diamondlife

Ahhh, Hokkaido foils me with its Japanese ways. XD I *think* I've booked a place in Toya-ko for a couple of days, but it seems like we might spend a lot of time on trains and buses... Oh well, that might be the best way to see the place if it keeps raining!

Yesterday we went to Hakone, the mountain region not far from Tokyo. We took the train, then a bus which wound its way up the mountain and down to the lake, where you get a pirate ship to the other side, then you get a series of ropeways and cable cars up and down another mountain. :D It was great, and we had really good tempura too. :9 I love just travelling around, staring out the window. And I think I've developed a fixation for ropeways that giving_ground finds very amusing. XD

The day before that we went to see an act of a kabuki play! It wasn't quite what I was expecting - it was fairly, well, normal! XD It felt very much like going to see Shakespeare, except with more beautiful, exotic costumes and sets. It was an adaptation of Twelfth Night, lol, but still! I think I want to go and see some noh now, because I've seen it on TV and it looks far more... Japanese. ^^' I love that it looks so mystical and stylised, and the way they speak is fascinating to me. Hopefully I'll have time for that sometime later!

Today we're going to Nikko to volunteer at a Lodge. I'm not sure what the internet situation is going to be, so if you don't hear from me for a week or so, I may or may not be slaving night and day making miso soup. :3 Hey, that's a useful skill to have if that magazine article I was talking about last night is to be believed! XD I'm sure there will be Ways though. There usually are!