Today I went to Sakurajima which sits in the bay opposite my hostel, its volcano smoking wistfully. The weather continues to be pretty terrible but its still warm enough to pad about looking at everything.
I had no idea what the mascot of the ferry was till I landed on the island and found out Sakurajima is the home of the largest radishes in the world. The bus I jumped on took us to a few sites, one being a lookout point to see the volcano (shrouded in fog in this picture). Other sites include a viewpoint to see where Karasushima (a nearby island) was engulfed in lava in an eruption back in 1914. Oh and we also stopped at that bizarre sculpture of a somewhat pained head with guitar. Couldn't see any information about it so I'm left in mystery till tomorrow. I met the owner of a hostel on Sakurajima named Junko, and I'm going to be staying there tomorrow and the day after.
The last two photos are of a graphic on a van I found coming back to my current hostel just over the water.
Rainy days in hostels make for brilliant tangents on wikipedia.
Junko's from an island called Tokunoshima which is in the Amami Islands (an island chain I'm planning to visit next week to start my camping trip).
I just looked up Tokunoshima to find that a man from this island lived to be 121 (this is disputed).
"Shigechiyo Izumi (June 29, 1865 – February 21, 1986) is the person with the second longest recorded human lifespan in history, after Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment."
I then had to look up Jeanne Calment who I remember seeing in an old guinness world records book, and the article showed me two things I have to share.
1. She knew how to treat herself right.
"Calment ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and ate nearly one kilogram of chocolate every week."
"The French had their own theories about why she lived so long, noting that she used to eat more than two pounds of chocolate a week, treat her skin with olive oil, drank port wine and rode a bicycle until she was 100."
2. Rap is too often a go-to for the desperately unimaginative.
"For her 121st birthday last year, a record company released Mistress of Time, a four-track CD of her spoken reminiscences over a background of rap and other tunes. The retirement-home supervisor who brokered the recording contract was removed from her post after charges that Calment had not fully understood what was involved."
Junko's from an island called Tokunoshima which is in the Amami Islands (an island chain I'm planning to visit next week to start my camping trip).
I just looked up Tokunoshima to find that a man from this island lived to be 121 (this is disputed).
"Shigechiyo Izumi (June 29, 1865 – February 21, 1986) is the person with the second longest recorded human lifespan in history, after Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment."
I then had to look up Jeanne Calment who I remember seeing in an old guinness world records book, and the article showed me two things I have to share.
1. She knew how to treat herself right.
"Calment ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and ate nearly one kilogram of chocolate every week."
"The French had their own theories about why she lived so long, noting that she used to eat more than two pounds of chocolate a week, treat her skin with olive oil, drank port wine and rode a bicycle until she was 100."
2. Rap is too often a go-to for the desperately unimaginative.
"For her 121st birthday last year, a record company released Mistress of Time, a four-track CD of her spoken reminiscences over a background of rap and other tunes. The retirement-home supervisor who brokered the recording contract was removed from her post after charges that Calment had not fully understood what was involved."
thank you for providing me with a renewed life plan, michlee.x
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