Kushiro Ekimae Hotel Ocean

... through the tunnel and come out on the other side it's a huge, round rock wall that seems to go in all sorts of directions...He dropped me off at the terminal after that and we said our farewells. I waited in the terminal for almost two hours. There are only two ferries a day that run between the two islands and the first one isn't until almost 10, as I said before. That pretty much scrapped my plan for climbing Rishiri that day as it's a pretty long hike since you're ...

... about 3 hours, and took off my jacket, I was soaked to the core from sweat. I hiked for another two hours or so until I found my campsite for the night. It was located on a rocky outcrop that overlooked the western coastline. The only other people I saw the rest of the day were a young couple that I had seen earlier on in the day; otherwise there wasn't a soul around (unless you count the fishing boats out in the water)...I set up the tent and prepared to take some photos ...

Well, in the space of less than a year I have been privy to the three main stages of life, Japanese style. You'll recall that last summer I was invited to attend, and perform ("More Than Words", baby!), in my first ever Japanese wedding. I've also two supervisors (current and former) start their families with a first child and now, this past Friday, I was given the honor of attending my first Japanese funeral. I found out last Thursday that the father of ...

... again but one little girl was adamant that no one clap this time so that they could hear all the lyrics. The kids left school at 3:10 and some of them liked me enough to give me big hugs before they went out the door. I have to say that I really enjoy working and being around kids, probably because I have the same emotional maturity as they do, but I'm glad that I don't have any of my own. I just enjoy all the good parts: the laughter, the discovery, the adoration; without ...

... eat, and the bride leaves for her first, of up to four, dress changes. Thankfully they broke with tradition this time and only changed once, from their traditional Japanese clothes into the western style wedding outfits. There was nothing for me, the lone vegetarian, to eat so I just sat and drank; checking out the scene like the amateur anthropologist that I am. I knew that my time to sing would be coming up but I really had no idea when, as Shunsuke never really ...

... be expected during golden week, the place was packed. I've never been particularly uncomfortable at any onsen I've gone to but this one was probably the least friendly one I've been too. As a foreign person in Japan you become used to being stared at like you are an alien and an interloper but this place really made me feel like that was my role. I suppose some of that has to do with the fact that it's a resort onsen so none of the people there are "locals" in the general sense ...

... a faucet. This is not really convenient when you are doing an onsen as then the water is running constantly and squirting all over you and other people if you can't control it. At the other "reputable" onsens they have timed spigots that you just push and then can adjust the water temperature with another knob..."Not totally a big deal though", I told myself; it was part of the experience. I knew I would have the rotemburo to myself as the other two guys were already inside ...

... interior but that was alright because the car was pretty clean...How much was it to fill it up?, you ask. Well, for 42.70 liters (11.28 gallons), I paid 5,594 Yen ($47.5). Do the math. That's about $4.21 per gallon. Mmm, I think Americans can stop complaining about how much they pay at the pump. This is the kind of price that the rest of the world pays and, in fact, in Europe they pay even more. I can remember paying over $5/gallon there and that was 4 years ago. I think it's time for ...

... of the last people to arrive; about a half hour past the time on the invite but still very fashionable. All told there were 6 fair-skinned people and the rest were Japanese...Stephen had thankfully mentioned to Sakamoto-san that I didn't eat meat. So, as the large round dishes of sushi and sashimi rolled out, as people slurped away on the huge plated of oysters on the half shell, Sakamoto-san brought me my very own plate filled with potato croquets (a Japanese specialty ...

... translates, very roughly, to Dream Forest Park. It is a children's park and is one of only 3 in all of Hokkaido that is dedicated to kids...The place is really exactly as it states; it is a real dream for kids. There are tons of rides, trampolines, water activities, slides, a train. Anything you could wish for as a kid is here for the playing. I don't think I'd ever seen anything like it before. In fact, I know I haven't. It was the coolest thing ever, even for someone ...