Saturday - Running, Sunning and Beer

As a warm front moved into Japan, we couldn't have asked for a better Saturday.

Brian and I got a medium-early start, driving up to the Yamanimi Rindo, a nearby quiet fireroad that runs along the mountain ridge of Hakone. With Brian's foot feeling slightly better due to a cortizone shot, we ran 5 hilly kilometres at a comfortable pace before taking the truck off road to a flat, secluded spot where we lied in the sun and read books for a while.

When the clock struck noon, we decided to leave our little retreat, and made our way to the Gotemba Kogen, our favourite beer hall.

As I've mentioned before, the Kogen, actually now called Toki-no-Sumika, is something of a resort complex. It has several restaurants, a couple of onsen (spas), sports fields, walking paths through short patches of woods, and a sprawling lawn with picnic benches, as well as other facilities and bakeries and... you get the idea.

Ten years ago, when I first moved to Susono, the Kogen was a delightful place. There were fewer restaurants, and there was even a stable with horses. The lawn on which we continue to enjoy our beers used to be green grass and cherry trees. The cherry trees remain, but the grass was long ago torn up and the ground was then bricked. Additionally, where the lawn once was an open expanse of space, the owners of the Kogen somehow saw fit to totally uglify the space by putting up tents with yellow roofs, and a gigantic 'bird cage', complete with lights, surrounding  a cheesy man-made concrete fountain that has, yes, fake swans perched on the edge. So sad. However - despite the sense of loss we feel, we do still love the place. Busses regularly carry people in from Tokyo and other areas of Japan just to enjoy the Kogen food and beer, and we are very lucky to have it so nearby.

Yesterday, after running and sunning, we found a picnic bench in the sun, and got a couple of German beers and sausage from the beer stall.

[caption id="attachment_1713" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Brian and Beer"][/caption]

The warmth of the day also brought out some insect visitors:

[caption id="attachment_1714" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Red Beetle"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1715" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Beetle that we at first thought was a wasp"][/caption]