On August 15 and 16, a group of 8 packed up and went one hour by train to the east to spending one night camping by the largest lake in Japan, Lake Biwa.  As I had never done camping before it Japan, I was really looking forward to the opportunity. 

After arriving at the camp site without a hitch, we pitched our two tents, which comfortably fit four people each and prepared for our wind surfing course beginning from 1:00 p.m.  After receiving a 30 minute instruction on land, we all headed into the water to do the real thing.  What was really nice was that the water temperature was extremely warm.  As the sun was beating down, it was really soothing just to mess up while trying to wind surf, so I could purposely fall into the water.  Unfortunately there was not a strong wind for the first three hours of our instruction.  We lucked out as during the last one hour the gusts picked and off we were into deep waters far from the coast.  It was great getting so far out, however the tough part was returning as I was going against the wind current.  But in due time, I was able to successfully steer my sail towards the coast and returned safely. 

After cleaning up from a long afternoon out in the water, we prepared for our BBQ dinner.  Not sure if enough food would be prepared by the camp site, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some extras.  As it turned out, we did not need them.  We definitely had enough food or should I say too much.  I eat probably for three people alone.  My stomach was hurting after that but the food was excellent.  Following dinner, we went out on a boat owned by the camp site for a one hour night cruise.  This was a nice treat following dinner to get out in the water and just relax and see the beautiful starry sky. 

At the conclusion of the ride, we all got into our tents to get a good night's sleep for the following day. 

The next morning everyone was up by 7:00 a.m.  I did not sleep very well as it was hot during the night.  It must have been only me as everyone else seemed fine.  After spending some time in the lake swimming from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., we took a break until our wake boarding lesson was to begin from 1:00 p.m.  Wake boarding was a lot of fun even though it takes a lot of skill to be able to get up on the water.  It took me three times but finally I was able to stand up and glide across the water.  Even though I was exhausted after 15 minutes, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would love to do wake boarding again!

After wake boarding our camping trip came to a close and we all got on the train to return back to Osaka.  On the way though, I separated from the group and met another friend of mine in Kyoto to view the "Daimonji" festival, which consists of creating fires in the mountains surrounding Kyoto with various Chinese characters to symbolize the return of the dead to the spirit world.  I was lucky enough to see all six of the fires from my viewpoint, which is supposedly the only place in Kyoto where one can see all six due to height restrictions placed on buildings in Kyoto.  For other spectators, they normally can only see five of the fires. 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable two days with a lot of new experiences.  This is definitely how the weekends/vacation days are supposed to be spent.

For more information check out:
Daimonji

On August 14th, I went with a bunch of friends to the annual Nara Light Festival.  This was the second time for me to see the light festival as I also came in 2005.  To be honest, the light festival covers such a vast area, I really wonder how many people it takes to light all the candles around the city.  I guess this will be my homework assignment. 

In any event, please take a look at my photos section as I have uploaded some pictures for all of you to see.

For more information visit:
Nara Light Festival Public Web Site

Even though they are not any photos indicating that I went rafting on the Yoshinogawa River in Tokushima this past weekend, trust me in that I went and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

In my first whitewater rafting trip in 10 years and first time in Japan, it was a lot of fun but also tiring at the same time.  Thank goodness that we opted out for the half-day trip as opposed to the full-day course.  But as Masumi, Kojiro, Yoshiko, and I did rafting on Sunday, we left Osaka for Tokushima early on Saturday to see some of the tourist spots in the area before checking into our hotel in the mountains. 

Places of interest that we visited included the Naruto Whirpools located between Awaji Island and Tokushima and the man-made bridge out of vines "Iya no Kazura", which was located only a few minutes walking from our hotel.  It was also nice to get away from the city for a weekend and experience "nature" as it was meant to be experienced.  I would probably say that the highlight of my trip was eating.  I was able to have many great tasting food.  That alone makes me want to return back someday soon for another visit. 

Naruto Whirpools

Gotta keep the good times coming! 

For the first time ever, I held a party on a Friday night.  A little skeptical at first as to how many people I could gather for an outside BBQ party at a hotel, once again I was amazed as over 90 people came out in support of Justin's 2008 BBQ party.  With all-u-can-eat and drink for 2.5 hours and live Hawaiian music to boot, the ambiance was just right for a summer evening by Osaka Bay to kickoff the weekend. 

Something tells me that I will have to return back to the Hyatt Regency Osaka to do a repeat next year.