This weekend we went to Shiraishi, a small island off of Okayama prefecture, about a three hour journey from Himeji. We stayed at the Okayama International Villas location there (the same chain we lodged with when we did onsen in Takebe back in January). It was so nice, and the weather was perfect; we got two sunny days in the middle of the rainiest part of the year!
Now I'm a few shades darker and couldn't be happier. I always get depressed as my tan fades during the winter, and this winter was particularly cruel and oppressive. Three cheers for beaches, and little Japanese junior high school girls who point at you and say "nice body!" when you've long been lamenting the fact that you can now play Chubby Bunny without the marshmallows...
All aboard!
Our SWEET view! That's me with Tina and Marie, sisters from Adelaide (Aussies are heaps cool).
Marie risking life and limb to pick weird Japanese apricots for us.
I actually thought this was a classy alternative to the floating porta-potties we kayaked by in the bay...
Cute boys swimming in their underwear!
It's okay. You can be jealous.
The 800 (vertical) meter hike pays off with this great vista! (That's a cemetery in the center; I think there are more dead than living on this tiny island...)
This is Lauren telling half the group to hike on, and that we'd rather go hit the beach or bicycle around the island...
And this is her on our, err... trip back down the mountain. She totally ate it coming around that last step, but landed just like this. Such grace!
This is Jodi and Jono about to tempt fate on The Slope of Death! (This hill was extraordinarily difficult to climb up after our evening beach barbecue slash beer fest. "Don't give up, Lauren! Go towards the light!") I'm excited to go to their wedding party in January! I'll try to leave Australia in one piece...
Postcard!
Cafe Moooo. Why should the fun stop with the previous night's tipsy Jenga tournament? Time for banana daiquiris!
It was a heaps cool weekend!
Now, as you can imagine, this is just one story in four months worth of adventure. I feel compelled to bring everything up to date when I write, so as more and more time passes, the thought of blogging makes my head spin. But I blogged today just to prove something to Jodi (I don't know what exactly, but will you stop making fun of me already?!).
Anyway, now that I've blogged again, I've realized it doesn't really hurt as much as I thought! So soon (maybe), I will get around to telling you about my journeys to Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto and Osaka with my friend Joe; trips to Tokyo (Disneyland!), Nara, Takayama and Kanazawa with Mom and Dad; an escape to Seoul with my friend Will to see my old friend Andy from junior high.
Somewhere in between all that I turned twenty-three, made new friends from Delware, was unwittingly used as a pawn to garner support for a mayoral candidate in Nara, started working at a my new school, got taekwondo-pushed by a guard in North Korea, saw cherry blossoms for the first time ever, got hit by a car on my bicycle (and didn't fall off!), went strawberry picking, and taught Japanese kids how to make grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wish you could be here! If I don't write about all this, let's grab a cup of coffee when I get back in September; the stories are much better in person, anyway!
4 comments:
Yay! A blog entry from Chelsea! Looking pretty in the bathing suit. So much to tell, you better get on your butt and write some more stories, you tease! Sounds like fun, I wish I could come visit. Not nearly as exciting here in Philly. Miss you Chels!
This weekend was so much fun. How cool was it that we got to go swimming?? I am glad you finally decided to put up a new blog. Keep them coming! :-)
So great to hear more stories...and I look forward to more. Hopefully you're keeping a diary, this year has been such a wonderful experience for you.
Love ya!
Karen
I agree - that was a HEAPS GOOD weekend! Especially when we got to take a photo with the cute, half naked Japanese boys! That was lots of fun!!!
Post a Comment