Tsurugi Sunday (mountain ride and ninja udon!)

Pictures can only hint at the majesty of mountains (fri and sat)

lovely friday afternoon! the weekend was off to a good start!
Monkeys!! i had a GREAT time listening to the Ugly Men play (i love live music). Rob rocked out on this okanawan shashin, and rocked out and sang CCR's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" the night wrapped up with a cover of "Twist and Shout" which everyone danced like mad to.
Akimi looks so bad ass!

Nozomo's single, ladies, and plays the guitar like a god! ;)
yoma, the leader, is a groovy cat!
go, boys, go!
wow! can we do this every weekend? hehe, drunken wanderings in the drinking district afterwards! victor always makes the best picture faces.
this is Mt. Tsurugi!!!
we reached the snowline quickly, winter's holding out up here.

oh no! we've been hiking for an hour, and we're only half way!
come on guys, hurry up!
group pic one... (kiet, lou, kam, victor, jill, ange, ash, and me)
group pic two, i like the differences between the two.

the second half had some slippery slushy parts.
i like going where i shouldn't ;)
whew! it's the top!!
i hope these arn't rocks for people that died here! eek!

ahh, squinty face...
but not this time!

these are 8 accomplished people!
the way back down.

a bit of hiking and ONSEN pictures!!

this is north of kamita (ange's town), which you can see in the valley.
ferns!

hiking is fun!
hello, victor, watch out for the thorns!
they're starting to fill up the rice fields again. pretty, ne? this beautiful fish wind socs are for prosperity for sons (the daughter doll festival ended last month).
onsen!!! i was lucky and found it empty, so here's a rare look at the naked scene in japan! step one; sit on a little stool and shampoo and soap up. after you are clean you can get in a bath and soak.this one is a mineral bath.
then you can go outside. cold air + hot water = good!