Friday

Have you ever noticed that time seems to shift gears? For example, this week was a painfully long one – it seemed to take forever for Friday to roll around, and I know I'm not the only one who felt it. But it's finally Friday – my evening to open a bottle of red wine and order a large pepperoni pizza!

Drinking Culture

Though everything changes, that Japan is a drinking culture still holds true. Nomikais (drinking parties) are just a part of the business and social culture here – where daily lives are conservative, at times even restrictive, the nomikais allow people to break down some communication barriers and “cut loose” a little bit. Though not Japanese, we and our co-workers tend to embrace this side of Japan! Sunday afternoon there was a party/BBQ at our neighbor's place – Larry brought his blender, along with lots of ice and tequila. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!

Today's Word: Bacn

No, I didn't have bacn for breakfast this morning - but I still have plenty of it in my inbox. That's right - bacn is the new buzzword created just over a week ago at a web conference in Phillidelphia, and has been popping up all over the net ever since. So what is bacn? I'll give you a hint - it's not exactly spam. Bacn is that kind of email that you sort of requested (like newsletters), and that you may want to read later (like the Amazon updates). It's not spam. But it's not personal email either. So, now we can just call that kind of email bacn.

How much bacn do you get? I get tons - Amazon updates, Facebook notifications, Software update notifications, and newsletters (from various sources). Like many others, I currently use Gmail which has great capabilities when it comes to organizing your mail - so I've just created a new tag in my Gmail called "Bacn", and over time I will train Gmail to recognize my bacn and archive that mail for later reading!

For more info on this new term, check out this article from the Chicago Tribune.

Our Recent Evenings

So, from the infrequency of our blogging you can probably tell that we're back at work and well in the midst of things.

This week has been rather dull but nice just the same.

Our friend, Larry, loaned us the first season of the TV show Monk on DVD. I'd heard of it before but never had the chance to watch it, and I have to say that I am hooked. Tony Shaloub does a great job playing Monk, a former detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder and who also just happens to be a genius. It's such a quirky show, and rather clever so I've been enjoying my evenings with some red wine in front of the boob-tube with Mr. Monk.

In past news, we've been meaning to mention that Brian and I are now reduced to one bicycle each; Brian sold his GT Dhi on the Yahoo Japan Auction about two weeks ago (you can view the expired auction here). The selling of our final downhill bike truly marks the end of an era now – no more weekends at Fujimi Panorama, no more getting geared up to tackle the challenges of the B-Course...But we're definitely plenty happy with our 29ers, and neither of us much like having gears anymore, so we were not too sorry to see the bike go.

Susono Awa Odori, 2007

Well, it has come and gone again - our vacation, yes, but also the Awa Odori street festival that graces our small city each year.

The signature hats of the Awa Odori.


What can be translated as "the Dance of Fools", the Awa Odori is originally from Tokushima; a smaller version of the dance/festival was introduced to Koenji (in Tokyo) in 1956; and the smallest version of all was brought to little Susono in 1983. Though Shizuoka is traditionally a very conservative prefecture, I think a certain wildness (fool-ness) conveyed itself through the deep, throbbing beats of the drums and the gleeful incitements of the dancers.



Elegant Obi: there were many people in lovely traditional dress.




There were many yatai (food stalls) serving a wide variety of festival food - takoyaki (grilled battered balls of octopus), kawaebi (whole fried and salted baby shrimp), various renditions of ika (squid - battered, fried, raw, on a stick, you name it!), and yakitori (grilled chicken kebabs). Not that we lack any sense of adventure, but we veered away from the squid, and had a dinner of yakitori and kawaebi. As usual, we had a great time, drank some cold beer with our dinner while walking around and enjoyed the evening.

The yatai where we bought our yakitori.

A Few Days Away (at the Beach!)

After conquering Mt. Fuji and the following feast at Gotemba Kogen, we made our way west to Shizunami ('Quiet Waves'). This is a popular swimming, hang out, and pick-up beach exactly 120km from home. It was a great chance to sizzle in the sun while catching up on half-finished books by day, and sleep in A/C silence at night, as daytime highs were 34 deg. C and the evenings about the same!

We loosely packed Tracy's 660cc jeep and headed out early Wednesday:























Then drove on the Tomei Highway at extra-legal speeds to Makinohara Plateau, pausing to enjoy the view of rolling tea fields and Mt. Fuji:
















And spent two days (8am to 4pm) at the Kamome ('turtle') Beach House, as seen here:
















And two nights in the luxurious Hamayuu ('beach hot water') hotel. Here is a picture of our (7.5-jou) room; $210 for two nights. The shared toilet is down the hall, the bath is downstairs, and the tiny TV had no sound at all. Luckily, it was only 50 meters from the beach and completely silent at night. We agreed we could easily live here!
















For dinner we walked to yakiniku ('bbq meat') and curry restaurants nearby. Here I am reloading the grill the Kanemaru ('round coin') restaurant:
















Finally we had had enough sun(burn) and decided to spend Friday exploring the coastline further West taking pictures. Here is Tracy in Sagara:























We have lots of shots to sort through from the drive, and we hope to put together an album soon. The weekend promises cloudy (but not cooler) weather, so we may have time to catch up on that project and others. Stay tuned!

Tame Tuesday

The heat and humidity that we usually expect for summer has finally arrived. Yesterday (Tuesday), we didn't have any big plans for the day and our legs and other muscles were still achy from the Fuji climb, so we turned on the fans, opened some windows and doors, and did some house cleaning! Not exciting, but a good way to recover from our hike.

In the afternoon, we went with a couple of friends up to our favourite beer hall for an early dinner followed by a beer in the garden. It was pleasant, as usual, but I think I really shouldn't eat that much in one day, let alone one meal!


After getting home, the summer sky was remarkably free of its usual haze, and we were able to clearly see the rest stations dotting the trails up Mt. Fuji.



Very cool to see our various stops right from our doorstep!

Today we're heading out to Shizunami Beach, which is not too far from here, but far enough that we've made reservations at a little minshuku there. We're both looking forward to lying on the beach, reading books and relaxing.

富士山のご来光 －Goraiko: Watching the Sunrise from the Top of Japan

Yesterday, Brian and I spent some quality time with our cars in the morning, then headed to the hills for some R&R in the P.M. We had tentatively planned to summit Mt. Fuji that Sunday night with some friends (first timers!) whose plan it was to ascend.

By 1:30 p.m., as we savoured some quietude in the mountains of Susono, we'd pretty much figured that there was no way we'd be able to follow through on the Fuji plan. Turns out, we could!

We hurried home, threw a few necessities in our backpacks (headlamps, many warm layers of clothing, water and snacks), and met our friends at Susono station for the 4:03 p.m. train. The plan was to ascend via the Fujinomiya route, and descend via the Gotemba route.

Routes to the summit. We went up Fujinomiya and came down Gotemba. Click image for a larger view.



Getting to Fujinomiya City's Shin-Go-Gome* by public transport was a royal pain in the ass. We're used to driving in general, and we occasionally drive to the Shin-Go-Gome just to take pictures, etc... so spending 3 hours just to get there was dispiriting. So why, then, didn't we drive? Because we wanted to climb and descend by different routes, and it would not have done us a lot of good to have our car parked at one trail head, just to come down from another.

We began our climb from the new fifth station at 8:40 p.m. We climbed in good spirits, taking our time and chatting with the many other climbers on their way to the summit.

Less than half way up the mountain, my mostly-new (old but unworn) hiking boots balked at the climb and one (ironically the right one) decided to lose its sole in the process...some ingenuity on Brian's part and preparedness on a companion's part resulted in a quick fix that got me to the top and bottom of Mt. Fuji!


At about 2:45 a.m., we stopped at the Ninth Station, where we had some instant ramen (cup noodle) for a rather reasonable 600 yen, and a can of Kirin Lager Beer for a very unreasonable 800 yen. However - it was warming and much enjoyed!

Brian at the 9th station - the last before the summit - with a cold beer and cold snow/frost falling.



Mid to late August is the peak season for climbing Mt. Fuji, and as we got nearer the summit we found we were following a slow-moving line to the top, and for a moment or two, I feared we'd miss the actual sunrise from the summit - ご来光 -, but we made it!!




Me, with limp-linguine hair, at the summit:


We were so lucky - not only did we get clear skies, stars, meteors, topped by a great sunrise - we also got magical views on the descent.

Brian and friend going down the mountain, but still well above the cloud line:




I have to say, that though this is my second time climbing and Brian's third, this was our best. The weather was fantastic, and as an extra bonus on the way up, not only did we get to see bright, shining stars, but we were also treated to a meteor shower. How fabulous is that?? A meteor shower from the slopes of the tallest mountain in Japan...The only thing is, we climbed overnight, all night long, and descended for most of the morning. None of us had had any sleep - we'd chosen not to stay at one of the mountain accommodations, and though we could have slept comfortably under the stars, we'd not really left time for that; so, we got home this afternoon dusty, sweaty, hungry and exhausted. After a couple of hot showers, a 2-hour nap, and pizza and wine for dinner we're about ready to call it a day:-)

*Shin-Go-Gome= the New Fifth Station. On Mt. Fuji, there are "way stations", which sell food, have bathrooms, and sometimes offer accommodation.

Pajero and the Mini

After biking hard yesterday, this morning we decided it would be a good day of rest and car washing (and waxing!). After we'd both thoroughly beautified our vehicles, we went into the mountains to a secluded spot for some quiet time reading and sitting in the sun (or, if you're me, in the shade). We also spent some time taking pictures and drinking strange new sodas - the Lawson was selling a Wasabi Lemon drink, so of course, we had to try it.

Here's my Wasabi Ramune, which tasted a lot like gingery cream soda:


And here are our cars - my Pajero Mini, and Brian's Pajero:


Well - we've gotta run; it seems we have suddenly decided to mount an assault on Mt. Fuji tonight. Hopefully we'll be treated to a nice sunrise and get some good photos.

O-Bon Summer Holiday

This morning marks the beginning of our O-Bon ( お盆) holiday.

O-Bon is a Buddhist "holiday" period when families gather and invite the spirits of their ancestors into their homes by hanging lanterns outside their doors. At the end of the holiday they set floating lanterns into a river to lead the spirits back to the other world.

How many families continue this tradition I'm not sure, but these days O-Bon is a time for the living relatives to get together and spend some time catching up, or just relaxing, or, of course, travelling and going to resorts and other hot spots. The dates of O-Bon celebrations vary in different parts of Japan, with Tokyo (and therefore many other places) being in August. Hence, August is the most crowded and expensive time to travel either domestically or internationally.

Like many other places, our company is closed for the week and we are on holiday. Though it seems like we only just returned from a vacation we are already sorely in need of some R&R! We usually go camping or travelling around Japan during O-Bon, but this year we're sticking close to home; we'll go for a few long bike rides, probably do a day of hiking or so, and we were lucky enough to get some last minute reservations at a quaint minshuku (simple Japanese inn) at Shizunami Beach later this week. Just what the doctor ordered!

Our Very Days

I've been to busy to be prolific, and too tired to be pithy. There for, let me simply be prosaic.

We've been working late most evenings, meeting the challenges of having one of our managers out of the office. Getting home, with the heat and our fatigue, we've taken to buying pre-prepared food at the supermarket. Tonight's dinner was a simple salad that I put together in about 5 minutes, topped with tender, juicy pre-cooked and marinated chicken that I bought at a local supermarket for only slightly more than I would have paid for the raw deal. Other dinners have been pre-prepared unagi (eel) and maki-zushi (sushi rolls).

When I first arrived in Japan (a whopping 9 years ago!), I lamented the lack of instant food (since I wasn't much of a cook). I then, of course, began to cook and even took real zen-like pleasure in it. More experience in Japan, of course, taught me that though there wasn't much "instant" food like TV dinners, there were plenty of "home-made" bento (lunch boxes) and side-dishes such as my pre-cooked and seasoned chicken.

And so , recently we've taking advantage of the convenience: eating fairly light, saving time and not heating up the kitchen!

World Press Photo and a Day in Tokyo

The typhoon mostly passed us by, and though we didn't get the clear skies that usually follow typhoons, we did get a bit of good weather yesterday, and since this was the last weekend that the World Press Photo 2007 photo exhibit was going to be showing, we decided to spend our Saturday in the gigantic metropolis of Tokyo.



The exhibit, at the Museum of Photography in Ebisu, was very well worth the time and effort to get there. Some of the photos were simply excellent samples of skilled photography while others were harrowing in their presentation of human suffering and death. The photo seen here on the book cover, by Spencer Platt, won Photo of the Year. It shows affluent-looking Lebanese refugees returning to their homes amidst debris of the attacks.

We only spent the day in Tokyo, divided between Shinjuku - where we did some shopping at the bike shops and the liquor/foreign food shops - and Ebisu, where we had a good Mexican lunch (complete with a couple of Margaritas) before visiting the museum.

A lull in the crowds outside the "quiet side" of Shinjuku station:


Tokyo is usually overwhelmingly crowded, and though a fabulous megalopolis, if I'm going to be going to Tokyo I prefer to go on Saturdays, since I need my Sunday to recover from the hectic pace and human masses encountered there!

Rabbit Typhoon

Typhoon Usagi (Rabbit) is bringing us a bit of rain today - but I think we'll miss the worst of the storm as it is supposed to slam the western side of Japan, but not so much the east. Here's an image of the newest typhoon:



Lucky us since we're thinking about spending some time in Tokyo this weekend...