First, as soon as we got off from work on Friday, we went straight to the train station and made it just in time to board the necessary train to Kokura. Sarah was drenched in sweat from riding her bike as quickly as she could to make it in time...she is quite the trooper! We rode the train for about an hour or so (halfway there we realized we were on the same train with JD and Cara)! Once in Kokura, we hopped on a bus to the port where our ferry would be leaving. Then, we hopped on the ferry...which was a huge ship...and we were on our way! The ferry was pretty cool. It was the first actual ship I have ever been on. It was sort of like a budget cruise liner.
It was really neat, though. Since we were traveling as cheaply as possible, we didn't have private rooms for sleeping. Instead, we were in a kind of hostel situation where we shared a small room with a total of 20 people all sleeping side by side. As for the four of us, I somehow got the short straw (although no actual straws were drawn) and I got to sleep right next to a random Japanese guy.
To tell the truth, it actually added to the humor and the adventurous spirit of the trip! I found the ferry to be a very neat way to travel. We all had dinner in a nice restaurant on the ship. And my personal favorite perk....we were able to take hot showers! This was my first hot shower in Japan...and it was amazing! That, alone, was worth my $58 fare. Also, as is customary in Japan, they had a big hot-tub sort of thing or "public bath" as some may call it. It sounds kind of gross...but it is really pretty nice. You completely clean off in the shower before you get in. And, since it is just guys, and you are going straight from the shower, it isn't weird at all not wearing a swimsuit. Everyone just chills naked and nobody cares! Sounds crazy and maybe even gross, but you get used to it and it is really nice because all you think about is soaking in the hot water. Of course, only JD and I did this. The girls (Sarah and Cara) would have no part of it. They find it much more difficult to adjust to the Japanese culture of being naked in front of each other...even the same gender. Since the showers are in a "public" style and there are no private showers...the girls just decided to stay stinky and sweaty! Which doesn't make sense to me...I don't know why they are so insecure...even though they shouldn't care what old Japanese women think of them! But, despite all of the convincing talk in the world, the girls held there decision and refused to "get naked" in front of the other women. As for JD and I, we didn't mind and we felt nice, clean, and relaxed afterward! After the shower and hot-tub or "onsen", we walked around the deck for a little while, got some ice cream, then headed to bed. Thankfully, while sleeping, my Japanese neighbor didn't try to put his arm around me or anything!
Once we arrived in the morning, we got off of the big ferry and hopped on a smaller one to take us to the point where Universal Studios Japan is located along the coast. When we arrived, we grabbed some McDonald's for breakfast and then headed into the park. It was awesome!
It looked like a fantasy American town and it was so clean and nice that it left me amazed. Sarah and I started off with the biggest and best roller coaster in the park. From there, we hit up Terminator 2 3D (awesome...and very 3D),
Back to the Future, Spiderman (also very cool in 3D), and some other rides.It was an AWESOME day of fun with our friends. We all got pretty tired pretty quickly, but we held out most of the day.
We left around 6 or so and grabbed another snack at McDonalds (of course my "snack" was the biggest quadruple patty Big Mac they had!). Then we boarded a train to meet our good friend Taka and his other friends in downtown Osaka. We had some time to kill when we got there, so we headed to an internet cafe. The internet cafe has little booths you can rent for an hour at a time for cheap. You can sleep, surf the net, watch TV or movies, read, or whatever. And you can have all of the coffee, cokes, etc. that you want. Pretty cool. Sarah had done one before, but this was my first. I just crashed out and napped for an hour. I think the others did the same. It was nice.
When we got up, we met up with Taka and his friends and went to a nice Japanese restaurant. It was all you can eat and all you can drink for two hours....again, I was in Heaven. I ate and drank that place into bankruptcy I think! It was great.
After a great evening with Taka and his friends, we left for our hotel. The hotel was only intended for 2 guests (even though there are two big beds in the room) so Sarah and I had to sneak in (not much sneaking required) and then we split the cost up with JD and Cara. It was nice to take another hot shower and sleep in a nice bed in a nice hotel room.
The next morning, we woke up early and ate some donuts at Mr. Donut. Taka and his friends picked us up in their cars and drove us to a famous place for udon (big noodles). It was good. We were in and out, though.
If you can't already tell-this is the man making the noodle dough.
Next stop: Ritsurin Park. Look at how green and gorgeous it is!! According to Taka, it's a very traditional Japanese park. All along the way there were little gift shops or food stands (snow cones and ice cream too!).
We walked around for a couple hours and took quite a few pictures, can you tell?
Sarah feeding Koi fish. Then, she felt bad for the lonely turtle. I think I can...I think I can! Yes, the turtle did finally manage to get a bite!
We left there and went back to Kobe (home of the VERY expensive beef...our friend recently had a steak there for $167!!! I think you should at least expect to pay $100, crazy, I know!) We didn't take out a loan for a meal like that, though. In Kobe, we played ultimate frisbee on the beach and had a great time. After frisbee, we went for another all you can eat, all you can drink meal.
Again, it was great. I don't remember the Japanese term, but it was a certain style where we were brought raw meet and vegetables and boiled them ourselves in a pot on the table. It only takes a few seconds to cook the thin-sliced steak or pork.
It was delicious! After leaving there, we got on a night bus which departed at about 11pm. It was an eight hour drive back to Fukuoka City. We all slept the entire way! Once there, we grabbed a quick train home. Sarah and I got home at around 8 am and decided to take a "nap". The nap turned into a 9 hour slumber. But it was very nice! All in all, it was a great 3 day weekend, a great trip, and a great time with each other and with our friends! We look forward to many more adventures to come!
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