The Thursday with not a lot on

Hi,

Thursday turned into a beautiful day, weather-wise.  Blue skies.  After a long day at work (but with a RPM class squeezed in) I rode home and cooked tea.

Lamb steaks

Happy with the lamb steaks.  Mmmmm.

Mike called just as we finished cooking, so Toby and I scoffed it down and I drove in to collect Mike from the supermarket.  He was funny - shopping after a beer made for some interesting purchases.  Why have we got chocolates?  Hahahah.

Anyway, we got home and Mike tucked into his dinner too.  Went to bed and slept like the dead.  This morning is all wet and rainy, but I got to work fairly dry.  The wind is picking up too.

The weekend beckons.  Lots of fun.  A Wellington weekend.  We have rugby tickets tonight.  We want to do a bike ride together.  Lunch at Jo's new house.  Dinner with Sally.  Archery with Ange.  I'm not sure where I can fit this all in.  I wanted to go to Palmerston North too to drop off Iona and Col's photos, but if I'm honest, the weekend's activities look a bit busy to also fit that in.  I'd better chat to Mike.

Hope your weekend is as exciting as mine.  My working week has been two weeks long so I am keen for 5pm to roll around.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with parent teacher interview

Hi,

Wednesday was a bit odd because I left work an hour early and met Mike and Toby to head to Toby's school to meet his teacher.  It was review time.  It went well.  Toby took us through his goals for the year and assessed how he had met them so far and his remaining goals.  We chatted about school in general and his teacher was pretty happy.

I found Pocari Sweat in Queensgate!

From there we went to Lower Hutt and bought some clothes for Toby.  While we were there, looking around, I found a Japan City shop and they sold Pocari Sweat.  So funny.  I bought a bottle, just because I could.

We went home via Hunting and Fishing so Toby could replace his beanie.  He loved his old beanie and it has gone missing.  But they have changed their beanie since we last bought one 7 years ago.  He did find a new beanie he liked though.

Dinner was fish korma

 Went home to cook tea.  It was yummy fish.  The cat was also very interested.

Had a great sleep.  Woke up and Mike was in a coma.  He was sleeping through his alarm when I got back from the shower.  It had been squawking at him for 10 full minutes and he was still asleep.  He has great powers.

I got him a coffee.  Hahahah.  Seemed to work ok.  At least he was up when I left.

Nice ride in.  I have cleats on my new bike shoes now.  Yay!  They feel pretty good.  Way better than just sneakers on my SPD pedals these past few days.  I left my old shoes in Japan.

Enjoy your day.  Hope it is loads of fun.

Love,
Angela

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Shooting down to Tokyo on the bullet train

8 Sep - See what Iona did there with the subject of the email? Ha ha. Right.

Thursday morning was calm with a foreboding cloud lurking over us as Iona and I stepped off for a morning stroll/jog. All through the holiday, Col and I have struggled to keep up with Iona's walking speed. I hit upon me jogging along while Iona walked, and it worked surprisingly well.

We walked (or jogged) to a wee island about 2.5 km away, checking out things along the way. The island was connected with a bridge. If we hadn't seen someone coming out when we got there we would have assumed it was locked. The gate was certainly meaty. But it opened with a little door, and we circumnavigated the island. I ran around and Iona walked her speedy walk.

We thought we might cop a decent bit of rain, but the low dark cloud skirted us. We returned with some food and coffee for Col. We found pancakes in a cellophane packet that we thought she might like. Huge hit! Turns out the packet held four pancakes glued together with butter and maple syrup. Mmmm.

We caught the local train to the shinkansen station and the anticipation built nicely as we waited for our bullet train to arrive. It whooshed in - we found our seats and stored our luggage. Iona and I rushed out to the front to get quick photos and annoy the good natured steward preventing crazy tourists from getting too close.

We got this close

The trip to Tokyo was super fast. Four hours and we were entering the outskirts of Tokyo, our eyes glued to the window.

Iona navigated the maze of train networks like a pro and we found the line to our hotel.  The underground was a seething mass of people and my pack got a bit familiar with a couple of women's skirts in a slightly embarrassing fashion. My navigation skills got us quickly through the steamy streets of Ikebukara to the traditional Japanese Ryokan we'd booked on Iona's cousin's recommendation.

Our room was only just big enough for the three mattresses on the floor. 6 tatami mats. We had learned that is how the Japanese measure the size of a room. 6 tatami mats is relatively small for three beds. Not to mention the exploding  luggage phenomenon that can turn any number of tatami mats into chaos! The aircon was fantastic and we rapidly turned the room into a fridge. Then, fortified by the cold, we set out into the humidity for a recce of the neighborhood.

Ikebukara by night

We found an excellent sushi train restaurant and then back via a supermarket to sleep. Ready for a whole day in Tokyo tomorrow.

The Tuesday with work

Hi,

Well, I did manage to get to the gym again, which was nice.  And I eventually left work to ride home.  Cooked tea for Toby when I got in.

Toby using carrot chopsticks with his lemongrass chicken and soba noodles

The dinner was quite nice - soba noodles.  A reminder of Japan, actually.  Toby ate the chicken and didn't touch much else.

Mike asked me to come collect him from town after his tramping meeting, so I did.  As a bonus, I got to say hello to Andrew for my troubles.  Good to see him - even if briefly.  But we have plans to see Sally this weekend and catch up.

Back home and off to bed.  I didn't sleep quite as well as I have been.  But it wasn't too bad.

I ran into work this morning so I can leave a little early to get away for a parent teacher interview with Toby at his school.

Bruce is coming to Australia and New Zealand in February next year.  We're trying to plan for those dates.

Right.  Time for a cup of tea.  Have an awesome day.

Love,
Angela

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Goodbye to the cycle gang. Hello Hakodate

7 Sep - We woke up early on Wednesday morning and met everyone for breakfast. It was fittingly impressive for a last meal together, although I pretty much stuck to toast. Last chance to eat unidentified bits of sea creatures ! Iona and Col had presents from New Zealand for our guides and Iona also sang them a song in Maori, taking them for their hospitality. She did very well and I could tell they were suitably impressed with the sentiment and delivery.

From there we said goodbye to Ernie. He said he was a typical lone wolf during his travels, but that he'd enjoyed our company immensely. Jolly good. Dai and Tats took us to the airport via a shopping stop to try Triplesso iced coffees for the last time. Then we were at the airport and waiting for our flight to Sapporo.

The flight was uneventful and we negotiated the train station on our arrival and boarded our Hakodate train like we were born to the system.

Ha ha.

Anyway, we did get to Hakodate, a 4 hour train ride, without any hassle. On the way down the coast we saw an impressive old volcano with a hole blasted off of one side. We found our hotel within 100m of the front door of the station. When we checked in, we found that Dai's instructions that we wanted a triple bed room turned into us wanting a triple bed. No wonder Iona was confused when she checked in and the reception person made sure she understood the bed was 2.2m wide. She just nodded, completely unaware.

When we stepped into the room, we all snorted in laughter. Fortunately we could separate my bed and undo the domed together duvet and tuck in sheets. Otherwise I'd pity the poor person that got the middle position. You'd die from heat and claustrophobia.

After a quick chat to my mother, who miraculously saw me online moments after I got onto Wi-Fi, we were off to explore the streets of Hakodate. We went up to the old warehouse district then wandered the streets to the cable car. Iona and Col helped a chap in a wheelchair up steep streets.

The Hakodate cable car was heaving with tourists. It was dark by the time we got to the top. And it was so busy that it sucked the will to live from all three of us. But I hit upon an idea to venture into the car park and we found some space to enjoy the view relatively unimpeded. The squid boats lit up the bay but the stars were not so obliging as the day's light clung on over the silhouetted hills of the harbour. Still, I turned on my sky map and found mars and Saturn easily enough and scrutinised the sky where ursa major and minor were. Convinced myself I could see Cassiopeia.

Lights of Hakodate

Back down after a long queue and off to Lucky Peroit for a hamburger on Dai's suggestion. I didn't mind my odd bacon and egg burger. It was a lot more palatable than the thought of eating the squid and crabs swimming in tanks outside other restaurants. Or even the poor large octopus slumped into the end of a tiny glass prison.

Burger on its way, nothing in it that was very recently alive

Back to the hotel and a good sleep. To Tokyo by bullet train tomorrow!

The Monday back at work

Hi,

I have been looking forward to eating Weetbix with milk and yoghurt for about a week now.  Although I loved the Japanese food, I started dreaming about Weetbix for breakfast after a week of rice and fish for breakfast.

My working day breakfast

Last night I went to the gym, worked a bit after that and then rode home.  I scoff at my wee hill now after the climbs while on holiday.  (Tempting the fates there, eh?)  Mike cooked tea for us and then I got changed and we both walked to St Luke's church in Wadestown village to hear the mayoral candidates speak.   Great night.  Plenty of people attended and we listened carefully as we're both unsure of the best option for this election.  Not sure we're completely convinced yet - but we've certainly discounted some contenders!  Heheh.

Walked back and then I collapsed into bed.  Another great sleep!  Heaven.  And my ride into work was dry this morning.  I must buy cleats for my new shoes (my old ones are now in the landfill in Tokyo somewhere).

Love,
Angela

Cycling in Japan 2016 - Last day! Shiretoko to Abashiri

6 Sep - At the sumptuous banquet that was meant to be breakfast we noticed Tats was limping. And he was sporting some huge plasters on his elbows. Turns out they had to drive up to the visitors centre to check in with Ken (boss) and while they were there, Dai convinced Tats to ride in the car park on a long board skateboard. Oops. Tats drove for the rest of the day.

Our guide Tats, before the Longboard Incident

And it was Tats's birthday too. Broken on his birthday. We gave him a t shirt from the visitors centre as a present.

We left at the usual time of 8.30 a.m. Bit overcast. The hill back up to the Shiretoko visitors centre was relatively easy. We stopped near the top to watch some deer. But just below the visitors centre on the main road back to the coast, we passed a huge stag and doe. The stag had some magnificent antlers. I gave them both a wide berth and tucked into my downhill position.

Great downhill. All the way down into a wee town for a stop at the 7 11 and an atm stop.

The day was easy riding, which was good as it was touted as 102 km of riding. But it was all pretty flat. After the wee town we headed up the only hill of the day for a view. But when I got to the top, all I saw was the beckoning downhill and my bike brain took over and I hurled myself down the hill with reckless abandon.

Battled a bit of rain and wind before morning tea. Dipped my feet in the sea, because I could! Headed to the lunch stop in a coastal town. Delicious ramen lunch. Yum!

The others all changed into jackets for the afternoon. They're obviously all soft. Ha ha. I stayed in my t shirt. I figured I might get just as wet cycling in a hot jacket as any rain that might fall.

The riding was flat and along rural roads. We saw another dead fox, obviously not the quick brown one. We stopped opposite the wild flower park, but nothing was blooming. I did eat asparagus ice-cream though. It was good. This was not the unanimous opinion of the party.

Asparagus icecream and... KITE! BIRD OF PREY!

The last forty kms were through the outskirts of Abashiri. My shoulder was sore again, but bearable. I just had to relax it when I could. We stopped at a sandy beach to view the shiretoko peninsula in its cloud glory.

We were staying further out of Abashiri this time. Rode past our previous hotel and kept going for another few kms. The promised steep climb up to the hotel food was a distinct anti climax.

We were finished. Wow. Hard to believe. Wet, filthy, and ready for the onsen and pillow menu.

Wet grotty feet - still gorgeous though

The usual banquet followed and we were all a bit sad that the cycling and luxurious living had come to an end. Ernie, aka the lone wolf, even expressed appreciation for our company. He is obviously a little deranged.

We looked at photos from Tats's camera and ordered some for us both. He's been a sports photographer in a previous life.

After giving Tats my USB stick, we got a DVD player and watched Leon together. Col and Iona had never seen it.

It was the latest night we'd had. 11 pm by the time I went to my room. And I stupidly read for a while before sleeping.