Japanese Bathhouse

Let me preface this with I've never understood group male showers. In the high school locker room I never even once hung out for a spirited game of grab ass (whatever that is), never snapped a towel, and never stood in a line with 20 other naked dudes getting clean. When Pui's aunt suggested that we hit the spa, I didn't think in a million years it would be anything of the like.

Little did I know I was about to embark on a full on Japanese tradition - the bathhouse. It's basically like an amusement park in the shower. You've got about 20 stations all with varying temperates, jets, and tub sizes. Temperatures range from freezing to scalding. Jets range from tickling to just about breaking the skin. The tub sizes are anywhere from sitting in a pot sized for 1 human to sitting in a pool that could hold 50. My favorite was one outdoors where the temperatures were hovering at about 40. You lay down on about 30 little cement knobs that are trickling 100 degree water. It was so comfortable I fell asleep and didn't wake up until I started to get hypothermic about 30 minutes later.

So anyways, you pretty much just go station to station. When you're done you go out to the lobby, eat some sushi and drink an ice cold Sapporo. By this time you've completely forgotten that there were 100 other naked dudes in the shower with you.