August 22, 2002

There has been a death in Laura's family, and we are headed back to Canada immediately.

Keep in touch, hope all are well.

August 21, 2002

A weird day today...one that kept me very busy. We picked up a couple of Ikea chair clones which are insanely comfortable...maybe we won't be such fixtures in Starbucks anymore. That means that, as per Laura's earlier wish for a chair, only my desire for another cappuccino maker remains.

Don't laugh at me too hard, but I actually had an interview at a modeling agency today. Ha, ha, ha. Go ahead, laugh if you will...apparently I learned nothing in Sociology.

I also got all of the pictures developed...and boy am I going to be busy with the scanner. There were a tonne of great shots, so there's lots to see.

I didn't mention it before, either, but Laura and I went to the Hiroshima Peace Museum on our trip as well...a very sobering experience indeed. The anniversary of the two bombs just passed this month, so it was interesting to follow up all the coverage here with a visit to the museum.

Anyway, tomorrow I will put in a big effort to get a bunch of the new stuff up on the site.

August 20,2002

We're back! After 8 hours of travel time today, Laura and I have finally arrived back home in Kyoto. Our trip was absolutely amazing...and I think yesterday was probably the best day I have had so far in life. We managed to get back to Kyoto with only 5 yen to spare (about 6 cents).

There will be tonnes of pictures coming up very soon...got to go to work now, but hopefully tomorrow I'll get all the pictures developed from Daimon-ji, Hiroshima and Miyajima. Woo hoo!

I'm also really excited to have a shower at long last. Does it get any better?

August 16, 2002

Today is the Daimonji Ceremony in Kyoto, when five mountains surrounding the city will be set aflame to guide the souls of Japanese ancestors to paradise. It is part of O-bon, a period of ancestor worship throughout Japan. I will be putting up more information on this soon.

I finally finished The Passion of the Western Mind, which was absolutely fabulous even though it wasn't exactly a light read. Anyone interested in the intellectual history of the West should definitely give this one a go; it's a brilliant piece of work and a great primer on Western philosophy from 3,000 B.C. to the present.

I'm thinking of adding a 'books' section to the site, with a few reviews and suggestions, etc. I've had a lot of time to read, and have polished off some great books, so why not share?

August 15, 2002

Well, we finally got paid, and that means we can get the rest of our film developed! Woo hoo!

This promises to be an unbelievably expensive month, however, as we have solid plans for the next little while. The money just went into our accounts at midnight, and I was there at 8a.m. when the bank opened to take out 80,000 yen...about 900 dollars. Let the games begin...

Keep an eye open here, as we will be doing some really crazy stuff over the next week... ;)

August 13, 2002

Well, our trip up into Kurama and Kinone was fantastic, and we had a tonne of fun. Unfortunately, it has also left us broke, and we can't develop the film until Thursday...I'll put the pictures up shortly after that.

This weekend coming up is our trip to Hiroshima. We've decided against buying a tent for now...it turns out you can rent them on the island...and we also found out that you can buy Ikea-like chairs here. That prospect is altogether too tempting.

August 11, 2002