A Written Oracle

Visiting a shrine in Japan is a must! It's really fun, especially if you read manga or watch anime because you are able to experience what you read or see. But before I was able to enter however, I had to cleanse myself by the well right outside the entrance of the shrine. It was basically just rinsing my hands and gargling the ice cold water from the well. After that, I was able to get myself omikuji for 100 yen, which is a 'written oracle' or fortune. People who receive bad luck or those who want to improve their luck can tie their omikuji on the racks. I got excellent fortune and had the option to keep it with me. But as much as I wanted to keep my fortune as memorabilia, I also really wanted to experience tying my fortune on the rack, and so I did.

There were also some racks filled with wooden boards and writing one them. I don't quite know how that works. I can only infer that people can buy those wooden boards from the shrine (the Rilakkuma sold for 500 yen per piece), write a wish on them and hang it on one of the racks. I should have just bought the Rilakkuma board and brought it home with me, ha ha. While I was there, I was also able to witness a little procession. Never did I expect to see shrine maidens, but I did and just look how pretty they are! Do shrines sell these costumes?

Oh, and some trivia: I learned from my tour guide that when entering a shrine or someone's home, it's common courtesy to not step on the line seperating the inside from the outside. If I remember correctly, he explained that the line is where the god flows. Something like that.. :3

Where the Wild Things Are

No doubt the wild things are found outside! And outside is a place I haven't been to lately.. So my boyfriend and I took a little stroll around my neighborhood.

Please welcome the latest addition to me and my boyfriend's army of cutie-pies! Maybe you can recognize him? He is Rilakkuma's chick-friend. It was given to me for our anniversary, tee hee. I love the nostrils. I'm thinking of naming it Chickadee. Or Nostrils, perhaps.

These pictures don't show how cool the sky was. You could see the rays of light so clearly. I also find it so amazing when the sky is somehow is pink, purple, orange and blue at the same time.

I took a couple of pictures from the plants in my garden. I love squishing these tiny, red plump things. It makes such a nice blotch on the ground. As if a tiny tomato exploded, or popping a huge zit. Or something.

My boyfriend and I also met Abet, the cute Pomeranian! The person walking him told us he was owned by foreigners, and that he gets to stay in an air-conditioned room. What a pampered dog.

So that is the end of our wonderful day in the wilderness. Wilderness being any place that is not my room or a mall and has some, you know. Wild stuff. I hope you all had a great day yourselves!

On a less positive note, I recently got into a car accident. It was my first one. No one was injured, thankfully, however the gravity of it all has inflicted much stress on me. I can't sleep at night. Damn the driver that hit my car. DAMN HIM.

I want to hibernate like the trees.

If only life permitted me to do what I want. All I really want to do is draw, take pictures, paint, BLOG, but I feel like I can't. For some reason, time is passing by much more quickly, and I can't seem to find a moment of peace. Not to mention I have a glut of work to do in school. There always seems to be a test I have to study for, a paper due, a project to be done. And if I do have some time to myself, there is always the sound of a clock ticking at the back of my mind. I end up wasting my time being unproductive. Thinking of work is such a turn off. I want to rest.

Just a little preview of my Rilakkuma photo collection~

By the by, I am starting to get worried about how the Internets is becoming so irresponsible with copyright and stuff. I don't want my Rilakkuma pictures to be stolen! My preciousssss. I am considering adding a watermark to my unprofessional photographs. Weheartit is great and all, but I don't appreciate not being credited for pictures I've taken.