Friday, May 11, 2007

TOO much of a good thing?

OK - a little break from the camp photos - here's something from the "social" part of my life that I'm trying to HARD to cultivate! (oh, no!) Sorry - it's 6:45pm on Friday night, and even if I leave now, I think at least half of the staff will still be here at least another hour or two (!). But I'm wrecked, I'm outta here soon...
Last week was "Golden Week" and I actually had a few days completely off - when I didn't have to come to the office at all! We had smashing good weather on Wednesday & Thursday, so I headed over to Unzen to hike around and enjoy a nice onsen bath. So - here is what I found on one of my hikes - this lovely shrine - I can only guess - devoted to fertility. There was an accompanying one of its female counterpart appropriately tucked away in a little cave nearby. Once again, kanji/nihongo wo yomemasen, yo - and sorekara - I really have no idea what this was about. The other picture is of a random gaijin siting at the foot spa outside one of the hotels. It's really cool - well, HOT, actually - after hiking around, you can just take off your shoes, roll up your pants, and enjoy a soak for free. If you walk around in this one, the river stones on the bottom massage your feet. Velly nice.
I'm also excited because when I was hiking around Unzen, I found a really nice campsite on a lake. Since I just invested in a decent pack and tent, I can't wait to get back out there and try them out.
OK, desu - time to go home - it's now 7 - ack. Oh - and NO, this is not anyone I'm dating (his loss, ne?) No - he's just an - go figure! - English teacher who lives in Nagasaki. But it was nice to be able to speak English :)

Don't forget you can always click on a photo to enlarge, but, then again, sometimes too much of a good thing really is - TOO much of a good thing, yo!

3 comments:

Gina said...

You bringin' that back for your Japanese Garden project???

It would be--er, um--

never mind.

The picture says it all.

Tracey said...

Figures I would get YOU to respond! lol!
Hope you're not as HARD UP as I am...

txo!

I don't know - it would be a nice feature in a garden, ne? I hear there is/are bigger one/s on the island of Iki...I'll report back once I can confirm or deny such allegations...

Gina said...

Ooohhhh... perhaps a collection? Wonder if Martha would feature it in her magazine.

Not to brag--well, that's not true; I am all about bragging--but I am seein' a fabulous boy right now. He is no where near as impressive as your statues and assorted veggies, but he is man enough to admit it.

I'll un-hijack your comments, now. :)