My witty brother, Jake, wins the cake for the best comment from my last story about Hagi. HOWEVER, even though he was the ONLY person to leave a comment on the site, he still wrote a great comment. And I have to admit, he
may win for best comment EVER written on my site.
Here is what he said...
"well if i could understand the samurai's country accent and the japanese that he would have spat forth far faster than i can understand, i'd probably go as he directed. but knowing that i cannot understand a great deal of japanese, i'd probably try to ask for his sword and some how samurai battle him until he starts to speak english. then i would ask him what he said, and he would tell me, because i have earned his respect by battleing him along the dangerous mountain side. after following the path in which he instructed i would then be granted with a golden, shimmering yukata and a daisho set fit for a samurai. after finding true samurai enlightenment i would fly away, dragon ball Z style, back to america where i would show off my new found samurai skills to my friends and family. thats what i would do... yep... "

Well...Abra and I didn't end up getting the "golden, shimmering yukata" Jake speaks of, but we did continue to walk up the path. At the top of the hill we came to the ruins of a lookout post where there was a wonderful view of Hagi, in all directions. We told each other we were proud of our hike, then we linked arms and flew away, dragon ball Z style!

Here is the next story from my "Trip to Japan and Hong Kong" series...

Abra and I have been best friends since grade school and after about five years of not really seeing each other, I forgot a few things about her. Like, I
forgot how much that girl can eat. Back in our younger years when we
spent a few days of our summer breaks at my dad's restaurant in
McMinnville, Abra and I would often impress my parents with the amount
of steak and other food items we could consume at one setting. Yes, we
were quite a sight. Upon Abra's arrival my dad would prepare a proper
meal of a t-bone steak, medium rare, and as many baked potatoes as Abra
wanted. I, of course, passed on the starch, and headed straight for the
juicy red meat goodness.
After I finished college, I have to admit my appetite began to slow. I
don't want to necessarily blame old age from robbing me of a bottomless
stomach, but after I turned 21 I just didn't seem to have the capacity.
While in Japan, however, I often times wore my "big pants," in order to
stuff in those last few pieces of sushi.
It was in the quaint whaling town of Shimoneseki that Abra
brought me to a wonderful sushi restaurant. You've all seen the type of
restaurant I am about to explain--instead of ordering your meal, sushi
just floats heavenly along a whimsical path toward your table where you snatch it up before your neighbor has a chance to look at it. The first time I
was at a conveyor belt type restaurant I was so scared that all the salmon
sushi would be taken before it got to me, I ended up grabbing 6 plates!
After Josh told me that what I had done looked rather rude, I decided to
put my faith in the conveyor belt and leave it up to fate to delivery
the fresh fish goods, instead of hoarding it.
After about 3 plates of the freshest shrimp I have ever tasted, 2 salmon
plates and a large bowl of miso with clams in it (YUM!) I was starting to
slow down. I looked across the table at Abra who hadn't really noticed
that anyone else was around. Instead she joyfully consumed salmon and
cheese sushi in a state of utter bliss. It was a pleasant sight, until she looked
up at me and said "Aren't you going to eat any more?" Ashamed of my poor
showing thus far, I trekked on, asking Jo to grab more plates off the conveyor
belt for me. "Looks like I win!" Abra said gleefully, as she sat back and
patted her belly, looking at the tower of empty plates she had built during the
meal. I glared at Abra's tower of plates and then at my short stack and
sweat formed on my brow. I wasn't about to let her out eat me, but then again, the raw fish in my stomach uncomfortably swam about.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Would you let your best friend win at eating this time, but take the lead in
Hong Kong when you out eat her during a lamb dinner?
OR, do you continue to stuff you face with SUSHI until your eyes start to look like the color of salmon roe?
OR, (a rare third option) do you really not care about eating as much as Abra and I obviously do?
Find out what Jolina did next time in "WHAT WOULD JOLINA DO?"