May 21

Heading out to Shirahama
When we got on the train in Kyoto, an announcement was made that someone had committed suicide on the tracks that morning and all trains were delayed. Cathy says it`s a common occurence. My itoko, Willis, told me that his understanding is that it is really hard to make ends meet here and that`s why the suicide rate is so high. Cathy says it`s because there is so much pressure to succee. I think the two explanations are probably related. Our 3 hour train ride to Shirahama took us about 5 hours. I made it more than half way through Rohinton Mustry`s first novel, A Long Journey.

Shirahama is a beach town and the little train station`s posts are all decorated with flowers. Also they are home to pandas in their Adventureworld so there are cute panda drawings everywhere. There are only 1600 pandas left in the world so it`s a big deal that this little town is home to them (not sure how many...). We took a taxi to our hotel the Shariraso Grand Hotel. Cathy`s mom booked us a night in a ryokan, Japanese style room. We walked around the tiny town to find lunch. I had curry and Cathy had yakisoba. We shopped for a little bit then went walking on the beach. The sand was so white, we were sure it didn`t belong there. Cathy said they brought it in from somewhere, but to me, it looked like the sand you see in those ashtrays. Cathy said I should taste it, and I did. Sure enough, there was no salt in it. Can you imagine? Then she told me that there are some beaches in Hawaii that have fake sand too. The day was kind of gray, but being able to walk and sit on the beach was relaxing just the same.

While we lounged around on the floor on the bamboo mats and cushions and half chairs before dinner, I read more of A Long Journey, listened to music (Jason Mraz, Estelle, and Tom Petty on repeat) until my iPod died and then tried to solve the tangram puzzle Cathy challenged me with. I was only able to do 5 of 11. :( At 7:30PM, we walked over to the hotel restaurant for our traditional Japanese dinner.

Japanese Dinner
Here are the plates I can remember right now. Don`t have my camera to double check... Each number is a course, served on small plates.
1.
2.Octopus Shabu Shabu
3. Prawns in soup
4. Fried fish in edamame cream soup
5. Roast Beef
6. Fruit and Mochi Balls encased in pretty lavendar/pink confettied gelatin

Onsen
We stayed in Shirahama to be near the beach AND to go to the onsen. Cathy and I waited to go the onsen until after dinner. When you walk into the onsen, it`s like a normal bathroom at a gym- open with lots of counterspace to sit in front of the mirror and get dressed. There are lockers where you leave all your clothes and whatever beauty products you may have brought with you. Cathy handed me a hand towel and said you use it to cover "your genitals," ha. She warned me that people might stare at me since I looked so "different." I won`t go into detail, but I was definitely different... We walked into the area that has all the hot tubs. There is always one tub/pool that is outside. Before you get in the hot spring water, you sit at a shower that is kind of like a vanity. There is the faucet with a detachable shower head, a mirror, and a stool to sit on. You sit there first and thoroughly clean yourself. All around are naked women cleaning and cleaning and then soaking and soaking in the water. I could only handle the heat for about 45 min. And that was outside where you could at least get some fresh air blowing on your skin.