Well it is Feb 2nd and the second week of Chinese New Year is underway. I don't see anything going on during the week, but next weekend there are more shows scheduled, so I will be sure to make my way there then. Hopefully I will have time this week to get busy on our annual family letter if I can stay focused? I woke today with a stuffed head and swollen neck. Feels like a brick and hurts when I swallow so perhaps I had too much cold gusty air the last few days.
CJ and I went down to Chinatown on Saturday to see the shows, but sadly they were all cancelled due to the heavy rain that morning even thought it was now clear and sunny. We then walked through Chinatown shared a big steamed Bun with Pork filling and then made our way over to the Harbor area. We hadn't been that way since the kids were here on Christmas day.
On our way we passed the massage place I came upon the other day and a young man was outside trying to lure us in for a massage. We stopped to talk with him and I told him I have plans to come next week and that I wanted to set up a monthly appointment. He then went inside to get someone that could speak better English. So out came Asaka and the 4 of us had a nice chat. Come to find out the 1st guy Ando was a former Zen Buddhist and now he was in his new life as a massuse. You can bet I was very interested in that and hope I get to ask more questions of him in the future. I asked him if he had done the pilgrim walk around Japan and he said, "NO, all we do is sit! " Haha.. CJ and I thought that was so funny. He said he was 37 years old, yet it looked to me like he was 20 something. I guess the life of a monk suited him well. I was very curious as to how it is to massage women now when women are not even supposed to touch monks when presenting alms to them. Hum ? He went on to tell us he lived in Obama City and how they had a big celebration there in the day of Obama's inauguration. :-)
Asaka was a tall thin man and spoke very good english. He had lived in Hawaii for 3 years and learned alot of it there. I teased him that he learned it at the beach talking to all the women in their bikinis. Then a group of people came and so we bid them farewell so they could get back to work and make some money. I am looking forward to chat more when I go there for massages. They are the cheapest I found so far $50.00 for an hour. Other places are $80.
At the harbor the wind was blowing pretty good, yet many people were out and walking their little dogs. Some young girls were even dressed in shorts. These folks are quite hardy I'd say. I was all bundled up in 3 layers of clothes and still cold and they were bare legged. Crazy!
We then decided to go take a tour of the big ship that is docked here in the harbor. It was first a cruise ship, then a hospital ship after World War II and a cruise ship once again before being doocked here back in the 1960s. It was very interesting for me to see the engine room as I know nothing about big ships and how they work. Of course CJ had alot of explaining to do.
We then started to head home and ran into my animator friend Kosouke and family. I had not seen them since early October when his wife was still pregnant and now here they were with their 2 sons and the new baby was already 3 months old. They were doing very well and he was very busy making a new animated DVD video for kids. He is to complete that the end of February and then he wants to get together with us at their house. That should be fun. We talked for quite awhile in the cold blustery wind and I am now hoping they did not get sick as well. We stopped at my favorite Don Quioxte's for a few snack items,beer and some more incense sticks Eucalyptus and some other name I can not make out and then back home to warm up. I have come to love incense and burn some everyday. It is so relaxing and makes me feel cozy. I love all the different smells they have to try too.
Back home CJ and I had leftovers for supper and then we both fell alseep on the couch from all the fresh air. We woke later to find Memoirs of a Geisha on TV and I actually stayed awake through the whole thing. Amazing! I had seen it before, but it took on a while new meaning for me, since I have seen real live Geikos now in Kyoto.
It was a fun day and so nice to actually have some conversation with people again.
Sunday we slept in and hung out around the house till 2pm when the shows were to start. We got down to the park and it was very full of people and concession stands were busy as well. What a difference a day and the now sunny weather makes. There were people everywhere in Chinatown. It was sunny but a very cold, damp wind was still blowing and so we tried to stand in the sun as much as we could.
They started out with the same acrobat wielding his whip and then rolling on the tubes on top of the table. He had a different girl with him this time and she was a contortionist too and could put herself in those crazy over the head positions while she spun velvet red circles of fabric from her feet and hands. Unbelieveable. The Chinese folks here sure do get into the acrobats and they ooh and ahh and clap when they pose. Fun! Then the same dancer ladies came back and the girl in the purple from the other day did a new dance in a pink dress too. I hade seen it all before, but still enjoyed it again. CJ was a bit bored and wanted to go for a run so he went home and I stayed till the last hurrah..of course. So after the dancers they had a lady play a guitar like instrument while a man and women painted a chinese painting.
At the end of the shows they had door prize drawings for gift certificates from numerous restaurants and/or stores in Chinatown I am assuming? So I stood around and watched as their names were called off and then they would yell "Hei" for yes I am here. If the person was not there they did not get the gift. They were so cute as they quickly ran to the stage, covering their mouths like they do when smiling or excited. At the stage they showed their indentification cards and then claimed their money envelope while bowing to all around them. It reminded me of the little old German lady in The Sound of Music movie who kept on bowing after she got her flower bouquet...do you know what I mean? Haha
It was very interesting too, as the group of 4 people and 1 baby who were standing next to me all got called up there for a prize. First one girl and then she came back and about 3 people later her friend and right after that the guy that was with them. Then I looked at the girl and said "Maybe your next" and about 2 people later guess what?...yep she too got called. Now what are the odds of that happening? It was fun to watch them celebrate and laugh and giggle about their winning and good fortune. As I was getting ready to leave I saw a man walking his rabbit on a leash. Now that was a first for me. Cute though and the little kids in the park were very interested in it too.
As I left the park they were closing down the concession stands and were hawking the last of the chocolate covered banana people, cowboys they had so intricately made...It was a fun day despite the cold gusty winds, but I was very glad to get back home and warm up and relax in my incense filled house. Ahhh....
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