Our day started quite early, around 8AM... I was out of cash so I had to stop at an international ATM so we went to the closest one, which was closed on Sundays, so we walked in other direction trying to remember where there was another one on the map we had seen back at the hostel. On our way there, some elders saluted us, so we started talking to them and asked them where was the closest international ATM and they told us it was quite far. One lady started to draw a map but they were all not sure how to get there, then all of a sudden the neighbor invites us in his car and offered to drive us there! We were all surprised again by this act of kindness. The feeling in this small town was like we were special guests.
Once I had the financial resources for the rest of the weekend, we took the bus to nearby town called Shirahama, known for it's beach and hot springs. When we got to Shirahama the first thing that struck us was the beautiful beach with its white, fine sand. We later found out that the sand was actually imported from Australia. We spent many hours on the beach just relaxing and throwing the Frisbee and at some point some Japanese kids joined us and tried to talk to us in English by consulting their built-in dictionary in their cell phones. They were so surprised to see we could understand and speak Japanese. I heard there parents say: What on earth? they can speak Japanese! People on the beach seemed to be fascinated by our presence and before we left took pictures with us. I asked directions to a man who seemed to be a Yakuza by the way he spoke but also with the tatoos that he had that extended from his back all the way to his hands. He happened to be very kind and told us how to get to one of the most famous hot springs in Japan. (see picture). Again, going to the hotspring is an integral part of Japanese culture and people go even when the weather is 25 degrees celcius (like today). I thought it was quite funny how men didn't care to expose themselves publicly (old woman were watching the men bathe and there was even a sort of pier that extended high above the see and stretch out and people at the top of that pier had an excellent view of the bathing men). Contrasted with the womens' side that was completely closed off and any attempt at trying to get a peek proved to be futile (we tried hard).
After the onsen we felt week and dizzy, we had not had a good meal since the beginning of the day and that is not a good idea in hot weather and when soaking in a hot spring... We had a chocolate and cocacola stop for temporary energy and then stopped at a small restaurant where I had some of the best curry rice in Japan.
The rest of the day in Shirahama was highlighted by a fireworks festival presented by me (I spent 40$ worth of fireworks), a visit in a nearby temple and then a funny situation where we had promised a taxi driver we would return by cab before 10PM, but finally decided to take the last bus back to KII-TANABE at 9pm because it was much cheaper. The bus actually passes right infront of the taxi stand so when it did pass right in front of the taxi stand we all ducted so the taxi driver could not see us in the bus!
Back in KII-TANABE we were in the mood for partying, so we went in the one street that stayed alive all night and it was a very active street for such a small town. We randomly entered a bar, imagining that everyone would stop talking and stare at us, but it did not happen like in the movies. The interesting thing about this bar is that they had cute hostesses tending right at the tables with the customers, they were there to make sure everyone has a good time and make sure everyone's glass is filled with beer. It was kind of cool but strange at the same time, but I guess it is a kind of modern Geisha. We were also scared because no one knew how it worked and we didn't know weather we should leave a tip or if there would be a hefty service charge. After 3 beers split amongst us (bottles that the hostess poured in our glasses), we decided to leave before we spent too much money, the beer was quite expensive (we assumed that is how we paid for the extra service). The hostess was very cute but seemed to have a very narrow view of life. She said she was always working there, never had time to travel, never traveled and the furthest she had been outside this town was Osaka. Although she did not seem genuinely interested in spending time with us, she did say that she had felt like she had traveled in Canada, France and the States after spending some time with us.
We were still on drinking mode after this visit, so we went to the convenience store got some beer and headed for a beach near our hostel. We drank and talked in the moonlight on the beach until quite late when both my Japanese and American friend decided to call it a day, but the Frenchman and I decided to go for one more beer for glory at the combini. We witness something quite odd: a totally drunk Japanese girl scurrying to the combini and returning to where she came from just as erratically. She had trouble walking she was so drunk. It was the first time both of us saw a drunk girl in Japan, we think that girls are known not to be drinkers here. (STEREOTYPE WARNING) We hypothesized that she was sent to buy beer by her boyfriend. We returned to the hostel around 4 am and dropped dead in our futon.
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