"this ain't no catch and release"

in another effort to stay away from my apartment, i agreed to go to senmaida (“1000 rice paddies") for all-you-can-eat somen noodles. we drove 40 minutes to an even more remote part of mie...the sun was out, the rice was green and waving in the breeze...a gorgeous day. then i found out we got to PLAY with our FOOD. they set up a bamboo trough with water and cooked somen noodles streaming past and you dip your chopsticks in, grab some noodles, dip them in the sauce cup in your other hand, and eat! i've never had so much fun catching my lunch.
now take the narrowest, steepest, windingest road you've ever been on and double or triple each of those qualities. such was the way to our next destination: Secluded Waterfall. when we finally got to the place where you park, we "hiked" (slid/fell) down a barely-there mulchy path and finally came to the water. the pictures speak for themselves...beautiful. unlike colorado snowmelt water, this water was refreshing without being instantly painful and numbing.
THEN we went even farther up that crazy road and did another short hike through Scary Dead Spider Leg Forest, past two little shrines, and holy hell! the dropoff of the century. i've seen some pretty impressive canyons, mountains, and cliffs, but this topped them all. i could barely even stand to look over the edge or look at anyone else looking over the edge. i hunkered down at a very safe distance from the End and waited for the others to finish being amazed so we could get the heck DOWN from there. believe me, you can't see it in the pictures.
we wrapped up our day at a gelato stand that has the best ice cream i've had in japan so far. (and ps. i love that green tea ice cream is like vanilla in japan--it's everywhere) we all went back for seconds.
finally it was time to return to my apartment that i had been airing out for two days. this is my second night of clear breathing, thank God! i still have some mucous-y coughs (eeew, sorry), but i feel much better...