my japan adventures are quickly coming to an end. i finally quit my job. fuck the salaryman life (サラリーマンの生活は残念だよ). im giving myself "two and a half" (a nickname from lives past) weeks to say goodbye to as many of the awesome people ive met in the last year and a half, and to visit as many of my favorite places i can one last time.

__kushimoto's fire festival (串本の火祭り)__
last weekend i traveled down to the southernmost tip of honshu (本州) to visit some good friends in mie-ken (三重県) and wakayama-ken (和歌山県). we all met up in kushimoto (串本) to check out the annual fire festival (火祭り). most of us had already seen the festival the year before, but its just so darned cool we had to see it again. after a bunch of dancing and some taiko drumming, kids lined up on top of a hill and shot flaming arrows into a grassy field. it felt like most of the town was there with us to watch the field burn. after a while, the firemen even help SPREAD the fire. and when i asked one of them politely, they even let me spread the fire around with a flaming ball of something very burnable. fire can be a lot of fun sometimes. just like last year, we brought sticks and marshmallows and roasted them on the [gigantic] open fire.

ready.. aim..

..fire!!

the field didnt even know what it had coming

throw in some fireworks for good measure

the field never stood a chance

__kiikatsura's camel onsen (紀伊勝浦のらくだの湯)__
the next day some of us went to kiikatsura (紀伊勝浦) for some relaxing in an outdoor onsen, or rotemburo (露天風呂). the onsen we wanted to check out, rakada-no-yu (らくだの湯) - literally "the camel spa" - was only accessible by boat so we had to wait at the harbor to get picked up. when we finally arrived, it quickly became apparent why it was called the camel spa (check out that picture below). we soaked in the natural, beautiful, extremely sulfur-smelling, onsen and gazed at the giant camel rocks chilling just a few feet away.

rakuda no yu (らくだの湯) - literally "the camel spa"

just chillin

__shingu's floating forest and mcdonald's "las vegas burger"__
on the last day, we visited a floating forest in the middle of a swamp called ukishima no mori (浮島の森) in shingu (新宮), and a nearby shrine.

during our last meal, i had the pleasure of watching a friend enjoy a "las vegas burger," which is the special that mcdonalds is running right now in japan. please note: there is nothing vegasy about this burger except, as my friend described, the regret that may come after experiencing it.

mcdonalds "las vegas burger"

does it taste as gross as it looks?

answer: yes

it was hard to leave such good friends and such beautiful scenery, but my first weekend of goodbyes had to eventually come to an end. ill miss you guys.