Sashimi, Karage and Beer for Dinner

This week has been particularly busy and though we've always found time to ride, we haven't been so diligent about cooking. And so, yesterday (Wednesday) found us having dinner at our local izakaya called Ryoba. We opted to start healthy with this sashimi (raw fish, not on rice), which was delicious.



Our beer was enhanced by the delicate flavours...

However, it wasn't long before we caved and ordered a karage (which is deep-fried chicken):



We're really going to try to have a salad tomorrow...

Hectic but here...

We've both had a busy week, which included working on Saturday - but naturally we were also busy doing other fun things, like watching the movie Borat (hilarious), and taking pictures of Mt. Fuji.

This photo I took very just at sunrise this morning - the clouds looked fierce and dramatic before the weather turned to 100% rain!

A Little Bit of Zen

I enjoy being. Simply being. Not doing anything and not having to do anything is sometimes essential to our makeup. A few days ago, I took some time off to just "be".

I'm not eloquent enough to convey clearly what I mean, but I suppose just savoring the moment, the thing you are doing, or the thing you simply are.

While surfing Digg, I found this "article" that also isn't too eloquent but it is clear and it is inspirational. It doesn't call itself Zen, but many aspects are rather Zen-esque.

Read the article here:

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/06/39-ways-to-live-and-not-merely-exist.html

If you have a Digg account, give it a Digg, too!

Riding the Fireroad

Rainy season has been kind to us so far and the cooler temperatures have made riding more enjoyable than usual.

Yesterday (Sunday), we went out for a fairly long morning ride. We road about 8 km up the mountain until we intersected "the Fireroad", which it isn't really - it's just a little-used road that winds along the ridge of Hakone in a series of curves and rolling hills. We road along there for about 13 km before taking one of the many off-road tracks back down to Susono.

I thought it would be fun, too, to take a video with our little digital camera. Though I couldn't hold the camera in one-hand for the off-road parts (hence, no off-road video), I took some footage of our cruise along the Fireroad, which may hopefully give an idea of what it looks like when you're up there, away from the hustle and bustle of town.

Usami Beach

Yesterday we had a staff meeting and a dinner party - but we were still up early this morning, on the road by 5:30 a.m. and on our way to a little beach on the nearby Izu Peninsula.

The weather was perfect with barely a cloud in the sky, bright sunshine and cool breezes. All this in the middle of the official rainy season was quite a bonus, so we wanted to get the most out of it at Usami beach, which is in Ito city, not too far from us.

Although it has been a busy, busy, busy 2007, I don't have a good excuse for not posting more often... I just haven't been able to give proper and timely consideration to anything outside of my office!

I can't believe that it is already June. The season now is 'baiyu' or 'tsuyu', which is basically the rainy season. The days are longer, warmer, and more humid, but not truly hot yet. The actual rain is either a fine mist or a wall of water, tempered by searing bright sunshiny interludes, which all last until mid-July.

Each season in Japan is honored (commercially, at least) with associated packaged food and drink that is fleeting in availability, usually only a month or two. It isn't hot enough to make this appealing yet...

Get ready for this summer's flavor:
























This bottle I bought at 7-11 (Now officially 'Seven and i-Holdings', in Japan) this evening. It will spend a night in the fridge to be really, really cold before tomorrow's tasting...

Sunday Bike Clinic

This weekend was one of rain. And more rain. Followed by - you guessed it - yet more rain.

All was not lost however. We went for a good, long bike ride early Saturday morning; we figured we'd beat the traffic and the rain - unfortunately, we misjudged the timing of both:-) It was a fun ride home, screaming downhill in the driving rain.

Sunday was a day of rest (and thunder and lightning...). Brian arranged a "Bike Clinic" for our near neighbors and fellow mountain bikers. Brian's experience in maintaining, fixing and building bikes was a valuable tool, and everyone enjoyed fixing up their bikes in anticipation of sunnier days.

Brian put some effort into making a "Bike Clinic" poster to advertise the event:



Meanwhile a friend and I went to an onsen and spa, then out for sushi at a little kaitenzushi place (this is a sushi restaurant where the sushi passes by on a conveyor belt, and you take the sushi that you want!).

Pet Peeve

I know we all have pet peeves - some are smallish, some are biggish. One of my smallish pet peeves is people who stand side-by-side on the escalators; but this pales in comparison to a more recent, much more peevey pet peeve: people who close their useless emails with "Hope that helps!".

For example, after asking a question to a customer service center via email, clearly indicating that I'd already tried solution A, B and C, but to no avail, so could they please help, the reply was: "Have you tried A, B or C? Hope that helps!"

NO IT DOES NOT HELP!

Another instance, someone emails ME a question, then closes the email with, "Hope that helps!"

How the hell can a QUESTION help?

Anyway, TGIF. I think I can face my inbox again!

Hope that helps!

...

With these very early sunrises and later sunsets - so, much longer days - we've been able to get out on the bikes more. Brian still loves his custom Clockwork 29er, and I'm certainly still enjoying my Rig. We're also delighted that we can now (for a while, at least) re-use one of our old trails that had been partially destroyed by construction. Now where the construction used to be we just ride a few hundred metres along pavement. Too soon, though, this road will no longer be accessible by bike since it's slated to be an on-ramp for the new highway. We'll enjoy it while we can, however.

Here's Brian with his red Clockwork:



And our friend, Tony, out for a morning ride with me:

Social Networking

Social Networking sites are amazingly popular, and I just about let them pass me by without so much as a nod. I think my real social life keeps me busy enough, and being an introvert, I certainly don't want to spend my down-town in further social networking:-)

However - I recently allowed myself to be caught up in the rush. A (younger) friend invited me to join Facebook. Facebook allows you to "meet up" with old friends and find some new ones in your "network". So, why not? I now am on Facebook, enjoying seeing what a few of my other friends are up to, too. It's a fun website, but I'm in no danger of becoming addicted.

Another site that I finally caved in to is 43 Things. Here, you simply create a list of things that you want to do. Other members of the site may share your goals and may "cheer" you for encouragement. Kind of a fun way to set some goals for yourself.

Fun sites that have been around for a few years - just thought I try them out.

Prisoner of Google

That's about to be me, I think. Voluntary incarceration, perhaps, but incarceration nonetheless.

It started slowly - I got a G-mail account a few years ago. Never used it much, mind you, but I had it. And therefore, I had a Google account.

I've been using Blogger for several years; that was fine, but now Google owns Blogger, and I sign into my Blogger account with my Google account. Picasa? Same thing. Soon, You Tube will also be connected to my Google account, since they're now owned by Google...

I've also contributed to this domination - I've started using Gmail a lot more now, too, ever since I learned that I can check my other email accounts via Gmail, and I can send from them, too. So, I can check my email anywhere...

I've also set my own customized iGoogle as my Home page when I open my browser. iGoogle has let me customize the page in a way that suits me - it loads news headlines from sources of my choice, shows my email inbox and a calendar. I've even got my Google Bookmarks sitting in a widget on the page.

It's a bit frightening to think about how much information Google now has, but as their slogan is "Don't do Evil", perhaps I can trust them...

Less Drinking, More Riding

The weekends really do pass too quickly!

We spent Friday evening enjoying some wine, pizza and TV. We made up for our laziness on Saturday; we did a great bike ride up into the mountains, re-discovering some old trails and re-finding different routes to the Fire-road. We got back home well-ridden and sweaty - but that didn't stop us from riding again.

Saturday was the day of the Photo Show put on by some folks in our company, so we rode to the venue, despite tired legs, thereby ensuring that we could partake of the wine and beer! Of course, we also brought our own photos to submit and Brian took second place with this preying mantis photo that you may remember from last year:



His prize was...a can of beer (and a bottle of wine!):


After the photo show, we went to our neighbor's place for a BBQ social. This of course involved more drinking and eating - but was still fun. However, as of today, I think we'll have to practice a bit of sobriety. Time to be a bit more healthy!