ah, I know it’s been a while… okay… a very long time… but I have been busy and I have lots to blog about! So keep and eye out for new entries soon!
In the mean time, here’s a photo of my winning from the lucky dip my real estate agent was running when I went to resign my contract~
Yes, that’s right… A block calendar! woot! too bad I didn’t win the TV….
No really, I haven’t! things have been a little busy recently with exams starting this week. I have been working on a few posts, but it’s taken me longer than I intended to finalize them. In the meantime here are a few of my favourite photos from Sendai, 2005. Oldies but goodies. Man I miss my old digital camera!
The tomb of Date Masamune, first lord of Sendai-Han. An example of Momoyama Architecture.
Blue Hydrangeas
A stone walk from the Sendai Wild Plants garden. Lovely place, super big garden!
Not Sendai, but from Zao in Yamagata prefecture, the Okama crater lake.
Until next post! Ciao~
but this was sooooo cute that I had to share it!
a cake...
yes, a cake. A cake… with my name on it!!!! (it says ‘Micchan’, my nickname at work) OMGosh! isn’t it sweet?!
Courtesy of one of the girls in my English club… awwwwwww!
About a month late… but… well… anyway….
So with my parental units here for Christmas, my mother’s one wish was to have a ‘white one’. And with that in mind, we planned to go to Yuzawa Onsen in Niigata.
Since we were away for Christmas Day, we had our family lunch of roast chicken on the Tuesday. My local supermarket carried whole chickens this year, so it really was a proper christmas lunch
with pudding (^-^)b
The recipe for this pud is from Video Jug, and I highly recommend it. Everyone (work mates too) said it was delish!
In the evening we went to the illumination at Tobu Zoo (because what’s Christmas in Japan without an illumination?).
The theme was ‘Four Seasons’ but really, they only focused on the cherry blossoms for spring (>_<).
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent at the snow. We had a good package, and despite none of us being able to ski or snowboard we had a good time. Well, at least it was amusing for my parents to watch me fall down *trying* to snowboard…
To check out some more photos please head over to my flickr page!
I went with a friend and his daughter to the Airshow at Iruma Base earlier this month, and I finally got around to uploading the best photos I took. It was my first airshow with my digital SLR, so, my shots aren’t the best. I found it pretty challenging to center the photos while the zoom was up close (and the planes were moving so fast).
Anyway, here are a few of my favourites –
Obligatory cargo plane… I love cargo planes, but i just don’t have the patience to memorize anything about them. I just think they look cool.
The big display of the day was Blue Impulse – the Japanese Self Defence Force’s precision flying team-
It was a beautiful blue day wasn’t it? If you want to check out some more of my photos, head over to my Flickr set.
Yesterday a new Supermarket opened up at the end of my street. I’m so happy because now it will only take me 1 minute to go shopping!
Here’s a photo to show you just how close it is-
Yesterday I met up with a friend for a bit of a going away lunch. We went to French Kitchen, in the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.
French Kitchen is a great place to go on the weekend. From 10:30 they serve a champagne buffet brunch for only 6300 yen (plus tax). This includes a glass of champagne, buffet, main course and tea or coffee after-wards. The buffet includes eggs done to your liking, the best french toast you will ever have, cheeses, salads, vegetables, fruit, desserts, and home-made ice cream! It’s so lovely and enjoyable, I wish I had more opportunity to go!
By the time we had finished lunch and done some shopping it had fallen dark, and we were able to catch the Roppongi Hills Illumination for this year. Once again if you are in Roppongi during the evening, Midtown does have the better Illumination, but the Mori Garden Illumination is quite pretty and romantic if you want to stop there for a little.
In a way, not much has been happening lately, but on the other hand, lots has. We’ve just finished the mid semester exams and sports day at school, and during that time I had a number of days off. Now its the 5 week hard slog until end of semester exams and winter break.
Because I’ve had extra time off, and because the weather has been great (well, barring that late typhoon on Oct 8th), I’ve had plenty of time to go hiking. I’ve actually gone 3 times this month, which has me at a never before achieved physical fitness level (^-^)v
Firstly I hiked from Mt Takao to Mt Jimba. It was probably the hardest hike (barring Mt Fuji) that I have done to date. Mainly because it was 19km. But I survived and had a great feeling of accomplishment afterwards. It was actually really good timing, after the typhoon, because the sky was really clear and I could see Mt Fuji, Tokyo, and even all the way to Mt Tsukuba, which is pretty rare.
Last weekend I went to Hakone for 3 days 2 nights. While I was there I did two hikes, the first from Gora to Hakone Yumoto, and secondly a walk around Lake Ashi. The Gora hike was pretty hard, and I have to admit that I was kinda freaked out about the possibility of seeing a bear. The hike around Lake Ashi was a lot easier, and I actually meet with a friend I had made at the summer camp I worked at, which made the hike really pleasant. And of course I went to onsen and had a massage, so it was also a pretty relaxing weekend.
On Friday I decided to go to Nikko for the day and walk the Senjogahara marshes. I was a little disappointed I was too late for most of the leaves changing, but despite that, it really was a beautiful walk. I think I might try to go again in summer next year.
I worry a little that I’m somewhat of an addictive personality. I really seem to have caught the hiking bug, but I also know I’ll probably only be able to go once a month from now, at least in the winter months. But I’m totally excited about using my new thermal cup when I do go hiking –
Is it possible to have a thermal bottle/mug fetish? because I swear I have about 6 things now…. Anyhow, this one is specifically designed for hot drinks, and is really easy to use. Its kinda sad, but I’m particularly impressed with the pouring cap –
You just push down on the red button to open the spout, and to close you push the tab on the side in! Very smart – I like that you don’t have to touch the spout. I tried it out on Friday, and I was also surprised at how long the water inside stayed hot. It’s supposed to keep it at 70deg for 7 hours or so, but it lasted longer! So now I’ll be able to take tea with me when I go hiking. How exciting!!
Apart from hiking not much has been happening, however there are a few things that have tickled my fancy.
At 7-11 the other day I spotted Azuki (sweet red bean) flavoured Pepsi. Only in Japan…
It wasn’t flavoured cola, but more like flavoured sprite. Actually, it wasn’t bad, however it really didn’t taste much like azuki to me. But I’ll try anything once.
I also got a delivery of bulbs the other day, in the hopes that come spring I’ll have a lovely pot of lovely flowers. I planted them up this morning, and here’s what it looks like now –
Let’s just hope I don’t manage to kill them… I’ll post photos when they bloom… If they bloom… Really, I’m good at killing plants….
wow I fail at updating my blog! As I mentioned before, I am working on a write up about Mt Tsukuba, but I could at least blog about whats going on too right??
Anyway. Almost directly after my last post, my school had a group of students from New Zealand come on exchange for 12 days. We had a lot of trouble finding host families, so I had one of their teachers stay with me (in my double shoe box), which was really good because I could also participate with them in their activities.
Each year the Kiwi trip always happens at the same time so that they can see the school’s cultural festival. However this year things were a bit different. The festival had been changed from 2 days to 1 day due to swine flu being everywhere in Japan at the moment. Then, late on Thursday afternoon (Friday is a preparation day) it was announced it was totally cancelled because 4 classes in the whole school had been sent home with the flu.
Which meant that instead of 3 days of culture festival, 2 days at Nikko, and 2 days with their host families, we had a whole week off, only broken by those 2 days at Nikko.
It actually turned out to be really really fun. On the Friday we had some problems with one of the Kiwi students (she was homesick), so we weren’t able to do much. Beth (the teacher I was hosting) and I went for a walk at Soka, which has some historical significance in being a trade area. And then that evening there was a big drinking party followed by karaoke.
Soka River Walk
The next day, all the adults from NZ, myself and another teacher went to Mt Mitake to do an easy hike. Mt Mitake is a lot of fun. We caught a cable car to the top, visited the shine, and then walked over a ridge to Mt Hinode. Mt Hinode is great, because on a clear day you can see Tokyo in the distance. And we could even see a little of Mt Fuji. However, it’s not easy hiking while hungover…
On top of Mt Hinode
Mt Mitake Shrine
Sunday, the whole group of us went to Tobu Zoo, which is very close by my house. It actually isn’t just a zoo, it also includes a small theme park, with a brilliant rollercoaster. Suffice to say, the kids had a great time!
Monday and Tuesday was a pre-arranged trip to Nikko. We went to Edo Wonderland, which is a village of Edo-era buildings and attractions. I had been there before, and its okay, but it’s also something I think you could skip on a trip to Japan. We also went to Tobu World Square, which I had wanted to go to for a long time. It’s a park full of miniatures, with the theme ‘Travel the world in just one hour!’. I loved it and highly recommend it! After that we also went to Toshogu (I think it was my 5th or 6th time), which was pretty unremarkable (see my previous post).
Tower Bridge from Tobu World Square
Wednesday was mostly spent shopping, afterall, what’s a vacation without shopping? And Thursday was once again hiking! This time we went to Kamakura, home of the biggest outside Buddha in Japan. Our Kamakura hike was pretty easy, and included a lot of shrines and temples. The most interesting ones were Zeniarai Benten, where you wash your money and it multiplies (and it really did work for me!), and another temple, of which it’s name escapes me, with a lovely garden.
Garden in Kamakura
After that it was back to school until the New Zealanders left. But being back at school has also had its challenges. We pretty much had to jump straight into preparing our classes for their exams, which are happening this week and next. AND yesterday a major typhoon passed over Honshu, so school was cancelled for the day. It was nice to sleep in, however, it did throw a bit of a spanner into the works.
And now it’s mostly back to normal.
Until something else comes up…
There’s something about hiking that brings out the best in people. I’m not sure if it’s because you are surrounded by nature, or if its because you can recognise something similar inside yourself and other hikers, regardless of fitness levels, but people are friendlier on the trail.
Here’s my experiences on Sunday, when I went hiking by myself in Tsukuba. Within a space of four hours I had 3 encounters that had me smiling, and remembering why I love Japan.
Firstly, while resting at a way point, one lady came over to me and offered me some cut nashi pear. It was a really simple exchange, she just came over and said ‘Please’ while offering me the fruit. I said thanks and took it, and then she left. But what a lovely random act of kindness. I am also convinced that fruit tastes better when you are hiking. Nothing like exercise to make healthy foods taste great!
Next, on the way down the mountain I ran into a group of guys from a university. One of the older guys in the group was trying to speak English with me, which happens kinda frequently in Japan, however it didn’t feel like he was trying for the sake of practicing, but more for the sake of conversing with me. He was rather impressed with the time I’d been in Japan, and soon realised my Japanese was better than his English, but then he made the younger boys practice introductions with me. They were all pretty cute (as in action, not physical appearance… mind you, some were cute in both ways….) and they all said ‘Hello’ again when they passed me later.
Finally, when I was close to the end of my hike, a group that passed me earlier as they were going up the mountain over took me coming down (so, Im not very fast… or fit…). These guys were also university students, but they had great english. They walked with me the remaining way (about 15 min) and we had a lovely conversation about nothing in particular. I was particularly impressed that they managed to do the mountain (up and down) in an hour, and wearing sandals…
Of course, in Japan hikers are polite and courteous. Almost everyone you pass will say ‘Konnichi wa!’. People passing you will say either ‘Sumimasen’ or ‘Osaki ni’, excusing themselves or excusing themselves for going first respectively. And then when you let someone move through a narrow way before you do they say their thanks, or excuse themselves again. But its the people who will go out of the way to have a conversation with you ‘just becuase’ that really make me love hiking in Japan.
and for those intrested, I will do a write up on hiking Mt Tsukuba soon!
yamaonna 