BIKE PARTYYYY!

Friday I stayed late to attend the meeting for the October 9 Hiroshima trip.  I put my name down and paid my 7220 JPY for a one-way shinkansen ticket to ensure I'm there in time to hear the speaker--an individual who was there when the bomb was dropped.  I'll probably take the overnight bus back, though I need to arrange it through the school.  It'll be somewhere in the 5000 JPY and up.  The shinkansen is the super-fast train (the trip there will be 1-2 hours; the trip back will be 7-10) that the Govenator came to look at last week or the week before.

Yes, for those who don't know, Arnold was in Japan; closer to me than all of you, haha!

Saturday was an early day.  I was at Hirakatashi-eki by 8 a.m. and on a train headed for Tambabashi-eki to meet with my history class.  We took a couple more trains together (I got a good hour of Pokemon in during travel time) before reaching Asuka in Nara.

We rented bikes and were quickly on our way.

The first stop was at a kofun--a 5-7th century keyhole-shaped mound tomb reserved for powerful individuals.  There were funny-looking little caterpillars everywhere, but I couldn't get a good picture of them because my camera is fail.  I can't get clear pictures unless I'm outside, and even then it's difficult.  There were some carved stones a bit down the road that have survived invasion, being buried and middle school kids with chisels.

Back on the bikes, our next stop was a couple of carved stones that served as a tomb.  The first was uphill, a flat platform with a few cuts in it called the Devil's Cutting Board.  The upper part (like an upside down bathtub) had fallen downhill and was upside down, partially embedded in the ground.  It's been dubbed the Devil's Toilet.

The next stop was a stone turtle.  It faces southwest.  It's said that if it ever faces due west, the end is coming.

There was a nice ride through a residential rural area before arriving at the site of a temple.  The temple doesn't exist any more but they've left the foundation so visitors can get an idea of what it used to look like.  There were original foundation stones and replicas out of plastic that were creepy to walk on because they looked like rocks but felt unstable.

After a nice ride through the hills.  There were pseudo woods and a stream we followed.  It was a beautiful ride.  We walked through a park and found a bike parking lot to break for lunch.  Daniel, myself and a handful of others got yakisoba and ice cream from nearby shops.

Our next stop was another tomb--one we could actually go into because it had already been excavated.  It was interesting, and apparently has survived several earthquakes (it's made of stacked rocks), but even so, I didn't want to hang out inside very long.

Then we were off through houses again.  I had to adjust my seat and somehow managed to lose the group in the minute it took and had to call to have someone sent to get me and the two others that got left behind.  The next stop was out in the rice fields (another foundation layout) and was in the sun.  It was rather pretty.

A ride through the rice fields later, we arrived at Asukadera.  We listened to a monk (and had the professor translate) before going through the museum part of the temple and spilling back into the courtyard.  I've finally figured out the difference between temples (dera) and shrines (jinja)--the former are Buddhist, the latter are Shinto.  There were a few statues in the courtyard that offered different blessings.  One scoop of water over the right offered traffic safety, two scoops over the middle offered safety in the home and three scoops over the left offered finding a lover.

Off and away we went, this time to a museum.  It had artifacts from the single-digit centuries, including the side paneling from a temple that had collapsed into the mud, preserving it.

Then it was back to the bike rental place (btw, this entire trip except for the train ride there was paid for by the university), back on the trains and back home.

Sunday I did a lot of crocheting, a lot of Pokemoning and a lot of sitting around.  Okaasan came home and asked if I'd like to go to a local suspension bridge with her, so we (Otousan, Okaasan and I) piled into the car and off we went.  It was only a 15 minute drive into the mountains.

There was a rock wall before we got to the trail to the bridge, including a tiny kiddy one we all climbed to the top of.  I don't think either of them were expecting the hike that followed and Otousan had to push Okaasan up the steps almost the whole way.

When we got to the bridge, Okaasan clung to Otousan the whole way across because she is terrified of heights.  It was adorable, but I really hope she didn't suggest we go just to take me somewhere.  We sat for a bit across the bridge before making our way back down and out.

We picked up Konta on the way home.  Maki and Takeshi arrived at the house a bit later and we had mixed grill outside despite strong winds.  Maki played piano after dinner and Otousan played his drums for the first time since I arrived.  He's really quite good.  Then there was some karaoke, Maki, Takeshi and Konta went home and I went off to bed.

This is a video of the noon bells.  Farmers don't wear watches, so they sound chimes in the rural areas at noon to tell them when lunch is.

The two above videos are of Otousan and Maki playing drums and piano.  Anyone recognize the songs?