Wing Chun Kung Fu in Osaka
February 28, 2008
I’ve been googling everything Wing Chun lately and found the lack of information quite appalling. Anyway, I just wanted to let the world know that there is at least our Wing Chun class going on in Osaka and Kyoto that is English-friendly. (日本語ã?§ã‚‚ã?„ã?„ã?‘ã?©)
The class currently takes place once a week on Saturday from 3pm very close to Kitakagaya Station. The class has only been running for a few months so space is still available. You can contact me directly and I’ll refer you to Sifu Steve. I’m handling the web requests. I’m more than happy to answer any questions that you might have.
To answer some of the possible questions that might come up:
- the class is very relaxed
- monthly fees are very reasonable
- Sifu Steve is very welcoming of anyone and will wholeheartedly teach everything he knows
- Sifu Steve allows you to refer to him as “Steve”
- dress code is very relaxed: no strict uniform requirements
- the venue where we practice is not the biggest place but it’s enough (it’s a dance studio). It does not have any equipment (like a wooden dummy) but Sifu Steve brings a lot of gear to class each week
- In my humble opinion, WC is a very effective martial art. With the right training and application, anyone, regardless of size, age, or experience, can become effective in combat.
We’re waiting for you!
Goodbye backpack
February 15, 2008
Today I formally say goodbye to my most loyal backpack. I discovered a hole about the size of a bottle cap at the bottom. Given time that hole would grow and grow until all my posessions would come crashing out in a panicked escape.
I bought this Firefly backpack with an orange top and black and gray body in my third year of university in preparation for my trip to Japan. That was in 2000, a whole 8 years ago. Since then, my lovely backpack has been to many places including Canada, America, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Saipan, and many many adventures within these countries.
I had only recently found new ways to make the backpack more useful, using various carabiners (the kind that you can’t use for rock climbing), chains, and clips. The main point of this was to attach my camera to my bag and have it within easy access so that I could whip it out at the first sight of something interesting to shoot. It worked great in Kumamoto a couple weeks ago when I was consistently switching between my camera, an umbrella, and the city map.
Well, today I bought a new backpack – North Face Recon bag – a similar sized backpack with many pockets and dividers and clips. It’s in a nice gray color and I can only imagine the journeys it will be taking me on. It came at a stiff 8500 yen though. My Firefly backpack was a very modest $20 when I bought it. In a commemorative way, I removed clips that were fastened inside the Firefly and plan to stitch them into the Recon.
Goodbye Firefly, I shall be laying you to rest tomorrow by sending you on your last journey beginning from the trash can and ending God only knows where. Very soon I shall be saying goodbye to my pair of very trusty shoes, not as old, but just as worn out and experienced as my backpack.
Kyushu weekend
February 04, 2008
I can finally cross Kyushu island off my list of places to go! A simple invitation from Kyle was all it took for us to spend a short and sweet 2 and a half day weekend in western Japan. I’ve always wanted to visit Kyushu and wished we only had more time to explore more places. We only had enough time to see Kumamoto City, Fukuoka City (Hakata), and Mojiko in Kitakyushu.
The lady took this opportunity to visit some work-related places and thus I had a couple hours on my own on Saturday and Monday.
Kumamoto
I found Kumamoto to be a snug and small little city with its own pace of life. Compared to Osaka, everything seemed much more relaxed. We had our first bowl of Kyushu ramen in a place called Kokutei é»’äº. We waited about 20 minutes before the noodles came – something unheard of in Osaka. In 20 minutes, you would have finished eating, paid, and be a few meters away from the restaurant already.
The lady left me after lunch and I had a nice trek from Kumamoto Station to Kumamoto Castle. It’s not as far as it seems on the map. Along the way I stopped by at a couple of tiny temples. I strolled by a park that look really nice but unfortunately it was being renovated so I couldn’t enter to explore.
The main attraction of the city is definitely Kumamoto Castle. It sits in a beautiful park that is packed with gardens and historic buildings. I also remember the Traditional Arts Museum in very close proximity to the castle. Unfortunately for us, it was a very rainy day and trudging through wet grass and rocks is not fun. Also, the castle is being renovated and access to the highest levels was denied. Admission was lowered from 500 to 300 yen though. The castle is not as enthralling as Himeji-jo but I think it’s worth a visit. The interior, unfortunately, has been gutted and converted into a museum, much like Osaka Castle. The turrets have remained as they are – very cold and worth the trouble of taking off your shoes and walking up the structure.
The only other area we to was the Shimotori Arcade Street, a huge covered shopping area. We had bubble tea there and that was about it.
The ELI people including Kyle and Nate! Raw horse meat was had by all!
Hakata
Hakata, in Fukuoka City, was a much bigger and more metropolitan city than Kumamoto. We didn’t do much here neither except visit the Fukuoka City Museum, Hawks Town, and the Tenjin Underground Arcade.
The museum is quite interesting but my feet were too tired for my brain to effectively absorb the information. The lady seemed quite immersed in it and really took the time to read every little thing. I, on the other hand, just sat back and caught up with a couple of Coast to Coast shows downloaded from the night before. Hawks Town is more for kids, the Dessert Forest is interesting but there were too many kids running around and not enough tables (and too much sugar being dispensed as well). The Tenjin Underground Arcade is quite huge! Lots of people, 99.99% of the stores are women’s clothing.
I did have one gripe with the ramen place called Ichiran 一è˜. First off the line outside the restaurant was split into two lines, one against the wall of the restaurant, and the other, on the opposite wall. So, it looked like one line for the ramen store and another line for some other restaurant or shop. They had to have one staff come out every few minutes and make sure that people weren’t accidentally budging. What a waste of labor.
Next, instead of normal tables and counter seats, they had a really restarted booth system where everyone had their own very tiny cubicle to eat the noodles. In each cubicle was your own personal water faucet to pour your own water, a “curtain” so that you wouldn’t have to see the server, and a small metallic plate on which you can place additional orders. The cubicles were too small for me to really enjoy lunch. I couldn’t seen see my wife who sat next to me because of the divider.
Honestly, in the end, this was JUST a ramen restaurant! They went to all this trouble to make their store unique that they’ve placed this retarded hindrance on their customers. For me, it was one confusing new fad to the next. I couldn’t rely on conventional restaurant practices and had to rely on the staff that was placed in guiding customers from line to cubicle. I don’t think this system even saves on labor as I heard or saw at least 6 people working this tiny place anyway.
So in the end, I didn’t have such a great time in Hakata. I didn’t do enough planning to find interesting places to visit. Plus my feet were really killing me!
Mojiko
This morning we got up early to visit the small port of Mojiko. The lady met another work-related person and went on her way leaving me about an hour in this very beautiful place. I most unexpectedly fell in love and had a great time here. This tiny port town used to be a trade center for many European traders. As such many buildings here are European in style and many of them still stand today. It almost felt like being in a different country and I just wished I had more time here.
Mojiko Station is one of the oldest stations in Japan and probably one of the more interesting ones.
I walked past the Kyushu Railway History Museum and decided not to pay the 300 yen to enter. As far as I could tell, there were a couple of old steam engines and that was about it. I’m not a big train person anyway.
The harbor is beautiful and offers a few shops, restaurants, and cafes. There was a boat restaurant that I really wanted to visit but couldn’t due to the lack of time. You get a great view of a bridge that connects Kyushu to Honshu island as well.
We rode the elevator up to the Mojiko Observation Deck and had a nice time until two dozen grandmothers in a tour came up and made it grandma day. They were quite chatty and ruined the picturesque view, for me anyway.
And that was our nice weekend. We hopped on the bullet train and back into the Osaka grind!
