Year of the Snake

Actually, it is officially the Year of the Dog. But for us, it seems, this year has been a good year for snake sightings. Every weekend on our bike rides (and even car drives) we get to see some pretty good snakes. And since we've had a snake-picture request, we're posting a few of our better shots, all captured in the last two weeks:










Brian, not following his own advice, pretty much stuck his hand in the mouth of the poisonous Yamakagashi this morning. While he didn't actually put his hand in the mouth, he was so desperate to catch the snake that he missed the snakes head, giving the snake room to reach back and strike Brian. The snake managed to make contact, even breaking off a tooth in Brian's knuckle, though thankfully not with the venomous fangs. Brian assures me he's learned his lesson!

A Day at the Beach

After a two-day meeting in Izu, we managed to secure a night and a day at Shirahama beach this weekend. Shirahama is one of the nicer beaches in Japan, and is also something of a pick-up zone. The smooth white sand, clear water, and hot sunshine was a great way to wind down the week.

We spent Friday night at a very nice minshuku just a 2-minute walk from the beach. The Ashihara is a great place to stay if you find yourself down in Izu - the cleanliness, quietness, location and great food can't be beat for the excellent price.

At about 6:00 a.m. Brian and I decided to go for a little walk on the beach (after all, it WAS just two minutes away!), and enjoyed a little solitude that wouldn't last long:

A still-quiet beach:


A matsu (Japanese pine tree) on the beach:


Me at the beach:


Later in the day, the beach got pretty crowded, mainly with those who came to see and be seen:

Whirlwhind

That's what our week has been like so far, and looks to continue to be!

We are leaving today for a few days away on business (and pleasure!).

Back on Sunday!

Photo Fun

Well, we've been keeping busy, but I'm still spending quality time with my D50. This rather abandoned playground looked even more "childless" in the gloomy weather. I converted this to black and white using Photoshop Elements 4.

Updates....

Yes, it's still raining!

But we've been riding a lot anyway (Rain Riders, indeed!). We got more good snake pictures on while riding on Saturday and Sunday.

Brian and Chris spent time on car projects.

I spent time with my book and with my camera.

And there went another weekend!

Rain

We're certainly happy that we got to fully enjoy the long weekend. This is what the weather looks like for the rest of the week - Japan is the country covered in blue!

Umi No Hi - Our Weekend in Pictures

Today, July 17th, is my mother's birthday - so, Happy Birthday Mom (of course, I know I just talked to you!)

It's also Umi-no-Hi (Ocean Day), a national holiday which made this a nice three-day weekend. (Wouldn't you feel honoured to have your B-day be a national holiday at least somewhere in the world?).

Brian and I took advantage of the fine weather on the Saturday that kicked off our long weekend.

We took my Pajero Mini to Usami beach (in Izu - just a short trip away) on Saturday, finding some scenic roads to avoid the hellacious weekend traffic. We stopped at a lookout on the Izu Skyline:



I had wisely made a reservation at a reasonably priced minshuku (cheap Japanese inn) in Usami, called Minshuku Otsuka (click here to see their site in English). Though the place has seen better days, the dinner and breakfast they served (room service, none-the-less!)was outstanding, and the location (though noisy) is exactly opposite the lovely Usami beach.

This fish was just part of our delicious Japanese dinner:



This is breakfast!!




Sunday morning was cloudy and looked like rain, so after a walk on the beach, we decided to test the Mini's mettle!! We got her off-road, in four-wheel-low - what a great performer!



After a good night's sleep on Sunday, we used this national holiday to go for a good ride in the hills:



And got lucky enough to catch this snake relaxing on the rocks (Brian actually got lucky enough to see another snake beside this one - much, much bigger, he said!).

Pizza La!

Pizza in Japan is like no pizza I have eaten before. I may be a bit of a knuckle-dragger when it comes to pizza - in Montreal, an all-dressed pizza simply means a pizza with all the favourites: tomato sauce, pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms and cheese. That's it - nothing funny about that, just a good, old-fashioned pizza.

Such pizza is hard to find here, so I've adapted my palate. One of the big pizza chains is Pizza-La, and coming from a nice simple pizza city, some of the pizzas on the menu are less than enticing! Let me give you an idea of what the preffered pizzas are: the Ebi-Mayo, a shrimp and mayonnaise pizza; the Kani-Jaga, a crab and potato pizza, and then there is the Staff's pizza ("a favourite among kids", proclaims the menu) which has yummy tuna, corn and, of course, mayonnaise. Click here to see a detailed Pizza La menu in English!

I know that not all pizza is the same, yet I just can't imagine corn on a pizza, let alone mayonnaise...However, we have found our favourites in the Pizza La menu. We frequently order the Pizza La Light, the Spicy Italiana, and the (now discontinued) Bazzy.

And so as I write, we await our next pizza...

Mitsubishi Pajero Mini - Part Two

I now have the Mini, safely parked in my own space and I love seeing it there; it is in such good shape that you'd never know it was ten years old.

Some specs: Although it is a kei car (mini car), it's a VR-II model, which is the top end of the 1996 Pajero Mini series - DOHC, intercooler turbo; it has of course four wheel and two wheel drive and is capable of off-roading.

I loved my Civic, but Brian and I agree that the Mini is simply better.

Performance - My Civic was the lowest end model (which I hadn't realized when buying it), and the engine was not very powerful. The Mini also has a small engine, but it is a turbo engine, and there's a lot more torque. I can actually accelerate uphill now!

Funometer - about the same, although the novelty of a mini SUV is pretty exciting. I let Brian dirve when we went to get a new subwoofer installed last night, and he proclaimed it the most fun he's had driving in ages. I went out for my own test drive this morning, up and over some curvy hills to Mishima, and I have to agree - lots of fun. And did I mention I can now accelerat uphill????

Ease of purchase - definitely the Mini wins here. The Mini fits into the "mini" or kei class of car (note the yellow licence plate which indicates the mini-class); these kei cars meet certain specifications for size (body and engine) and are governed by a different set of rules than regular (white plate) cars. For this purchase I only needed one peice of paper - a proof of my inkan (signature stamp), which I got from city hall for 300 yen. I didn't need an official proof of address, I didn't have to have the owner of my building stamp a peice of paper certifying that #306 really was my parking place, I didn't have to pay for police to come and measure the space to make sure the car could fit there - all of which I did have to do for my last two car purchases.

Economy - kei cars are also cheaper to maintain. My insurance went down, my annual tax went down (I'm even expecting a refund, since I had just paid for tax on the Civic!), and best of all, my shakken went down. When I get the inspection done for my Mini, it will only cost about 60,000 yen, as opposed to the 150,000 yen I would have paid for the Civic.


Overall, we proclaim the Pajero Mini a winner!

Mitsubishi Pajero Mini - Part One

I mentioned in the previous post that I went by a car dealer to check out one of his offerings.

My 1995 Honda Civic (a very cool car that has served me well) is coming due for shakken (inspection) next spring. Shakken generally costs roughly 150, 000 yen, so I was thinking about just getting a new (for me) car at that time. To that end, I've been comparison shopping, just keeping my finger on the pulse of what's out there.

Yesterday, while driving, we passed a used car dealer that had some pretty sweet vehicles in his lot. Seeing a handsome Suzuki Jimny and a Mitsubishi Pajero Mini, we stopped for a closer look. And that was the end of it all.

The Jimny was brand new (so, very much out of my price range!) and not as nice as the 10 year old Pajero Mini also in the lot.

The Mini was everything I'd been looking for in a car - manual transmission, decent engine, good looking, with air con that works even in the blazing summer heat. The dealer was very friendly, and the price was right.

Back at home, we researched the specs a bit more, to see if it was really any good. It exceeded my own expectations, and we cruised back today for another look. During our bike ride, I made up my mind and we went back for the car and signed the papers this afternoon.

After some paperwork, I'll be able to pick it up on Tuesday! Several months too early but I was sure I wouldn't get this kind of deal again:

Side view (still in the dealer's lot):


Under the hood:


Extra-special muffler and exhaust:

Two Rides in Two Days

We hit the road (and trails) again today - once again the weather held, and sun peaked through the black clouds at intervals.

We cruised past a car dealer where there was a car I've been considering, then headed up into the hills. We didn't get as far up as Hakone (not even halfway, I'm afraid!), but it we got plenty muddy, tired our legs out beyond capacity, and had lots of fun.

Note: Single Speeding when you live in a valley is a great way to build shin muscles!

Hakone Skyline - What a ride!

If you look at a map of Japan (in detail, or you won't see Susono!), you will see that Susono is just in a valley below Hakone. Hakone is a resort town and is considered a great getaway for Tokyoites. The skyline is a toll-road where you can have a scenic drive, but are usually overtaken by speedy sports cars driven by hobby-drivers with no real place to go so fast.

Today, despite my fears of another rained-in weekend, dawned cloudy but stable, so we decided to go for a longish, hardish ride - all the way to the Skyline. We rode 15km straight uphill. I can't tell you the grade or altitude, but it was tough on the singlespeed, and we passed through several weather changes. We started out in some mild sunshine in the foothills, then climbed steady (and sweating profusely) into some dark cloud, and finally passed through a thick fog which began spitting rain. Back down was a reverse ride - rain to fog to cloud to sun.

The road up is mostly paved, but is an unused farmer's road - narrow, steep and bumpy. At the top, there is a row of trees and overgrowth, preventing us from actually getting onto the Skyline without difficulty. This is a picture from the top of our ride - you can see the Skyline as it winds through Hakone:


We recharged with a granola bar before heading back down the mountain:

Homebodies

Finally Friday. We put in a long day today, getting a bit of a late start on what looks to be yet another rainy weekend. As it IS rainy season, I won't complain too much!

We should be able to get in at least one long ride, though camping is probably not going to happen this weekend. We'll probably take advantage of the indoor-weather to take care of more home, computer and picture projects.

Before the rains came I got a few decent flower photos which I've pulled together here:

Just Another Post

Happy Canada Day (July 1st) and Happy Fourth of July (um, July 4th) to everyone.

Fierce rain and wind allowed the rest of last weekend to pass in a hazy blur of TV watching and book reading. Once the rain had blown over, however, we managed to get a decent picture of our favourite mountain:

Eating and Drinking in Shizuoka

What is life but an adventure in food and drink? It had never really occured to me before, but consumption of calories is entertainment, pleasure and delight.

Last night we attended (yet another) dinner party - this time in Shizuoka city (capital of Shizuoka prefecture). It was a nomihodai - all you can drink; as you may guess, many pitchers were consumed by all!

After dinner, the four of us who'd come from Susono (about an hour away) wisely decided not to go to the nijikai ("second party" - usually where more alcohol is consumed!).

In the exciting "big" city of Shizuoka, ramen trucks do good business selling tasty noodles to businessmen leaving the bars:






We caught our Shinkansen bullet train back home.

The Shinkansen is a nice, somewhat expensive express train, and while the etiquette states that eating and drinking is "not done" on local trains, it is almost mandatory on the Shink. So, naturally, we each got a tall boy for the ride home:



After arriving at Mishima station, we then enjoyed a 20 minute taxi ride to our little Susono station (the local train had stopped running by this time, and would have taken 45 minutes in any case!).

We all got out of the cab at Susono station somewhere after midnight. Though still open, our usual local hangout - a slightly run-down izakaya - was nearing closing time.

Tenga, our local bar:


So, against all better judgement, one of our group convinced the rest of us to get more beer at the local 24 hour convenience store. We then, inelegantly, sat in front of the station and proceeded to drink. This was followed by more trips to the convenience store, and more drink...