大分訪友／李明熙
到大分巿是探十多年老友優子，我們當年在澳洲流浪相遇，以電影打開話匣，幾年後又因柏林電影節在德國重遇，更成為鄰居，最後大家各自返回老家奔波，一別又數載。
見面當日我和 Kim 剛從由院岳下山，全身汗臭，決定先到大分的公眾浴場泡個溫泉。浴場屬摩登那種，大堂可以寄存行李，澡堂內有不同礦物成份、不同温度、不同水療按摩的浴池。我泡了一會，一位男職員走近，指著我肩上的紋身，然後給我大毛巾遮掩。我以為只有那些黑幫大型紋身才禁止入浴，原來連細如掌心的紋身也會被注視。
優子來接我們去「こつこつ庵」居酒屋晚餐，在大分城址公園附近開業 40 年，打鄉土料理旗號，魚生刺身壽司炸雞湯麵茶漬飯，樣樣首屈一指。吃飽後，走上一間她中學同學開的二樓酒吧，那裡只得十個坐位，吧枱坐著的都是熟客，喇叭播著柔和的爵士樂。
不知何故，客人們一見到 Kim，話題就換成美國人和日本人的性態度，優子毫不尷尬地成為翻譯。客人認為美國人對性非常開放，但 Kim 說美國人口裡說得開放，卻不敢行動。反之，她覺得在日本有各種怪異的性生活，但思想和行為上都有宣洩的渠道。客人說日本人在生活裡，不論大事小事都有太多制肘，不能暢所欲言，才孕育出那麼多變態的黑暗面。
日本人就是被教育成「寧天下人負我」，凡事不擾人為重。所以日本的服務是世界頂級，周全得超越顧客的想像。借宿優子家，早上竟發現廁所的廁紙開口摺成三角，這應該是日本人從小培養的待客之道吧。
Driving to Aso/Kimberlogic
Japan has the most spectacular and efficient railway systems throughout the country that a tourist can get almost everywhere they can think of. During our Kyushu trip we spent a lot of time taking different kinds of trains to numerous destinations. Although the trains were affordable, convenient and beautiful, we still desired more freedom.
After a short stay in Oita, we decided to explore the last leg of our trip by renting a car and going slow through the countryside. When we travel I normally drive the cars and Ming Hay always drives the motorbikes, but this time we shared the driving with him taking the first day. Once out of the city limits of Oita, the roads got narrower and much less crowded. We began winding up and down single lane mountain roads as we headed toward Aso to see what was happening with the volcano.
While planning our trip, we were originally going to stay in Aso for a few days, but about a week before we arrived in Japan, Mount Aso erupted and was designated a level 3, which meant we could not get close to the volcano, so we changed our plans and took Aso out of our destinations. While we were heading to the small town of Sujiyu for a hot spring hotel, we saw that Aso wasn’t too far of a drive, so we made a slight detour to see how close we could actually get to the volcano.
Unfortunately, it was late afternoon and the blue skies from earlier were becoming overcast and fog was starting to roll in when we entered the town of Aso. We got to see a few short glimpses of the volcano before the heavy clouds covered it completely, but the most exciting thing was seeing the ash that still covered many of the buildings in town. By the time we entered Aso, it had been about three weeks since it had erupted, but evidence of the eruption could still be seen all around. Street signs, buildings, businesses, even the road still had ash; we tried to imagine what it must have looked like the day of the eruption.
As the sun started to go down, we got back on the path so we still had some daylight to navigate through those tight, snaking mountain roads. Since the town of Aso is located in a basin, surrounded by very tall mountains in every direction, the fog beat us and had already set in as we started to climb out of the basin. The fog was so thick, the roads so narrow, and the car unfamiliar, we were both on the edge of our seats and our stomachs were in knots with the stressful journey. What should have taken us less than an hour took over two hours.
When we finally arrived in Sujiyu, we found our beautifully quaint hotel situated on the bank of a natural hot spring river. A huge, delicious hot pot dinner and a relaxing hot spring was exactly what we needed after the terrifying, adventurous drive.
