Whirlwind Weeks

I know I haven't posted in ages - I think I have to go on another business trip to recover from the hectic couple of weeks we've had:-)

After I returned from Hamamatsu, before even going home, I met Brian and a couple of folks at a local izakaya for a few too many beers. We got home late, slept, then got up to trek to Shizuoka for o-hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party. Then out for Mexican food. Then home and I finally had a chance to unpack...

Well, the rest of the week, both at work and out of work, played out kind of the same, and so, while I had plenty of activity in my life, I had very little time to sit back and savour it.

Toward the end of last week, I managed to go for two short but invigorating bike rides on my custom single speed, and this past weekend we both enjoyed some down time and some long runs in preparation for our race at the end of May.

Anyway - we got pics to prove we were busy:-)

Saturday in Shimada

We went to a drinking party near Shimada on Friday night (I'll post photos soon - I'm working backward in time), then spent the night at our favourite hotel in Shimada. A new co-worker joined us, and together we enjoyed Saturday running along the Oigawa where there's a great path, and then taking a walk over the famous Horaibashi (longest pedestrian wooden bridge, measuring 897 metres).

Goofing Around with my D90 on a Gorillapod, with remote control:

Taiko Drumming Video and O-Hanami

Like I said, I have a bit of blogging to catch up on. So, I'll start with our most recent day out - Sunday, April 5th, doing hanami (flower viewing) and watching some excellent Taiko drum performers and enjoying some festival food.

Of course, we loved the drummers:

I took this video with my D90 and a 50mm fixed lens. It's a bit long, and I'm a bit wobbly, but I still think it's worth listening to for a few seconds.

A Campy Weekend

Brian's stomach had recovered from whatever malicious invader had laid him low for the full day on Friday, and we had a really good (sunny, warm, peaceful) weekend of camping.

We didn't stray too far from home. Typical of our camping trips, we looked at some maps, found some very small, very local roads that wound into the mountains and near rivers. We decided to investigate one of these "roads" to nowhere, and ended up camping by a river in the general area of Otsuki. Oddly, we found ourselves not too far off of highway 20, but didn't encounter a soul. Oh...we did meet one hiker while we ourselves were hiking...

The photo opportunities were limited, but here are a few shots:

Camping is best done with beer!


Some Japanese cedars, responsible for all the kafunsho (hay fever) in Japan:


Although the road no longer existed ( we had to rock-hop (and very-broken-bridge hop) across the river, and hike up a non-paved single track), we found a bit of a "car graveyard". This is a close-up of an old Toyota:


On the drive home, although the day was a bit hazy, I couldn't resist a few shots of Mt. Fuji. This is taken from the Fuji-go-Ko toll road:

Tsukiji Fish Market and Akihabara

After our Friday night out with Vaughn (who I hope was not unpleasantly hungover for his morning flight to Hong Kong), Brian and I stayed in the Toyoko Hotel a few subway stops from the famous Tsukiji Fish Market at Tsukiji-shijo station. Below are a few photos, but we've posted more in the web album here: http://www.japanrider.com/Albums/Japan/Tsukiji/index.html

This market has been a bit of a tourist attraction for years but we'd never gone. There are huge tuna auctions early in the morning which apparently is quite a sight. However, we got a bit of a late start on the day and didn't get to the market until 7:30 in the morning. We may have missed the auction, but we still had a really fun morning looking at all the other fish for sale. We thought about buying some nice fresh fish to take home, but neither of us really wanted to walk around Tokyo for the rest of the day carrying raw fish.

Hurrying through the market:



We did at least get a wonderful taste of the wares when we went to a sushi shop in the market for breakfast. Of course, sushi isn't perfect unless you have a little atsukan (hot sake) to enjoy it with.

Atsukan and Sushi for Breakfast:



This tuna was so fresh it just melted in our mouth:


Sushi Chefs at Work:



After breakfast and a little more market touring we went to Akihabara (a.k.a. Electric City), which is famous for its Otaku (geek) culture and Maid Cafes. We spent a few hours walking around all the shops, looking at the newest and most interesting gadgets, but didn't buy much other than a new PC fan (with LEDs).

Akihabara got its start in light bulbs:


Gotta love the brands around here:

Gotemba Supremium Outlet Mall

Getting there: Take the train to JR Gotemba station, on the Gotemba line. If you're coming from Shinjuku, you may want to take the Odakyu Romance Car called The Asagiri, that stops in Gotemba only about 5 times per day but is very comfortable, easy and affordable. There is a free shuttle bus to the mall that leaves from Gotemba station every twenty minutes (10 past, half past and 10 till the hour). More info can be found at: http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/gotemba/access/index.php

Yesterday was spent mostly in front of the computer for me, and doing other projects for Brian. Today we greeted the day ready to go shopping at the Gotemba Supremium Outlet Mall. It was sort of a spontaneous decision; I've been feeling like shopping for a while, and Brian decided that he needed a jacket. So off we went.

Now, I know that everyone has been to an outlet mall before, but here I want to give you an idea of what this particular mall is like on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It's less than 20km from our apartment and I've been several times for a day of shopping over the years; it's easy to just decide on the spur of the moment to go shopping. But this mall is actually something of a tourist attraction and attracts people from as far away as Gunma, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Nagoya, just to name a few. These are families, and boyfriends and girlfriends, who plan one special weekend around a trip to this mall. And trust me - there were enough people there, with their dogs in tow, to keep all but the bravest from diving into the Nike store! I enjoy shopping Outlet Mall but seriously I can't figure out why it is so popular. I go there because it's fun - and close by. I would certainly not drive through three other prefectures just to get to it.

However - we really did enjoy our day walking around outside and going into all the stores. I suppose the 5.5 hours we spent shopping were more fun for me than Brian since I came away with a couple of jackets, blouses and perfume, while Brian wasn't able to find just the right jacket with just the right fit. Instead, he is going to place an order with My Suit Shop.com where he has always been satisfied! Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to trying out some of my new purchases...

Bonenkai Season

Year-end parties - called bonenkai in Japanese - are a very popular part of the business and social culture here. Bonenkai literally means "forget-the-year party", and marks a release from whatever evils this year had brought in preparation to move on, without burdens, into the new year.

Though we are not exactly in bonenkai season yet, the time is getting close, and tonight we went to two separate parties- one, a bonenkai; and the other, a welcome party for two of our newest employees.

I was the designated driver and refrained from overimbibing - for which I'm sure I'll be thankful tomorrow!

Party One was a fun chance to catch up with some old students/friends:




Party number two saw the introduction of bottle of Fireball...


Over the next couple of weeks we will be increasingly busy socializing and working and going to conferences, and more.

Tomorrow, though, is mine. My day to bask in solitude and shut out the world for just a few precious hours...

Weekend plans

Last night we breathed a sigh of relief as we settled in for a Friday night pizza and looked forward to our weekend.

Today we're taking the 10:40 Asagiri "Romance Car" to Shinjuku in Tokyo. The Romance Car is an Odakyu express train that is super nice and comfortable with reserved seats and scenic views. It's not nearly as fast as the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), but it has the superior advantage of leaving straight from our very own little train station, saving us the hassle (and expense) of getting to the Mishima Shinkansen station.

In Shinjuku we plan to shop a little and have an exotic lunch before meeting a friend of Brian's for dinner.

We're going to spend the night in Tokyo and make our way to the Tokyo Motor Show tomorrow, which is a shortish train ride from central Tokyo. It's the final day for the Motor Show, so we're expecting to be overcome by the sweltering crowds...but still hope to get a look at the new cars!

Biking around Motosuko, 2007

We have to apologise for the brief hiatus from Blogging - life was busy either being too hectic to blog, or too mundane to be worth blogging... However several emails, text messages and phone calls from my mother has prompted me to get back on track and post. Everybody has a muse, I suppose! Thankfully, we now report on our weekend of camping and biking around Motosuko, one of the Fuji Five Lakes.

We got not-so-early start on Saturday morning, leaving Susono at about 7:45 a.m.; we took the scenic route (along the 469 via Jurigi and Fujinomiya) in Brian's Pajero, and got to the "Lake" area around maybe 9:30 or so. We spent a few hours scoping out appropriate camp grounds and/or camp-able places, starting with Lake Saiko, then Lake Shojiko, and finally back to Motosuko. Despite the fact that Motosuko is actually a larger lake than the other two, it is less frequented simply because there are no motor boats allowed and, I think, even fishing is regulated. Also, on Saturday, there was some highschool marathon being held at Shojiko, and campers were everywhere.

Motosuko however was delightful, and Brian remembered a place he'd camped there a year or two ago - not an official campground, just a secluded spot in the woods, just 400 meters or so from the lake. So there was set up camp, and then got out our bikes and hit the road and trails.

The Tokai Shizen Hodo hiking trail is the most amazing off-road cross-country trail for mountain biking and seems absolutely made for single speeding with its mostly-gentle rolling hills. There were very few hikers (we saw 4 hikers in total in about 20 km of riding). We really wanted to get some photos of the trails, but were having too much fun riding to stop!

However, we did take some time to get photos of the lake and Mt. Fuji on Saturday and Sunday.

Woo Hoo - Friday!

Friday evenings have got to be my favourite - a few hours to wind down after the week, and looking forward to the weekend.

Tonight it's raining hard, and being home it's nice to hear the rain's rhythmic pounding on the pavement is one of the most relaxing sounds I know.

I'm also enjoying some sweet tunes from Pandora.com thanks to Tor and Brian's ingenious ability to properly configure it!

Naturally I'm not feeling very Zen today because I'm totally multitasking, which is very anti-Zen. But at least I'm getting things done - rocking out to Pandora, listening to the rain, cooking curry, blogging, updating Facebook and sipping red wine - all at the same time!

And as I utter these words proudly, I realize that my Fridays are slightly tamer than they were a decade ago, which then brings me to various existential questions, which I really don't have time to ponder just now:-)

On a more exciting note - Brian and I are going to a Halloween party tomorrow; I'm totally looking forward to getting dressed up and will post photos of both of us in costume ASAP.

Autumn Rice and the Gotemba Sen

Our staff meeting on Friday went very well; we all gathered at the exquisite Kanaya Ryokan in Izu, which is rightly famous for its huge (mixed gender) bath and delicate Japanese meals. The meeting was stimulating, and the after-meeting socializing equally so. Although, I have to admit, we had a bit of lubrication! Brian and I there fore spent yesterday (Saturday) driving home and recovering from the previous day.

Today dawned sunny and glorious, and knowing that tomorrow was going to bring rain, we took advantage of the morning and took out our single-speeds for some excellent riding. As we were winding up our ride, we stopped to get some photos of the harvested rice, mount Fuji and, luckily enough, our infrequent train on the Gotemba line.

Tokina 100 mm Macro in Yamashi

We're fairly lucky here with the number of national holidays and all the time off we get. This weekend was yet another long weekend (September 23rd was Shunbun no Hi - Autumnal Equinox day; since it fell on a Sunday, we're blessed with Monday off). Taking advantage of the long weekend, on Sunday morning Brian and I headed off the beaten track and into the mountains in Brian's Mitsubishi Pajero - a fully capably SUV. We bought beer and chu-hi, found an especially isolated location, took some photos and camped for the night.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't co-operate with us, but we still enjoyed our time in the rainy wilderness.

Most of these photos were taken with my Tokina 100mm Macro lens:

Grass with rain drops:




What's camping without a brewskie?


Japanese susuki:


Dirt in a tractor tire, saturation significantly reduced in Photoshop:


Flowers and spiderwebs in the rain:



Frog (or toad?) up close and personal:




We got back home today at about 2:00 p.m. or so. I'll eventually post a map of our travels!

Wild Women's Night Out

The weekend is well over, but we had a great time. Well, I did, anyway, since I got together with a few of "chicks" in my company and we had a day and a night out in the exotic city of Hamamatsu. Though situated in conservative Shizuoka Prefecture, Hamamatsu is actually a pretty robust city full of life - and the spice of life, too, as it has a high foreign (non-Japanese) population.

There was a Brazilian/ Samba festival going on that day, and we wanted to see some of the dancers. The general meeting time was 5 p.m, but three of us decided to go early for a little window shopping -which, actually, turned into a few hours of drinking shouchu-mizu-wari at a local bar. Shochu is a Japanese alcohol; shochu-mizu-wari （焼酎水割り)　is shochu with water. Kind of like vodka and water...I'll post later about the benefits of shochu! Anyway, a 2 p.m. start to the shochu drinking made for an interesting night!

After becoming mildly inebriated, we then met the rest of the gang for Samba, dinner and karaoke in the biggish city. Here are a few photos from our night out:

Hamamatsu folks are more appreciative of the fine art of tatoos. This guy liked my dragon, and we ended up comparing tats. He won!



The Samba girls were fabulous - really engaging, and even the older Japanese folks around were delighted:


We made it to the karaoke box (2 hour nomihodai (all you can drink)) and the karaoke fiends among us stole the show:


Not to be outdone, though, I did screech out my version of Def Leppard's Animal (much to everyone's chagrin...):



Following such tiring activity, we retired to Baden Baden, (named after the famous German town, of course) a 24 hour onsen / minshuku in Hamamatsu.

A good time was had by all....

Weekends are too short...

Our week back to work was hectic, to say the least. However, we still had our weekend to enjoy. We went for a short-ish bike ride yesterday (we're still not exactly in top riding shape!), exploring one of our favourite trails (which we call "the golf course trail", since it terminates at a golf course). It's not a hard ride, and in fact, we occasionally do this trail in the morning before work - however, yesterday was our first day of hard(ish) riding in a while, so it was tough. We also varied our route on the way down, and found ourselves hike-a-biking through a road-come-river, over some logs, under some trees.... all in all, a good morning ride for our first Saturday in the Saddle.

Today, we did one of our longer rides - up to the "Fireroad", along the rolling hills of the fireroad for a few kilometres, and then descending via the "Snake River" route. Once we got back down to Susono, we decided to turn right instead of left, and climbed uphill a little bit more until we got to Gotemba City and our much cherished Gotemba Kogen Beer Hall.

Unfortunately, though throughout our ride the sun was hot and strong even through the haze of this late July weekend, no sooner had we reached the beer hall, with their lovely outdoor seating and a beer stall that opens at 10:00 a.m., than it started to rain.

We found a bit of shelter within an unfortunately unattractive structure that I presume the beer hall intends to be a lovely attraction, but it was shelter nonetheless, and the beer was cold and refreshing; and, need I say, it was also deserved!

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.

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!).

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!

BBQ Party

Another weekend come and gone - and this one is now something of a blur!

Saturday we went to a BBQ party at our neighbor's place - lots of good food and plenty of daiquiris helped ensure the party's success, as well as the destruction of a productive Sunday!

In the end, a good time was had by all: