what is "bad" yoga

apologies for not writing for so long. ever since i moved i have not had access to internet as easily. so it's been tough, but i will write when i can.

i had an interesting eel lunch again on friday. a new western teacher got to asking questions, i also asked. i told her that i like to go to kovalam to study with lino because it's good yoga. and she stumped me by asking, "what is bad yoga?" and i have been thinking about it ever since. i know what bad yoga teachers are. and i can make a list of the things that are "bad" but i can not make a list of "bad" yoga!

saturday i roamed tokyo alone for the last time for 8 hours. i roamed in parts of harajuku i have not seen before, running into a band that was playing air guitar style near the station, the lead singer doing karaoke to their own music. they were promoting their live shows this weekend. they were good. j-pop. the name was fuzz. i did not really care that they weren't really playing. it was charming. then i noticed large groups of people, families, going towards this huge forest. so i followed them, and in a clockwise direction. all sorts of things we passed. like dozens of kegs of old sake. and then old french wine casks. the emperor meiji had formed a relationship with the french and were gifted with french wine. almost everything is in kanji, so i don't have a clue where i am, or it's importance. so i just keep following the crowds. so many beautiful trees. many ladies decked out in kimono. passing a museum, a souvenir shop and cafe, finally i approach the massive shinto shrine. it is completely awesome, i wash my hands like everyone else, do not make a fortune, and do not throw coins into the water in front of the shrine, like in asakusa. i am blown away by this place, kimono clad ladies are singing, serious monks are hanging out. it is not my place, yet it is pretty powerful. after i leave, i take out my lonely planet tokyo book and learn that this is the meiji-jingu shrine, from 1920, tokyo's grandest shinto shrine. it was destroyed in WWII, but was rebuilt authentically in 1958. there are 100,000 trees that are said to have been donated by visitors all over japan, and the place is on 175 acres of land. it's technically in omote-sando, which butts up against harajuku.

then off to all sorts of weird tiny streets, window shopping only, and stopped for lunch at shanti, a strange curry soup place. i decided i would try to find the spiral building, a mall and gallery place that is famous for it's architecture. i had been there before, but was just following someone. i did find it, and everything that was there before was gone. they change everything constantly. but i did get another orange and clove candle that i'm completely addicted to. very expensive. and trying to find internet, cause since i've moved, i do not have it anymore. funny, tokyo has very few internet cafes, and even less wi-fi. but alas, i came upon another spiral building called the KDDI designing studio, at the top was internet. after wasting some time online, i spiraled down instead of using the elevator, and heard live reggae inspired music. on the ground floor was a band called rock-a-trench playing for television and i had a prime viewing spot. they were fun, and free. good guitar player, keyboards doubling with trombone, bass, drums and acoustic. lucky me, i thought. 2 bands in one day for free.

then off to see what aoyama has. lots of expensive shops, but interesting nevertheless. there is SO much to see in tokyo, it's absolutely mindblowing. but lonely! how funny such a crowded place can be so lonely. but jeff joins me tomorrow, so all of that will be history. unfortunately i'm jaded from being here for 2 months. hopefully he will spark some new excitement into this place. for i am weary.