He is able to get a good night sleep if he is able to sleep at Koya-san, that's for sure. I don't know if it was the comfortable bed, the traveling, the peaceful atmosphere or the bath but I got the best night sleep thus far on the floor of a small room located in the mountains. I have always been interested in Buddhism and just read a book by the Dalai Lama, so I was very intrigued to witness a real Buddhist ritual. The room was small and very aromatic due to the incense. The hypnotizing chants of the monks focused me on the ritual and helped me settle my mind by taking it off of other things. After the ceremony we got to eat a Buddhist breakfast in a large room where we sat on mats. Talk about a healthy way to start the day. It made me question why I've always felt that a large feast in the morning is necessary when in fact something as simple as rice and soup is just as pleasing. Unfortunantly, the rain put a halt to the rest of our plans but that didn't stop Fan, Kyle and I from discovering another temple down the road which was very beautiful. After we left we had to get back into serious traveling mode. Along the way a few of us got the Japanese take on burgers. It wasn't bad, just didn't feel right. I guess it would be the same as a Japanese citizen getting sushi in America. We arrived at JCMU in the evening. The rooms are spacious and equipped with everything we could need, except towels. I feel like if a room has a rice maker it should have at least one towel. Other than that I like it here, and feel like it is a good atmosphere to prepare for the final exams. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some grocery shopping in and try some more Japanese food.
Just a side note, I forgot to write about this when it happened Friday but I guess I'll share it now. We went to Dennys before returning to our hotel and it turned out to be a greater cultural experience than we expected. Except for maybe one or two items, everything on the menu was completely different from a Dennys back home. I ordered some kind of a noodle bowl that had lots of veggies in it. What is bugging me about the noodle bowl is that it came with a small portion of olive oil on the side. I feel like I did something wrong because I found it very difficult to dip soup in a plate of olive oil. I tried pouring some in my soup but it added nothing to the flavor or texture. Maybe I misunderstood the use of olive oil when it comes to soup but if it was to add directly in the soup, why wouldn't they just do that in the first place?
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