a pretty horrid morning, just woke up sad and lonely.
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| graffiti in Shibuya. |
spend a while skyping with mum, she made me feel better, as always.
went to meet Keiko and to work again and it was considerably better.
stopped on my way home and got this amazing drink which was pretty much just minced ginger in tonic water. Possibly the most refreshing thing I've ever tasted.
Dragged my butt to the dojo, since Osawa Sensei was teaching and I can only go about 3 days without training before I go mental.
Class was good, there were heaps of people who are here for the Aikido Conference.
Mostly practiced with this cool old man. I pretty much only practice with old men because they know awesome stuff and I learn so much from them. A lot of younger guys seem to feel the need to correct everything I do, and I guess the older men do too a bit but maybe I just respect them more?
I dunno, but I like practicing with them.
Sensei had a lady translating into English since there were all the guests, he's hilarious! But it was oddly confusing, I've just gotten used to never knowing what he (or anyone else!) is saying.
Since all the people were there, heaps of them were taking photos of the dojo, so I took a moment to snap a few. I had my 50mm lens on though, which meant I couldn't really take wide angle photos. Anyway, here's a few from the foyer. I still couldn't bring myself to actually photograph the dojo spaces since you're really not meant to.
stopped by FKGS (favourite korean grocery store) to buy some apple juice and olive oil.
Woo.
Here are a few photos I snapped there, and on the ride home.
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| my bike! |
Came home, grabbed some bread and stuff and hid in my room to eat it.
Tomorrow morning I'll be doing a class or two at hombu and then working in the afternoon.
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Wednesday
slept poorly, woke up and it was pouring.
so I said fuck it to aikido, since I didn't feel like biking 20 minutes in the rain, and figured yoga would be good enough for the morning.
speaking of yoga, it's not something I've ever really done, but I've started doing the Sun Salutations in the morning, partly as a wake up and partly because walking everywhere has made me so stiff.
My hamstrings are about an inch long right now, it's killing me! poor baby.
had some cereal (tip: make your cereal the night before and let it sit, so it all soaks in. this only works if you're using an oatmeal based cereal, or are like me, and just eat cold oatmeal for fun. I did one part apple juice to one part water, for extra fun.)
skyped with Claire for a bit! she's really lovely, but I already knew that.
Then I decided to go to Ueno Park for the rest of the day, since I don't work until later on Wednesday's.
So I got the train there and started by going to the Tokyo National Museum, which was really good!
I saw some beautiful paintings and kimonos and statues and pottery.
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| hairpin |
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| this is the information for the mask, right above it. |
and swords! I love swords. They also had heaps of sword paraphernalia like little decorations and tsubas.
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| I want a tsuba like one of these. |
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| moon & hare sword pins. |
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| rooster sword pins. |
Then I got tired of the museum and decided I'd spend the rest of my time in Ueno Zoo.
Pretty good! I got to see a giant panda! it was cute as can be. Not overrated at all.
Seriously, I just wanted to cuddle it.
I walked around for a bit, I bet I only saw maybe a third of the zoo as a whole though. I'll go back for sure, maybe on my next day off when I could spend the whole day there and get lunch and stuff.
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| japanese black bear. |
Eventually I had to leave, I did cave and stop by Starbucks because I really needed a cold drink.
Got an iced soy chai latte, look at how careful they are about not giving me milk! Bless them.
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| view from Uguisudani Station. |
These are some fruit and vegetables on display outside my local vegetable shop.
Came back only to realise I thought I worked an hour earlier than I actually do, which is awesome because it means I get to sit around in the air conditioning and write some postcards and relax since of rushing out the door like I thought I had to do.
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Went to work, it was stressful too. Learning the ropes of this job is really really hard.
It's just all so different from how I learned as a child/what I know now.
I'm getting there, I know I am. But it can be so frustrating sometimes.
I came home and made myself a nice dinner and skyped with my family, which made my day end on a high note. Which I like very much!
Tomorrow is going to be busy & aikido filled.
I'll be going to Osawa Sensei's class from 8-9 at Hombu and then to Yoko Okamoto Sensei's class from 11-12 at wherever the IAF is being held.
Then I work for a few hours in the evening.
And then! I get to go out for my weekly vegan meal at Eat More Greens.
have a pleasant day, all!
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