Shuugaku Ryokou (School trip) to Nagano! They had the olympics here a few years back, but theyre's a lot of touristy stuff to do. We stayed at a ryokan in the Shibu Onsen area (hot springs), where you can bathe in different hot springs, each with their own "magical powers." It was a really awesome trip, lots of fun! And I also took a lot of pictures, way too many to put them all here. But I picked a few good ones...
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Saw this at one of the "Service Areas" (rest stop) that we stopped at on the bus ride to Nagano. Who wouldn't want some goo cup? Oh, me. |
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Dan, me, Trevor, Bryan, Seth, Ari, and Mikey. We stopped by a Taiko Drum workshop on the way to Nagano. |
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Whoa! Long-lost relative? Derek and the guy who started the Taiko place. |
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You know what would make a funny music video? A bunch of stupid Americans beating Japanese drums. Take 1! |
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After we arrived in Nagano, we stayed at Shukubo, a ryokan/temple place for the first night. It was right down the street from Zenko-ji temple. We got to wake up at 6 in the frickin morning to go to this temple. It was really cold too. See the look on my face? That's amazement that my body could move that early in the morning (got this pic from Mikey) |
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Here she is, Zenko-ji early Thursday morning. And no, it's not some kind of Nazi Camp, those are Japanese temple signs. Or so they saaaay..... |
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6 guys + 6 statues + lack of sleep + awesome = Kishidan pose!
(got this pic from Mikey)
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We went to Obuse city later that day. The one day Ari forgot his bug spray, and BAM! Giant metal beetle comes out of no where and eats his intestines. |
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We went to a Soba restaurant and they had this sign on the entrance. I didn't even ask! So this means either A) they really are Yakuza-free, and everywhere that DOESN'T have this sticker is associated with the Yaks or B) they are lying, and this is a bluff. I ate Yakuza soba noodles. Either way, it was funny. |
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Next day (Friday, I think), we went somewhere and made our own soba noodles. It was pretty easy, if not a bit pointless. But they were good noodles. Me and Bryan ate almost all of them, and Seth and Mikey went to look for a Mickey D's. Seth LOVES Washoku. (got this pic from Mikey) |
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The highlight of the trip, if not my entire life. Ninja theme park. Ooooh yeah. |
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There was a "Karakuri" (Trick) House, with a bunch of ninja trap doors and stuff. This room you see here was built so that everything is on a slant. It looks normal, but then you realize that gravity is pulling you down the floor and you slide all the way until you hit the wall with a bam. We spent about 30 minutes in here at least. |
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Me hanging on for dear life and fighting the 35 degree angle plus gravity. Did I mention that in the Karakuri House, I broke a ninja door? It's OK, i left, came back, and fixed it. Good thing I did, or the ninjas would have cried and then killed me for ruining their house. |
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Ari heads out of the basement ninja maze, where a ninja is waiting to fight you. If you win, you get a Naruto headband. Too bad it was just a story we made up and got people to beleive us. |
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Biggest karakuri surprise: SPIDER-MAN! And it's not Derek, *cough cough* |
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Apparently real ninjas dress like Hobos. That's not a hobo asking for spare change outside of the Wal-Mart near you, that's a ninja. |
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Me and the A-Team outside of a cave wearing hard hats? Or 80's German techno band? Haha, that was a trick question. The answer was "both." |
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I challenged this guy to a Pokemon Battle, but he just stood there. Then he finally gave in and it was on. |
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We hid these people in the closet (although that was also where Trevor slept for the whole trip) while we cleaned house and got rid of all the extra people. Genious idea! Oh, and this was the last night in our ryokan that we stayed at most of the trip, with all the hot springs around it. |
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Ari is gonna kill me when he sees this picture on my website. It's "Ari no jutsu." I can't say anymore than that or it will ruin the surprise and ruin centuries of Ninja training. |
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On the way back home on Sunday morning, we stopped by the "Hell Hot Spring," which happens to belong to these monkeys! It was awesome, we got to walk right next to monkeys, watch them eat, watch them bathe, and even saw two of the going at it. Talk about reality TV shows. |
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I tried to lick this monkey, then decided it wasn't worth catching rabies over it. |
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Is this an inspirational shot or what? It's like the monkey is posing or something. I am a master photographer! |
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This is the second picture we took in this pose. In the first one, another monkey ran by and you can just see a monkey's butt running by. This is better. |
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Hot spring geyser a little bit away from the monkey onsen. |
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Last big stop on the way home: Matsumoto Castle, the "Crow Castle" since it's all black and stuff. |
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Samurais had guns too. Rap stars of the feudal Japan era! |
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I don't know what pose I'm trying to do here, but it's funny... |
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