Motsumoto and back.

Britney Spears' Oops I did it Again was blaring in the van, we adoringly refer to as new white, as the following exchange took place between me and Michai. "Do you know the muffin man?" asked yours truly. Michai responded with utter confusion "the muffin man?" As I giggled I continued the nursery tale with much anticipation. "Yes, the muffin man." "Who or what is this muffin man?" "He lives on Drury Lane." With a look of confusion that only comes at the aid of cultural and language barriers, Michai summoned the rest of the bus for help; "do you guys know this muffin man? What is a muffin man? Is it a Mr. Muffin Man?" Ha Ha Ha. We spent the next ten minutes quoting Shrek and trying to bridge the gap of confusion. The bridge was built impressively but was later turn done after I brought up the fatal infectious disease of "cooties!"

The trip from Norikura (which is where Northstar is) to Motsumoto took about an hour. Along the way, Kanya, Taylor Swift and 3OH!3 rattled the speakers as we passed rice fields and the breathtaking Japan Alps. Out the other window we could see monkeys (saru) taking a recess, turning cable lines and telephones into a jungle gym of amusement. Being American, I freaked and did a little monkey dance but was made fun of by my new Japanese friends who calmly said "its just a monkey. They are everywhere." It is my prayer that those words never come out of my mouth.

Motsumoto, a city of 500,000, was shiny and distracting. Cars, people and advertisements competed for my attention. The first victor was a sushi place that may be THE GREATEST SUSHI in the world. The atmosphere was super fun with "hello kitty" apparel as the star. Woot Woot. Here comes the sushi train. Plates floated by us with relative ease while we drooled over the saucers of unknown tastes and origins. Shrimp, Eel, Squid, Sea Shell, Tuna, Clam added to rice, sprinkled with heaven and wrapped in love, were not only on the menu but available in large quantities. Seiya, Brad and I took full advantage of this advantageous fact.  Digestion was a cinch. We allowed the full body massage chairs to do most of the work with "rodeo boy III" finishing the job.

**It should be noted that Rodeo Boy is a machine that simulates riding a bull and is efficient at attacking those pesky love handles. It also makes for a good laugh.

Grocery store for milk tea, Starbucks (not me) for coffee and then off to do as the natives do.  Procuring local shops that were home to hilarious hats and grammatically incorrect t-shirts. We capped the day off with a stunt walking sesh' in front of the eight story clothing mall (Seiya said the mall was just like Target. Seiya is a liar.) The rail sesh' consisted of Brad, Seiya and myself balancing and tricking on a bendy rail about twenty feet long. The joy was cut short as an even shorter bowing machine, known as the mall cop, confidently crept out to do his job of policing the fun. I then asked Seiya if he smelled bacon but the humor was lost to Japanese ears.

Please check in for video highlights in the near future!

* Shout out to my little bro Scotty and all the other mules who are solidifying the base.