#7495 Mountain Climbing. Yes, mountain climbing. The name ought to have been a bit of a clue. Climbing mountains. One of those activities people use as a metaphor for really difficult things. *headdesk*
So yes, in my enthusiasm for Appreciating God's Beautiful Creation in Which We Live on Easter day, I proposed that Liz and I hike up Houmonsan, the biggest mountain in the Fukuoka area at 829 metres above sea level. Not Fujisan at all, and certainly no Mount Everest. But then I am no Edmund Hillary.
So off we went, at nine thirty in the morning, bushy-eyed and bright-tailed into the jolly wilds of Mt. Houmon. It must have taken about an hour and a half just to get to the bottom of the mountain, which was something of an indicator of things to come. However, the trek through the woods did give us sufficient time to realise that setting geeks out in the Wilds can only draw parallels in our heads with RPGs, and spent much of the day playing out our own nerdtastic version of Final Fantasy VIII. Liz was Irvine and I was Squall. We weren't having any smelly girls in our party. ^_____________^ We managed to uncover the location of various enemies, including the Ultimate Weapon, who lived in the legendary porn shack. It's a shack, it sells porn. How can ebil not lurk there?
Also, camelia blossom acts as an effective substitute for phoenix down. Didn't know that, did you? ^________^
So yes, on the mountain I believe it took about five minutes before I realised this was going to be a very, very bad idea and began to regret ever entertaining any kind of notion that I could climb up anything high than a bunk bed. But, if there is any personal quality stronger within me than absolute aversion to physical exercise, it's blind stubbornness, and so on I plodded. At a rate to shame the most geriatric of turtles.
It wasn't hugely helped by the fact that every two minutes we were passed by groups of incredibly genki old people, who obviously trekked up and down the mountain every single weekend and were all the fitter than these weakling gaijin, thank you very much. @_@ They greeted us, without fail, with a cheery "Konnichiwa!" and very often "Ganbatte kudasai!". Which is just lovely if you're one third of the way up a mountain that they're two thirds of the way down already. @_@ It did amuse me, however, that over time the ganbatte kudasais gave way to "Mo sukoshi dake!" - "Just a little bit further!" Yeeeees. Someone said the same thing to me about an hour ago, actually. @_@
So we got to the top. The very, very top. The shiney "I've climbed over great big rocks with ropes on and nearly fallen arse over ankles down sheer faces" top. Where we sat and ate Lindt Easter eggs as a reward for four hours of walking. And enjoyed the absolutely phenomenal view. There is nothing quite like the view from nearly a vertical kilometre up. It's almost worth the hike.
You would think that the way down was relatively easy compared to up. Ahahahahahahaha. I can well and truly say that this is wrong. So wrong it physically pains me to recall it. I really had not considered that being exceptionally tired, plus mud, plus deteriorated faith in the integrity of my own legs might equal some difficulty in getting back down. @_@ Three hours again I don't think I could move my legs more than three inches at a time.
(We interrupt this broadcast for an actual quote from Liz :"WHERE HAS MY LIBERTY X GONE?" *headdesk*)
So yes. And now I ache so. very. much. I feel like I have aged by about ninety years in one day. This morning I didn't get off my futon until eleven thirty because I could not physically muster the effort to move. @_@ So I sat under my duvet and lamented the lack of cereals in my immediate situation.
Then I hobbled to work, taught people things they may not have known before, and made a mess of the classroom by rolling eggs. Or pitching eggs as it ended up being. It was actually the most fun I have had for a very, very long time, hurling eggs around and absolutely wetting ourselves laughing when we discovered they were only semi-cooked. And smashed in huge streaks all over the floor. ^________^
And then I came home and watched my own smattering of anime for the evening. Fate/Stay 15 was @_@, but I like the new opening much more than the first one. (Yes, @_@ is a perfectly cromulent word, why do you ask?) (Now I have just wasted half an hour looking at this and being far too amused.) And Binchotan, the bastard lovechild of Haibane Renmei and Bottle Fairy which may be as close as one can get to self-lobotomization without a scalpel. I could actually feel my brain waves shutting down. And yet I still want to watch more. *head. desk.*
Anyway. Now eat pie. Legs hurt.
This so wins Best Thread Anywhere Ever. This is why TV in this country is the BEST THING EVER.
spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler fate/stay night spoiler spoiler spoiler not that anyone cares but spoiler spoiler spoiler
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ARCHERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! :'(
You were my little white-haired, red-coated bishounen of the show. *cries* Why, Type-Moon, why?!
But if you're going to go out with a bang, Unlimited Blade Works is quite that, so they do get points for style.
So. Much. Glee. Why? Because I have spent most of my afternoon/evening watching absolute trash. ^_____________^ Trash that I will come right out and label as such before anyone else has the chance to point it out, but trash that is just so much fun I can't help myself. ^_______________^
(I have totally given up on the idea of making anyone else watch these things because I know they fall into the big box of Absolute Tosh that Katy Loves and Scant Other People Will. But hey, at least with two of these things I'm dragging Liz and D with me. ^__________^)
1. Fate/Stay Night. I have had an unhealthy obssession with the franchise for some time (I say unhealthy because I have absolutely no desire to play the game but it has gorgeous character designs o_0). So getting to watch the anime was more than a happy thing for me. Yes it's formulaic, no not a lot happens, but dang it, it has Rider and Assassin in! >_< Saber might just fit into that list, but I think of the Servants those two are my favourites. As far as Masters go, I have a severe soft spot for Ilya, in that "mad as a sack of ten year old cats" way. ^______^ And I love the whole Holy Grail tournament so much more than I should. Anyway, trash but pretty trash.
2. Saint Seiya Hades Chapter Inferno. NOT TRASH NOT! >_< I know no one will ever begin to love Saint Seiya anymore because there is just so dang much of it, but Inferno is just so good! ^________^ No, I don't understand all of it, watching on the DVDs from the video shop with no subtitles as we are, but it doesn't matter and has never really mattered with Saint Seiya. It's all about the shinies. ^________^
3. Tenjho Tenge. Oh the shame. I feel the shame so hard for this one. But dagnammit I love Tenjho Tenge so much. The opening makes me so very happy and frankly it doesn't really subside from thereon in. ^_____^ Nothing I can say about Tenjho Tenge will ever justify loving such a fanboy series, but it's. so. awesome.
So yeah, as Jane remarked to me earlier, being in Japan is not good for me. So many trashy shinies, so little time. But to be honest, I would rather watch the trashy, shiny, fanboyey things that make me happy. I'm a squillion miles from home and prone to being a misery guts, so why not indulge in a few of the things that make me love this country? Even if they are full of scantily-clad women and and fighting. ^_~
PS This is hypnotic and set as my desktop has hindered my doing almost anything all day. ^_______^
