We're getting back into the swing of our lives here. I'm working on my google smashing website business :P, and Fay is back to getting paid for chatting to old people. So we're both pretty happy with our work.
I'm also getting some exercise done, which brings me to the subject of this blog. I've started my 9:30am squad again, and as I was about to dive into the crystal clear 27C water I nodded to another tri club member. He looked at the cloudless sky and said "I think winters over".
Its hovering in the low 20's up here, which means the 'softies' where a jumper, and the tourists lay on the beach and swim.
A friend sent me some brilliant cycling websites this morning, BikeRadar and Bikely. The bikely site has lists of rides that are overlaid onto google maps. It's one of the better mashups I've seen. The other has a lot of general bike stuff.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The glass saving pilgrim
This lady saved my glasses from a perilous cliff top. She is dressed in pretty much the 'full' pilgrim's outfit.She was walking alone. She earned a Koala for her efforts, which she attached to her bag and showed it to us the next morning at breakfast.
Fay is holding my glasses which 'mum' saved from a perilous ledge.
Why walk 1100 kms in 47days, in Japan?
It's a fair question really.
We wanted to do something that was Japanese and we wanted to travel slowly. However it also is frequently performed by people who are looking for change in their lives, and by people who commit to do it for the benefit of the dead. So that also intrigued us.
The white coats are death shrouds, and symbolise that the pilgrim has stepped out of their ordinary life. The sticks(staffs) are symbolic of the saint that the pilgrimage is based around, the writing on the staff state that Kobo Daishi, the saint, is walking with you. I likened it to a crucifix, in the Christian traditions. The bell is used to symbolise awakening generally, and on the pilgrimage it is meant to remind you that enlightenment can be achieved in this life time. There are some great statues we saw where the buddha is sleeping on the bell. The idea is that he is waiting for the enlightenment of the world.
I dropped the shroud after a couple of days as it reminded me of being an alter boy in the Catholic church. The top we used to wear was very similar, just a little more lace. Fay stuck with hers all the way. My nice embroidered cover also broke after a week and I ditched it about half way around. There is also a hat and a lot of other pieces of attire. Above is a photo of Fay with a woman we called 'mum', our Japanese wasn't good enough to learn her name.
As for Japan as a destination our niece lived there for a couple of years, and we meant to get there while she was there. I also attended a couple of lectures on Japanese culture at uni and it fascinated me. Then while we were researching Japan we read the Sword and Chrysanthemum. This is an intriguing account of what the 'old' Japan was about. The sentence that really shocked me was that due to the fanatical fighting of the Pacific war, some American planners thought that they would have to bomb the mainland of Japan and kill most of the population. Luckily some people understood that all that was necessary was that the Emperor just had to say enough is enough.
It is one of the most fascinating places on the planet. I'd say it's better than India. Mainly because it's less hassle and misery.
We wanted to do something that was Japanese and we wanted to travel slowly. However it also is frequently performed by people who are looking for change in their lives, and by people who commit to do it for the benefit of the dead. So that also intrigued us.
The white coats are death shrouds, and symbolise that the pilgrim has stepped out of their ordinary life. The sticks(staffs) are symbolic of the saint that the pilgrimage is based around, the writing on the staff state that Kobo Daishi, the saint, is walking with you. I likened it to a crucifix, in the Christian traditions. The bell is used to symbolise awakening generally, and on the pilgrimage it is meant to remind you that enlightenment can be achieved in this life time. There are some great statues we saw where the buddha is sleeping on the bell. The idea is that he is waiting for the enlightenment of the world.
I dropped the shroud after a couple of days as it reminded me of being an alter boy in the Catholic church. The top we used to wear was very similar, just a little more lace. Fay stuck with hers all the way. My nice embroidered cover also broke after a week and I ditched it about half way around. There is also a hat and a lot of other pieces of attire. Above is a photo of Fay with a woman we called 'mum', our Japanese wasn't good enough to learn her name.
As for Japan as a destination our niece lived there for a couple of years, and we meant to get there while she was there. I also attended a couple of lectures on Japanese culture at uni and it fascinated me. Then while we were researching Japan we read the Sword and Chrysanthemum. This is an intriguing account of what the 'old' Japan was about. The sentence that really shocked me was that due to the fanatical fighting of the Pacific war, some American planners thought that they would have to bomb the mainland of Japan and kill most of the population. Luckily some people understood that all that was necessary was that the Emperor just had to say enough is enough.
It is one of the most fascinating places on the planet. I'd say it's better than India. Mainly because it's less hassle and misery.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Japanese gifts O Settai
This morning we heard a story on the radio about 10,000 Yen notes being left in toilets in Japan, here's a link to the story .
It is not uncommon for Japanese to assist people, especially pilgrims. They believe by helping others achieve good things they derive benefits from those good deeds. Pretty sound thinking by my account.
While walking around Shikoku we received such gifts on a number of occasions. One fellow stopped his car and gave us $10. Another occasion two women sat at a temple handing out $5 to all walking pilgrims. Some shops would not accept payment for drinks, fruit and food we wanted to purchase.
I can't think of a day that went by where some local didn't go out of their way to help us. So perhaps the dogma of religion doesn't totally eclipse the philosophy. Which in turn makes the community a better place.
It is not uncommon for Japanese to assist people, especially pilgrims. They believe by helping others achieve good things they derive benefits from those good deeds. Pretty sound thinking by my account.
While walking around Shikoku we received such gifts on a number of occasions. One fellow stopped his car and gave us $10. Another occasion two women sat at a temple handing out $5 to all walking pilgrims. Some shops would not accept payment for drinks, fruit and food we wanted to purchase.
I can't think of a day that went by where some local didn't go out of their way to help us. So perhaps the dogma of religion doesn't totally eclipse the philosophy. Which in turn makes the community a better place.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
More on Japan
I thought I should say more about our trip. After all we spent nearly 71 days there, walked over 1100 km's and saw an estimated 100 temples.
The first 49 days were spend wandering around Shikoku. There is a Buddhist pilgrimage that circumnavigates the island. This turned out to be the only time we were able to communicate with Japanese people who weren't involved in the tourist industry. It was pretty special; but hard and sometimes dangerous due to narrow roads and tunnels overrun with oversized trucks. The drivers of which were often staring at their mobile phones and texting away. One fellow was driving with his elbows to bang out the message faster.
That aside it is an amazing experience to get up every day and walk. I'm not sure if any walk would do the same. Since we've been back nothing is as much of an effort. It could be that the people of Shikoku, in the rural areas anyway, seem to work all the time. They appear calm, helpful and tenacious. Hard to explain.
The down side of all this though is that I'm finished with organized religion. After watching hundreds of people perform arcane rituals, watched over by priests taking donations, I'm convinced that God doesn't care what we do, what we believe and people can convince themselves of just about anything. I mean by and large the Zen Buddhists have a wonderful philosophy, of simplicity and deep understanding. Then they have rituals of burning this and secret hand gestures. It seems to me that the dogma of religions seems to contradict the philosophy to better serve the priests and monks.
The first 49 days were spend wandering around Shikoku. There is a Buddhist pilgrimage that circumnavigates the island. This turned out to be the only time we were able to communicate with Japanese people who weren't involved in the tourist industry. It was pretty special; but hard and sometimes dangerous due to narrow roads and tunnels overrun with oversized trucks. The drivers of which were often staring at their mobile phones and texting away. One fellow was driving with his elbows to bang out the message faster.
That aside it is an amazing experience to get up every day and walk. I'm not sure if any walk would do the same. Since we've been back nothing is as much of an effort. It could be that the people of Shikoku, in the rural areas anyway, seem to work all the time. They appear calm, helpful and tenacious. Hard to explain.
The down side of all this though is that I'm finished with organized religion. After watching hundreds of people perform arcane rituals, watched over by priests taking donations, I'm convinced that God doesn't care what we do, what we believe and people can convince themselves of just about anything. I mean by and large the Zen Buddhists have a wonderful philosophy, of simplicity and deep understanding. Then they have rituals of burning this and secret hand gestures. It seems to me that the dogma of religions seems to contradict the philosophy to better serve the priests and monks.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
New New Seachange
Greetings from the new new blog. I've decided to outsource the blog as it's easier to push images up here and point to them from this blog. It's also far more advanced that my old thing. If you want to check out the old one it's here, and the original one starts here
So we're back from Japan. Take a look at the piccies
So we're back from Japan. Take a look at the piccies
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