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Asia Trip Day 12: Day of Rest (12/30/17)

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Look at the massive forearms on this guy Xuezhu and I were physically sore from the trip in Japan, primarily in the traps, shoulder, and back from walking around all day wearing our heavy backpacks. She took me to a massage parlor, which had several blind masseurs. The building was old and a little messy. They took us to the back through several doors into a private room. Xuezhu had a blind woman to massage her, but I got a normal guy. This was my first massage, and it was quite brutal. My masseur was super strong, as evidenced by his massive foremans. He really dug into my muscles, and it felt like he was trying to crush them. It was the most agonizing when he was working on my traps and calves. The whole body massage lasted about an hour, and after that I felt battered and bruised in a different way. Mushroom! Mushroom! After the massage, we met with her dad at a restaurant specializing in mushroom hot pot. Since I was still recovering, they wanted to take me somewher...
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Asia Trip Day 18: Chinese Fried Chicken (1/5/18)

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We returned to the massage parlor again to get another round of massages. Xuezhu was feeling some soreness in her traps and back, so she got a special massage. After the massage, they put a special carriage over her back. It held some smoldering logs, which heated up her back. There was a wooden lid covering them, but it could be opened or removed if it gets too hot.  We returned back to her parent's house for lunch. Her mother cooked for us vegetables with dried shrimp, and chicken with taro. The vegetables were very savory from the salty shrimp, and reminded me of a similar dish my mom makes. We then went to the mall area to get our haircut. Xuezhu usually waits until she visits China to get her haircut or colored, since its much cheaper than in US. We snacked at the KFC at the mall, because I wanted to try it out. Xuezhu told me that fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and KFC were considered to be really fancy when they were first in...
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Asia Trip Day 11: Sayonara, Japan-san (12/29/17)

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On our final day in Japan, we headed out early to Meiji Shrine in Shibuya. The forest path that lead to it was very scenic and quiet. There were far more tourists in this area since it is quite popular. The architecture was mostly red, and had many of the Japanese Shinto gates. The center of the shrine was a large open space without much activity other than pedestrians. Purifying myself The first ritual we did was the water cleansing. At the special fountain, we would use a special ladle to wash our hands with the water. Then we would rinse our mouth with the water, and then clean the ladle. I believe it’s to purify yourself before entering the shrine or something like that. Similar to the other temples, there were shrines that don’t allow photography (well, there was a sign that tells people not to do it, but they do it anyways). At the shrines, you would give a coin offering and bow several times. I think you’re also supposed to make a wish. There were tables where ...
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