a busy month and a half

a bike, a buddha, and sakura
The past month and a half had been very busy for me.  Busy in a good way.  Busy in the kind of way that I like.  Busy because I've had the fortune of doing the things that I want to do and spending time with the people I want to spend time with.  I can't believe how much time has passed by.  I look at these pictures and see sakura.  Sakura suggests that it's decently cold outside.  But at this moment of writing, it's anything but cold outside.  In fact, my inaccurate weather app claims that it's currently 31 (about 90) degrees outside.  It's hot and summer has already come.  Before summer comes and wipes away my memory due to 夏バテ, or summer weariness (a legitimate excuse in Japan), I'd like to spend some time recalling a spring and early summer full of memories.



The sakura didn't last long due to untimely rain.  As beautiful as sakura is, it's quite awful when it covers the ground and mixes with rain.  Just a bunch of dead flowers that rot.  It actually creates dangerous road conditions when out cycling.  But rain or dead flowers won't stop me from riding.  I've been enjoying the miles in the saddle.





Then I went to Tokyo to see my family, who had made the trip to celebrate my Great Grandfathers birthday.  Tokyo is tokyo, but it's always nice for me to see my family.  I was really hoping that I'd have the chance to feel like a tourist again, but I didn't.  I'm starting to think that I may never feel like a tourist in Japan again.  It's disappointing as I can still recall the raw excitement I felt when I used to come to Japan as a child.  Perhaps it's the fact that I'm getting older.  Despite this, I still enjoyed the time.  I did things I've never done before in Tokyo, and went to places that I've never been.  One of those things being having fish in Tsukiji.



Water (it's special)

A river below Tateyama

We dug a hole to eat lunch in the snow.


lots of snow
The lunch was great, the view, even better.



Very tall snow walls

Tall, but shorter snow wall

Reflections

The sea of japan.

Tyson's great friends

whatever flower this is

I saw the beautiful sea.

Tarekatsu. The best.

Fancy onsen hotel

Onsen Village

A nice hotel room

A nice lounge

Fancy dinner


what

why so expensive

the only waterpark that's worse than wet and wild

Really good food.

lake suwa. kimi no na wa.

we paddled out to this island (also a poke stop)

a fake geyser.  seriously, they use compressed air.

My Golden Week plans weren't what I had originally planned for.  I had hoped to circle Kyushu by bike, but soon realized I wouldn't have the fitness for that.  So instead, I took a road trip through what was supposed to be Tohoku.  It all started with seeing a news article about the snow walls of Tateyama in Toyama prefecture.  If you look at the pictures above, yes, it was impressive.  So much happened during this trip, so I'll let the pictures do the talking and sum it up here.
Fukuoka to Nagoya (by plane)
Nagoya to Toyama, Toyama to Niigata, Niigata to Aizuwakamatsu, Aizuwakamatsu to Iwaki, Iwaki to Suwako, Suwako to Nagoya (all by car and kudos to Tyson)
Nagoya to Fukuoka (by plane).

There were two things that needed to be accomplished. 1. See the snow wall (check) and 2. Visit Hawaiians Resort and Spa from the movie Hula Girls (check).  I can't describe how much of a disappointment the Hawaiians spa was, though I should have expected that.

The best thing I ate: Tarekatsu in Niigata
The most memorable thing: Relaxing at a nice onsen in Aizuwakamatsu
Breathtaking: Tateyama
Unexpected enjoyment: Lake Suwa.  The lake itself is nasty, but it's a beautiful view.

Japan vs. South Africa

Some Gate

The Emperor (not really)

ancient city walls and urban development

extremely bad singing and dancing (but apparently they were cool)

This restaurant was chosen solely for the fact that they had a TV showing one of the games. 
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.


a gift from heaven.

Then all of my travels ended with a trip to Korea.  I saw the FIFA U-20 World Cup.  I forgot how much I actually liked Korea, even though I thought I didn't like it.  There's an atmosphere to Korea that I like.  There are aspects similar to Japan and also things that are similar to SE Asia.  It's a nice mix.  Not to mention, Kim Chee comes with every meal.  Bi Bim Bap is everywhere.  What's not to like?  Best of all?  I found an old candy that I used to eat.

For now that's it.  No more travel for 2 and a half months.  Time to relax.  Time to train. Time to prepare.  The next one will be big.  The next one worries me.  but the next one, will be unforgettable.

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