Mt Takao + Dinner

6 Nov - Waseda Athletics Festival = school holiday yay! Not quite sure what the festival was about, but Isabel and I decided (last night, on the spur of the moment) to go to Takaosan (Mt Takao) and check out the fall colours instead! Asked Yoshi along and off we went! ... Except, there wasn't quite any magnificent fall colours as expected, but just the few solitary trees that have turned red. Oh well.

We expected an easy-peasy walk, only to be greeted by a crowd of elderlies dressed comfortably in full hiking attire and heading for the cable car lift. Whilst we - dressed in our casual clothes and footwear - huffed and puffed our way up the steep paved pathway all the 3.8km way up to the summit.


(Yoshi and Isabel on the climb!; The picture can't seem to capture how steep the path was...)


(There were information boards like this marking the path all the way. 14 boards in total - disseminating trivia and titbits about the flora and fauna of Takaosan.)

(A view of Tokyo from one of the lower checkpoints. On a good day, apparently Mt Fuji and most of Tokyo and even Kanagawa prefecture is visible.)

(At the observatory point @ halfway. Clarity today was pretty good - the board says 85%!)

(From the observatory deck - a range of lush green mountains and valleys visible in the vicinity of Takaosan. Apparently there are hiking trails through to these other mountains.)

(One of the small shops along the way. Tried dango for the first time here - nice! This was a little different from the usual - so says Yoshi- because this one had miso glazing. So yummy though. Also had a pork bun - so remniscent of da bao in Singapore - and a black bean pancake in the shape of Tengu.)

(One of the many manyy statues of Tengu on Takaosan. Tengu is a sort of bad goblin/demon that has evolved through folklore to become a mountain spirit. The name comes from its similar Chinese counterpart 天狗 and one distinctive feature is its long nose.)

(Almost at the summit...!)

(2-3 hours later... yay! Except, there were just 2 (small) trees that were standing proudly red in their fall colours. =/ Yikes.)

(Nonetheless, a pretty fall picture =) Tada!)
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After such extenuating efforts expended on Takaosan, we journeyed back to Tokyo (~45mins train ride) and headed into a random izakaya - Amatarou - in Shinjuku for dinner! Had:

(Deep fried soft bones - either chicken or pork can't quite remember but so yummy!)

(Beef tongue slices, served on heated black pebbles. Yummy too.)

(Left: Tako (octopus) sashimi with wasabi on grated radish. Soooo good.
Right: Deep fried tofu - one set of triplets with shoyu and the other with butter.)

There was another dish of beef slices with onions and poached egg over hotplate. Great accompaniment to our bowl of rice.


(Finally, dessert! Shared a hot bowl of something-choco-banana. Basically sliced bananas, with chocolate syrup, caramel, whipped cream and some sponge-like pieces and a scoop of ice cream - served in a big, hot stone bowl and even the little bowls they gave us were warmed!)

Yum in my tummy and a nice day out at the only natural forested area/moutain in Tokyo. What can I say =)

Floorball!

Thanks to Alvin, I think I'll be able to join a floorball club here! Quite sad that there're only 5 female teams in this region though (Kanto).

Today was the first training and surprisingly I was early by almost 30 mins. Took the slower train to Choufu and got some very precious shuteye on the way there, but still arrived early. Was out in Harajuku with Rachel in the afternoon first, all because of the lure of eating the ramen haha. I tried the BonShan ramen today (the pork bones one that supposedly is chock full of collagen) but honestly I don't think it's anything great. The soup was so-so and the pork was too salty and not like the slices that they give in the Kyushuu ramen! Next time I'm so sticking to the Kyushuu version. Oh but chanced upon another ramen shop at Harajuku though, all thanks to the atm search and the wonderful wonderful smell of the barbequed/boiled pork that emanated from the tiny little shop. There was a queue as well. Next time =)

The very nice coach had his brother and him fetch me from the eki (station) to the training grounds because it was quite far. Initially I thought this would be a one-off, since I assumed the training centre was within walking distance from the eki, but nope. So now apparently all the senior members with cars are going to take turns fetching me from the Choufu eki every week... so paiseh but, such a good opportunity to improve my Japanese I hope! I really really hope. I really really really want to improve so that I can at least converse with them! Especially the few nice ones who keep trying to talk to me like Aya-san and Miho-san and this other guy whom I sadly have forgotten the name of. And the keeper who gave us a lift 2 years ago still remembers me! Wow. First thing he said when he saw me was sashiburi (long time no see). Or maybe he just assumed man. Not sure haha.

So first training today was great! Tiring (so tiring) but greattt. Makes me realise how much I miss floorball. And also how unfit I am now. I probably played like 2 hours plus outta the 3 hours straight though, because my team had only 2 defenders. So maybe it's not too bad - my fitness anyway. Can't believe it's been 3-4 months since I've last played and since I've last exercised regularly... No wonder the pudginess. Only thing is they train 3-4 times a week and each time I go it takes about 40-60mins and 380yen (6sgd) ONE way. Pocket's feeling the pain. Hopefully will manage to get a teiki (special commuter pass) though. Oh and the club has quite a few ladies' national players, and even those who aren't are still pretty good. Hope I improve!

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Oh and during the car ride to training, Tomoyuki-san was asking me where in Japan I wanted to go, and well I just said Hokkaido because I couldn't really think of one place. I know I want to go everywhere to try the food though heh. Oh but I asked him about Momiji and he said there are alot of places with that. Best place is Kyoto though and that's abit far. A good place near Tokyo would be Mt Takao (at Takaosanguchi eki I think he said) but next month would be the best time to go. I should really check this out!