traditional-style hotel with an onsen (public bath). The ryokan was very nice. The soak in the bath was very relaxing after a full day of walking. And very hot. We were all embarassed because we could not read the japanese that told us which bath was for women and which was for men. Potentially a very embarassing moment if we chose wrong and I ended up naked in the tub with old japanese men. Ew. Thankfully, a nice woman helped us out. I am surprised how few peope speak english. Oh well. We try to get by on Dave's limited English. After the bath, we had a traditional Japanese meal in our tatami room, seated on the floor. It was an amazing dinner. Everyone bows so much, I don't know what to do.

We changed hotels for tonight though. Cheaper. And tonight, Dave and I ate ice cream with chopsticks in front of the TV. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

My back is killing me. Seriously. But I will survive. Tomorrow we go back to Tokyo around 7pm.

More updates when I get back to Dave's.

:: Cathy 6:47 AM [+] :: 0 comments

:: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 ::

11:10pm Tokyo time.

Getting ready to go to Kyoto tomorrow. We'll be there for 2 nights, 3 days. Should be fun.

I'm tired. Seriously. I thought I was going to fall over on the train ride home tonight. Jet lag still lags a little. Not excited about that. Was tired at 8pm when we were eating cheesecake in Tokyo. Goodness.

Let me tell you about what I've noticed so far:

- bad, bad fashion. BAD. I feel like I'm in the 70s/80s. I thought that maybe it was just that the people we saw had bought their clothes at BiWay in the 80s. But no. We went to a sort of mall called "I'm New 109" (I don't know WHY it was called that, but they have funny Engrish names for things to make them sound cool). There was high energy dance music blaring from every store (each store had different music playing, but you could hear it all from the "hall"), with unfortunate oddly-attired sales women and young girls looking at the clothes in stores called things like "loveboat drug store" (which is not a drug store at all). It was clearly a high-fashion "mall", but I was astounded by how profoundly UGLY everything was. I suppose that's my own bias talking. I'm big on black. They're into white, double-breasted jackets, big-buckle belts, cowboy boots....

- horrible footwear. I thought I was going to cry over some of it. White, pointy, stupid high heels. And they can't WALK in them. Pidgeon-toed, knock-kneed, bow-legged. These people have messed up legs/feet. I've never seen such horrible, UGLY shoes. And the school girls wear weird white leggings/leg-warmers.

- it was raining today, so everyone had umbrellas. Every store has a plastic bag dispenser specifically designed to wrap your umbrella so that you don't get water on their floors. And if you forget to wrap your umbrella up (as we frequently did), they run after you with the plastic bag and do it for you. Ridiculous. What a waste of resources.

- Dave and I are the tallest everywhere we go. While this is not unusual for 6-foot-4-inch-tall Dave, it's weird for me.

- Dave's students took about 50 photos of me. I felt like a movie star.

- I hardly feel like I'm in Japan. I speak English with Dave all day. There are tonnes of English stores around (GAP, Starbucks, Haagen Daz...) I'm glad that I have Dave around. He says he doesn't know much Japanese, but I'd be lost on the transit system without him.

Tomorrow, Dave and I have to wake up at 6:30AM. So I guess I should get to bed.
I'll try to keep my journal while I'm away so that I can post it all when I return.

Finally, I'd like to report that I packed like an IDIOT!!! How is it possible that I'm such a horrendous packer? Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking.

:: Cathy 6:34 AM [+] :: 0 comments

:: Monday, March 24, 2003 ::

Dave is currently making me some stir fry. Can everyone shout "thanks Dave!" right now?

Great.

Still sick. And tired. OK, 14-hour flights are officially not my favourite. I wrote about 100 pages in my journal and saw 4 movies, slept probably less hours than that. It's 8:30pm here, but feels like 6:30am the next day. Dave says the later I can stay up, the better. He's so excited that I'm here. It's so good to see him!

Tomorrow we're going to Guyotoku to teach Dave's English Conversation Club. He says they won't believe that we're just friends. They'll continually ask how long we've been going out and when we're getting married.

Have just met Dave's roommate, Darren, from Melbourne. Nice guy.

Discovered that people here frequently wear these masks everywhere to protect themselves and those around them from colds. I feel like there's some outbreak that no one told me about. Creepy! Otherwise, everything is normal, except for all the signs in Engrish.

Drop me a line while you can; Dave has Internet access, so I'll be able to respond.

:: Cathy 3:32 AM [+] :: 0 comments