fukiya

Last Friday we headed up to the quiet mountain town of Fukiya. Fumbling with our knapsacks and giant baguettes, we hopped a train for Takahashi and then a bus up the winding, nausea- inducing roads to Fukiya. Our partners in crime were Brad and Alicia, our nearest and dearest friends here in Japan. We settled into the International Villa for two glorious nights. Here is what we got up to...

Our little spread. I know, I know. There is more booze than food. But you know us well enough by now. This is how we roll...

The International Villa.

Fellow Occupants

Having been forewarned, we arrived at the villa armed with enough insecticde to go on a mukade killing rampage. As it turned out, hard cover children's books were more adept at killing the little suckers. Cheers to C for not shrieking like a little girl when he found one on a towel. Cheers to A for finishing him off. As for my part, I provided a soundtrack of dry heaves (sorry guys)

For more mukade horror stories, see this post

Violence! Stabbings! Poison! Murder!

Bustling Downtown Fukiya.

C calls my footwear "apalling". He directed the laser death stare at my feet all weekend. Personally, this style is kind of growing on me (an intervention may be required. Have I been in Japan too long?)

Around the town...

And the countryside...

Here, we happened upon this GIANT SLIDE. At first glance, we thought it would be hilarious if we all chugged up the hill and went down it. The rust should have been the first red flag. The spider webs should have been the second. But no, we were well on our way down before we realized the slide was not meant for direct ass on slide contact. The slide itself was made up of metal rollers, generating an incredibly hot electric charge as we gained speed. Hilarious it wasn't. I almost burned a hole through my jeans. And I can still hear the screaming...

Sneaking up on C. Let's see if he'll submit to a photo shoot...

Apparently, not. I've seen this look before...right before he calls me a real "piece of work".

I quietly retreat and leave my man in peace. I trip off down the lane in search of less hostile subjects for my camera.

Back by popular demand, the yukata photo shoot. We are now compiling a collection of karate kid poses with all willing participants. These are featuring Brad and Alicia. I love the VanDam kick, A! No, C and I are not salsa dancing. Apparently it's a judo move.





Here we are about to enter an old mine shaft. At one point, A remarked: I hope there`s no sudden earthquake! Fast forward 18 hours: we get our sudden earthquake!!!

And speaking of shafts, In the middle of a bamboo forest, we came upon...

A fertility shrine?! Very curious.
C was vehemently opposed to my suggestion that we all "get on it" and have a photo shoot. Remind me to thank him one day...