A little adventure...

It's Obon here in Japan...what does that mean? Everyone's out of work and school, and it's ADVENTURE TIME! So, Kaori invited Liz, Shiona, Maya, Koni, and I to spend the night at her father's hotel in Kyoto. It was totally awesome and by the far the best trip in Japan so far. The whole trip was an adventure and I didn't know what was going on most of the time, but it was so great! This is us on the beach of the Sea of Japan...that would be the west coast of Japan. I have never been to the west coast before and had never seen the Sea of Japan. While we were swimming, I said something about swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and Kaori informed me we were in the Sea of Japan not the Pacific. I was shocked because I had no idea where I was in Japan. I had traveled all the way to the other side of the country and didn't even know it. Here's our dinner at the hotel. For three of us, those two platters have every meat and seafood imaginable, and we grill it ourselves. It was quite the spread. I had snail for the first time, but I ate the wrong part first and am now forever scarred to eat snail again. Typical Japanese hotel with the tatami floors and futons. Here's our big mess of futons. We went to this restaurant where all they serve is soba, a noodle. I ate three plates of soba...that's a lot of noodles. This is called Amanohashidate. I'm told it's the #3 most beautiful view in Japan (I don't know who decides that). Liz, Kaori, me (note to self, never stand on the highest part of a rock when with short people, you look gigantic), Koni, Maya, and Shiona at Amanohashidate. Ok, so here's the thing with Amanohashidate...if you look at it upside down, the sea turns into the sky and the sky turns in the ocean and that strip of land looks like a bridge in heaven. I couldn't really tell anything, though. And a coffee break (and me with my tea because I'm a coffee-hater). What a great two days with ghetto trains, Kaori's Dad driving crazy mountain roads, dirty Sea of Japan, a competitive game of Hip-Writing, late night giggles and video recording, all six of us sleeping in the same room, crabs in the bath, bees in the car, and a very interesting view from our hotel balcony. Thank you, Kaori!!