My darling gave me the best birthday present ever! She secretly sent a detailed email to Mr K in Japan (her benefactor) with instructions to purchase a very specific Shinai from that bogu shop in Waseda. Her letter gave exact dimensions, feel and use description! And dear Mr K brought it there to purchase on Shermy's behalf. The shinai was ferried to Singapore thru Korea and other parts of Asia as it was hand-delivered by Mr K. Sherm was delighted beyond words! I dunno how she managed to contain herself and only present the gift to me on the 18th itself. With it came 2 beautiful leather tsubas that were new even in Japan itself. Mr K said it was a "present" from the bogu shop, so we have no idea if the nice bogu-shop lady in Japan gave it to us since Shermy knew her personally, or if Mr K bought it for us.
It was a simple birthday indeed, but I treasure my baby all the more for the great effort that went into getting a shinai that I wanted. =)
359 days more till my next birthday... and counting... ;)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Heroes of Upper Pierce Reservoir
Sherm and I have decided to get healthy since our Kendo attendance has been dropping. We've been taking morning brisk walks and the occasional jog (*whispers* I'm teaching her how to, despite all her energy, she really can't run 2.4 at all!). Today we introduced doing suburi into our regime. Ya, we only did 300, but its a start. Eventual goal - 1000 a day.
So.. on our way back to the van one particular day, Sherm's amazing eyes spotted a beached turtle (or terrapin) in the gutter of Upper Pierce Reservoir. This was along the long stretch of tarmac, the gutter wasn't wet like a normal drain, and the sun was burning down harshly on everything, and I was shielding Sherm (*whispers* she burns easily too). The poor turtle was curled up trying to tahan the heat till the evening or mebbe the rain. We took pity on it and Sherm picked it up. "His shell's HOT!" and indeed it was. I took over, climbed down the rocky side and placed the hapless turtle on a rock just above the water's surface. Very soon after, the fella popped out and hurtled into the water, into the depths very quickly.
Yes, we did a good thing that day. And we were proud. =)
So.. on our way back to the van one particular day, Sherm's amazing eyes spotted a beached turtle (or terrapin) in the gutter of Upper Pierce Reservoir. This was along the long stretch of tarmac, the gutter wasn't wet like a normal drain, and the sun was burning down harshly on everything, and I was shielding Sherm (*whispers* she burns easily too). The poor turtle was curled up trying to tahan the heat till the evening or mebbe the rain. We took pity on it and Sherm picked it up. "His shell's HOT!" and indeed it was. I took over, climbed down the rocky side and placed the hapless turtle on a rock just above the water's surface. Very soon after, the fella popped out and hurtled into the water, into the depths very quickly.
Yes, we did a good thing that day. And we were proud. =)
