Returning from the exhausted hike over the weekend (I was so tired that I kept dozing off in our car ride. The traffic is not particularly good (um, the section around Sagakimoko is always, forever, eternal congested, 10K is normally taking about 1 hour to go through. This painful 10K is still 50K away from Shinjuku).
I finally made to home by 11pm, seriously exhausted, but I have to pack for the Hong Kong trip tomorrow. My brain was really not functioning very well, and I was pondering whether I should take a big back pack or 40 liter roller. For a 1 week trip, the big suitcase is really an overkill. I had to put my laptop bag into the suitcase to fill up the space, so that I only need to carry a handbag, which is not too bad.
While I was on the bus, I started to think about the horrile possiblity that someone might steal the computer (hey, who tells you to pack the valuable in check-in luggage?). I hasitly pull the laptop bag out before throwing my suitcase into the check-in weight scale.
Everything was uneventful until my laptop bag was stopped by the security guard, they are very polite asking if they can search through it and X-ray it again. I was curious but nothing alerted me yet until the security fished out the cutter from my pencil bag. Oh well, I kept a small cutter, which is handy to use in the office. Ok, I started to apologize. The security guy asked if he can run the bag through the X-ray again, sure, no problem, why should I be worried.
My spin chilled when he fished out my special edition swiss army knife, which is a gift from my uncle for my love of outdoor activity. Man, I was too tired that I didn't think much when throwing the army knife into my laptop bag and the bandage (that's used to tape my toes, for some reason, my toes screeze each other while I jog). My face turned ghost white because he was checking my boarding time. Shit, I would be interogated by the police and they are calculating if I am a real terrorist worth spending the time and money to make me miss my flight.
The policeman came, asking me why I brought the knife. I told him I need that to cut my nail and this is really an accident that I completely forgot about it is in my carry-on. (I remember a story of a young kid who was jokingly saying to the security that he has a bomb in his carry-on... he was arrested for that). I tried my best to look innocent, thankfully they let me go after noting down my name and passport number, I was at the gate just couple minutes after the boarding time.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Climb Every Mountain
Feeling really tired after the whole week of work and stress, I left the client site around 9pm. Although the new project is so close to my home, I cannot really relax because we are heading out to the mountain in 3 hours time.
Yes, it is another crazy hike. We left Tokyo by 1am in the morning and planed to hit the mountain trail by 5am to avoid the heat. I was really tired, that I crashed in the backseat the moment the car door slamed close. I cannot even be bothered to talk to Henry, the 7 year old boy, it turned out that both of us were sleeping like babies during the whole trip.
This hike is actually more interesting than Mount Fuji, we went through many different vegetation, from bamboo forest to needle leave pine, then to rocks. For the last 30 minutes, we even had to do a bit of rock climbing. The elevation is high enough (2500 m) that we were somehow away from the humidity and heat of Japanese summer for the whole ride.
This is what the last 30 minute hike looks like. Going up is a lot easier comparing to coming down...
Um, after the picture was taken, Yoshio, Tomomi and Yukiko and I all found a place to sit then dozing off... We were really too tired. If you come by to the mountain top, you would see us laying around on the volcanic rocky slabs in various position, sleeping and snoring. Man, how some people can function without proper hours of sleep is still beyond me. I am just half dead if not getting 8 hours of sleep every day.
After the hike, our whole body was reeking and sweaty, Yoshio has made the best planning, we are heading to the natural hotspring!
The onsen (hotspring) bath house is very intersting. It is obviously built by an amateur builder with cheap wood panels, not new at all. The owner has very interesting view of decoration, the western greeky statue about 40 cm high is pieced together with the Chinese style lucky lion in our outdoor bathtub. It is not too odd, I think the strange combination works just fine with the not-so-professional building style. And the best thing is, it is clean and the natural hotspring is so relaxing.
You can mix in the fresh cold water to the overheated bath, the cold water is also flown in from the nearby stream coiling down from the mountain. It looks and feels so pure and cool, um, I drank some of the untreated water, it is too tempting.
We ate soba after the onsen, um, very hungry.
Yes, it is another crazy hike. We left Tokyo by 1am in the morning and planed to hit the mountain trail by 5am to avoid the heat. I was really tired, that I crashed in the backseat the moment the car door slamed close. I cannot even be bothered to talk to Henry, the 7 year old boy, it turned out that both of us were sleeping like babies during the whole trip.
This hike is actually more interesting than Mount Fuji, we went through many different vegetation, from bamboo forest to needle leave pine, then to rocks. For the last 30 minutes, we even had to do a bit of rock climbing. The elevation is high enough (2500 m) that we were somehow away from the humidity and heat of Japanese summer for the whole ride.
This is what the last 30 minute hike looks like. Going up is a lot easier comparing to coming down...
Um, after the picture was taken, Yoshio, Tomomi and Yukiko and I all found a place to sit then dozing off... We were really too tired. If you come by to the mountain top, you would see us laying around on the volcanic rocky slabs in various position, sleeping and snoring. Man, how some people can function without proper hours of sleep is still beyond me. I am just half dead if not getting 8 hours of sleep every day.
After the hike, our whole body was reeking and sweaty, Yoshio has made the best planning, we are heading to the natural hotspring!
The onsen (hotspring) bath house is very intersting. It is obviously built by an amateur builder with cheap wood panels, not new at all. The owner has very interesting view of decoration, the western greeky statue about 40 cm high is pieced together with the Chinese style lucky lion in our outdoor bathtub. It is not too odd, I think the strange combination works just fine with the not-so-professional building style. And the best thing is, it is clean and the natural hotspring is so relaxing.
You can mix in the fresh cold water to the overheated bath, the cold water is also flown in from the nearby stream coiling down from the mountain. It looks and feels so pure and cool, um, I drank some of the untreated water, it is too tempting.
We ate soba after the onsen, um, very hungry.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tokyo Grilling
Going to the milk tea shop after our city run. The owner is not going to make any money, he gives out free cookies whenever pretty girls stopping by for a cup of ice tea.
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We are crazy bunch rollerblading under the heat. The city run is too relaxing, definitely not true workout (it is more like a social event). I need to wake up early to jog before the run...
Ocean Day (4)
Getting home to wash away all the dirt and sand, I was told we need to go to a friend's house that very evening in order to make the 3K swimming competition at 9am in Tateyama since there is no train available to move us from Tokyo to the beach early enough. I was bloody tired (I really need my 8 hour sleep a day to function properly). I packed my bag getting ready to go Tokyo station then my friend called again that he's found a train leaving Tokyo @5am would be able to move us to Tateyama by 8am.
Happily unpacking my bag, I set 2 alarms and fell deeply into my long awaited, much needed sleep. Waking up at 4am, getting on the train by 5am, we are ready to rock.
The Hojuo beach is actually very nice, the sky is blue and clear, as soon as we arrived, we were tugged into the registration desk. They drawed the registration number on my both arms with markers and we were asked to wear the transponder on the ankle for finishing time marking. The sun is strong and it was quite nice to jump into the cold water. All these 200 people are like pros, they paddled away like mad. The waves were so strong, it is so frustrating because no matter how hard I stroke, I felt that I am not moving forward at all. There are also fishes swimming 2 meters down, very distrating. They made the 3 floating buoys, distanced 500m from each other. It is so easy to get disoriented after the 2nd buoy, you are far away from the shore and especially very far behind from those pros, I am completely alone! I paddled in the wrong direction for a while, then the lifeguard (on surf board) had to came by and told me to swim in the right direction.
50minutes later, I finally finished the race, thankfully I didn't get picked up by the boat (if not able to complete the course within 1 hour). I won the last place in my age group! Um, the beer tasted very good afterward. I think this is the toughest weekend I ever had for a long while.
Happily unpacking my bag, I set 2 alarms and fell deeply into my long awaited, much needed sleep. Waking up at 4am, getting on the train by 5am, we are ready to rock.
The Hojuo beach is actually very nice, the sky is blue and clear, as soon as we arrived, we were tugged into the registration desk. They drawed the registration number on my both arms with markers and we were asked to wear the transponder on the ankle for finishing time marking. The sun is strong and it was quite nice to jump into the cold water. All these 200 people are like pros, they paddled away like mad. The waves were so strong, it is so frustrating because no matter how hard I stroke, I felt that I am not moving forward at all. There are also fishes swimming 2 meters down, very distrating. They made the 3 floating buoys, distanced 500m from each other. It is so easy to get disoriented after the 2nd buoy, you are far away from the shore and especially very far behind from those pros, I am completely alone! I paddled in the wrong direction for a while, then the lifeguard (on surf board) had to came by and told me to swim in the right direction.
50minutes later, I finally finished the race, thankfully I didn't get picked up by the boat (if not able to complete the course within 1 hour). I won the last place in my age group! Um, the beer tasted very good afterward. I think this is the toughest weekend I ever had for a long while.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Ocean Day (3)
Coming out of the water, very tired but needed to run through the finish line such that the transponder on my ankle can register the time.
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Walking uphill is really not that difficult, but I am short of breath from time to time (no matter how hard I breath, I felt that I am not getting any air), feeling dizzy also. The high elevation of course is a factor but I believe my problem is more related to lack of sleep. I dozed off whenever we stopped, and felt much better after napping for 10 minutes (I was so tired that I sat down, holding my bag then passed out... Not even remember to eat the onigiri in my hand). The easiest path is actually paved by soft sand and pabbles, it is very hard to walk, that dissipated a lot of energy. To fight off the dizziness and short of breath, I walked slowly and breathed deeply. Terribly boring and hard.
Finally getting to the top of the mountain, where a bottle of water causes400 yen from the vending machine (we are still puzzled how the huge machine was put on the top). Japanese people are trying to keep Mount Fuji clean and eco, there is no modern establishment above 5th station. All the supply should be carried by human force. I guess we should not complain about the price.
We hurried down the hill after 15 minute break at the top, inspired by the thought of nicely cold Magareta. While others carefully select their foothold on the sandy path, 3 of us ran like crazy. I actually quite enjoyed the downhill run, it feels like skiing downhill. The soft ground works like snow, I carried the downward momentum, running pass people and leaved behind the sand dust. Ha ha ha... 2 hours later we are back to the 5th station. Yoshio thinks that is the record breaking speed (he hiked mount Fuji just a week ago, crazy guy came to the mountain again with us a week later).
4 hours later, we were sitting at the nice little Mexican pub drinking Magareta, and I am pondering about how I am going to move myself to Tateyama for my open water swimming tomorrow.
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