White II

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Originally uploaded by OmegaBlake.

This is the sort of visability I had to put up with. Let me tell you- that's not the top of the mountain thats covered with fog. We could only see the bottom 1/5th of it

Alien vs Predator

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Originally uploaded by OmegaBlake.

Every winter a truce is declared and the two great species get part-time jobs to support their war effort for the following year.

Here we see two working to great visitors from the gondalas that lead up to the mountain.

White

Last weekend I went skiing in Nagano prefecture in a place called Hakuba. It was the site of some of the Winter Olympics events- the ski-jump is still there. I woke up at 4:30 AM on Sunday morning in order to get to Nagoya in time for my five hours and five minutes bus ride through the mountains to Hakuba. (Yes, I actually counted. I was that bored)

What can I say about the Nagano Highlands? The skiing was great, the snow was soft and there was an 'all you-eat' buffet at the hotel. I'm suprised I didn't sink when I went to the hotspring afterwards.

On the downside, on the top of the mountain the visibility was horrible. I couldn't see more than five metres in front of me- everything else was white. I felt akin to Shinji Ikari during Instrumentality in the last two episodes of Eva. It wasn't because I had a philosphical and personal breakthrough, but because my entire world had been deconstructed down to white paper.

Also, I overshot the ski course on one nasty turn and went over the edge and down the mountain. I stopped after a few metres and managed to climb back home, but I seriosly had the shakes for a while after that.

It was a interesting trip. It has been a warm winter over here (by Japanese standards), and the past few days have been hot. I think spring is starting, so I don't know whether I will have a chance to ski again until the end of this year

-Blake

Sacrifice-to-be

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Originally uploaded by OmegaBlake.

Boy: 'Gaijin!'

Seph: 'Nihonjin! Shashin desu ka?'

(*Before waiting for the reply, I took the photo*)

Sup Ladies?

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Originally uploaded by OmegaBlake.

Ompah Loompah Satan is here to spread the Devil festival cheer!

Hot Dog

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Originally uploaded by OmegaBlake.

He looks so adorable yet so delicious....

Hail Ompah-Loompah Satan

Greetings Pilgrims;

It has been a very good weekend. I've been keeping myself busy, so I thought I would recount some of my adventures over the past weekend.

On Sunday I traveled to Toyohashi-jingu for a Oni-matsuri (Devil festival). It was a sunny day, yet a fell wind was blowing from the west. When I took of my jacket I got cold, but after putting it back on I started to sweat profusely. I didn't know what to expect from this public display of devil worship, but I came prepared to pay homage the Dark One himself.

The Japanese see all religious events as an excuse to sell carnival food. Its the same stalls I've seen all through my travels across Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually owned by the temples or something. The coolest thing I saw at the stalls was a yakitori stand with pre-cooked yakitori at the front, the grill in the middle and a small, nervous cocker-spaniel in a box at the back. What kind of meat do they use in yakitori anyway**?

The festivities were spread out throughout the day, but the main action was from 12:00 to 2:00. We got there half an hour early, so we decided to have a look around the temple. At one end of the complex were a bunch of teens dressed up in Edo-period garb whose job it was to yell in unison at the top of their lungs. I thought it was to ward of the approach of the Dark One, but according to my Japanese teacher Tomo, they were doing it in order to excite the crowd. Think of it as a warm-up act for the main festivities.

Before the start of the show we tried to get as close to the stage as possible. I was told that people would be throwing out bags of candy to the crowd. If you managed to catch one of these bags, you will have good health for the rest of the year. When the time came, the screaming teens ran towards the stage with priests and shrine maidens following after them, throwing candy and a whole lot of flour.

If I had known about the flour part, I wouldn't have worn black clothing.

I managed to grab some candy in the scramble, elbowing a kid in the face by 'accident' in my haste. Bad luck for him when he dies of cholera next month or something. Anyway, with the flour thrown it was time for the Toyohashi Oni to make his appearance. I had expected to pay homage to some obtuse and disgusting Japanese demon, but I was not expecting the full demonic majesty of....

'Ompah-Loompah Satan!'

The adorable little scamp was being played by a 9 year-old who had to dance for our amusement. The little kids in the crowd and the shrine maidens behind him were dancing along with him. When he came up to my part of the crowd, I yelled out at the top of my lungs 'Hail Satan' while throwing up the horns.

I'm pretty sure he had nightmares that night.

That day I saw a lot of shrine maidens, watched a ritual archery demonstration as well as got another bag of candy (I'm good for another year!) All in all, a good Sunday

-Blake

**Sure, it's supposed to be chicken. But that's what they _want_ you to believe!

Ahoy hoy

I have spent the past hour trying to log on to my account. All the instructions are in Japanese and I cant log in while running the site through bablefish. I am angry, tired and need more Real Gold (the only energy drink in Japan that contains real nicotine!). So please excuse any spelling mistakes of mine this time round.

What have I been doing since I last posted? Well, I did go see 'The Departed', which I really enjoyed. Everyone was great in the movie, even Leo (Christ, I can't believe I just typed that) I also saw a Japanese magic show, which was actually quite cool. The magician's English was a lot better than his Japanese, so I think I had an advantage over everyone else at the show.

I now have another computer- Tsuna has lent me her mother's old laptop. It takes 2 minutes just to load up Windows 98, but it does have a wireless modem attatched. So now I can surf the net from Starbucks, McDonalds or any other fine establishment that has free wireless.

Australia Day was a blast. Most of Nagoya's Australian expatriates showed up at one bar, so it was standing room only. I went straight from work and could only stay there any hour because I had to catch the last train home, but it was a blast. Besides, its always fun to be in a large group of your countrymen, singing 'Waltzing Matilda' whilst holding a bottle of your favourite beer in the whole world.

More to come when I have some free time

-Blake

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'Not the REICHSTAG!'