Day 28 (Aug 5) - Junji Ito Haunted House and Night Market!

 We woke up relatively early to grab breakfast nearby. There was turnip cake if I remember correctly and some other types of food. Unfortunately, I didn't take any breakfast pictures, so I cannot truly recall what we had. After breakfast, we took a bus to our first location.

It is a historical site in Taipei, known as the Cultural and Creative Park. There were several different Japanese-themed pop-ups, including a Junji Ito exhibit. I'm not a huge fan of Junji Ito, but my girlfriend enjoyed his works. It turned out to be a haunted house-type exhibit. There were groups of 6-8 people going in at a time through the haunted house, connected by a thin rope that we were all holding. Fortunately, we weren't the first in line, so I could close my eyes as we went down the corridors. I didn't expect jump scares and actors, so that really caught me off guard. Certain instances made my heart beat extremely quickly. When I thought it was over, there was actually a second route. We lined up again, unfortunately, being at the front of the line. A younger couple behind us agreed though to take the lead after we asked if they would be interested in leading the way. I admit, I'm a huge coward when it comes to jump scares or horror movies. For the most part, this second route didn't seem as scary until the very end. What I thought was a mannequin was actually a real actor. She did an extremely good job portraying a statue that I actually screamed out loud.

With that part out of the way, we ventured to the other different exhibits before heading off to eat lunch. We stopped at a food court that had beef noodles and a famous soybean-type soup. The lineup was long for the soybean-type soup, but we eventually got some to try. I didn't find it extraordinary though, so the wait was not really worth it in my books. We then headed to a nearby cat café to sit back and relax. The café was quite busy, so we had to reserve a time slot before we headed off to walk around for a bit before our scheduled time. Once we were able to get into the café, we got a drink and cake to share, which turned out to be pretty good. The café was very photogenic, which they probably designed on purpose to help people who wanted to post pictures on social media.

Once we finished, we headed back out to get pineapple pastries at a famous bakery. There was a lineup, but we managed to get through after 10-15 minutes. It was sweltering hot outside, making the a/c bakery a welcome relief. Once we got our pastries, we headed to another café to eat some shaved ice. The shaved ice was quite large, so fortunately we only ordered one to share. After getting through the shaved ice, we headed to a nearby mall/department store to look around and, once again, escape from the heat. 

Our next destination was Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taipei. There was quite a line up to purchase tickets, but my girlfriend was able to find automated machines that allowed us to bypass the lines. We weren't able to go all the way to the very top, but the 89th floor would suffice. The wait for the elevator took a while, but we eventually got the chance to go up. It must have been the fastest elevator ride I've ever taken. My ears popped due to the rapid change in altitude.

We explored the floor and found a place where we could eventually sit to enjoy the sunset. Once we got our fill, we queued in line to take an elevator back down to the main floor. It was time for dinner, so we headed off to a night market. I don't recall the name of the night market, but it was jammed pack with people and various food carts. We started off with some corn, which was not bad. Our second dish was a noodle soup/dish that had oysters and pork intestines. It was only about $1, but it literally blew my mind. Maybe hunger played a factor, but I was thoroughly impressed by how good the dish was to me. It's definitely top two in terms of my trip this year. We also tried some taro balls, quail eggs, and bubble tea at the night market. There was also a famous restaurant that sold cold chicken mixed with various spices and sauces. That turned out too be pretty good as well. All in all, food was cheap and good.

We finished off our night by heading to a small arcade where they had the fishing-with-rice-paper game. Since we had no idea how to play, we didn't end up doing too well that night. After that, we headed back to our hotel to rest for the night.

A full day with various sights in a country that's new to me. 

 From the 89th floor of Taipei 101. Pictures of the city skyline may look generic, but it's always nice to see. 

Day 27 (Aug 4) - Hello Taiwan!

 Since we needed to be at the airport relatively early to catch our flight, we planned our route the night before. Fortunately, things went pretty smoothly as we headed to Fukuoka Airport. We arrived at one terminal, but had to take a 15 minute shuttle to the other terminal for our flight. Security took a while, but we managed to get through with lots of time to spare. It also helped that there was a delay with our flight. Due to the amount of time we had, we shopped around the duty-free stores for souvenirs. It was here that I discovered Royce chocolate-covered chips. Who knew you could combine chocolate and potato chips to create a wonderful, yet life-shortening, snack? I typically do not like white chocolate, but it was a delightful combination of sweet and salt. 

We also bought some breakfast from the 7-11 near our gate. The line was relatively long at this 7-11, but we managed to get through in under five minutes. Once it was time to board, we gathered our belongings and headed to our flight. It was my first time flying with Tigerair. Despite being a budget airline, the seats were relatively comfortable. After about two hours, we arrived at our next destination: Taiwan.

There was a long line waiting to go through customs, so I took my time to savor the sights. I've never been to another country in Asia besides Japan, so it was interesting to compare and contrast the differences. In terms of Taoyuan Airport, it seemed very similar to Japan in terms of service and speed. I don't know a lick of Taiwanese, but fortunately, my girlfriend is fluent. Once we got through customs and immigration, we headed to try our luck for some money that the tourism industry was handing out on IC cards preloaded with 5000 NTD. Apparently, there may have been a way to increase your chances of winning, but I clicked on the first item I saw on the screen (you have to click on falling balls on a screen to see if you won or not) and got a message stating that I did not win anything. My girlfriend on the other hand, was able to win, so at least we had 5000 NTD to spend! 5000 NTD works out to be around $200 Canadian, so I didn't think it would last that long. Boy, was I wrong...

Once we converted some money to get NTD, we headed down to their metro. I got a Yoyo card (equivalent to Suica in Tokyo) and two purple tokens. These tokens were one-way tickets, which was quite unique! We were fortunate enough to grab seats, as we headed to Taipei from the airport. The ride was scenic, with a lot of greenery on both sides. I cannot recall how long it took, but it didn't seem too long to get to Taipei Main Station. Once we left the station, we took our luggage to our hotel. It was quite hot, so I was glad when were able to make it to our hotel. Our room was extremely tiny with no windows. I opted to save money on accommodations (there was a Citizen M hotel which was not much more, but it was further from the station), though was starting to regret it when I saw the room. The shower had no separate wall from the toilet, meaning that you'd have to aim the showerhead in a way to prevent flooding the bathroom. Apparently, it's common in Asia, but it was a new experience for me. Fortunately, as I later found out, wasn't too difficult to shower (First World Problems). 

The a/c blew cold, which was nice. After we rested for a bit, we headed out. Despite the small rooms, our hotel was located in a prime area of Taipei. There were a lot of small shops and restaurants around us. We started off with bubble tea. If I remember correctly, my drink, with pearls, was under $2 Canadian. I was expecting a mind-blowing experience, but it tasted similar to bubble tea that I could get in Canada (just not for that price). We walked towards a busy shopping street that had a pinball arcade. There were two different games, but we had no idea how to play initially. After getting instructions from the staff member on-site, my girlfriend explained to me how to play both types of machines. It was surprisingly addicting, and we managed to win some small prizes after spending... CAD 10 each or so. I believe we also spent nearly 90 minutes in this arcade, so it was money well spent.

It was time for dinner, and my girlfriend made plans to meet up with one of her friends. We had dinner at a hot pot restaurant. The two of them had fun catching up while I enjoyed the food and the sights from our table (the restaurant was up on the second floor of a building). The hot pot broth was savory while they had unlimited rice. The meat they ordered was also top quality with a lot of marbling. There was also a juice/drink we got which was sweet and tangy. And the best part: it was CAD 100 for 3 people. 

Once dinner was over, we walked around for a while to digest. We parted ways near our hotel as her friend took the metro back to her place. We headed to a nearby 7-11 to purchase some snacks for the night. It didn't seem like there was as much selection compared to Japan, but everything was reasonably cheap. 

So far, I've had a good experience in Taiwan. Everything is affordable and the area we were in wasn't overly crowded. 

What I noticed about Taiwan in comparison to Japan was the vast amount of mopeds. I would say on anecdotal evidence that there's an equal number of mopeds and vehicles in Taiwan!

Day 26 (Aug 3) - Last Full Day in Japan

 For our last full day in Japan, we opted to spend the day in Fukuoka prefecture. We started by heading to Yanagawa to try out the river cruise that they had there. It was an extremely hot day; I didn't feel like the umbrellas did much to help us keep cool. As we arrived at the dock, there was the option of renting bamboo hats. Since we won't be able to deploy our umbrellas during the cruise, we thought it would be wise to rent the hat for our 45-minute trip. We boarded the boat with the help of our guide - a thin middle-aged Japanese man. He provided a lot of commentary in Japanese and with some English as well. There was a rest stop for us to grab something cool. We got some ice cream to help us beat the heat. At this point, I was sweating buckets.

After the tour, we walked around Yanagawa and waited for a bus to take us back to the station. My girlfriend was able to find us special day passes that allowed us to travel on trains (and the river cruise) for a discounted price. It was tight, but we managed to make it on a train that would take us to our next stop: Dazaifu. There's a special Ichiran that serves ramen in pentagon-shaped bowls. If I remember correctly, it's popular with university students since this ramen is supposed to help them pass their classes. Not only were the bowls shaped as pentagons, but the chopsticks and seats were as well. I believe the pentagon shape is similar to good luck charms? 

After we finished eating, we went outside to a heavy rainstorm. Despite having umbrellas, we waited for the storm to ease a bit before heading to a nearby Starbucks. The Starbucks was beautifully crafted with a lot of wooden beams supporting the building. It was quite busy, making it difficult to find a spot. After a few minutes though, we were able to secure a table. We spent some time relaxing here before proceeding to Tenmangu Shrine, which is a shrine dedicated to a scholar. It wasn't very crowded so we were able to walk at a leisurely pace throughout the shrine. 

We proceeded back to the station to head back to Hakata station. making a pit stop at a nearby bakery to grab some food to eat when we arrived back at our hotel. After resting for a while, we headed back out to LaLaport Mall. The main reason for me going there was to finish the trifecta. Nu Gundam was magnificent to see. I want to say it looked bigger than Unicorn and RX-78, though didn't seem to move as much compared to the former two. We ventured inside the mall to do some shopping and look around before heading back to the bus stop to take a bus back to Hakata Station. We stopped by Yoshinoya to grab dinner before returning back to our hotel to rest for the night. 

 Thus mark the end of our Japan trip. Not a lot of new prefectures or cities this time around, but there were many areas within the same cities I've been to before that I never explored. I always thought I had a good grasp of traveling Japan, but it's certainly different traveling with someone who lived in Japan and can actually speak the language. There were many fond memories formed, and a lot of good food (instead of eating konbini like I used to do back in 2017 and 2019) was consumed during this trip. I never would have expected to go camping in Japan, nor go to as many onsens as we did this time around.

This isn't the end though! It's off to a new country tomorrow!

Heading towards our river cruise! Pictures cannot capture how hot it was that day. 

Day 25 (Aug 2) - Goodbye Country Roads Youth Hostel

It was difficult to sleep the night before; probably due to it being the last night in our room. Despite how hot it can get at night, I was getting used to our room. After waking up, we performed our last breakfast setup before we proceeded to wash the dishes. One of the hosts had to leave early to attend her other job, so we said our farewells. After a small break, we did our last morning chores before finalizing packing our luggages. Our host took us down to Joyfull for lunch. (Joyfull is equivalent to Denny's in my opinion.) I believe my lunch was only $7 for a set meal, yet it was quite good for what you paid for at Joyfull. It was bittersweet saying our goodbyes, but instead of a "sayonara", it was a "ja mata ne". We'll be sure to come back to volunteer again, or maybe as guests next time! (I wouldn't mind having a/c next time haha).

We took a bus to Hakata station for the last leg of our Japan trip. It took about two hours, so we managed to get some shut-eye on the bus. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel before proceeding to explore Fukuoka. I've been to Fukuoka back in 2017, but didn't explore much besides Canal City. This time, we were in the heart of the city. We spent most of the day shopping at various stores like Bic Camera and Uniqlo. It was getting dark after we finished shopping so we headed to find an Ichiran near the station. Unfortunately, the line looked extensively long, so we ended up purchasing food from a 7-11 near our hotel.

It felt weird going back to a tourist after spending the week in Yufuin. It does help cement my desire to live in the countryside if I ever move to Japan (slim to none chance of that happening, but who knows?)

Not the same Joyfull as the one in Yufuin, but saw this as we were passing by in Fukuoka. 

Day 24 (Aug 1) - Back to Yufuin for the Last Evening Shift

 Since we were only needed during the evening shift, we checked out late at our hotel in Beppu. The streets were relatively quiet as we walked towards the train station. We strolled around the station for a while before boarding a local bus that would take us back to Yufuin. Unfortunately, I was doing some last-minute shopping, so we were nearly at the back of the line boarding the bus. I wasn't able to grab a seat initially, but after about 20 minutes, I was able to grab one. The ride was scenic and quiet. There wasn't a lot of traffic heading towards Yufuin.

Upon arrival at the bus terminal at Yufuin, we still had time left so we proceeded to find lunch. We wanted to try black chicken ramen, but unfortunately, the shop was closed for that day. We ended up stopping at a nearby burger joint. We passed by this place a few times (as we walked towards the station) and it always smelled great. They had a bungo beef patty, so we opted to eat those burgers. They were big and full of flavor. I personally enjoyed these burgers more than just eating the bungo beef with rice. After lunch, we stopped by the Milch cafe that was only a few minutes away from the burger joint. We grabbed more cheesecake and relaxed in the cafe till it was time to take the bus back to Country Roads Youth Hostel. 

The evening shift was relatively quiet. We only had to prepare the table for dinner. Normally, the host or my girlfriend would make the announcement to the guests to come down for dinner. They had to do it both in Japanese and in English. Since it was the last night, I gave it a try. I'm sure my pronunciation of some of the words were incorrect in Japanese, but I think I was able to pass on the message. Once everyone was done dinner, we washed the dishes and did one final evening sweep.

It's hard to believe that a week has passed by since we arrived in Yufuin. There were a large variety of activities and tasks each day that it felt more like a two week vacation in itself. It's probably one of the best experiences I ever had during my travels, and something I will remember for a long time. If I ever do another homestay, I'm not sure if anything can top this experience! I may just have to ask them to take me back in the future!

The Shiny Uncle who's the father of tourism in Beppu. This was in front of the station. 

Day 23 (July 31) - The End of Survival Camp and Beppu!

 It was rough getting sleep in, but I think I managed a few hours. I wanted to see the sunrise at the beach, so we got up and headed down to where we had the bonfire last night. There were the remnants of the fire (mostly soot) while we waited for the sun to rise. A few other campers came down as well to see. It was another surreal experience, only eclipsed by seeing sunrise on top of Mount Fuji. What made it more magical though was the lack of other people viewing the same sight.

When everyone was up, it was time to catch breakfast. There were some canals in the forest that housed crabs. We were armed with disposable chopsticks from yesterday and a few containers. Unfortunately, despite doing karate for a while, I'm no Mr. Miyagai. I wasn't able to catch any of the tiny crabs. However, my girlfriend was able to catch a decently-sized crab that she was able to scoop up! Once we caught enough crabs and walked around a section of the beach that we hadn't explore yet, it was back to the campsite to cook breakfast. The smaller crabs were deep fried while the bigger crabs were used to make crab soup. I never ate small crabs, shell and all before. It was crunchy and delightful. The miso crab soup was also quite tasty, with a strong taste of crab (of course). 

After cleaning up breakfast, we headed back to the beach for some activities. We played a variety of games like tossing a Nerf football, frisbee, and beach volleyball around for about an hour. As a group, we had to meet a certain amount of consecutive catches or tosses before moving on to the next sport. To finish off at this beach, we broke down into groups and wrote a message on the beach (Welcome to Oita I believe... I can't recall, to be honest). I've been working on my hiragana, though luckily she was able to ensure we did it correctly.

Once completed, it was time to leave camp and venture onto Beppu for lunch. I was sweaty (probably stinky as well), tired and sore from sleeping on the ground. The experience of camping in Japan though, and with people who knew how to camp, was an experience I never expected to have in my lifetime. I managed to catch some sleep during the nearly one-hour ride to Beppu. Along the way though, we made some pitstops. There was an area where we got to see horseshoe crab! Some of the campers were kind enough to try and explain how they molted and grew bigger each time they did so to us. After walking around the mud plains with the horseshoe crab, we headed off to find a restaurant to eat. We arrived at an AYCE restaurant that served yakiniku and sushi. The selection wasn't extremely vast, but the price was extremely cheap. I believe it was roughly $10 CAD a person? I made sure to eat my full after not eating as much the night before. Once we finished lunch, we took a group photo outside the restaurant before saying goodbye to one another. I probably won't ever see those people ever again, but it was somewhat sad to say goodbye to them.

Our host dropped us off at an onsen before he headed back to Yufuin first. We had the day off today, so we decided to explore Beppu! At the hot spring, we were able to book a private onsen. I never enjoyed an onsen as much as I did that day! The private onsen also had an a/c! After spending nearly an hour bathing, we went back to return the key to the private onsen before heading to their relaxation lounge to sit around for a bit. One particular funny moment was when we were lying down, I kept rubbing my cheeks since I used the lotion they had at the onsen. My skin felt quite smooth, so I motioned to my girlfriend to feel my cheek. She was a bit confused because I kept patting my cheek when I motioned her to feel, so she ended up slapping me. We couldn't stop laughing after that moment. I'm sure that the slap was loud enough that it startled the quiet room of other people relaxing after their bath.

After feeling refreshed, we headed outside the onsen to purchase some eggs that they had been soaking in the extremely hot spring water. It was then time to venture around Beppu. Beppu is known for the seven Hells - hot springs with extremely hot water that is meant to be seen rather than bathe in. We weren't really interested in seeing all seven, so we went to a nearby one: Shiraike Jigoku (White Pond Hell). There weren't a lot of tourists around so we took our time walking around the pond. There also was a small aquarium that was filled with Arowana. After exploring, we headed to eat an early dinner. 

There's restaurants around Beppu that used the hot springs to help steam food. We found one restaurant that specialized in this cuisine. We got a variety of different vegetables to eat, along with some steamed buns. Honestly, it tasted like regular steamed vegetables to me, but the experience was nice to try. After dinner, we headed to our hotel for the night to check in. After resting for a while, we headed back out to find Beppu Tower. Beppu Tower wasn't extremely tall, but it was devoid of any tourists when we were there. We got about an hour to ourselves to see the view and to go through their "galaxy walk" corridor, which was a highway with twinkling LED lights. After the tower, we headed to a nearby Lawson to stock up on some snacks for the night before heading back to our hotel. 

It was an eventful day that was both tiring and relaxing at the same time. Even to this day, I can't determine whether camping was the highlight of Japan 2023 or not. I guess time will tell!

 

Day 22 (July 30) - Start of Survival Camp

 Our host mentioned how he had a yearly event for guests and locals while he was driving us to the station a couple days back. One year, it was a survival hike, where they went hiking for a full day. This year, the theme was survival camp.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect since I've only gone camping in Canada before. One of our hosts left early to go set up with the guests and locals while we stayed back to take care of the morning chores after breakfast. We spent a good deal cleaning as much as we could before our other host told us to get ready to head to our destination. 

It was about an hour to our destination. Our host drove through mountains and forests for a while before we got a glimpse of the sea. I always wanted to see Shimonada Station, which is an unmanned train station that has a beautiful view of the sea. We stopped by a Lawson's that faced the sea, which was close enough in my books to my initial dream. After picking up some food for lunch, we headed off to the beach where our other host and guests were at the moment.

I haven't been to a beach since Mexico in 2014. Our host had some paddleboards that he had placed aside for us to use. We'd never been on paddleboards before, so we ended up just sitting on one of them while we paddled around for a while. The beach was quiet (with only our group and another group a distance away from us) with a relatively clear sky. It was a surreal moment to say nonetheless. After spending time paddling, we got the opportunity to go snorkeling. I never snorkeled before, but it seemed similar enough to scuba diving, which I had done in Mexico. I was unable to wear my glasses, but I could relatively see in front of me. We snorkeled further out and I started to notice more aquatic life. I admit, I did freak out when I saw jellyfish and ended up pushing my girlfriend towards a pile of rocks as I tried fleeing from one. (She did end up with scratches on her leg.) After having enough of snorkeling, I went back to shore. It was about this time that everyone else started cleaning up and getting ready to move to our campsite.

Once we arrived at our campsite, we were broken down into two teams. The first team was responsible for cleaning the fish that they caught for dinner, while the second team was responsible for collecting pieces of wood to set up a bonfire. We both ended up on the second team, thus headed down towards another beach to collect driftwood. My mistake was not wearing socks (since I was woefully unprepared for this camping trip -- didn't have my swimming trunks with me so I ended up just wearing a pair of shorts) since they were wet from changing back to some clean clothes back at the other beach. I ended up getting blisters on my ankle from my shoes as I collected the various pieces of wood. It was hard work, but rewarding nonetheless. One of the guests, who seemed to be a close friend of the hosts, came down after cleaning the fish to help us set up the bonfire. 

Once the bonfire we set, we headed back to the campsite to eat the fish that they caught. There was sashimi and fish soup all around. I didn't want to eat too much, so I ended up drinking mostly the soup. It was surprisingly not fishy and quite tasty. Once we finished eating, we cleaned the table before heading back down to the beach.

Sunset was approaching, so a bunch of them started some tinder to get the bonfire started. Once the bonfire had enough steam, we sat back and enjoyed the scene. This place was quite remote, so there wasn't anyone else besides us on the beach. People were happily talking to one another, or taking pictures beside the fire. Our host even showed his physical prowess by jumping across the bonfire! As it got darker and darker, some of them went back to their tents to get changed back into their swimsuits. They proceeded to head into the beach, under the moonlight. I opted to stay dry, but it was oddly peaceful enjoying the beach on a dark night with people splashing around.

Once everyone got out of the water, we went back up to camp to head off to the local Lawson to purchase snacks. We had a challenge to see what we could purchase with just 500 yen (so around $5 CAD) each. I don't recall exactly what I got, but I managed to get a popsicle, a drink, and some other snacks. It seemed like most people got ice cream or instant noodles. Unbeknown to most, we still had snacks from lunch time. >=)

We headed back to the campsite to eat, before some started to prepare for the night. I got ready myself by brushing my teeth in the bathroom nearby. Being a campsite, I was surprised they had running water, but there were literally insects in all of the sinks and toilets. My girlfriend and I had our own tent (that we had trouble setting up, so fortunately some of the locals helped us). We went inside and tried to sleep. Most of the others were sleeping on concrete while we got a location with grass. It was a bit rough, but I did manage to drift off to sleep.

That marked the end of the first day. I would have never expected to camp in a different country, let alone with local Japanese people. I had the opportunity to paddleboard, snorkel and experience how people from another country camp. 

A shot that my girlfriend took. As you can see, just sea!

  

  

Day 21 (July 29) - Non Eventful Day

 We woke up at the usual time of around 6 AM to help out with breakfast. After breakfast and dishes, we had a 45 minute break before we had to start our morning chores. Unlike the other days, we decided to stay back instead of heading down to town.

Most of the afternoon was spent in the dining room/living room area. I had the chance to catch up on some manga and read some articles. Feeling a bit sleepy, I then proceeded down to our room to take a nap before our evening tasks.

The evening dinner was busier than I was accustomed to, probably because it was the weekend. Other than that, everything went quite smoothly.

It's a good thing since tomorrow (July 30) will be a very eventful day!

We were doing a "super wipe" of the main floor. I wanted to make sure I placed these Demon Slayer Figurines back in the right spots!

Day 20 (July 28) - Bungo Beef, Animals and Sports

 We didn't have to wake up at 6 AM this morning to set up breakfast, so we slept in till around 8 AM. After eating our own breakfast, we rested for a bit before starting to clean up the rooms. We had our snack break at around the same time before heading back to work.

Once we finished our task, we got a ride to the city from our host. We found another restaurant that was known for selling Bungo Beef. We each got our own set. The beef was quite tender, and full of flavor. After finishing up lunch, we went back to walk around the main road; more specifically towards the animal section off to the side. 

We started with a cat cafe. It wasn't as big as the one in Tokyo, but they had a decent selection of cats. Most of them were asleep at this point, but some were moving around the various guests. My girlfriend was able to get a cat to sit on her lap for a while. We spent nearly two hours here before proceeding to the nearby owl zoo. 

There was a large variety of different owls, with some allowing you to pet them. After spending time looking at the different owls, we then walked towards a few souvenir shops nearby to purchase items to take back to Canada. Fortunately, we were able to take the bus back to our hostel again after we were done shopping.

Unlike last evening, there were six meals to prepare for the night. Once we had our dinner, we washed the dishes before taking a quick break before heading to the local community centre with the host and some guests. Every Friday, he takes people from the hostel to play a variety of games at the community centre's gym. For that night, we played tug of war (our team got our butt kicked... I blamed it on my shoes!), soccer, dodge frisbee (like dodge ball) and some sort of game where you had to capture your opponent's base and avoid getting hit by small balls. It was an enjoyable evening, and nothing I would have ever imagined doing in a foreign country. I don't even participate in these community events in Canada. The locals that were also there to play with us were quick and friendly, which you don't often see in the bigger cities of Japan. (I always find the Japanese to be polite, but never super friendly). 

After 90 minutes or so, it was time to head back to the hostel. I was drenched in sweat, so I took a nice relaxing shower and bath before heading back to the living room to enjoy some match pudding to close off the night.

It makes me wonder now why I never tried homestays before. I might have been just lucky to have had a great host who offered many different activities (night tour, Friday sports night, and one more major event that will be blogged about in a few days hopefully).

From the tug-of-war event! We were broken down into three teams for the night. 
 

Day 19 (July 27) - Quiet Day at the Homestay!

 Being a weekday probably meant not too many guests at the hostel. We only had to prepare two breakfast sets for the morning. Once breakfast was set, we had our own breakfast before a short break. For my morning task, I just had to clean the small wash basins that they had in the two onsens. Once my task was completed, it was time for our tea break. Once again, I got the chance to learn more about our host and to talk about different hobbies. 

After the break, it was off to complete other cleaning chores. As for lunch, we headed down to town again to explore. We started at a café by Lake Kinrinko (at the end of the touristy road), with a drink and dessert. Despite being hot, sitting outside was nice to enjoy the scenic view in front of us. Right after the café, we tried to look for a restaurant that sold Bungo beef, which is Oita's Wagyu. (Oita is the prefecture that Yufuin is in). Unfortunately, there was a long lineup for the place we wanted to go, so we opted for an udon lunch instead. Lunch was served quickly and was quite refreshing in the heat. 

After lunch, it was off to get more dessert. We got cheesecake from a famous bakery and then went back to the matcha ice cream store to grab more. This time, I opted for salted matcha, which was quite good! The bus station was nearby, so we ended up waiting for the 4:45 PM (around this time) bus to take us back to the hostel.

Since there was no one requesting dinner for the night, we just had to wipe the top floor (or in the words of our host: Super Wipe). We got a nice curry dinner for lunch before washing just a few dishes. Since it was a relatively easy day, and we didn't have to wake up early to prepare breakfast tomorrow morning, we opted to play Ticket To Ride before bed.

Volunteering at this homestay was quite a nice change of pace from traveling.

It's not fall yet, but I wonder why we could start seeing red leaves on this tree.
 

Day 18 (July 26) - First Full Day in Yufuin

 After a restful night, despite the heat (we had a fan to help cool us down), we got ready to start volunteering. Our first task was to set up the dining room for the guests. One of the hosts showed us how to position the flatware and plates, while the other host was preparing the dishes to be served. Once we finished with our task, we had breakfast ourselves. 

Dishes took place afterwards. They had two sinks set up, with one for smaller plates while the other one was for pots and pans. After we finished our tasks, we had a 45-minute break before moving on to cleaning rooms. We had to clean the futons and pillows, before moving onto sinks and vacuuming the hostel. At around 10 AM, we had a snack break, in which our hosts brought us wonderful snacks and drinks. It was a good opportunity to talk with our hosts to learn more about them.

Once break time was up, we completed our tasks before it was lunch. I ended up taking a nap for about an hour. Since we had about 4-5 hours before our evening tasks, we headed down the mountain (where the hostel was located) to Yufuin city. Yufuin had one main street with a bunch of tourist attractions. We started by getting some honey ice cream before exploring the streets some more. We stopped by a store that sold specialty nuts, thus purchasing some to take back. We also stopped by a supermarket to stock up on snacks for ourselves. Finally, it was one of the host's birthday so we decided to get him a cake from a bakery.

We took a taxi back to the hostel once again. There was about an hour left before our shift started, so a final rest before it was time to start. Our first task was to sweep the two parking lots they had for their hostel. It was a great way to get some exercise in, and fortunately, from being higher up, wasn't too hot. After sweeping for a while, it was time to go in and set up the plates for dinner. Once again, dinner was served to us, and it was as delicious as yesterday's meal. Once the guests were finished with their food, we washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

Our job was done for the day, but one of our hosts was hosting a night tour of the city and we were able to join him. A number of us clambered into his van as he took us up a mountain. It wasn't the clearest night, but you were able to see some stars at the location we stopped at. It offered a wonderful view of Yufuin city. Once we got our pictures in, it was time to head back to the hostel. As the guests were getting ready for bed, we had a small celebration with the host for his birthday. Once dessert was finished, I soaked in the onsen for a while before preparing for sleep.

A productive day, and a nice change in pace. 

Walking down the mountain during the day to reach Yufuin city. 

Day 17 (July 25) - Off to Yufuin!

 Our last morning in Hiroshima consisted of us waking up early to grab breakfast from the lobby. After grabbing more bread packages than yesterday, since I was quite hungry yesterday, we packed our luggage before heading out to catch the streetcar to Hiroshima Station. 

Unfortunately, we had to catch the Kodama (the slowest Shinkansen for this line since it makes a lot of stops) to Hakata Station in Kyushu. My girlfriend was excited to board the Yufuin no Mori, a scenic train that would take us to our next destination. However, due to heavy rainfall, our train was canceled. There was a lot of chaos among the passengers, and I had no idea what was going on at Hakata. Once again, fortunately, my girlfriend was able to speak to the conductors to get an idea of what we had to do. A nearby family from China was also able to ask her for directions since she's able to speak Mandarin as well!

JR ended up putting all of us on a train to Yufuin. It was a mad dash to the train since we were given only about 3 minutes to find the platform and to board. In the end, there was no need to rush since the train was delayed, which I assumed was also due to the rain. After an hour or so though, we finally arrived at Yufuin station. We took a taxi to our stay for the next week: Yufuin Country Roads Youth Hostel. In exchange for accommodations and meals, we were going to volunteer with chores around the hostel. It was my first time doing a homestay, so I wasn't sure what to expect. When we entered, we didn't see anyone so I awkwardly waited in the foyer while my girlfriend went to go find the host. After she was able to find one of them, they told us the location of our room, which was in the basement near one of the onsens they had on site. The roof was extremely low (I'm around 5'8" and my head brushed the ceiling), and there was no a/c, but the room was large. We placed our stuff and went back upstairs to a living room area to relax. The other host came to introduce himself to me and to welcome back my girlfriend since she's done a couple homestays at this location. We were taken to the kitchen to eat the dinner they prepared for us and for the guests who opted for a meal plan that night.

Dinner was a classic example of Japanese cuisine. Each dish was flavoured well with nothing overpowering one another. Once dinner was finished, we were handed an apron. It was time for our first task: washing the dishes. I had to say, it was pretty straight forward, though learning where to put the plates back after they were dried was challenging due to the vast amount of dishes and plates. Once the dishes were done, we were taught (or retaught) how to check to make sure the kitchen was cleaned and the burners were turned off properly.

First night was easy, which allowed a smooth transition for the week to come!

I believe the warning was lifted for Yufuin. Apparently it was at risk of a landslide.