Best Weekend Ever...

An itinerary of a prefect weekend...

I wrote a few weeks ago how each weekend in Japan gets better and better, well that remains true. This past weekend is what we called “the best weekend in Japan” and it may hold that title for sometime. It was a weekend filled with friends, laughter, fabulous weather, exercise, discovery, relaxation, culture, and good beer (most important). So this blog is like a picture of a sunset, it may give you an idea of how beautiful it was, but you will not be able to understand its true beauty without having experienced it...

Oga Bike and Onsen Weekend 2010

Friday 430 pm: Rush home from work and try to finish my list of “before weekend errands” This includes post office, dry cleaning, haircut, workout, pack

Friday 730 pm: Get “most” of the errands done, except for pack my bags and bike (this would later be the bane of my existence)

Friday 745 pm: Meet my dear friends Alex and Katelynn for dinner. They are always a good time especially when we gang up on Alex...right Nancy! We have beers, pizza, horse sashimi, chicken, fun, and laughter

Friday 930 pm: Go home with a full belly and a big smile to finish packing

Friday 10 pm: Realize that the bike bag I brought is way to FUCKING small for my bike (in Japan you need a special bike bag to bring your bike on the train, I was taking the train)

Friday 1030 pm: its starts to dawn on me that I might not make this bike trip (we had been planning this for a month) Call Maggie and give her the bad news

Friday 10 33 pm: Our conversation did not go as planned , therefore this part of the story will be omitted

Friday 10 45 pm: Call Rye Bailey, an Akita Bike Club member and let him know my problem. Much more comforting talking to him. He encourages me to keep trying and to call our fearless bike leader

Friday 11 pm: I woke up Sammler, our bike leader, and tell him I am having some trouble

Friday 11 15 pm: After talking with Mike I try the bike bag again

Friday 11 20 pm: I want to kill someone, I want to bash my bike with a baseball bat, I want to take a golf club to a car, I want to kick every door and window in my house (The bike bag is not fitting)

Friday 1130 pm: Call Maggie again and again..Yikes..again this part of the story is omitted

Sat 1200am: get the bike bag half way over my bike, say fuck it, i am bringing it on the train anyway, watch Entourage and go to bed

Sat between 1am and 430 am: have a dream that i cant get on the train (what would my father say about that)

Sat 5 30 am: Walk 1/2 hour to the Train station carrying this heavy ass bag and bike, kung fu gripping this thing so it wont slip out

Sat 653 am: Get on the train without issue, as William Shakespeare wrote... Much Ado About Nothing

Sat 800 am: Meet Rye on the train, we are both hurting. I am running on no coffee and three hours of sleep, he ate bad Mexican the night before

Sat 900am: Arrive in Oga, our destination, a beautiful port town in northern Japan

The weather is beautiful sunny, crisp, and blue skies

Sat 10 am: Start our 60 kilometer bike ride with smiles on our faces

Sat 10am-330pm: We take one of the best bike rides ever. We could not have had a more perfect ride, group, or weather. The entire ride was a long the coast, the ocean was calm and relaxing. The ride strenuous yet satisfying, the people encouraging and together. (Pictures on Facebook)

Sat 4pm: Maggie and I “lived it large” . We get a hotel and onsen (hot springs) on the water which includes dinner and breakfast. We spent quite a few “yen” on this excursion. It was worth every penny and more

Sat 5pm: Have a rough start but a relaxing and chill ride to the Hotel. We stop at a park for the sunset and take pictures (barf nation moment 1)

Sat 6pm: Arrive at the Hotel. Darren lost our 100 dollar coupon and validation that we paid a deposit for the Hotel. He internally freaks out, Maggie says lets go inside and see what happens

Sat 615pm: without problem we are shown our room at the hotel, told dinner is served at 7.

Sat 620-7pm: After a long and strenuous bike ride, we each take a bath in the hot sulfur induced hot springs at the hotel. I am all alone and sit for a solid 1/2 hour soaking and relaxing my muscles. We follow that up with a beer and a massage

Sat 7pm-9pm: We are served dinner or should I say multiple dinners. We honestly ate more in this meal than all of the food we have eaten in Japan combined. We had fresh seafood including sashimi, crab, fish, we had fresh vegetables, we ate things I had no idea what they were. We must of been served 7 courses and it was delectable. We accompanied our fine meal with some great beer (tasted like american amber ale) and cold sake

Sat 9pm-11PM: Get politely told that the restaurant is closing. With full stomaches we return to our room and digest our fantastic meal. We grab a few Oga micro brewed beers and head back to the massage chairs. We get a foot and full body massage. I drink three beers while Maggie passes out in the chair.

Sat/Sunday 12 am - 730 am: We both don't sleep well, the only hiccup in an otherwise fantastic weekacation

Sunday 8am: We return to the onsen and take a quick soak before breakfast. We return to the restaurant and eat a delicious japanese breakfast (breakfast in japan is everything you dont eat in the states...fish, vegetable, soup, rice, etc)

Sunday 930 am-100pm: leave our hotel, head to the Oga aquarium: The best aquarium i have ever been to. We see polar bears, seals, sea lions, penguins,and some of the most stunning fish I have ever seen.

Sunday 130pm-3pm: Drive along the coast , have a makeshift lunch of ritz, calorie mate, sour punch and water. Head to the train station to see me off

Sunday 640 pm: Arrive back home, stop at the grocery store pick up beer and dinner. Get home unpack , make dinner, have a stout with my dinner and cherry beer with my dessert.....

Sunday 900 pm: Bed time...I hope...Life is so far so good!

? Late at night

I feel complete,

I feel free from the thoughts that have weighed down my mind

I am only moving forward and not thinking backward

The only growth I need is intellectual,

I don't need anyone in my life

I want someone in my life

I am worried about a broken heart, but not enough to keep me from opening mine

Happiness is only real when shared, more and more I think so

I relate to Into the Wild in a much different way

I never truly missed my family and friends until now

I feel that Rumi's words could be mine...

An Ode to Whiskey and Coke

An Ode to Whiskey and Coke

Whiskey and Coke you set me free,

You make me happy, funny, but mostly me

Nothing but good comes from your drink

Its time to pay you an honor, so let us think

Of the good times, the rough times, the times in between

So my fellow readers can know what I mean

About your wonderful taste, your encouraging ways

About why I am so fucking hungover on most weekend days

It all started when I went to visit Mr. JD

On a trip with a friend to Lynchburg, Tennessee

Your smell was intoxicating, your taste first-class

From the minute you hit my lips, I was addicted at last

Since that fateful trip many years ago,

It is your strength and encouragement I have gotten to know

You have given me courage I might not have had

You have turned me from good to very very bad

We have stayed up late and danced with the best

We have woke up hungover , wishing for rest

You ve allowed friends to bond in original ways

You ve promoted the Chocolate Thunder Kiss and the streaking ways

Because of you, I ll never look at an ice machine again, in quite the same way

But that ice machine memory is one of my favorite days

random thoughts from a random mind...

For the last few weeks I have been compiling a list of random thoughts that pass through my mind through out the day... This will be an ongoing compilation, so here is the first installment

Sometimes I think my life plays like a Lucinda Williams song

I wish my life played like a....Brett Dennen Song

i want a yuengling for breakfast

if i could commit a crime...i would want to rob a bank

for all the times I have loved...only once has it been true

love is such an overused word, but when its used right, nothing is more beautiful

i want there to be an off button for my mind

coffee without cream sucks

douchebag is my favorite word

I used to like Howard Dean but now I think he is a douchebag

I m pretty happy being me...sometimes I wouldn’t mind being Johnny Depp

Everyone has a dude crush...mine is Jason Statham

the only time i pray is when i am on an airplane

I think we need to revise the constitution for the 21st century

I don’t believe in the death penalty unless something happened to my family

A dinner for Five: Gandhi, My grandfather, Kim Kardashian, Chris McCandless, and Rumi

“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere, they're in each other all along.”

The only thing I am jealous of is really intelligent people

If I could win one sporting event, it would be the tour de france

I wish I had no prejudice towards people, but sometimes I do...

happiness is only real when shared...I go back and fourth on this one

I wonder what one hit wonders do with the rest of their lives?

Universal Guitar Face

Universal Guitar Face.....

My first truly “japanese moment” just occurred. The type of moment where you undoubtedly feel like your living in another country. 700 high school students and I packed a concert hall to be entertained by a true Japanese icon...Teddy and the Blue Jeans, yep that is really the name of the band. They looked like a japanese version of the beach boys, with their matching Hawaiian shirts, white khaki s, and advanced age. It was ridiculously funny to watch these middle aged men jam out on their guitars, keyboards, and drums. I think the keyboardist in any band is such an awkward part of the band. You can not look cool playing a keyboard, even Vince Neil could not pull of that feat. Plus when the guy looks like an Asian dentist it is even more hilarious. In fact their were two keyboardist, the dentist and the a guy who looked like Journey’s new singer. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but I was nonetheless entertained.

Midway through their “set” an attractive much younger Japanese female made a guest appearance to sing with the Blue Jeans, the students went bananas.... I asked the nearby students who she was? They had no idea, I think they were just glad to have some energy pumped into this show. Towards the end of the show Teddy and his mates went nuts, in typical concert fashion, Teddy allowed each of his musicians to “jam” to show off their skills and delight the crowd. Well Japanese guitar face is hysterically funny. This guitarist looked like an asian version of Stuey from Family guy, and he is rocking out on his guitar, wearing his Hawaiian and stone wash pants! I think there should be a website called universal guitarface.com and it should have photos of peoples faces while playing the guitar, i find them to be quite comical.

I got to give Teddy credit, he could put on a show. For a sixty five year old man to keep 700 high schoolers entertained for two hours is no small feet...

Dear Chokai, (A love letter to a mt)

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

Dear Mt Chokai,

Although I thoroughly enjoyed our hike (sarcasm), I have to take issue with a few “problems” I encountered while trying to conqueror your summit. First I find fault with myself for going out on Friday and staying up till 130 am. However I could not and would not go to bed any earlier, there are certain social scenes I must attend and the “North Block” pot luck was one of them. I know what your thinking...I am not in the North Block, you have no friends in the north block...why would you need to attend.

Well Mt. Chokai, this is precisely why I must attend to meet people and be plugged in to the social pipeline. So the two hours of sleep is my fault... I take full responsibility.

So as I lay awake at 330 am on Saturday, I thought to myself, there is no fucking way I am going to hike today. I wanted to lay in bed, sleep all day, watch tv, relax, have some wine and gourmet food. But... I thought I cant miss this trip, we have been planning it for weeks, months even. What would my friends say if I pussed out, I would never be invited on another excursion again. And I thought “this hike wont be so hard”, I have met the physically inept people that have hiked you before, if they can do it, i can no problem.

Well Chokai how wrong I was, how utterly wrong I was.... You were one bitch of a mt, a complete ass kicking of a summit, if you were a women you would be ann coulter. It was all fun and games before I started to climb, a great car ride, beautiful landscapes, the crisp cool air that awoken your senses, the camaraderie we shared before we made our journey up. From the minute I set foot on your wretched path, I knew this was going to be no stroll in the park. A hike is supposed to be exhilarating and strenuous while still relaxing and fun. You were none of the ladder, a hike is supposed to give you periodic reprieve from its elements... you did not. You went straight up for 5 solid hours. You did not offer a dirt path which was easy on the feet. You instead bestowed upon us a jagged , rocky path which I could feel with each step I took. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest, my legs felt as if I had been doing wall squats for 10 hours, my body was hot, achy , and hating life...But I marched on, why you may ask? Well Chokai, there are a few reasons, the first with each switch back and turn I thought this has to get easier, the end has to be near.. but you were like a high school tease. Only giving me enough to keep going but never allowing me the satisfaction of making it all the way... The second reason I trudged on, the numerous 80 year old japanese women that were gingerly walking up you like they were floating on air. They are soooo cute... these little japanese women with there perfect hiking gear, their brand new wind resistant north face, their hip to the scene 2011 hiking pants, the bear bells they wear to alert the non existent mammal of their presence. How in the fucking world do these women do it, i dont know nor do i want to know. I think I am in decent shape, but you chokai humbled my manly existence. You showed me the true definition of strength... .japanese grandmas.

Well Chokai, as you know i made it to your summit 5 long and grueling hours later. I was too tired to be joyous and to angry to enjoy the scenery. So how do you repay me for making it to the top, with an even tougher descent. Going downhill is supposed to be the easy part, this was not so. I descended with much reluctance knowing how you beat me to a pulp on the way up. You did not disappoint, you made my knees buckle, my back twist, my head ache, my legs cry. I cursed you on the way down, I wished you dead, I wanted to never see you again.... But when I made it to the end, I have never felt... WORSE. I wanted to fucking die, there was no joy or feeling of accomplishment. I felt like the gang from Goodfellas had just beaten me with a bat, in fact I much rather of preferred that.

Well Chokai, we will meet again in the spring and I am going to kick your ass!