At first, it seemed that I would be the only one in the tea house, that evening. But within ten minutes, Storm appeared.
Storm Nordwind: I really should be in bed!
Pema Pera: Hi Storm!
Pema Pera: aha
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: well, I will stay up another five hours too perhaps
Pema Pera: to finish my blog
Pema Pera: so we may well go to bed at the same time . . .
Storm Nordwind: But I’ve been having fun programming my balloon
Pema Pera: wonderful!
Pema Pera: is it already ready to be airborn?
Storm Nordwind: Yes. I’ve programmed a single route as an experiment
Storm Nordwind: And It seems to work ok
Storm Nordwind: I can program in choices of routes
Storm Nordwind: I can operate it from a platform (as now) or just as a standalone coach service
Pema Pera: wow, so many options!
Storm Nordwind: Sure. Next I’ll try and take it over to Rieul
Storm Nordwind: crossing sim boundaries should be interesting
Pema Pera: wonderful!
Storm Nordwind: Anyway you are welcome to have a trial flight after this
Pema Pera: No problem with sim boundary crossings?
Pema Pera: severe lag . . . .
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: can’t see what I’m typing, am five sentences ahead!
Pema Pera: okay!
Pema Pera: and they come out in wrong order
Somehow I was almost frozen out of SL, but after a while, the lag subsided a bit.
Storm Nordwind: I understand that one
Storm Nordwind: I can program in coordinates, sim boundary crossings, time delays and guided tour messages, as well as several such tours
Pema Pera: wow, wonderful!
Pema Pera: you know, I had a REALLY good talk with a Paduk neighbor
Pema Pera: he owns half of Paduk
Pema Pera: we befriended each other
Storm Nordwind: very cool!
Pema Pera: nice to have good neighbor!
Pema Pera: another good omen
Storm Nordwind: I believe so
A bit later, Kristen passed by, while Storm and I were still standing outside the tea house.
Pema Pera: Hi Kristen!
kristen Witte: hello
Pema Pera: good evening
Pema Pera: How are you?
Storm Nordwind: hi
Storm Nordwind: gassho
kristen Witte: very fine thank you….and you?
Pema Pera: wonderful, thank you!
Pema Pera: Have you been here before?
kristen Witte: no…this is my first time
Pema Pera: welcome!
Pema Pera: Storm and I are neighbors here
kristen Witte: i am exploring
Pema Pera: would you like a cup of tea in the tea house to your left?
kristen Witte: thank you
Pema Pera: lovely dress!
Pema Pera: Is that Chinese?
kristen Witte: thank you…it is japanese
Pema Pera: ah, sorry
Storm Nordwind: There is tea to my left. Please help yourself
Pema Pera: I should have known from the hair dress
Indeed, kristen had what looked like a Tokugawa era style Japanese hair doe.
Pema Pera: if you click on the tea pot on the tray to your left, next to Storm, you can get a cup of green tea
Pema Pera: talking in green ;>)
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: hai
kristen Witte: do you live here?
Pema Pera: I leave to the West of here
Pema Pera: also in Rieul
Pema Pera: in this tea house, we get together often
Pema Pera: a few times each day, believe it or not (^_^)
kristen Witte: it is very nice here
Pema Pera: yes, another neighbor of us built it
Pema Pera: a woman by the name of Dakini Rhode
Pema Pera: we gather here, some of us at least, every day at 7 am, 1 pm, 7 pm, and soon at 1 am as well, SLT
Pema Pera: and we chat about anything we like
Pema Pera: and also about the nature of reality
Mongo dropped by.
Pema Pera: Hi Mongo!
Mongo McGinnis: `can i join
Pema Pera: OF COURSE!
Pema Pera: any time Mongo!
Pema Pera: I have a blog on http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Pema Pera: if you have a moment some day you can browse
Pema Pera: and get an impression of what we are chatting about here
kristen Witte: it’s a shame there is no dance ball with traditional geisha dance
Pema Pera: there is!!!!
Pema Pera: many geisha training groups
Pema Pera: would you like an introduction?
kristen Witte: i have searched for the traditional dance animation but cannot find one for sale
Pema Pera: there are
Pema Pera: in the Japanese new sims
Pema Pera: are you familiar with them?
kristen Witte: no
kristen Witte: i’ve looked in some of the sims but can’t find any
I immediately thought about Hotaru, and sent her an IM, asking her to give kristen an introduction to the geisha training circles that she and I had recently discovered, totally by chance, in a Japanese sim.
Pema Pera: I am IM-ing someone who is in training
Pema Pera: just a sec
Pema Pera: she may come over
kristen Witte: ok
kristen Witte: i can’t stay long tonight, but surely will return
Pema Pera: to give you pointers to geisha world
Pema Pera: Hotaru is on her way here
Pema Pera: jus a moment
Pema Pera: Hotaru means fire fly in Japanese
kristen Witte: ok…but i must leave in a few minutes
kristen Witte: i don’t want to pull her away unnecessarily
Pema Pera: I told her you have to leave in a few minutes
Pema Pera: she can also stay only a minute
Pema Pera: but i just wanted to make contact
Pema Pera: SL is slow these days
Pema Pera: she already teleported but is still in transit . . . . . .
kristen Witte: i am untrained in the way of the geisha, but have started reading about it
At this point, Mongo had to leave. Soon thereafter Hotaru rezzed.
Mongo McGinnis: pk ill will see you tomorrow
kristen Witte: goodbye Mongo
Pema Pera: Her name is Hotaru Myoo
Pema Pera: if she cannot tp you can send her an IM or just befriend her ; she is very helpful and a regular visitor here
Pema Pera: there she is!
Pema Pera: Hotaru, you made it!!!
Pema Pera: Meet Kristen
kristen Witte: hello Hotaru
Pema Pera: flying fire fly ;>)
Pema Pera: slowly rezzing fire fly
Storm Nordwind: What fabulous wings!
kristen Witte: that is beautiful
We all admired Hotaru’s large multi-colored wings.
Hotaru Myoo: good evening!
kristen Witte: pleased to meet you
Hotaru Myoo: pleased to meet you Kristen
Hotaru Myoo: I am sorry
Hotaru Myoo: I won’t be able to stay long
Pema Pera: Hotaru, Kristen is interested in learning about geisha dance
Pema Pera: perhaps you can IM each other later if there is no time now
kristen Witte: and i must go soon as well
Hotaru Myoo: but Pema says you are interested
Pema Pera: but I’m glad I could introduce the two of you!
Hotaru Myoo: thank you
kristen Witte: yes…i have done some reading
Hotaru Myoo: it is really a process of apprenticeship
Hotaru Myoo: pouring sake and tea
Hotaru Myoo: the art of conversation
Hotaru Myoo: music
kristen Witte: yes…i understand it takes years of apprenticeship
Hotaru Myoo: poetry
Hotaru Myoo: then dance
Hotaru Myoo: but I can introduce you to the Oksan at GION
Pema Pera: Perhaps you can introduce kristen to Tenchika, Hotaru
Pema Pera: yes
kristen Witte: yes…perhaps i could meet sometime
Pema Pera: do you have a scheduled next class, Hotaru?
Hotaru Myoo: perfect
kristen Witte: thank you
Hotaru Myoo: you have my card
Hotaru Myoo: we work everyday
kristen Witte: yes, but it is now time for me to sleep
Hotaru Myoo: 7sl to 8:30 sl
Hotaru Myoo: I will call you tomorrow after I talk to the Oksan
Hotaru Myoo: ?
kristen Witte: yes…thank you
Hotaru Myoo: may I share your profile with her?
kristen Witte: yes
Hotaru Myoo: K then
Hotaru Myoo: thank you Pema
Pema Pera: thank you VERY much for coming over at such short notice, fire fly!
Hotaru Myoo: I wish I could spend more time with you two
kristen Witte: yes..thank you
Pema Pera: we keep pulling each other out of thin air ;>)
Hotaru Myoo: np
I was refering to some other occasions recently where I had notified Hotaru of fun events and tp-ed her over.
kristen Witte: goodnight everyone
Storm Nordwind: goodnight!
Hotaru Myoo: see you soone!
Storm Nordwind: Namaste
Pema Pera: goodnight kirsten!
Hotaru Myoo: nite al!
Pema Pera: nite Hotaru!
Storm Nordwind: fly safely
Pema Pera: haha
After both kristen and Hotaru left, Storm and I walked up to the place where he had tethered his balloon.
Storm Nordwind: Please take a seat!
Pema Pera: WOW!!!!
Pema Pera: how exciting!!!!!!!!
Storm Nordwind: You can start it.
Pema Pera: how?
Storm Nordwind: Just touch the balloon. Only one choice so far
Balloon whispers: This is a short introductory tour around the Kuan Kin terraces.
Pema Pera: k
Balloon whispers: Please remain seated during the tour.
Balloon whispers: In case of emergency, please follow the safety guidelines.
Balloon whispers: Please ensure you are sitting comfortably and prepare for launch
Balloon whispers: First we will fly towards the terraces
Pema Pera: no anchor ;>)
Balloon whispers: Welcome to the Temple Tours balloon.
Storm Nordwind: Use your camera well!
Pema Pera: can we steer??
Storm Nordwind: it’s preset
I saw Storm’s two cranes circling around the top of the waterfall.
Pema Pera: hi cranes!
Pema Pera: fellow flyers
Balloon whispers: and now we will fly right over the Zen meditation hall.
Pema Pera: ah
Balloon whispers: The beautiful east river will be to the east.
Storm Nordwind: good in mouselook
Balloon whispers: And on to Kuan Yin’s feet above the falls.
Balloon whispers: Watch the red crowned cranes fly by
Balloon whispers: and see the monk’s hermitage by the lotus pool below us.
Balloon whispers: To the east is the entrance pagoda.
Balloon whispers: Now to fly past Mercy falls, past the Nara tea house and down the west river through the orchards
Balloon whispers: Watch out for the yin-yang pond to the north east.
Storm Nordwind: We are going at one third the possible speed
Balloon whispers: To the south west is the Kadampa Gompa, a small private Tibetan Buddhist temple.
Balloon whispers: Below us is the Angel Temple, a private Greco-Roman gazebo.
Balloon whispers: Now we will fly over the ruins of the old Guan Yin gardens to the Cijian Temple, a Daoist shrine
Pema Pera: this is the right speed!
Storm Nordwind: You can see the oracle on the wall of the zendo to your left
Pema Pera: yes!
Balloon whispers: And finally back past the central telehub pagoda to land.
Pema Pera: I like the ballon benches too!
Pema Pera: classy
Storm Nordwind: No expense spared
Pema Pera: haha yes
Pema Pera: a ship bell perhaps, bronze? :)
Storm Nordwind: Watch the landing
Pema Pera: as a final touch?
Balloon whispers: Thank you for travelling with Temple Tours!
Balloon whispers: More tours will be added soon. Please call back.
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: evaporating balloon becoming hot air!
The balloon dissolved at this point. Storm left, ready to go to bed. Just after I had said goodbye to Storm, I received an IM from Marianna Munro. I had not met her earlier. She had noticed that I had recently bought pieces of land adjacent to a lot of land that she owned. Since she was interested in selling her piece, she had contacted me.
I went over to see where the land was. We quickly reached an agreement, and thus my land in Rieul kept growing, once again. We then chatted for a while longer, and I showed her where Dakini holds her zazen sittings, and where we have our PaB gatherings.
