Sing along, now

I had an awesome time with my friend Joel! He lives in Oita, a small southeastern city near Beppu. I'm sad I only had two nights there! He introduced me to some more new things, most of them requiring you leave your modesty at the door - with your shoes.

The first night we went out for a delicious meal at one of his favorite restaurants. On the menu, and our plates: pork on a stick, various kinds of sashimi, beef, fried cheese, and (drumroll) raw horse. It tasted like chicken. Ha, just kidding. It was red and chewy and (gasp!) pretty good! After dinner Joel needed his fix so we headed over to the local karaoke-box joint. I hate singing in public. Actually I don't even hate it - I just don't do it. But something came over me that night (a sudden urge to belt out "Hit Me Baby One More Time," perhaps?) and I sang - and it was fun!

Yesterday, after a cool but less-than-relaxing solo excursion to Beppu, I did another thing I never really expected or wanted to do - I took a bath with a bunch of naked Japanese women. And guess what - it was fun! Public baths are huge in Japan. Joel says it's one of his favorite things to do! They had a whole bunch of baths, at different temperatures and jets and things. My fave was the one under the stars. So cool!

Thanks, Joel!
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.