小麦粉

road trip Japanese style

I was pretty excited about this trip so I didnt sleep much last night. That didnt really matter with a 4:20am start I wouldnt have gotton much any way.
Why the early start？
I bought a ｀18 kippu｀for the low low price of 11500￥（115＄）which allows you to travel as far as you want in a day for 5 days and they dont have to be all together either. But doesnt explain the early start completely. The catch to the great deal is you have to use local trains and that can be time consuming.My coworker pay more then my 5 day ticket to go 1way to my main destination Shikoku. He took a bullet train for a 150＄ 3 hour journey while I had a 23＄ 12 hour adventure.
My first night was spent in a rather unknown city called Okayama.Its claim to fame is that its the birth place of the ｀peach boy｀fable a long loved childrens story about a boy born from a peach who later kills the demons tormenting the city with the help of a bird，dog and monkey. So as you can imagine peaches are popular but so is a little snack consisting of 3 rice cakes shaped into balls and put on a skewer and its quite delicious.
My next destination was Tokushima and quiet little corner of the world 51 weeks a year，but this was not 1 of those weeks. Its the biggest ｀bon｀dance festivals in Japan. Their moto is "The fool who watches and the fool who dances and both foolish，so why not dance".
｀Bon｀ is a time to honor your ancestors so many people head to the hometown and clean the grave stones of those close to them who have passed.But its also I time to celebrate life and what better way than a giant dance party！
Later I was off to Nagoya which has a beautiful castle which is only magnafied by being lit up at night if that wasnt enough you guessed it another festival. Of course there was some dancing，but also taiko drums，buskers and most importantly a beer garden that served chicken wings，one of my favourite foods. Nagoya is famous for 3 dishes ｀kishimen｀ a flat noodle serve in a ton of diffent flavours，｀misokatsu｀ my new personal favourite which consists of a fried breaded pork cutlet on a bed of rice topped with a red soy bean paste sauce，and ｀tebasaki｀ which also uses the red ｀miso｀（soy bean paste）all of which are scrumptous.
In Nagoya I met up with buddy Dan and hit a club and was amazed how poorly most of then could dance it look like a Jr. high school dance with every one faceing the DJ and 2 stepping back and forth，but it was an interesting night out. Nagoya is also the birth place of ｀pachinko｀ a cross betweem pinball and a slot machine. I lost，but Dan won，so he took me out for beer and ｀kishimen｀.
Next stop was at the most famous destination in Japan，kyoto.
The festival was ｀daimonji｀ where they burn giant ｀kanji｀or letters on some mountains one of which is the ｀kanji｀ 大 which means big.
There was way too much to see and do in Kyoto for just a day trip, so I｀ll go back again. Next time I will seek out a ｀maiko｀or ｀geisha｀in training.All in all,it was a lot of bang for my buck.

Japanese superhero

I honestly dont know much about Gundam，but in places like Akihabara（the'otaku'aka geek capital of Japan）saying so is a jailable offense.
Many people collect pratically anything Gundam and so even carry something like a poster sticking out of their backpack to resemble Gundam｀s sword. It｀s an all out obsession with some.
I just think it looks cool standing there 3 stories tall.
ps dont say its a robot they get pissed its a mobile suit and some gets inside to run it apparently

Climbing Mt. Fuji

Bali is a wild mixture of beauty and poverty,kitch and tradition,friendliness and the desire to take the tourist for all they are worth. But dont get me wrong overall it is paradise！
The food is delicious and cheap.（provided you check around）
We went to an area that you could dine on the beach and the first placed we check（where the taxi driver suggested）was twice as expensive as the place we went to and they both provided the same products. Im no seafood expert but i couldnt see any difference in the quality when we were picking out our dinner.
The massages there are beyond words. There isnt much as nice as having two women massage you on the beach and for only about 5＄.
Every meal we had was a delight to our senses smell,taste,sight and hearing. Yes, hearing as well. Most places provided live entertainment daily.Bob Marley is a favourite of mine as well as most Balinese people.
Most men and some women have tattoos in Bali, so naturally there are some great artists as well. I was able to get a long sought after dragon tattoo and at a fraction of the cost I would have had to pay in my home country or Japan.

its long！

a manga kiss good night

No,it isnt because thats all I could fit in the picture that was the whole room. Its about 1 meter square with a padded floor, a bean bag chair and a computer with internet access. Welcome to an internet cafe the last refuge of the poor, the drunk and those who have missed the last train or in my case all 3.
But its not all bad. You get unlimited internet access, more comics aka manga than you could read in a life time and all-u-can drink soft drinks. All in all its a good deal at about 10 to 15 dollars a night. Also they call them manga kiss which is fairly inviting.