You Want a Piece of Me Fuji?!

I really don't think I have a sufficient enough ability to accurately recount my adventure to Mt. Fuji using coherent English. It really was beyond what words could describe both physically and mentally. To this point in my life it was the absolutely most strenuous task I've ever accomplished. The amount of physical and mental exertion required was definitely more than I had bargained for. With that being said I cannot express how happy and lucky our group was to complete the ascension in one piece. Sadly, my pictures aren't even close to justifying the entire experience. And for the record-- the descent isn't as easy as everyone claims it is (*cough cough Lydia)!

Can you say Domino Effect?
Starting our upwards climb at about 8:30 pm on Sunday night, we were all in high spirits ready to take on anything that was in store for us over the next 12 hours or so. At least we thought we were. Some parts of the climbing trail were so sketch and dark, there was no way I could have done it without a nearby flashlight, linen gloves, or a walking stick to assist me. Certain areas of the mountain are so cluttered and bottlenecked with other climbers it's truly miraculous that no one lost their footing and started tumbling hopelessly out of control. There were several points of the ascension where that was the sole concern in my mind: "Oh shit, I'm going to slip and barrel roll and take out this entire section of the mountain..." Again, I'm so grateful that it didn't become a reality.

Attempting to capture sunrise
By about 4:30 am we were well above the clouds and could catch a glimpse of the sun slowly rising above the horizon. As the sky slowly starts to brighten there is a slightly induced sense of urgency to find the best viewing area possible to witness Mother Nature do her thing. Luckily, I was able to find a spot slightly off to the side of the climbing trail. At this point in time I had lost most feeling in my limbs and was repeatedly cursing at myself for not bringing more than a sweater and a pair of sweat pants to maintain my body warmth.


Upon reaching the summit we quickly found shelter and I immediately ordered four bowls of ramen to combat the cold and hunger we were experiencing. Taking into consideration the cirucmstances, it was probably one of the best bowls of ramen I have eaten. Altitude sickness had no effect on me, but it did start to bother Kyle a little bit. After about an hour rest we slowly decided it was time to start our descent. This definitely took longer than planned since we stopped on several occasions to take a handful of epic portrait and landscape photographs. As of right now I don't think I'd ever do the climb again. Looking at tiny hills in parks and my local area is enough to make me shudder. But who knows.. as exhausting as it was the amount of duress is inveresly proportional to the brief moments of glory at the amount of glory that awaits at the top of Fuji-san.


Very windy and bright, it was hard to keep my eyes open!

Super Family Computer! (Super Famicom/SNES)

Suffering from video game withdrawal is a heavy situation to deal with. Since arriving to Japan I've already missed GTA IV and arguably the greatest video game release ever in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Not to mention I am unable get my daily dose of Rock Band/Guitar Hero either (Guitar Hero 4 was also released about three weeks ago).

I do have my DS and R4 with me; however the single and multiplayer antics provided by a TV gaming console just sometimes cannot be substituted with any other form of entertainment. While it's possible I may be re-united with my PS3 in a month (Ed is potentially bringing it over) something had to be done to fill the void in the meantime. In the beginning of June I blogged about Akihabara and how it has a ridiculous collection of electronics and gadgets. Today Kyle & I re-visited this area and didn't leave until we had a gaming console in our hands. It was time for me to once again own a Super Nintendo.

When I was younger I had a SNES and a great collection of games to go alongside with it. As gaming console generations are constantly undergoing change it was time to stay with the crowd and move onto the next system. Back in 1996, I traded in my old SNES to help pay for a Nintendo 64.

So how much did the discovery of the year cost? You wouldn't believe me if I told you. The console with two controllers came out to an astounding ￥500, which is roughly $5 Canadian. No, I didn't forget to add a "0" or do the math incorrectly. I'm still not sure as to why the hell it was so cheap since there were a few other stores selling the same product for ￥4000. Next, it was time to pick up the proper software to justify the purchase. Kyle and I decided that Mortal Kombat (￥300) was an absolute must have. There was also a clearance/discount bin and Kyle managed to find a copy of the Dr. Mario for ￥50 (50 cents). We grabbed a copy of Final Fight and I picked out X-Men Mutant Apocalypse, since it was one of my favourite childhood games. Super Mario World, Street Fighter, and Donkey Kong were all extremely tempting but they were a bit pricey compared to the other games. The grand total for the console and the four games we picked out came to a whopping ￥2125 ($21.25 Canadian). I'll post a picture of receipts later. I still can't believe how unbelievably cheap everything was.

It's time to re-live my childhood video gaming days on nights where I just feel to lazy or crappy to go out on. I'm going to make a prediction and say the library of Super Famicom games will grow to about 25 by the time I leave Japan. If anyone has any suggestions on games I'll gladly take them into consideration.



Liu Kang Wins. Fatality.

T/K: Tokyo to Kyoto (and back!)

Rokuon-ji, aka Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion) alongside Kyōko-chi (Mirror pond). The top two floors are entirely covered in Gold.

It all started with a train. Upon leaving work on Saturday night it was a race to get to Tokyo Station to catch the last available Shinkansen (express bullet train) heading into the Kyoto area. Kyle was situated in the west end of Tokyo that night, so we made arrangements to rendez-vous on the Nozomi 161 which would leave Tokyo at exactly 9:20 pm. Unreserved seats cost about 1500 yen less, but it is what it sounds like; there is no guarantee for a seat once you board the train. It wasn't too big of a problem for me since Tokyo was the initial station of departure but Kyle had to get on at Shin-Yokohoma, which was another two stops away. We took a chance and got unreserved seats for the journey and I managed to save him a seat by ignorantly placing my suitcase beside me. Just as he boarded I threw my suitcase up on the overhead and we were ready to roll out.

The distance from Tokyo to Kyoto is appoximately 513km, roughly the same distance from Toronto to Montreal. The train ride took exactly 2 hours and 11 minutes (as advertised) from leaving Tokyo to arriving at Kyoto Station. For those who are curious the Shinkansen pushes speeds of up to 300km/h when not travelling in city areas. I believe the trip would have been even faster had the train not stopped at four other stations before arriving to Kyoto.

While on the train Kyle and I tore it up with our DS's and assuredly annoyed the commuters around us who were trying to fall asleep. Contra wasn't the same without music so we had to have a little volume. The same goes for Tetris and Mario Kart.



So what's the big deal about Kyoto? It serves as a huge preserved historic city since the landscape and architecture wasn't directly destroyed by the bombings and air assaults from the United States during WW II. There are temples and castles all over Japan, however most of them have been re-built due to the damage inflicted upon the air raids. Kyoto for the most part remained unharmed, but the downtown core of the city has definitely taken favour to the modernization of buildings and facilities.



We met up with Lydia and Althea at Hanazono station. They were kind enough to reserve a large room to accommodate all of us at Shunkō-in, the Zen Buddhist temple that is also a hostel for travelling tourists. This temple also served as a sanctuary for Japanese followers of Christianity from 1603 - 1867, when the religion was banned in Japan. The monks would hide crosses in grave stones and other symbols resembling Christ in wall paintings or statues. I actually found this bit of information of the temple to be very intriguing. Shunkō-in also offers a Zazen-kai (Zen meditation session) but Kyle and I had to pass on it since we were short on time. The girls however, thoroughly enjoyed it.


A mini scaled version of the Garden containing the fifteen rocks.

Ryōan-ji is well known for its simple yet remarkable Rock Garden which was laid out at the end of the 15th century. The precision behind the layout of the fifteen rocks in the garden have inspired Zen-like philosophical meditation for centuries.

Why is the garden so special? From what I gathered the rocks were intended to be systematically laid out so that from all adjacent ground viewing angles, only fourteen of the fifteen rocks could be visible. In other words no matter where you view the garden from one rock would always be hidden. It is said that upon achieving a state of true enlightenment through years of Zen meditation all fifteen rocks can be visible.



Another interpretation reveals that since man can never truly obtain perfection one can never be able to see all fifteen rocks simultaneously. This coincides with man's pursuit of happiness (Happyness); no matter how hard he tries an eternal state of bliss cannot be met. One will always be pursuing and working towards happiness but can never be completely satisfied. Pondering upon this made me want to re-watch Sony's production of "The Pursuit of Happyness" with everyone's favourite Will Smith. For those of you who have yet to see it, the film is definitely worth your while. Perhaps I'll torrent it later.

Unfortunately the flaw of the garden is that there actually lies a spot from the edge where all fifteen rocks are visible. Kyle and I stood in it and the tour guide himself said that you can manage to view all fifteen if you look carefully. Kyle is working on a panoramic stitch of the entire garden, hopefully it will be completed soon and I'll be able to post a link to it.



Kinkaku-ji was the next memorable stop and I finally comprehend as to what all the hype was about. Since I started teaching all of my students whose English level is high enough continually ask me where I want to travel while in Japan (Kyoto being one of the many places). Among these students, every single one of them has told me that I absolutely have to visit this temple if I travel to Kyoto.

The upper two floors are entirely covered in pure gold and serve for the ultimate visual eye candy for tourists from all over the world. Most of the temples I've visited have been filled with a larger amount of Japanese locals than tourists. Kinkaku-ji on the other hand was clustered with "gaijin" from everywhere. With that being said there was a group of Mandarin speaking tourists who were being completely rude and loud, somewhat dampening the glory of the temple itself.



While the viewing areas of temples and shrines close at dusk it was time to find another point of interest. Shijō Kawaramachi is a popular part of central Kyoto where the scenery at night is entirely lit up from the lights and signs of department stores during day and night hours. Perhaps the most surprising thing I abosrbed was just how modernized the downtown core of the city is. I was honestly expecting a cultural preserved landscape throughout the entire area but I was clearly wrong. A lot of the downtown street atmosphere here made me feel that I hadn't even left Tokyo.



There were many restaurants and bars overlooking the river that looked mighty impressive at night. It's a little hard to notice but they people sitting outdoors on the patio are all seated on wood floorboards or tatami mats. What a kickass ambience to drink and enjoy a meal with friends.



Our intended plan for the next day was to get an early start at 6:30 am to head out to some other nearby temple and shrine areas. This wasn't even close to happening since the four of us sat outside a train station getting slightly intoxicated the night before. We had a really long day and it was decided that drinks were long overdue. With this being said, I don't think we ventured out until 9 in the morning.



When we finally gathered our composure we took the train a few stops west over to Arashiyama. Nonomiya Shrine is well-known for its large bamboo forest area and in my opinion it didn't fail to impress. It was like looking into something straight out of a traditional Chinese/Japanese martial arts movie. I totally expected ninjas to be jumping through the trees with flying sound effects.



Unfortunately this was the last temple area I visited before my time was up in Kyoto. I decided to take the 8 hour bus ride back home since it costs half the amount as a Shinkansen train. I'll probably head back to Kyoto one weekend, or over a holiday I have before leaving Japan. Winter season so far has the vote since the scenery becomes even more scenic with a touch of snow.

Leaving Kyoto Station

My bus departure from Kyoto Station was at 12:20 pm on Monday afternoon. Since I knew it was going to be a lengthy excursion back home I loaded up on snacks and drinks before boarding. There were a few guys ahead of me who fully had like five grocery bags full of junk food, including various alcoholic beverages. Somedays I forget that in this country it's perfectly fine to consume alcohol virtually anywhere.



The actual bus was a double-decker with the majority of the seating area on the upper level. Problem for some is that the roof is only about 6 feet high and there could have been more leg room to stretch out. I wasn't brave enough to check out the washroom either, something I don't regret at all.



Other accommodations included a JR branded pair of slippers and a surprisingly comfortable blanket. Each seat also had the ability to recline into an almost 180 degree sleeping position. A foot rests are also installed on the bus and the overhead area provides a tiny but surprisingly powerful air conditioning vent. You can also draw the curtains from the window seats to block out the sunlight in the event you want to doze off. While it sounds somewhat luxurious it was a little difficult for me to fall asleep. The ride was kinda wobbly and it was hard to find a comfortable position for a sufficient amount of time. Still, not bad at all considering the price of the ticket.



I arrived back at Tokyo Station at about 8:06 pm. From there it's about another 40 minutes getting back to my local train station. I felt rather accomplished journeying outside with friends and getting safely back in one piece. Not losing my luggage was an added bonus! Overall, definitely a great weekend and perhaps the nicest area I've been to in Japan to this date.

... and they're Married!

A round of congratulations are in order again to Sarah & Brad who were married in Toronto on Sunday afternoon. I apologize again for not being able to attend, but I'm ecstatic to hear that everything was absolutely beautiful. Looking forward to hearing all the stories and seeing all the pictures when you guys have more time. Enjoy the honeymoon in Italy!

My Very Own Internet..

The glorious day has finally come where I can say I have my own internet connection at my apartment. The application process was somewhat lengthy and tedious but I'm glad that everything has worked out in the long run.

After getting my Alien Registration Card (ARC) it needed to be faxed over to the internet company as proof of my legal immigrant and working status. The card takes about a month to issue so I wasn't able to send the internet application until I had the card on hand.

The conventional ineternet connection in Japan is high speed DSL which requires having an individual phone line in my apartment. I had not connected a phone line, so this added another week to the process. When my line was activated and phone number confirmed, it was finally okay to go ahead with obtaining internet service.

Being a regular working business, the internet company was only able to ship the modem package on weekdays during regular business hours (monday - friday, 9 - 5). Since I was at work during the delivery I received a "failure to delivery" notification from the courier and had to arrange another drop off or pick up. The notice was entirely in Japanese so I had to get one of my friends to contact the courier for me. She was nice enough to call and re-schedule another drop off at my apartment later in the evening. After about a month and a half of stealing wireless internet, going to internet cafes, or using internet at friend's houses, I can confidently browse the web within the comfort of my own walls!

Something Fishy in Tsukiji

On Tuesday morning I went to Tsukiji before going to work to check out the wholesale fish market. I had to wake up at 4:00 in the morning in order to catch the first train at 5:08 am. Unfortunately the live fish auctions had already ended before I had got there-- they apparently start at 5 in the morning. Nevertheless there was still plenty of interesting sights, sounds, and especially smells to take in.

I have never seen so much raw fish and seafood in my life and it all looked so amazingly good. It's hard to believe that the market is that busy every morning. The amount of fish that is available for wholesale is sufficient enough to feed the entire country. I think I`m going to have to go back one day with a bottle of soy sauce in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other!

Rush Hour in Shinagawa

On Monday morning I had to go to Shinagawa to the Tokyo immigration office to sort out the issues with my visa. It is going to be extended for three years, up from the original one since I'm officially being sponsored from my employer. It was my first real rush hour train experience into Tokyo and it was definitely one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever experienced.

Everyone is literally vertically spooning one another in the subway car and your individual balance is dependent on the people in your direct vicinity. When the train sways the commuters accordingly rock back and forth and are forced to push up against one another. I'm so glad I don`t need to take the train to work every morning.

Shinagawa however was definitely a nice place to see. There weren't too many people on the streets since it was pretty early, aside from the hundreds piling out of the station heading to their office buildings. Leaving the station there was a sign reading that Shinagawa has been modeled after New York City. Unfortunately my knowledge of New York is pretty limited but I imagine that it somewhat represented New York with all the surrounding skyscrapers.

5++ Hours of Karaoke-- Boku wa Kuma!

Kyle's friends Althea and Lydia are now part of our Tokyo community as they landed at Narita on Saturday night. So it was off for a night of random karaoke. The place we went to has a retarded deal-- 11:00 pm until 5:00 am is only ￥1245 per person and it includes a free non-alcoholic drink bar. At first I thought it couldn't be that good and was a little disappointed in the song library. However the entire song selection was in the handheld computer and it actually had the same selection as every other place I've been too. With this being said, the four of us had an awesome wild night of singing. Lydia and I came out on top though with our rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

When we left at 5:15 am the birds were chirping and it was still raining like hell. We walked back to Kyle's place took a power nap for 3 hours and headed out to venture into Tokyo. It was a great way to kick off an eventful weekend!