So, This trip has been a long time in the making, or at least I've thought about it for the last four months; whether I wanted to actually go and use as much money on it as I'm going to be using, but also whether I actually dared go half-way around the globe to a country that, while I certainly love it, also is significantly different from my own. I have had good friends staying here for a while now though so I figured, 'I might be a scardy-cat but it is Japan and I have people to help me out if I'm completely lost at some point'.
The first apparent obstacle though, was going to the airport and taking two planes across the world alone - I was frightened and worried and upset, but once I was on my way the worry pretty much disappeared and I was just curious about the trip, mostly enjoying my plane-rides - especially when my ticket was promoted to business class on the first half. I felt a bit like Jack from Titanic though, trying to not seem too out of place in a spacious chair inlayed with wood and getting three-course meals of exquisite quality, lush blankets and a good pillow. Not to mention being able to lie down!
I didn't quite succeed though and the 'third-class'-feel kind of lingered. Interesting.
When I arrived in Dubai I was surprised by the extravagance of the terminal; it was marple floors and tainted glass-pattern windows, but more than that I was fascinated by the fact that if you are a woman and the detector beeps, you get taken aside by a woman (the male guard impatiently waved her over towards me and she looked like she was there just for that), taken into a small, closed cubicle and searched, even though you are not required to undress or anything. Another interesting thing in the Dubai-airport was the door marked 'prayer and rest-room', which was to be found right beside the regular bathrooms and at first glance looked exactly like it - it was even marked with a drawing of a female.
In that airport I sat down to get a cup of coffee, my internal clock already confused and my mind getting amused by the square doughnuts that were to be found in the otherwise very odinary Starbucks. Then I went to my designated gate and as more and more japanese people arrived my stomach started doing flip-flops of excitement.
the last part of the trip was more uncomfortable because I was tired and wanted to sleep, but had the misfortune of sitting betweeen two people and being unable to lower my seat even a little. I did get to watch 'wrath of the titans' (Liam Neeson<33) and Hugo (awesome and interesting) on the way though - and eat my first proper Japanese meal:D (which was Teriyaki and Soba-noodles).
On the awesomeness that is SID
Fast forward to the next day's afternoon where I went with my friends by train from Kyoto to Nara to watch the japanese band SID play at a big concert-hall. it wasn't enormous, but it was definitely bigger than what the japanese bands get in Europe.
And...oh my god. I mean, I have friends who obsess over this band much, much more than I do, but my goodness, they are just amazing.
They don't really qualify as a Visual Kei band (Visual kei is this), not anymore at least, but they are wonderful.
The singer, Mao, is my absolute favorite; he is gloriously musical in all things, his voice is angelic and he moves like a dancer, offering himself to the audience in body and voice. He has a strange genderless innocence about him and at the same time an allure that is entirely mature and entrancing, though in a way as androgynic as the innocence.
He was for once not wearing a long shirt either, so I could actually see his hips and his long legs which was a definite pleasure;).
The rest of the band is great as well, the bassist Aki is sex on legs as many of my friends are wont to say and he has the cutest pout in the world. They were just all so good to see, even though I was terribly tired even before the concert started. There is just something about being in Japan and watching the bands on their native soil that makes a difference.
Other than that I keep being amused by the vending-machines on every corner, the clean streets, though no wastebins are to be found anywhere and the elaborate plastic-food in the windows of restaurants.
on that subject I ate my first plate of 'japanese Curry' today and just absolutely loved it to bits. I love japanese food so, so much<3.
On being a neighbour of the gods
Right beside the place where my friend Ida and I are staying while here in Kyoto, which is called Toji House, resides the Toji-temple; a large compound surrounded by a tall, white wall over which you can only just spot the curved roof-tops of several ajoining buildings, connected to the main temple which is a tall, slim wooden tower, devided by more curving roofs.
It is a sort of dark, looming structure, but elegant in its detailed carvings. the gate out front is huge and as I passed it today I longed to get inside and explore it in detail.
It's a buddhist temple btw, so not a shinto-shrine, which is constructed differently - there is a small shrine beside the road close by the temple though, rather remeniscient of the prayer-stations devoted to saints in mideavel Europe.
on the shrine by Toji that we passed today, I saw offerings of food, flowers and bottles, probably containing alcohol.
On a mild summer-evening by full-moon the temple is like something out of old tales and I probably wouldn't have been surprised to see a Hyakki Yagyo strolling along beside it with lighted lanterns.
On the subject of Yokai, we once heard something that sounded like a human scream, but obviously wasn't because it had no emotion in it whatsover. When I asked my friend what it was, she asumed it was a bird.
I'll just say this: I understand the legends of yokai better already:)
Every building is tiny here, as are the streets, except the main ones, which is cute, but inconvenient for a big viking-woman such as myself, but our room is spacious enough and now that i have a proper converter for my laptop, all should be comfy here:)
I might write more on SID later, because atm, I just can't think of anything but the fact that they are awesome:D
~A~
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