I have not been up to a lot recently. The weather here is fabulous.. the days are hitting mid to upper 70s and the nights are in the low 60s. Fabulous weather for riding the bike and being out doors in general.
Last week I made it out to Fuchu Koen. I forget the exact name.. it is a pretty decent sized park with a japanese garden and ponds in addition to the typical tennis courts and children’s playground (which are awesome in japan.. can you say ziplines, balance beams and awesome slides.) Enjoying lunch in the park, 桃子 and I found ourselves in the middle of some weird dog meeting.
Although it was “impromptu” and not planned, there were probably over 30 people there with at least 40 dogs. Of the dogs, there were maybe 5 real dogs. There rest were miniature lap dogs that shouldn’t exist outside of a laboratory.
Kichijoji is a fun place and close.. nice park there also.
Aikido on the weekends and judo during the week. While I am not particularly enjoying the limitations of sport judo, limited grabbing and sweeping (huge bruises on the ankles and shins.) The waza is quite enjoyable and randori is fun. I do have to say, doing judo with 95kg college kids that eat nothing but ramen gives me a new appreciation for hygiene and the use of bleach. Ahh the smell of pork and sweat, wash your f4rking gi man… luckily no ne-waza with those guys yet.
I usually don’t put much faith into web petitions, but in this case I think it is worthy. So instead of spamming your inboxs with this, you can follow it here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/
Take a moment, sign your name and think about helping.. just takes 2 minutes.
The guy next to me is from Myanmar.. through his contacts (I have yet to see this in the mass media yet..) they are saying between 1000 and 200 people have been killed and buried in mass graves… Wow…
Well it was a short trip, too short for the flight time, but just enough to provide some culture shock that I knew I would have, well a head of time, and let me get really home sick.
Sorry to all those I didn’t get to see. It is difficult to come in on Wednesday and leave on the following Tuesday and squeeze you all in. And thanks to those that were able to squeeze in some time at the last minute.
Some highlights: Chuis! .. Hot Chix in Yoga .. fat chicks everywhere else (not quite a highlight!) .. Buying clothes that actually fit me. ( I had forgotten what pants that don’t fall off when you take your belt off, feel like!) 4$ red bull and vodkas.. Suprising the hell out of the 3rivers folks at a mexican restaurant after a seminar.. Spending time with my folks .. actualizing and the cessation of a major issue that has plagued me for about a year.
Lows: Hearing amazing stories about my past that never occured.. TSA.. flirting fat chix at bars.. a$$h4t yuppie kids at the galleria that think they are bad asses, even as they run away ( I blame you urban outfitters…) My favorite pizza place in Clayton being run into by a car and being closed while I was visiting! grrr..
That’s about it. Like I said the trip was too short. But with my plans to return on or after the new year, it was a nice escape from Tokyo. Now I am just waiting for my lady to get back from thailand so I can tell her how much better a trip to thailand would have been, sorry folks but beach and jungle VS stlouis.. you do the math. ( And hopefully I will get some yummi thai fruits..)
Follow this link for updated pictures as to what is going on in Burma/Myanmar.
I have been told, most of the red on the ground is actually blood.. They are starting to attack and injure the Buddhist monks who are peacefully protesting the current junta regime.
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Perhaps Japan is the only country where you can buy cucumbers, kimchi and condoms and not get bombarded with weird looks and asked never to come back to the store you are purchasing the said items from.
The cucumbers I am using with the kimchi for culturing… quick pickle (haha) the cucumbers with salt, a pinch of sugar and a pinch of seasoning. Slice the cucumbers up, put them and seasoning in a ziplock bag. Shake like Ali. After a few hours there should be a lot of water in the bag, drain and repeat. After about two days, you have psuedo-pickled cucumbers. (Theory is the salt pulls the water out and helps dry.. and of course, this doesn’t take a month or two like normal japanese pickling.)
Mix with the kimchi and let it sit for another day, and a bit of ponzu or vinegar to aid in flavor. Pretty delicious and easy to make. Supposed to be fairly healthy also… Just have to wait now..
Who in brooklyn keeps hitting me up?
Since I wasn’t enjoying(learning much at) honbu, I decided to expand my budo knowledge. I have visited a local K1-Pride brazilian jujutsu dojo, and the guys and training were fabulous. But, the cost was 150$ a month plus a 200$ registration fee.
Since I am not a serious fighter and am doing this more for my own personal development, I decided to check out the roots of brazilian jujutsu, judo. Being the home for Judo is in Tokyo, I thought what a great chance it would be… wrong. Kodokan’s classes are from 5:30 to 7:00. Who the hell can make that? How farkin’ stupid.
Anyways, it turns out that there is a Judo dojo about 15 minutes by bike from my apartment, in Koenji. It also turns out this dojo is 70 years old and the founder taught judo to O’Sensei. Win-Win. Yet even better, one of the ranking teachers speaks english and coached the olympic team in both america and italy a few years ago. Even better classes start at 8. Only down side is, one night is friday.
I had to listen to a spiel about how mediocre aikido was etc etc and how much the ukemi is weak and waza etc etc. On the second day of class, I was doing the judo ukemi and throwing them around, so I started rondori practice. That is quite fun, and it is great to be thrown when you think you are in control of the situation.
So, two days a week I am doing judo and two days a weeks I am doing aikido.
Fun so far, cannot wait to do some newaza.