Shirasagi Ryokan Beppu

This charming village may be a highlight of the trip -　a touch of `old Japan` so elusive in the cities. Found another old ryokan where no one spoke English, but managed to get a room, and head straight to the onsen.

Decided to spend a second night -- in part to rest from ...

... just in the sense that tatamis sprawled throughout the whole house, sliding paper doors opened to a patio that surrounds the circumfrence of the house, and from almost anywhere one is given visual access to the sights of the well tended garden. The lighting fixtures and wood work of the architecture give one enough hints to know this was the residence of someone rich and powerful. (Open year-round 8:30am to 5pm. Entrance 320yen for adults. Info 0972-62-3399)

The final ...

... from Oita City to Nakatsu on the JR Nippo Line , it takes about one-hour, and is a nice ride as you can buy food and drinks from a lady who comes by each car with a cart of snacks. Since there were two of us going round-trip we bought the special discount 4-tickets for 9,800yen total (thats 2450yen or about 25dollars for each ticket) It would certainly be a better deal with the JR passes but I cant get that since I am living in Japan ...

... fluently but follows unwritten rules within a particular country, but what exactly is meant by this? Throughout the globe there are many national differences that crop up about how a resume should be written and presented, so if you want yours to be taken seriously you need to take on board these unwritten rules. For example in Germany, folding your resume to fit in an envelope is out of the question. Instead you need to use an ...

... so that the ladies who cover you in sand cannot see your unmentionables. You then proceed into a big room that has a large sandpit. Lay down and an old lady will bury you in sand in which you stay in for 10 minutes. You may think 10 minutes is not long. But it is more than enough time. Its very hot and the sweat is pouring down your face, but you can't wipe it off. Also, the weight of the sand really compresses your chest and you can only take short ...

... cold, despite being nice and sunny so most people were quite happy to snap a few photos from afar and leave. Especially for a group of Californians (school trip?) who were biking around Kyushu. The leader forgot her wallet at the hostel, jumped onto the bus without any idea which stop was the one she wanted and had no way to communicate to the bus driver her intentions. Unable to put up with the awkwardness, I ended up offering her directions--you'd think it'd be ...

... on the big fellow yet. It's on my to-do list, really. He plays for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (say that 3 times real fast!) of the Basketball Japan League. Teammates often call him Ming Ming or Sun. When he dunks the ball, it feels as if the entire floor is shaking. He mostly lumbers down the floor, but has a soft shooting touch.

... with the normal hot spring. The water was an amazing 42° centigrade, and almost to hot to bare to start of with. I got talking with the only other guy using the onsen at the time, a Korean business student, who is attending the local university. A university that has close ties to CBS in Copenhagen where I go, so he knew CBS very well, funnily he was also studding business administration. He told me what, the signs on the walls in the district the onsen is in, means. The places ...