This was something I really wanted to do, and the swedish chick Ebba... like,... I had to hang around and not make plans or else I would miss going to Fuji-Q with her. And, let's face it... I don't speak japanese so I was somewhat at her mercy if I wanted to go... or I would not just go by myself.

Some girl named Amy joined us. I think she is married and has kids now. It's kind of weird because we were all getting along well at this time...

It was actually kind of far to get there.... We had to leave early. And the train was a bit expensive... like we had to take the correct train... etc etc etc...

One cool thing about Japan was the vending machines. You can get all kinds of things out of them. In case you are wondering... Ebba, the swedish chick, got some chicken or something and it was burning hot on the outside, but frozen on the inside. I think I got the Onigiri and those were fine. This was lunch I believe.

I think all we did was walk from one line to the next. There was a lot of rides shut down I think... because it was off-season... but still... the rides they had going still had hours of wait time. We had to go straight from one, to the other ride. The entire time we are just waiting in line. It was cool because they would play all these advertisements and stuff while you wait... some advertisements for different rides... the one with the guys dressed in yellow and black was like a spinning swing carousel that went up and down high in the sky. The power ranger type crew safety videos were pretty funny.

The waits were worth it. The roller coasters were awesome. There was one that the seats flip around, like they rotate up and down on the turns and such... there was another where you are on a big circle thing that rotates while swinging like a pendulum. I forget if I went on a pirate ship that goes upside down... those aren't that bad... for me it is the free fall that scares me, not when my back is pressed up against the back or you are firmly stuck in place...

For lunch at the park we just got Onigiri. That's fine but I really wanted a squid on a stick but I don't think Ebba wanted to do that and I wanted to stick with the group as we needed to get into a different line... etc... someday I will have that squid on a stick... just like in anime... like... we see all these foods in anime and want to try them all...

On the way back we stopped off in some random town... maybe it was near the train station and got some food at some small restaurant. Food was awesome. I think I just wanted all weird things... things I had never tried before. Swedish chick only wanted normal stuff. I guess she probably already tried everything while she was here for a few months.

At this place they sold us on getting some locally made sake. I remember it tasting a bit distinct, very good. I wanted to drink a lot but I think we had to go or no one else drank. Now that I am an adult, I don't worry about what other people think... I just indulge when I want to indulge. Back then I would just do what the crowd wanted to more so...