shivers

"Snow!! Woot!" ...after the initial happy-jumping-and-childish-hooting that occurs on the first day of snow in winter, I realized..."hey, that snow is pretty wet"...and soon after..."hey, thats not wet snow, thats freezing rain!!!" oh dear....and, so, my planned day of hiking was off...

So, another cold day in Kofu began. I started feeling cabin feaver in my cold apartment by 2pm, so I headed out (with umbrella, leg warmers, arm warmers, gloves, thick socks, hat, scarf, and rubber boots, in addition to my regular attire).

I must, grudgingly admit, there was a kind of beauty to the quiet stillness of the deserted streets (everyone else was cuddling up next to their warm, working, heaters...grrrr).

Oh dear, I trapsed through various temples and saw a huge statue of the goddess Kannon...she is another Bodhisattva like Jizu, but she helps people more on the earthly realm, not after death. She was massive in size and her loose dress exposed more than a little of her ample boosum (sorry guys, I didn't have a camera with me :). On the top of her pretty head there was a little buddha hanging out in lotus position.

At another temple, where you are to wash your hands, there was this awesome stone dragon with his mouth gaping open over the cistern. Because of the rain falling down from above, the dragon was soaking wet. Every few moments, a little drop of water would splash down from his sharp jaws to the water below. Awesome.

Eventually I made my way into Kofu city and had a cup of Tiramasu Latte (seriously, one of the most delicious drinks I have ever had the pleasure of consuming) at Tully's Coffee (a little japanese-version of starbucks near Kofu station). I also discovered that all the shops around Kofu station were having mad sales. Oh dear, so I did a bit of shopping (what, they had necklaces for only 100 yen!! / 1$). Yes, and I got some really warm mittens with strawberries knitted on them (my thin little gloves were just not cutting it). I have actually been really good about not spending money recently. All since I have made up little goals about things I actually want to do with it (go to Thailand next winter and save up to go back to school, being high on my list).

Later this evening I was planning on going over to visit my friend Lynn (she lives about 15 min by bus from me). But, due to a series of missadventures (including missing a bus, getting soaking wet, and forgetting my cellphone at home) I have ended up staying in tonight. Oh well, things are look brighter for tomorow; Lynn and I, as well as Kelsey (who I was going to go hiking with today), are heading out to iceskating at a place called Kose sports park. That should be interesting...seeing I haven't laced up skates since i was 10 years old! Oh dear. It shall be amusing, if nothing else. We may just head out for karaoke after, which i luv, so it is all good.

Sorry for the lack of excitiment...oh dear, oh dear...on the upside, my cold is on the mend. I shall promise to report back to you all only when I have some real news, instead of just blather...okay that is enough, I will go....take care, happiness to you all....