Soon to leave Minneapolis for a stop in Amsterdam then off to Capetown South Africa. Plan to visit a friend there and explore the coast/wine region as well as Mozambique if it's not too rainy. Have not been there since 1994 with my Belgian girlfriend Karin. As they say that was 15 years and 20 pounds ago but i'm still the same and she changed her name to Sky so there you have it.

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The Last Supper?

 

In Japan there is a fish called Fugu that is very poisonous although many people have tried it. It is available all over the country and I was determined to learn more about this fish of death. I have heard that you must learn how to prepare this fish very carefully and people die from eating it every year. It takes several years to know what you are doing as the closer you slice to the liver the more toxins there are. Why would anyone want to eat a fish where if the guy had a rough night before you can die. I don't go to Ukraine and ask for a Chernobyl and Coke so why get a death fish sandwich? Many Japanese have told me that old guys who want to experience Fugu get a really close slice and essentially go into a coma like condition for two days. Fugu is tried by foreigners and they never really get any buzz off of it because they know just to dip the knife in the poison a little so there is a tingling sensation. I asked where this fish of death comes from and was told an area of the country called Kyushu. I said "bless you " and asked again where this fish comes from. I heard the same response so I went for the map and found it to be the most southern part of the island. The next day I took a bullet train to a town called Beppu which is known for Fugu and the most onsens or hot springs in Japan. There is a beach where they bury you in the sand up to your neck and it's heated to about 140 degrees. There were a lot of red faced people in that town and I found out why. An old lady takes one look at your body and then digs out a perfect size hole in the sand which you lay down until you beg to be let out. As much fun as that sounds I opted to eat the Fugu instead. I found the best place in town to try some and asked for a filet. I didn't have to tell him to hold the poison as much as he could because he has seen a gaijin or two before. He took me over to the tank and I picked out the fish ready to meet its maker. It was the best tasting fish I have ever tried and it just happens to be known as a killer fish. I am writing this blog as proof you can survive the last supper.

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The Japanese toilet is something to be admired really. I looked at this contraption with the same defeatist feeling I had when the direct tv with 160 gig storage box arrived at my house. The 700 options on that remote was the same feeling as studying this ever so Japanese machine. It had the same amount of options only in a language not of my forefathers. You don't know if you should sit down, order a pizza or get on line. I thought I should live a little and give this amusement ride a try. Closing the door to the bathroom set off a switch and a green light lit up in the toilet and the room was instantly darker, almost mood lighting. The seat lifted automatically and I slowly backed away from this thing and looked for the nearest weapon. I was sure the theme music from Halloween 3 Pumpkin head was about to start with an evil laugh shortly to follow. Not wanting to take any shit from this thing made by Panasonic I pressed on out of shear morbid curiosity. It could have said" Open the pod bay doors Hal" and I would not have been surprised. What was I going to do not use the toilet until the Obama administration? So I sat down on this machine and in seconds the seat was heated to 100 degrees and I said to nobody in particular "watch it buddy". The remote control is attached by a wire like the remotes on an airplane and I stretched it out and studied it. There were several options and between the green light, the seat going up and down like Pacman and the hot ass option I didn't know how much more adventure I could take. I chose to do nothing when I was done just to see what would happen next. The most powerful automatic flush without touching anything combined with a free ass rainstorm {heated} to be closely followed by an ass tornado {heated}. Things just start and keep you occupied! Based on a complete and thorough personality test done while you are sitting, IT KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED. I didn't know if I should get its number or report it to the police. Imagine if I had pressed a button?

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 Today I went to Hiroshima and checked out the A-Bomb tower that is the only thing left in the town before the bomb went off. Hiroshima museum was another stop with all the gory details that come along with that time in history. The photographs, the stories both written and recorded, the articles of clothing were all a little grim as you can imagine but so was there reality. It was hard to make it through the whole exibit because of this and many of the patrons were visibly shaken. I will not soon forget that museum.

                                                 On a brighter note our little hotel in Kyoto is co-ed and I had no idea what I booked but they put ladies and gents in the same room with bunkbeds! We have a Japanese garden, all the free tea you want and chopsticks for every meal including your rice and fish breakfast. I think of myself as more of a minute maid and eggs and toast kind of guy than 7am albacore. But my bunkmate was a really cute Chinese girl about 20 named Ling. She leaned over the top bunk and introduced herself. Only in Japan! They local fashion here is knee high go go boots with stockings and jean shorts over the stockings or Bermuda shorts will work. I have seen this every day I have been here with out fail.

 So ling is that with two g's or one. You gonna eat the rest of that dolphin soup or what.

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 I arrived in Japan with plenty of energy after 2 bad movies, some wine, sake, beer and lots of hot green tea on my 12 hour flight to Tokyo.
One of the last trips I did this year was with with a really great Japanese couple who after learning about my travel plans to Asia including their country
invited me to stay with them for a day. I felt lucky to have the chance to spend a little time in the home of some locals and get a better idea of a typical
day in the life of Japanese people. A few days before I left they suggested I go with them to a resort about 2 hours north of Tokyo in the mountains.
This town was the home of the home of their first emperor and had a bunch of temples and shrines. We had a log cabin high up in the woods and with plenty of
trees and rivers all around us. We stayed for two days and saw a bunch of cool 1000 year old buildings. These two would not let me pay for a thing the whole
time I was with them. It was the single most generous act by  strangers I have ever experienced. They brought me into their home and made me feel very welcome
in a place where it can be intimidating because of the population. At our resort there were something called onsen which is really a natural hot spring and very
common all over Japan. Soaking in hot water is about as Japanese as eating rice and they can really claim to be a culture that embraces this pastime more than
any place on earth. There are usually 2 sets of pools and some are segregated and some are not. You never wear any clothes at the onsen and there is a bathing
ritual that you go through before entering any hot bath. The next day we went to what I would call a Disneyland for samarai. They recreate fight scenes in an
amusement park with no rides. Geishas walk around the town on these 8 inch platform shoes that would make the strippers in my village{Las Vegas} jealous.
A country with a lot of history no doubt.

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