Ow?

Spent the day at the Dragonhill Spa yesterday. After soaking in every kind of bath that wasn't hot enough to boil me alive, I decided to go for the Back/Shoulders Oil Massage in the "Relaxation Hall." It was 70 minutes, ridiculously cheap, and many parts of it I very much enjoyed. However, there was a 20-minute warm-up Sports Massage to kick it off and "relax the body..." I assume it's only meant to start working after it's done, as you are so relieved that the torture has ended you can't do anything else but go limp. The surly-looking lady at the front desk did it, and I feel like she was working off all of her job frustration on every crevice of my back. Ensuing 50-minute treatment by a younger and gentler woman and full day of lying in tubs notwithstanding, this morning I woke up feeling as if I'd been beaten around the neck and shoulders with a very big stick, possibly studded with iron lumps.

My back feels great, though! And I smell pretty and my skin is quite refreshed, so all in all good deal.

Today we are undoing all of yesterday's possibly-therapeutic bumming around and hiking up a mountain, after visiting the International Zen Center. I am armed with a couple bananas, some sunflower seeds, a full canteen of water, my sketchbook, pencils, inks, and pastels.

Lazy Sunday

Last weekend was pretty busy - Chieko, a part-time teacher who used to work at Shima & might be coming back next year (yey!) drove me all about Ise shopping for apartment things, and we visited Naiku, one of two grand shrines in the city dedicated to the highest Shinto god & goddess (Naiku is the goddess shrine). Monday was my epic smash-and-grab run to Nagoya, which left me pretty exhausted.

So I declared this weekend a write-off, and I feel pretty good about that. It's not that I haven't gotten anything done - AJ and I picked up stuff for our various Halloween classes at the 100-yen shop yesterday, and I found the last pieces to my costume at Jusco, the Target of Japan - but I've gotten stuff done at my own pace, and with a minimal amount of getting out of bed & leaving the apartment :b

Today I absolutely needed to do laundry; it's one of those two-weeks-and-then-some laundry days. So that was my work for today, it's been all PJ's & internets & books & idle crafts otherwise. Unfortunately the weather people lied and it still rained a little bit today, but not hard enough to actually get the balcony wet. It was a lazy kinda rain, the kind you're not even sure is there because you hear some leaves rustling, but it could just be the wind. Only there was no wind today. The world seems to be sleepy.

It FINALLY got chilly, too, which made me so happy I opened all my windows to welcome it ( > w < ) And I got to put on my brand new PANDA SLIPPERS --->
They are fuzzy little bear-cubes of happiness. I got them at this wonderful little local chain store called Party House, which is kinda like a K-Mart but about the size of a Wal-Greens. It packs an incredible amount of stuff into a small store, and it's all really cheap! As you can see, they have some pretty awesome finds, too, not just discounted crap. In fact those nifty-looking floor-cushions you see in the picture were also bought at Party House :3

Currently listening to: The Beatles ~ I Am The Walrus
I wanna watch "Across the Universe" now . . . but I don't have it :c