Jae For Japan

Monday blues?
Come listen to Jazz and blues over a wh***ey with me in Bar Somethin’, Asakusa.
Music by 80s movable toy figure made by Bandai

***eybar

Following up on my cup noodle review.
Here’s a review on the Sold-Out-Nationwide Nissin Cold Cup Noodle Kimchi Flavor!
And I tried it with the popular option of adding milk to it.
Well, not going well with a Singaporean’s taste bud for sure.
It kinda tasted like Laksa, but weak.
Maybe just adding ice water would be better.

Keep Jumping! Never Give Up! The Cherry Salmon’s life ordeal.
Most of the time habituates in coastal sea of Japan, during summer time the Cherry Salmon would swim upstream, jump over waterfalls to return to their birthplace: a cold, fast flowing gravel bed of fresh water up in the mountains.
At Sakura Falls of Hokkaido, we humans can witness schools of Cherry Salmons and their unwavering strong will to “fly”.

Beware though, this is the perfect buffet restaurant for lurking bears. Tourists should visit with caution.

#桜鱒

Takigyo, 滝行,瀑布修行, or Waterfall training. Probably the most Zen thing you can imagine doing in Japan.
I shaved my head previously to join a 3 days 2 night temple training with my son.

3 days in Tenkouji (天光寺), about an hour away from Tokyo city center, does not only involve waterfall training. Before setting off, there is a 100回参り, or pay respect 100 times, where one must shuttle run back and forth to pay respect to Kuukai (空海), or Namu daishi Henjou Kongou (南無大師遍照金剛), the founder of Buddhism in Japan.

Other time spent includes meditation, recital of sutra, 324 times of repeated action of gratitude1 showing etc.

The waterfall training itself was brutal. 20 minute walk uphill, or which over 10 minutes in Jungle path and stones and river stream, in slippers. On our first day’s return journey, heavy downpour occurred immediately.
On the second day I discovered a giant toad, or Ōgama (大蝦蟇), followed by a larger sized snake.
I can’t help but think, these two animals must be sent by the mountain and dragon king I was saying gratitude to during training.

I am not a Buddhist. I was told by my wife that we should let our son experience this. And I just went along. It wasn’t a bad decision at all.
Both myself and my son gained spiritual and mental growth, and in my case, physical energy spent.

This experience doesn’t have to be a 3d2n thingy. There are many local tourists who arrive at 1pm, and be done and leave by 5pm.

Would you like to be ZEN for a day?

#滝行 #修行 tokyo