Cat adventures: Intro

I decided to get a cat.

My dog died of old age almost 3 years ago. Had enough time on my own and felt like someone has to tend to the apartment while I was gone at work during the day. I always loved cats and this was a good time to try having one and having the sole responsibility for it.

So I started looking for adopting a cat. There are a few shelters in my city, a lot of Facebook pages for cats that need home, and a couple of web sites where people are gifting away kittens and adult cats both.

I didn’t want any cat… I wanted MY cat. Call it mambo jumbo, but it was a process of looking for a cat that felt like its mine. I believe in the end it wasn’t me who chose the cat, but the cat chose me. 😀

I found a couple of cats that gave me the vibes – a deaf Angora 2yo white cat and another long haired multi colored beauty. Both posts were out dated and the cats were already gone.

Then a post for a cat rescued form the outskirts of my city came up. According to the post it was an abandoned Russian Blue cat at around 9 months of age. It felt like the right cat for some reason. I instantly sent a message to the author of the post.

On the other day I had a call with the girl that had rescued the cat. The cat was overall healthy, but was being treated for some skin issues around the ears (not sure what the medical term in English is). Anyway, that didn’t bother me at all and was looking forward to help with whatever I can if needed.

We agreed that I meet with the cat before we decide anything. There is always a possibility that we won’t click with each other, and didn’t want to force a cat having to spend time with me if there was no alchemy (don’t judge me, my personal views 🙂 ).

So I went to meet the with the cat at her current owner’s apartment. More about it in the next post.

I plan this to be inconsistent series of posts about my experiences with the cat – good and bad moments, funny and stupid stories, some photos occasionally, thoughts, lessons learned, etc. 😉

Happy in Japan: Happiness for only ‎¥200

First, this is a story that really happened. Not one of those sugary, overly optimistic, click-bait stories, meant to make your eyes wet and provoke an emotional response from you. If one of the above happens, know that it was for real!

Second, ‎¥200 is roughly $1.94, €1.73 or 3.39 BGN.

Third, the story. This happened in the beautiful city of Kamakura. I spent the day there with a good friend of mine, hiking the mountains around the city and visiting the temples and shrines on the way. The hiking was really good, but it deserves a separate post by itself.

The last checkpoint of our hiking tour was the Kōtoku-in (高徳院). This temple is famous with the monumental statue of the “Great Buddha” (大仏). The statue weights 121 tonnes and is 13.35 meters tall. That’s not the main point of the story, but you might consider this a ‘must go’ place, if you happen to visit Kamakura.

The entry fee for the temple is ¥200. Yes, we are getting there. Usually when you enter you immediately go to see the “Great Buddha” and take a picture, posing in the same position as the statue. Around the stairs there are always some really nice uncles (叔父さん), who you might think are working  for the temple. But they are not. Usually they are helping people by taking their picture with the “Great Buddha” for them. They are really kind and helpful, so probably they will ask to help you even before you realized that you need someone to take the picture for you.

I started a conversation with one of them. My Japanese lessons are really starting to pay off. The Japanese is not mandatory to have a chat with them though, cause the guy was speaking Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. He was not able to write and read in most of them (Chinese makes an exception here because of the Kanji), but he could speak to some extent each of these languages. And this is amazing, because he could freely communicate with most of the tourists there. He shared that he loves to speak with foreigners, learn about their culture and practice and improve the mentioned languages. This guy was the most genuinely happy person I have seen in a while. At the end he said “I am really happy that I can pay only ¥200, stay as long as I want here, and be able to meet and speak with so many wonderful people”.

It seems that even with ¥200, you can buy some happiness! 🙂

Happy in Japan: Mt. Takao

Mt. Takao (高尾山) is a neat little mountain in the outskirts of Tokyo. It’s only 600m tall, but provides plenty of hiking opportunities. There are several hiking routes leading to the mountaintop varying from broad paved and lively alley to secluded, narrow forest paths. The paths are well marked. There are signs for the different trails and information boards with a map of the mountain. The information is written in both Japanese and English.

Depending on your interests and time, you can easily spend an entire day in the mountain. Mt. Takao (高尾山) has something to offer to everyone. Secluded forest paths for the ones who want to enjoy nature or want to spent some time with themselves. Lively places with souvenir shops and snacks like dango, shaved ice, cold tea. A Buddhist temple for the ones who want to explore the traditions and history of Japanese Buddhism. A Monkey park for the ones seeking some natural entertainment. You can find even much more in this mountain, why not even yourself? I managed to spent a really great time and also make a new friend.

WST 1: Do as Infinity ~ Marionette

For the first song for this activity of mine I chose Marionette from the new album of Do as Infinity. A little background: Do as Infinity is one of my favourite Japanese bands. It was formed in 1999 by Tomiko Van (vocalist), Ryo Owatari (guitarist), Dai Nagao (composer and guitarist). The band disbanded on Spetember 29, 2005, but on September 29, 2008 the band was brought back together, however only Tomiko Van and Ryo Owatari returned. They have 11 studio albums. The last one was released on February 25, 2015. You can read more about the band in wikipedia.org.

Band website: D-A-I
Facebook page: Do as Infinity
Twitter: @DoAsInfinity929

Here is a link to the song if you want to hear it: YouTube

Weekly favourite song translations

I haven’t written in a while here. Although it is digital I get the feeling a lot of dust has gathered. Time to sweep it out.

While looking for resources and reading for better practices in learning a foreign language, I came upon the practice of translating favourite songs written in that language. It is really a nice idea. Why? You practice your language and at the same time you are learning something new about the things you like – in this case the meaning of your favourite lyrics. I know that if you are proficient, you can probably understand the meaning of a song while listening to it. I believe that this practice is most beneficial for beginners and intermediate students. This way they get a way to learn new vocabulary while having the fun understanding their favourite songs. It gives them the challenge to learn that is different from memorizing words all they. Plus you get a real result of your hard work. Of course advanced learners can also find something new for them, but I believe that in their case this activity will be purely for pleasure, whereas in my case I intend to do it for improving my Japanese skills.

So what is this all about? Well, I will try to translate a favourite Japanese song of mine, every week or so and post it here. I grade myself to be Intermediate in Japanese, somewhere around N3 (although my lack of Kanji knowledge is highly disturbing 🙂 ). If you happen to follow this initiative of mine, please be patient with my incompetent (only at first I hope) translations. This is also the first time I translate (writtenly) songs in any language. However, I would really love and appreciate any critic, suggestion, tips or whatever you would like to share. Also feel free to challenge me with a song. The condition is to be in Japanese. You can post in the comments (of this post or any other related to this activity).

Wish me luck, and don’t be hard on me 🙂

NOTE: Credit for the image goes to Shana-chii. Thank you!

69 years ago – Horshima

Today is 69 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. I just want to share this video by Munchkin dedicated to these events. I think it is worth more than words.

Let’s just remember what has happened there and try to not repeat it anytime in the future. Let’s get together as a fellow human beings and build a better world for the sake of the future generations, for our own sake and for the sake of the ones that are not anymore with us.

Japanese summer and cicadas

Two years ago I spent part of my summer vacation in Kyoto, Japan. In Japan the cicadas* (セミ – se-mi) mark the beginning of the summer. They make a very characteristic sound, and when in large groups they sound almost like a shower. Sometimes it is called the song of the cicadas. There is a haiku written by the famous Matsuo Basho that is dedicated to them:

静けさや
岩に染み入る
蝉の声

shizukesa ya
iwa ni shumi-iru
semi no koe

Crowdfunding Bulgarian high school students for World Scholar’s Cup

From 24th till 27th June this year the Global Round of the World Scholar’s Cup was held in Singapore. 3 teams from a school in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria participated and gave their best in the event. All of the 3 teams qualified for the Tournament of Champions event that is going to be held in Yale in mid-November. They also managed to take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place among the European teams. Congratulations guys!

The words 遠来 and 遠雷

The nickname I am using in the recent years and the name I chose for this blog is ENRAI. It can be written either as 遠来 or 遠雷, both are read the same way – en-ra-i.