I ate an alien

ok so the second night in nara we went to a resturaunt. we ordered dinner. eric, lou, and i got our food quickly, but kiki's took forever. when her's finally came it had a suprise in her miso soup. (see above) is it a fetus? is it an alien? the meal was finished, and the alien remained. kiki wouldn't try it, dispite assurances by the owner that it was delicious. so, it was clear to me that someone had to try "it", or miss an opportunity for a fantastic story. so i took a bite. (see below)
it was a kidney. what animal it came from remains a mystery. it wasn't very tasty, and i like to avoid filter organs whenever possible. yuk! but after i took a bite, we put it on a plate and performed an impromptu autopsy with our chopsticks. (click video link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twpgUCEhcNg

Thanksgiving Trip Part Two: Temples

Heian shrine's torii in Kyoto
the front of the Heian shrine.
neat feet. at a Shinto shrine in Nara.
at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto.
Kofukuji temple in Nara.
Todaji temple. this is the big big buddha. he lives in the world's largest wooden structure.this is said structure. these people lighting incense are probably about 200 yards away from the building. it's impressively big.
In Gandooji temple in Nara.

a small Shinto shrine in Nara.

Thanksgiving Trip Part Two: Beautiful Garden!!!!!

i highly encourage you to click on all of these so that you can see them better.
i'm in the middle there somewhere... pretty trees!
aahhhh... this place was so beautiful it hurt.
i want to live here and drink green tea for the rest of my life while i search for enlightenment!
*sigh*

Thanksgiving Trip Part One: Group Pics

Thanksgiving Trip Part One: Things That Need A Hug

this is a plastic omelet rice thing. they're pretty tasty, but not my favorite food in japan.
every store in nara has these little things hanging in their store, they're guardian monkeys that protect you. and this is where they come from. the guy that makes these is a genius because i'm sure that he makes a ton of money.
oh, ice cream, be mine! you're so divine! :)
time crisis 3. i looked at this and thought of all the time i've been in the movie theater with derek and our guy friends putting quarter after quarter into time crisis and time crisis 2. i love you guys. you nerdy, wonderful men! ;)
No!! i don't want any chicken and mayo!!!! lol.

Thanksgiving Trip Part One: Interesting Signs II

Condi! what are you doing in japan?!
lol. click on this and look at the driver's face. tell me that doesn't make you laugh!!
this was really cute! a post script at the end of an english discription of a temple.
AAAAHHHHH!!! run for your lives, it's a two-headed panda!!! we'll never be able to sneak up on it!
note that only vegetalians are allowed to eat the vegetable curry. do you think vegetalians come from italy?

Thanksgiving Trip Part One: Interesting Signs I

tropicana, you old dog! are you trying to get me drunk? the answer is: yes!
the deer protection racket covers this barber.
geinki poo! :)
buddha pays his share to the deer protection service. because when there's this many deer, can you afford NOT to have deer insurance?
even i was offended by this sign, and i'm not even black! those silly japanese, they probably meant well too.

Hiking! i think i'm getting better at this! :)

my bedroom (that's real tatami, folks!) and futon.
after hiking up, we did a bit of exploring since it was our first time around here. the trees are changing well here.
look what followed me home, can i keep it, mom?
kiki in ferns!
japanese earthworms, giant and blue! and slow moving at that! (*psst* hey, you birds in california! you need to come over here and live like kings!)
*sigh* nice, huh? this is the rocky ravine that we climbed up.
crazy little crab! you will also be eaten when the bird invasion happens!

from the makers of "those aren't olives"...

i have found the holy land, it's a giant liquor store which sells my favorite booze, and big boxes of cereal! :) and the chartreuse is half the price as back home!!!!!
at first glance you might think those green things are grapes, they're not! they're agar balls (think jello but a little more solid) yummy.

i have seen my first japanese giant hornet. he was hanging out on the second floor of the apt (i'm on the third). if he had been on my floor, it would have kept me from going downstairs because there was no way around it. these suckers are huge!!!! he was as long as my middle finger, and they're very scary with their orange faces. one time derek and i saw this discovery (?) show where 30 of these guys took out a colony of 3000 honey bees! someone put clips of that show to a raidohead song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWd_Lf3yS34 so scary!! i would have gotten a better shot, but he kept looking at me, and i didn't want to piss him off. maybe he'll be dead in the morning and i can get a good shot of it. so scary!!!

FOXY!! (inari) vs. fried tofu sushi (inari)

this is in reference to something that mia and i were talking about. see, mia, this is it!
or this. take your pick! :)

i must see this movie!

"you boys eat your greens before you go off and topple the French government!"

4 hour walk, hiking included with every purchase

on the right is mt. bizan, under it is downtown tokushima city, and straight out is the ocean.
yummy, black seaweed with rice!
ok, go ahead and click on this one, if you look over the hills on the right side you can just make out the big pink-tan building that's about a km NE from me. this shot is facing SW. so compare this distance, to the pic i put up earlier this week!
japanese water tower. what do you think, mom? do you think waterone will want to put one of these jo co?