Tonight, post run, I ended up hanging out with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long while at our favourite all you can eat sushi place down the road. Just like I’ve mentioned in the past, it’s almost as if the ability to gorge ourselves got left behind in university. I had totally forgotten about it, but my friend mentioned a time when we felt like getting stuffed post exam and went to the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. I somehow managed to down 13 small slices of pizza that afternoon. And afterwards we walked over to the Dairy Queen next door to cap things off. Holy crap. I simply can’t even imagine doing that now. So, the lack of will and ability to really stuff ourselves only means that we take our time choosing stuff that gives us the most bang for our buck. I mean, it’s easy enough to pick rolls that would normally cost $8 anywhere else. Those pile up.
Anyway, mid-dinner, we were talking about our meal when I came to the realization that there’s a definite pattern in the way I tackle all you can eat sushi places. I actually rarely ever go for anything raw. That totally didn’t occur to me until tonight. I did order sashimi and it wasn’t really a favourite of mine. Instead I gravitated to the rolls and other cooked items. I do eat maki rolls, but I will go for the ones that have tempura shrimp or grilled eel as the protein part. It’s not that I hate the raw fish, but it’s simply not that great. I do remember eating sashimi in Japan, and man, that was some amazing stuff. Here though in Toronto, the fish is inevitably pre-frozen, and you can taste it. That’s not to say that the fish isn’t tasty, but the mouth-feel leaves something to be desired. I don’t want to eat something that’s simply “all right” when there’s plenty of other stuff on the menu that makes me happy, know what I mean?
Wow, I feel a little odd even admitting any of this. I mean, I do like sushi and sashimi. Just…I need to pick and choose when I partake in that kind of food, and oddly enough all you can eat Japanese is not ideal. Go figure.
This likely doesn’t qualify as animal cruelty. It’s actually kind of cute. Notice how the first dog is drooling heavily. Poor guy. I like how the chimpanzee is poking and pawing at his fortress as well.
OK, so I can’t claim the award because I’m not going to post this to seven other bloggers. Sorry, no dice. That being said, since it was requested and I don’t seem to mind, I’m going to post seven quick tidbits about myself.
I am a Scorpio and the sign rising over the horizon at my birth was also Scorpio. So my inner and outer self have that characteristic. My moon was in Pisces meaning my emotional nature is Pisces-like (whatever that means). Yes, my vitals are all in water-signs. Would indicate that my emotions play a big role in my life. Very true.
I have helped to organize and emcee orientation week at university. Time leading up to it was probably one of the hardest years of my life. The week itself was completely hellish. Those people that I’ve ushered in have since graduated.
I’ve had three cars: an Oldsmobile Cutless Ciera, a Pontiac Sunfire, and a Toyota Corolla. They all had spoilers. I now can’t picture myself with a spoiler-less car. Such cars kind of look bare, don’t they?
I have notoriously flat feet. I always used that as an excuse as to why I just wasn’t meant to run. Who knew that I’d be running half marathons?
I bake relatively frequently. I often take pictures of what I made. I’m really not that bad of a baker. I’ve gotten good reviews for a lot of stuff that I’ve come up with.
I’ve been to Japan twice. I’m pretty sure I won’t be heading back any time soon. That being said, I find the memorization of Kanji to be fascinating. I’d like to take on Mandarin Chinese as my next challenge.
According to Last.fm, my music tastes tend to be: rock, indie, female vocalists, pop, alternative, Canadian artists. I really like quirky stuff, hence my propensity for Alanis and Björk.
Oh LORD. You might have trouble getting this one out of your head after a few plays. Kaera Kimura and Snoopy characters appearing in a commercial for Hot Pepper.
Just another lazy Sunday today. Back on Thursday, at the end of the work day I emailed a document I was working on to myself in hopes that I’d work on it some point between Friday and today. Well…at least I had good intentions. Thing is, I know very well that I was unlikely to spend time at home working on it. It would have been a different story if I was far from being finished, but no, the document has decent progress on it. There are also some open questions against the project that need to be answered before I write about them, so I would have been stalled anyway
Funny how I seem to be attempting to justify it.
Anyway, since I’ve got nothing much I figure I’d pick a picture that showed up in the “Random from Viewport” widget on the right and give a few words on it. I ended up choosing a picture from my trip to Japan in June 2006. On one of my first days in Tokyo, me and a couple of travel companions headed over to the beautiful Meiji Shrine complex on the west side of the city. If I recall, it’s pretty much adjacent to Harajuku station and a short walk to Takeshita-dōri which is that fashion forward place that Gwen was going on about in her pop albums. It’s accessible from the JR Yamanote line via Harajuku station, or the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line from Meiji-Jingūmae station, which can be translated as “in front of Meiji Shrine.” How descriptive.
Anyway, Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine. This is where you would go to pay respects to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken. What’s pictured here is a part of the complex where there are a huge number of these wooden plaques. These are called ema. You would buy these ema prayer boards and then write a prayer or a wish or some form of thanks on them. You then hang these boards on a designated rack. Now, what’s pictured here is just one rack, but at the Shrine there are many more racks right next to this one. These are meant to communicate with the spirits. Now, when you consider the fact that these boards hold what amount to the hopes, dreams, and wishes of thousands of people, it’s an extremely powerful symbol.
I’m not planning on heading back to Tokyo anytime soon. However, if I somehow found myself there again at the big Meiji Shrine I would buy an ema. What would I write on it? I would pray for peace. I would wish for someone to come into my life to change my life for the better. Most of all, I would give thanks for all of the blessings I have in my life: family, a place of my own, a job, and nice things. I wonder if that’d all fit. Guess I’d just have to write smaller.
Hey, so what would you write on an ema prayer board?
I pulled it off of JapanProbe. Even though the guy had “one strike” his ability to slice through the ball is still damn impressive. It reminds me of Kill Bill Vol. 1.
In all likelihood, I’m pretty sure you’ve probably seen the video of the chimpanzee riding the Segway. That chimp’s name is Pan-kun. Anyway, he and his trainer (I guess?) seem to make frequent appearances on the Japanese variety show Tensai! Shimura Dōbutsuen (can be translated as Genius! Shimura Zoo). He’s usually shown doing “human” things to the amusement of the celeb panelists. In this video, he’s shown paying attention to some magic tricks.
I’m really torn on how to react to this video and all other Pan-kun videos that I’ve seen. On a base level, gosh, the young chimp is just so cute. I mean, imposing some anthropomorphic qualities on the animal is just kind of fun to watch. You can tell there’s some genuine surprise with the magic tricks. It’s really cute to watch him go running to hug his friend when he’s scared, too. Despite all of this, in the back of my mind I can’t ignore the fact that this chimp is a wild animal. Consider that trick at the end of the clip. What if Pan-kun thought his friend was really in danger? Maybe he’s go nuts and start mauling the magician. Who knows? Pan-kun looks gentle now, but later on I can imagine that he’d become more prone to unexpected mood swings and all, know what I mean?
What immediately comes to mind is the recent chimp attack that happened in the States. In this case, the chimp didn’t have any indication that he’d snap. This chimp seemed well-trained and even appeared in a few commercials. In the linked article an officer associated with the case seemed to indicate that the chimp was used to doing a lot of anthropomorphic stuff. Then…bam. According to this follow up article, the victim “lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids in the attack, which may have left her blind and brain damaged.” Jesus. Here’s another article: Worst Chimpanzee Attack Story Ever -- Moe the Chimp Owner Attacked -- Esquire. There are four pages to this one: take a look at the progression from page 1 to page 3. Those are some strong images.
Anyway, main point is: as cute as Pan-kun is, he’s still got wild instincts.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch a video of Pan-kun learning to dip strawberries in a chocolate fountain.
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