1) I lost a ring.
2) I still can't fry an egg sunny-side up, even after all these years.
3) I told my co-workers about my visit to that phallic shrine, and now my nickname is Penis Worshipper. ............
Friday, January 17, 2003 - 01:05 a.m.
I got a digital camera!
My stuffed elephant (a Christmas present from Ryuuen-chan) was my first victim.
Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:59 a.m.
So... let me finally tell you where I went earlier this month. The story is... how should I say it? Phallic.
You may know already, but it's a Japanese custom to visit Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples at the beginning of the New Year's. So my cousin used that as an excuse to drag me along to visit some strange shrines in Inuyama of Aichi Prefecture. One of them was really interesting...
We went to the Tagata Shrine, which worships the penis.
Inside of the shrine, there were wooden sculptures of them everywhere, and on the sides of the walkway, stone penises were sprouting from the ground like mushrooms... Very surreal. They weren't obscure images like the Hindu lingas, but very, very vivid. (See Picture)
Even the bell that you ring before you pray at the shrine was shaped like a penis. And there was also a wishing-well type thing set up in the back. It was a large rock with two polished spheres perched on top, and in front a little slot where you slide in a coin. When I deposited a coin, something inside made a very cheerful sound... "Ding!" Apparently, the visitors are supposed to stroke the right ball for some kind of good fortune and the left one for another, but I was too preoccupied by laughing my head off to read the sign...
Apparently, my cousin had read about the shrines in some subculture magazine. It sounds like a joke, but it was a very serious shrine!
I hope this isn't too indecent for some people out there. ~_~;
Thursday, January 9, 2003 - 03:30 p.m.
I caught a cold again. I've been sick 3 times already in the past three months... *wheeze*
I was talking to a student in class yesterday about koalas, because I visited the Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya on the 2nd. Higashiyama has several koalas, and my student was impressed and said "It is rare to see koalas in zoos of Japan. Because it is very difficult to grow koalas." Then suddenly, my brain was filled with an image of a tree with koalas dangling from its branches like apples, and I started laughing. My outburst of laughter made my student realize that he had made a mistake and he rephrased the sentence: "No no no! I mean, It is very difficult to take care of koalas."
Monday, January 6, 2003 - 09:36 p.m.
I can't believe it's 2003 already!! Today was my first day of work this year. And I'm so tired...
My December~early January obsessions:
--Summon Night 2: I love strategy games~
--Atelier Judie: I just passed it... I like Adelbert.
--The Cider House Rules (John Irving): All the obstetric stuff was interesting.
--Minority Report: It came out in Japan, so I went to watch it again, just for Danny.
--Azumi Shinichiro: A TBS announcer. He's so cute...
--The Beatles: I liked them before, but now even more.
--The Carpenters: As above. (Now listening to Superstar)
--Taking photos: I've been rather camera-happy lately...
--Buying cheap accessories: I've started a <500yen ring collection.
--A certain PC game: I like Jose with the main character. If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, let's be friends!! >:D
I also went to a very interesting place last week, but I'll talk about that later... >:D
