After seeing the Matrix I stayed up and chatted until the wee hours last night, so I slept until 3:30 this afternoon. As a result, I did pretty much nothing today except go to the grocery store and cook a little meal from my Men's Cooking book. Businesses really need to start staying open later if they want the distinct honor of my patronage on days like this.
That picture is at Mt. Shosha in Himeji, where there is a giant line of Buddhas, some of them decorated by admirers. I imagine the decorators were mostly children, as the work ranged from full dress-up costumes to matchbox cars (presumably so that the Buddha can drive to Nirvana in style, albeit tiny style) to this keychain of Astro Boy.
As I mentioned in my caption to Nijo Castle in Kyoto, I can now boast of having slept inside a castle. I took the night bus to Kyoto, and if the erratic and spastic jerks and swerves are any indication, my driver was some kind of coked-out maniac. As a result, I only got a few hours' sleep on the bus and was exhausted when we miraculously rolled into Kyoto at 6:30 AM, all in one piece. Nonetheless, I immediately started my madcap tourist binge with Higashihon-ji, which opens at 6 every day. Still, by the time I walked the three or four miles to Nijo castle, I was rather exhausted. Realizing that it was still only about 8:30 at this point didn't fill me with glee at the prospect of spending a full day in this numbed state, but undaunted I bought my ticket and stumbled around the castle for a few minutes before discovering this beautiful little grove of trees with nice wooden benches laid out by the local Lion's Club. Recognizing that this was clearly some kind of serendipity, I didn't fight my natural urge to curl up on one of the benches and sleep for two hours. I found out that I can go from zero to hobo in exactly ten seconds, or the time it takes to collapse on a bench and shove a satchel under your head. I'm quite certain that the Japanese tourists took many an amused picture of Sleeping Gaijin, but that really only gets me back for taking pictures of their signs and clothing all the time.
- Gyaa! I'm give up
