fast times

As I write these words, I am enjoying a celebratory chu-hi with my husband.  What are we celebrating, you ask?  My best time ever running a 10k.

Now, due to a slight issue with the GPS watch, I am not sure of what my precise time was.  I do, however, know that it was in fact a best time as I have never actually been timed for a 10k before.  So no matter what, it was a PR.

Jeff also went a best time.  His watch worked perfectly, and his average pace was somewhere around 6 minutes per mile.  Whew!  That's fast!  As I've said before, he's kind of a big deal. 

We've been preparing for our run by sticking religiously (well, with the exception of my trip to America) to a training plan we got from Runner's World online.   It's actually kind of awesome.  You can adjust the paces to exactly your personal goal time and the program adjusts every run time in response. Then you (or your cute husband) can upload said program to your Garmin watch so all you have to do is listen for the beeps to know when to speed up, slow down, or stop.

Now I have to turn my attention back to the pool in preparation for my first swimming race since Nationals 2005.  And since I've never raced 1.2 miles open water before,  I'm pretty sure I'll have another best time on my hands.

Mata ne,
Melissa

P.S. Props to my dad for his great finish at the Green Lakes Triathlon this weekend.  He went his best time in several years and placed in his age group!

torii, torii, torii!

On our last morning in Kyoto, we took my parents to something I consider a must-see, the Fushimi Inari Shrine with the thousands (millions?) of torii.  Torii are the orange gates often found at the entrance to shrines.

There are so many torii it's more like walking in a big orange tunnel than through the woods.  We didn't have time the morning we went with my parents, but when Jeff and I went to Kyoto on our own, we hiked the whole trail to the top of the mountain to see the inner shrine and walked through every one. 

Hurry up you slow pokes!  There's a lot to see!

When looking from the back, as in the picture below, the name of the organization or person that donated is it on the left pillar; the date it was erected and the builder is on the right.  All of the torii have been donated by businesses, many of them sake breweries from what Jeff could determine, as an offering in the hope that it will bring success.  There are huge, brand new, freshly painted torii, smaller and more modest torii, and even tiny ones, that individuals can purchase and leave as an offering higher up the mountain.

I think they enjoyed themselves, even though we didn't have the time to make it to the top (in all honesty, they didn't miss too much - just A LOT more torii).

So long Kyoto!  Back to Tokyo for one last awesome dinner, then K&S head home.

Jeff and I will be back though! 

Mata ne,
Melissa

Big Buddha #2

(backtracking to my parents' visit in mid-April)

On our last full day in Kyoto, we decided to take a small excursion to Nara.  Nara is a small city near Kyoto known for it's very old, culturally important sites.  "But wait," you say, "isn't that what Kyoto is known for?"  Well, yes, but Nara has even older things, just not as many of them.  And deer, but we'll get to that.

We took the train about 45 minutes from Kyoto station to the Nara station, then hopped off and walked to the cultural park. It's definitely close enough that this is quite easy, and there are so many tourists doing the same thing, it's fairly obvious where to go. 

We headed right over to the five story pagoda just a few minutes from the station.  You may recall our visit to a five story pagoda right in the Asakusa district of Tokyo with Aaron.  This one was pretty much the same thing.  Though it did seem a little taller? And maybe it was older? 

And on to the deer.  Nara is known for the wild deer that seem to have overrun the town.   The deer is even part of the awful cartoon baby that is the symbol of the city.  Apparently they are traditionally there as protectors of the city. To me, they seem like dirty pests which, for some reason, the tourists will pay to feed.  It would be sort of like feeding the rats in the New York City subways.  But, that certainly didn't stop my mother from contributing to the problem. Like pigeons, they get uncomfortably close to humans and nibble for food, even if you don't have any of the sembei (crackers) sold throughout the park specifically for the deer.

When she ran out of sembei and started to walk away the deer followed her and nibbled at her clothes and bag.  Ugh. I made her wash her hands immediately.

Then it was off to the real reason we wanted to visit Nara: The Big Buddha!

Well, that is actually the really big building that houses the really big Buddha.  Check out how little the people standing in front of it look.  Turns out, it is the biggest wooden building in the world.  And believe it or not, it is actually only two-thirds the size of the really big building that used to be here.  But on to the main attraction:

And of course, no visit to a giant statue would be complete without a picture of me kissing it:

It's a bit difficult to see from these pictures just how huge this guy really is.  I have a fun fact that will help, though.  There is a pillar in the building behind the Buddha which, legend has it, is the same size as the Buddha's nostril.  It is said that those who pass through the hole will achieve enlightenment.

Enlightenment?  Sign me up.  I made Jeff go first though.

On our way out of town, we stopped for some lunch.  Jeff was really hungry so rather than the regular sized noodles, he got the Big Buddha noodles.  He was warned by the staff they were really big.  Did he listen....?

Coming soon:  Karyn and Steve return to America; Roz and Dick visit Japan.

Mata ne,
Melissa

aaaand we're back

It has been some time since my last post, I realize.  Rather than explaining my absence, an observation:

In Tokyo, there are bathhouses all around the city, sort of like mini-onsen, where people congregate to bathe and soak in the hot tubs, usually in the evening.  When I say people I mean older people, generally.  At onsen, you're likely to see bathers of all ages, but at neighborhood bathhouses, in my limited experience, one is unlikely to see anyone under the age of 35.  Also, no tattoos, but that is a whole other story.

Now, in addition to bathhouses, which generally run you between 400 and 600 yen, there are also coin showers located in various places around the city, which are presumably cheaper.  Unlike the bathhouse, they are no frills affairs.  I really have a hard time figuring out the coin shower thing, and ask Jeff frequently when passing "who uses those things?!"  

Having never seen the actual showers themselves, I was curious tonight when I walked by the cluster on our street this evening and some of the doors were wide open, so I popped my head in one.  Eeew.  "Reallly, WHO uses those things?!"  

From what I understand, resulting from the bathhouse culture that still exists to some extent in Japan, there are apartments that simply do not have a shower.  People who live in them must go to the bathhouse or (if they are cheap and not weary of foot fungus) the coin showers to bathe.  Maybe it's my western prejudice, but (with the exception of while camping in state parks and with the protection of rubber flip flops) I could never bring myself to a) live in an apartment without a shower or b) use the skeevy coin showers on the street corner.  

An actual post about what we've been up to in the last month to come. Soon.

superlatives

Kyoto has this temple called Chion-in which, like Texas, embraced the motto "bigger is better" and ran with it.  

Exhibit number one: The biggest gate in Japan

Maybe a little perspective would be helpful.

My dad, in the blue top and red backpack at the top of the stairs, is about 10 feet in front of the huge wooden post of the directly behind him.  The thing is HUGE. 

Exhibit number two: the huge, steep stairs (not the tallest or steepest we've seen in Japan, but a good effort)

Almost there.  Ouch.  The smile is hiding the burning in my quads.  And I'm fairly certain I was muttering "stop taking my picture!" through my clenched teeth. 

Exhibit number three: the biggest main temple in Japan

Beyond just being absolutely ginormous, the building was also very cool for it's "nightingale floor" on what is best described to a westerner as a wrap-around porch.  The floor was specifically designed to "sing"(squeak) when walked on, making it difficult for intruders to move about quietly.  Or teenagers to sneak out at night.

Exhibit number four: the biggest bell in Japan

A picture could not possibly convey how big this thing is.  Unless there were six of me holding hands in a circle around it. If there were no fence preventing me from getting close.  And five more of me.  

In the words of Billy Fucillo (one thing I DO NOT miss from America) HUUUUGGGGGGGEEah.    Apparently it takes 17 monks to ring the bell for the New Year's ceremonies.  That big log with the white thing at the end is what they use to ring it. 

 I think our whole apartment might fit into the bell. 

Mata ne,
Melissa