Last Thursday I went to Sumo in Osaka.  It was pretty cool.  I was surprised because a lot of the people there weren't that big.  The Sumo tournament takes place over several weeks in the month and everyday begins at 9 and ends at around 6, so I came around 11 and stayed for the rest of the day.  I had to skip my Japanese class too so I felt kinda bad about that.  In the morning its all the lower ranked guys so like the place was virtually deserted and you can sit anywhere.  At first  I went to my assigned seat which was like 30 bucks and it was like in the nosebleed section, but since no one was there I met my friend Mark (who came earlier than me) and we watched the lower ranked sumo wrestlers go at it for a while and we were like in the second row right next to the judges and sumo assistants and stuff.  It was pretty cool.  The lower ranked sumo wrestlers couldn't do anything cool though like throw salt or perform any ceremonial dances or anything, because their ranks wouldn't allow it.  The referees for the lower ranks also weren't that dressed up in that cool kimono looking costume because they're not allowed to either.  They aren't even allowed to wear socks or shoes.  Very hierarchical sport if you ask me.  The place started to get a lot more crowded at around 4 pm when the medium to higher ranking sumo wrestlers started.  We were still sitting in the 2nd row because no one kicked us out yet, but people were starting to take their seats around us.  One lady who sat next to us could speak almost perfect english so she tried to start up conversation with us.  Turns out that she spent several years studying at Juliard during the 70's and now she was a piano teacher at one of the colleges in Osaka.  She told us some interesting things about sumo.  Like how the Yokuzuna has a belt of rope around him when performing ceremonies because he is sacred.  And she taught us the the higher ranking sumo wrestlers can throw salt to purify the ring and that the higher level sumo wrestlers are backed by companies and the companies bet on the outcome of sumo matches.  How much is being bet on the match is represented by the number of flags presented around the ring before the match.  She also told us the current Yokozuna is this guy, Asashoryu, from Mongolia.  The ozeki (second highest ranked sumo wrestlers) and the Yokozuna wrestle during the last few rounds so around that time the whole place was packed and we were kicked out of our seats and I had to return to my seat in the nosebleed section, where basically they stuck all the foriegners.  The last matches were pretty cool though.  There were a few upsets where some ozeki lost to lower ranked sumo wrestlers but of course the last match featured the yokozuna, and of course he won, but it looked like a close match to me.  Everyone in the stands was cheering for the other guy because he was Japanese.  It's a matter or national pride like always.  I had fun and it was worth it to spend my day there.  I bought a nice colorful program that featured the sumo wrestlers.  I'd think it be cool to follow the sport more and learn more about it.  It would be real nice to come back again with Pat, because I know he likes sumo, or Jenny.  Now I also really want a pair of those sumo suits that you see at carnivals so I can do some sumo wrestling of my own.  I wonder where you can get those  things...

I can't post any pics now, but I promise to next time when I get back home.  Coming back in 11 days. Can't wait to see the Jenny again.

Picture Time.  These past weeks, I haven't done anything too special but last wednesday I decided to get out of Osaka for a change and go to the countryside of Japan, so I made a reservation beforehand to go to the Northern part of Kyoto pref.  to a little part of Japan known as the Tango Peninsula.  I went as part of a "Crab Bus" tour.  Ok, I can explain.  It's not some bus that looks like a crab, but Tango is known for some of the best crab in Japan (Zuwaigani) so I decided to check it out.  The price was pretty good.  For 10,500 yen (a little less than 100 bucks) I took care of transportation, 3 meals, an onsen fee (bath fee) and a free gift.  Not too bad. 

Unfortunately, I had to wake at the crack of dawn though because the bus left Nanba at 7:30 a.m.  When I boarded the bus it was mostly filled with Japanese senior citizens.  I was definitely the only young guy there, except for the tour guide.  The bus trip took longer than I expected.  It was pretty quick getting out of Osaka because of the highways leading out of the city but after you get out of the urban areas, the roads get really tiny and there are traffic lights and stuff so it was pretty slow going after that.  The trip wasn't that bad though because of the sights from the bus.  I only really seen the mountains of Japan from afar in my office building but I got to see them up close a lot more when we were passing through.  They were all filled with bamboo and cypresses and stuff.  It made me feel like I wanted to go hiking or something and breathe in the fresh air, but I guess I could always come back and do that some other time.  The tour guide was also talking about the mountains and the history of Japan.  I heard something about Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu and she was talking about some river that we were crossing and some mountain that she was trying to point out but I didn't gather too much about what she was saying.  My Japanese still isn't so good.  When you travel to inland Japan and up to the North coast of Japan it also gets a lot colder apparently so I got to see snow.  It made for some really beautiful scenery.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a window seat so I couldn't take any pictures.  We also made a lot of stops going both to and from Tango, I guess out of consideration to the old folks, but I didn't mind too much.  It let me get out and stretch my legs.  Actually at one of the stops, a middle aged woman asked me to take a photo of her small group so I did and then she kinda asked me the usual questions that Japanese people ask foreigners.  "Where are you from?"  "How long have you been here?"  "What do you do?  "How long are you staying?"  She was alright though, but I had to use my Japanese because she didn't know any Englsih.  So I got to try out my Japanese.  Good Practice :)  When I told her I was a Nova teacher and have been here for about 10 months, she got all impressed and made me take a picture with her daughter.  She told me to give her my address so she can mail me a copy of the picture so hopefully when I get back to NY, I can await my picture from some random Japanese woman's daughter...strange.

Finally got to the hotel where we would be having our Crab lunch around Noon.  The hotel was called Hanagozen.  It was a pretty good looking hotel considering we were basically out in the middle of nowhere.  It's very strange that the South shore of Japan is like totally industrialized and urban but the Northern shore of Japan is pretty natural.  We got off the bus and were immediately seated down for lunch.  The lunch was almost all crab.  It was very good I have to say, but I don't think it tasted like anything special though.  The kani chawamushi was particularly good, and I started off with that.  Then they had raw crab which tasted better than I thought when dipped into soy sauce.  Grilled crab which was also good.  They also had assorted raw fish and ama-ebi (sweet shrimp) which were also ok but too much of a hassle to eat because you had to take off their heads and peel them open.  The meal was finished off with kani-nabe which I couldn't finish because I was getting too full.  It was a big lunch.  I don't think I have eaten that much crab before, but I think Japanese crab isn't all too much to scream about.  I'll take my Dad's sauteed soft shell blue claw crab's anyday to a Zuwaigani.  After lunch, I got to take a quick dip in the bath which was pretty peaceful.  Japanese baths are nice and pretty.  I hope I can have something like it in my future house.  Kind of takes your mind away from things and makes you just relax.  After my bath I took a stroll to get a glimpse of the Japan Sea.  The only other chance I got to look at it was on the plane when I went to Korea.  Actually it wasn't too much to look at, but at least I can say that I got to see it.  Here are some pictures of Tango!

Hanagozen.

Outside garden at the hotel.

Ippai Kani!

Random Japanese people chowin down in the main eating area of the hotel.

Nihonkai.

The return trip was really much the same as the trip getting back there except that we stopped at this big crab shop so all the people could buy there own crab and stuff.  I kinda just walked around. We also had a barazushi bento box for dinner on the trip back which was a specialty of Tango.  It was basically vinegared rice with ground meat, eggs, and shitake mushrooms on it but it was pretty good.  I ate all of it.  Got back home at 8 pm because there was traffic getting into Osaka. 

The crab was ok and the bath was nice but I think the money was worth it because I got to get away from urban Japan and see the countryside.  Saw the snow-covered mountains at sunset going home and it was beautiful so I thought of Jenny.  Maybe one day Jenny and I can come back and have a crab adventure of our own.

My Korea Trip

Well I decided to take a 3 day trip to Korea because I was thinking that since it's so close, I might as well check it out, so I took one of my vacation days and wisked off to Seoul.  My first impression of Seoul was that it was like a ghettofied Japan.  Japan just seemed neater and more organized.  Korea was more open but kinda looked dirty and a little slummy, but then again I did spend my first night in like a kinda ghetto area.  One thing that I did like about Korea was that the food was pretty good and the prices in Korea are pretty nice, comparted to the prices in Japan, except for the time when I got ripped off by the Korean taxi driver dude who drove me from Incheon Airport to Hapjeong Station. 

I decided to be cheap during my stay in Korea.  The two nights I stayed there, I spent them in Motels.  The first one cost me like 38,000 won a night and the second one I stayed at cost me 30,000 won a night.  The current exchange rate is 1 dollar for 1,156 won so I think it added up to a good deal.  Granted that the motel rooms were pretty slummy, but there were no cockroaches, hot running water, and I got to watch at least one tv channel in English thanks to the AFN (American Forces Network).  I only got to spend one full day in Korea so thats when I did my sightseeing.  I went to the soulleung area, which is the nicer area of Korea I guess because there were big building and fancy hotels.  I ate at Jackie Chan's restaurant "Jackie's Kitchen" which was ok.  I had fried spring rolls and barbeque pork fried rice.  I thought it was pretty good.  Then I headed towards the COMEX mall and went to the Kimchi Museum, which was kind of disappointing and the COMEX Aquarium, which was not as disappointing but definitely not as good as the one in Osaka.  At least I got to see sharks and a clownfish though.  One thing the Seoul has was a lot of internet cafes, so I was always able to get internet access when I wanted it...pretty cheap too like 2,000 won for an hour.  Then my feet were getting tired so I went back to my hotel only a few subway stops away and got an awesome bowl of bi bim bap with ban chan for like 4 bucks.  Can't beat that!  Then I just fell asleep and went back to Japan the next day.  Short trip but a worthwhile experience i guess.

I should have taken Jenny's advice when she told me to go to that pretty Korean palace where the Empress used to live but I guess we can save that until we are together.  So I guess I didn't have enough time to properly assess what I thought about Korea but I do think I would like to come again and learn more about it and the culture and hopefully next time I can say more than just an yeung ah say oh and kam sam ni da, but I doubt it.

Nice area of Seoul.

A little dark but these are big Korean pots that are used to store delicious kimchi.

I thought this was cool.  It's a straw hut that has kimchi pots in and a Korean mini garden at the Kimchi museum.

Clown fish with sharks. 

Went back to Kyoto today to do some sight seeing.  I started the day early and got on the train around 10 from Osaka station and while I'm about half way there, I suddenly I got an email from Jenny telling me "omg hunnie...don't go to Kyoto!!!"  I thought like maybe there was another sarin gas attack from some weird cult again like there was in Tokyo before so she got me really scared.  Turns out that she wanted me to work on my resume that day instead because her cousin might be able to hook me up with a job for the MLB, which would be really cool.  Thanks Jenny and Winnie, but you scared me!  So I will send my resume, and hopefully I can get the job.  Fingers crossed.

So I finally got to Kyoto Station and I made the whole day devoted to going around to different Buddhist Temples in the Northwest Part of Kyoto near the mountains so I had to take the bus all the way from Kyoto Eki which is in the south to the Northern part of Kyoto wich was like a 20 minute bus ride and I'm not really used to taking buses so it was a little scary especially when everything is in Japanese and you're by yourself, but I was able to get there ok.  The thing is with buses is apparently you have to give exact change to the machine which i didn't know so when I threw in a 500 yen coin in for a 220 yen bus ride the attendant kind of grumbled me and had to give me the change back all in 10 yen coins which didn't make either of us very happy so I was slightly embarrassed, but like I said I was able to get up there in the close vicinity of my first destination which was a temple called Myoshinji.  The bus stop that I decided to get off was a good walk away though and I kind of had to walk through a residential area with narrow winding streets which made me feel like I was getting lost but my sense of direction prevailed.  Its a good thing I can somewhat read Japanese maps though or I would have really been in trouble.  Myoshinji is basically known for its collection of scroll paintings and a zen landscape garden, which I was looking forward too.  The temple, I heard from my guidebook, had a very famous ink scroll painting that I actually learned about in an art history class that I took at NYU, but unfortunately this temple was like a big friggin maze.  I did however see a group of high school students taking a tour and of course the little school girls were giggling...at me.  Then the tour guide said ..."Minai de...Gaijin wa kowai desu yo."  which basically means "Don't look at the Gaijin.  Gaijin are scary."  so that made me a little upset.  I also realized by this point that my beautiful new digital camera that I bought was out of batteries because I forgot to recharge it.  So so far I was not having such a great time and worst of all, I couldn't find the garden that I wanted to see in the first place so  Myoshinji was a big bust.  Never going there again.  There was really nothing there to take a picture of anyway.

The next place I went to was much better.  This was a temple called Ninna-ji, which was only like a 5 minute walk away from Myoshinji.  This temple also had a garden and a beautiful 5 story pagoda so I had a good feeling about this one and I decided to buy a camera so I could actually take pictures.  Sorry guys, you're just going to have to wait to see them when I come back.  I first took a look at the temple grounds which was pretty ordinary, except for a pretty big sakura grove, but all the trees were bare because its winter.  It must be really really nice to see in the spring.  The five story pagoda was hard to miss.  Then I made my way to the landscape garden which was really good.  I saw some good screen paintings.  Someday when I get old and retired, I think I'm going to take up ink painting.  It looks really nice.  The garden also had a small rock garden and a pond, which reminded me of the Japanese garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, but only smaller.  There was also a lot of moss, which is a basic trademark of Kyoto temples.  So Ninna-ji was pretty good and I left there feeling a little better.

Then I made my way over to the next temple and probably one of Kyoto's most well known temples....Ryoan-ji.   Ryoan-ji's claim to fame is in it's zen rock garden.  I have seen this rock garden many times before in that same art class i mentioned before so I was a little excited to see it in person.  Before you get to the rock garden, you have to go around this huge pond in the front of the temple.  It kind of looked a little dreary because it was winter, but it must look nice in the spring, summer, and fall.  I think I picked a bad time to do my sightseeing, but I did see a few swans swimming around in it and I immediately though about Jenny.  ::swan swan::  They had and Island in the middle of the pond of course by keeping up with tradition which you could actually cross onto over a stone bridge.  Then I finally got to the rock garden and there were more high school students giggling and chatting so it was kind of hard to meditate when looking at the rocks like my guide book suggested, but I snapped a few pictures and looked at them for a while.  Looked exactly like the pictures that I saw in my class' textbook, but in color   It was pretty cool though.  The thing that I liked about Ryoan-ji the best though is that it has a ton of moss in it's stroll garden.  It looks so nice.  Even in winter, everything was green.  I love moss.  Instead of a lawn, I want moss on my future property.  Its still green, it makes things look old and comfy, and you don't have to cut it.  I took some really nice pictures there I think.  So far I think one of my favorite temples in Kyoto, but I still haven't been to Kiyomizu-dera yet, which I also heard is really nice.

Next up was Kinkaku-ji, which I have been to before and posted picutres.  I went because it was almost dusk and I wanted to see the golden pavilion light up with the rays of  the setting sun.  It was pretty nice and I got to see the huge big fat koi again  That's another thing that I want in my house.  A pond with a waterfall and big fat koi in it.  It makes me feel relaxed.  Also Kinkaku-ji's garden also has a good amount of moss in it, which i like, but not as much as Ryoan-ji had.  I also bought Jenny and I a cell phone charm with our Chinese Zodiac signs from the gift shop.  One monkey and one pig.  Hope she likes it.  I was kind of disappointed because the mochi guy wasn't there.  Last time I went there was this guy selling strawberry filled mochi candies which were really good and I wanted to buy some but he wasn't there.  :(  Oh well.  Didn't spend much time at Kinkaku-ji though because I've had already been there.

Then I made my way to my last stop which was Daitoku-ji....a pretty far walk from Kinkaku-ji....about 30 minutes and I didn"t spend much time there at all either because it was getting late and it seemed to look a lot like Myoshiji....a lot of buildings but none that you could get into.  This temple complex is known for it's tea ceremony, which isn't something that really interests me...so I just left cause I was starting to get tired and hungry and it was getting late and I was figuring that the temple was going to close soon anyway.  It wasn't until after I left and was taking the bus back to Kyoto Eki, that Daitoku-ji also had a pretty famous rock garden....actually 4 rock gardens, each representing the 4 seperate seasons, that I wanted to see, but totally forgot so I was kinda bummed.  I don't know if I'll get back there either because it's kind of out of the way from all the other spots in Kyoto that I haven't been to yet and want to see before I leave.  Maybe Jenny will go back there with me one day and we can have fun gazing and discussing about rocks....

But anyway that's my day.  Just finished writing my resume and I'm going to do my Japanese homework because I have a class tomorrow.  Gotta learn that Japanese because I may need it for this job that Jenny's cousin is trying to hook me up with.

Ganbarimasu.  Minna....ja mata!

Well, It's finally a new Year.  2003 was a really interesting year, I have to say.  Some good things about it and some bad things too, but I guess every year is that way.   I would have to say the worst thing about 2003 is Nova.  I thought working in Japan would be a lot of fun, but it really turned out to be a big disappointment.  Not due to culture shock or adjusting to Japan really....I mean I like living here.  It's just that when I was interviewed, the recruiter at Nova announced promises that turned out empty in the end.  Nova also tries to rip off their employees in as many ways as possible.  As far as jobs go, I actually think I enjoyed working in the movie thearter more than working at Nova, even though Nova pays me a lot more.  Dude, I got free movies.  I don't get free anything with Nova, which sucks big time.  It's a shame I don't like my job, but then again it's only for another 3 months.  I can do it.  Another tough thing about the 2003 was living so far away from home.  It's tough not to see your family and your g/f for long periods of time after being accustomed to seeing them nearly everyday.  But overall, I think I have done pretty well with maintaining a long distance relationship.  Jenny too.  She's such a strong person.  Stronger than me probably.  Despite her small insecurities that she has, she really has a strong character that I think made this relationship come as far as it has so far. 

There are also good things about 2003.  I like living in Japan.  It's pretty convenient living in Osaka since there are so many things to do like eat, shop, go watch movies, go to USJ, etc.  Even though I had to do things mostly on my own (would have been nice if the Jenny was with me) it was still fun.  I've been able to travel somewhat in the Kansai area as well, which was interesting.  Kyoto is still my favorite city in Japan.  It's so pretty.   Jenny and Patrick also coming to visit me when I was here were major highlights as well.  I was also very happy when I came back home to see my family and the Jenny.  I spent Christmas Eve and Christams with my family and Jenny, had a Capuozzo reunion at my house, relaxed, went on a city date with Jenny, met Uncle Phil, Joe, and Queenie, ate a New Years dinner with Jenny and family, learned some Catonese, and got sick.  So yeah, aside from the last thing, my trip back home for a couple of weeks was a success.  It's a shame I couldn't see any of my TEP Bros though.  We really should plan something so we can get together again sometime.

So what are my hopes for 2004?  I would say that my priorities lie with coming home as soon as I can (April) so I can be close to family, friends, and the Jenny again.  Then, find a nice job so I can support myself again.  And if I'm really lucky, Maybe I can go appartment shopping by the end of the year  if all goes according to plan.  My New Years resolution was to make a big effort to cut my personal and student loan debt down as much as I could so I will have to set some goals for myself.  If I can, I would like to continue learning Japanese somehow either with a private tutor or going to Berlitz or something.  Another big hope, maybe not for this year but possibly 2005, is to return to Japan again with the Jenny and go to all the places I haven't been to yet....Tokyo (Disneyland), Okinawa, Hokkaido, Himeji, etc.  There are so many places so hopefully we can plan something out.  Maybe I can help her to continue learning Japanese too if she continues to teach me Chinese.  I also want to speak with Jenny's mom more.  So many things to do...I can't even think of all of them.  Hopefully, at least 50 percent of my goals will come to fruition if I put my mind to it.  Well thats about it for now.  Hopefully, I'll have some pictures for next time.