I just got back from two days of exhilarating canyoning and rafting in Shikoku (the island to the south). It took a little over two hours to get to the company's building (Happy Raft), but it was totally worth it. We spent the first part of Saturday canyoning, which is by far one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. After donning full wet suits and helmets and heading up the mountain in a rickety old van, we hiked down to the canyoning base, where we took a quick dip in a mountain pool. Although the water was cold, the wet suits made the whole thing very comfortable. We started by going down some rock water slides and doing all sorts of roping. We also took a trip on a long zip line across a gorge, hanging at about 70 feet above the ground. The trip was topped of by a controlled 40m (130 foot) decent into a canyon. After a quick lunch of Okonomiyaki, we headed to our cabin for the night--a traditional Japanese house, complete with BBQ, which we used all night cooking up lots of good things. We awoke early the next day for rafting, and after a long delay at the bathroom (which almost made me miss the bus), we headed down to rafting starting area. Although I had rafted before in Colorado, rafting here was a completely different experience. We were on the river from about 9:30 in the morning up until dusk. I got a crazy high, not to mention some sore muscles and a nice sunburn. Apparently the river we did was rated a 3.5 (out of 5 in terms of difficulty), but it was a blast. In addition to the rafting we also did cliff-jumping and raftless rapid riding. The day was topped off by a trip to a local Onsen (Japanese hot spring) where we relaxed for awhile before heading back to Awaji. It was an incredible trip that was a wonderful way to top off my already amazing experience here on Awaji island. It's sad to be leaving in two days, but it had been a fun-filled and adventurous two-and-a-half months. (There will be videos up soon, YouTube seems to be down at the moment...)

I know its a few days late, but here's the Tokyo post. I got back from a 3 1/2 day trip to Tokyo where I stayed with my friend Hiroyuki from Germany. Together, we traveled to the big tourist places in Tokyo, including Akihabara (the Anime mecca of the world) Shinjuku, the Asakusa temple and Tokyo Tower) as well as some lesser known locales. Tokyo was the biggest city I have ever been in, and it was quite cool actually, a lot different than I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a concrete jungle with no green, and people hectically rushing around. While there were quite a lot of buildings and high rises there, Tokyo seemed to have its own kind of homey feel, and the people seemed to be surprisingly laid back.

After getting in around 4 on Monday, we went out to dinner and I met some more Japanese who I met in Germany. It was a lot of fun talking with these people all of whom I hadn't seen in two years. Many of the men have become "Salarymen" (Hiro included), which is means they work 12 hour shifts six days a week and get less than a week of vacation per year. After dinner, we headed off to a karaoke bar and sung crazy songs, before heading back to Hiro's parents' house, completely knackerd.

Day 1, we went to Akihabara and Shinjuku where we took and elevator up the Japanese parliament building. We also had lunch in a sky lounge (25th floor restaurant) in the building where Hiro works. I also was worked on by a guy who did some kind of energy work, like Reiki. Akihabra was absolutely crazy, hoards of hungry Otaku scoured the streets looking for their next fix, while we tried not to get trampled and took a break in a maid-cafe, where young girls dressed as maids served us melon soda and root beer floats.

As day 2 rolled around, I had regained much of my energy. We headed off to Tokyo tower, the large red and white likeness of the Eiffel Tower, where we took an elevator up to the first level. Afterwards, we headed to Asukusa, a famous temple in Tokyo, where we did a little shopping along a famous pedestrian mall.

On the day I left, I was awoken in the early morning by an earthquake, apparently registering a 4 or so. It was the first one I had ever been in, and was quite a scary experience. It was a unique way to top off my Tokyo experience, and it was a trip I won't soon forget.

I'm heading off to Tokyo tomorrow, but heres a quick update of Awaji happenings. I went to Sumoto (a nearby town) yesterday to meet with a kiwi named Steve, with whom I'll be rafting later this month. After a quick lunch, we headed up the mountain and literally into the clouds. There were all of these low clouds that were passing over and through us. It was all quite surreal and cool. Additionally the wind was blowing like mad, as you will hear on the videos, which are below.

First video, sorry for the inane babbling, but it was quite awesome, never been in a cloud before.

At the top of the mountain where there was a cool lookout tower, it'd be a cool place for a BBQ!

Last Saturday, I went to a town to the south, Minamiawaji, for dinner and fireworks. After a nice ramen noodle dinner, we headed to the beach where I met with Atushi. After watching some very cool Taiko drummers and having banana-melon flavored ice cream, he headed down to watch the fireworks. It was a cool show. Never have I been so close to the action, so much so that when the wind shifted in our direction bits of the fireworks rained down on us. The show lasted about an hour, after which we decided to hang out at the beach with a bunch of Atsushi's friends from Tokyo and Osaka for the next five hours. We didn't actually leave until about 3 in the morning, at which point I was completely wiped out. Still, it was a fun night, and my first exposure to a traditional Japanese festival. Check out the videos below!

Taiko Drummers

Japanese fireworks