That Time Someone Couldn’t Go Home

R’s stay was extended.
He lost his passport.
(!!!)
We spent the extra time
stopping by
1) the police box
2) the police station
3) the American Embassy.
On the one hand, so much to worry about!
On the other hand, more time with R!
I know R must have been beyond worried.
I mean, I was worried.
But we got to spend the extra days
doing regular Tokyo stuff.
Movie nights at home.
Going out to lunch.
Going karaoke.
It was like getting a fun roommate
and that was wonderful for me.
The embassy worked quickly
and before I knew it,
we were back at the airport.
Already looking forward to 
the next time R comes to visit.
But maybe without loosing the passport next time! x

That Birthday Climb Up Mount Fuji

Turning 29 is pretty big.
That last year in my twenties.
So when I looked at the calendar
and saw that my birthday was on a Sunday
I decided it was now or never…
to welcoming my birthday on top of Mt. Fuji.
My sister drove out from Ibaraki in her tiny car
and she picked me up and our amazing friends, K and T.
We set the car navigation and we were off!
Our plan was to start climbing from the fifth station
(which is where most people start their climb).
It’s said that it takes about 6 to 8 hours
for an average person to climb to the top of Mt Fuji.
So we started our climb at 9pm
to make it in time to see the sunrise at 4am.

Group picture at the start of the trail 😀

Here we are resting at the sixth station…still excited and full of energy!

We stopped often to rest
throughout our climb in the dark.

But truthfully it wasn’t dark at all
because we had a full moon (or nearly).

And thank goodness it didn’t rain
because we weren’t prepared for it at all.

But I was extremely prepared for the cold
(because I HATE being cold).

Unfortunately my pals weren’t as prepared.

By the time we got to the eighth station, it was extremely cold.
So we huddled together every time we took a break.

*Do Not Underestimate How Cold Mt Fuji Gets (even in the summer)!

We took a break and slept a bit under that torii.
From the ninth station, there was a HUGE traffic jam.
Apparently this is due to people, who were staying in the lodges
in the ninth station (there are two), that start their climb
in addition the the others already climbing.
Also the path gets quite narrow.
There was a lot of waiting around in line
as the sky turns lighter and lighter.
Perfect time to take photos, am I right?
That torii marks the peak of Mr Fuji.
We made it to the top with a million other people to see the sunrise!

My birthday sunrise was gorgeous…GORGEOUS!!!
Here we are after almost eight hours of climbing the tallest mountain in Japan!

The morning sunlight in my hands!

The sunrise was amazing.
It never occurred to any of us but
apparently depending on the weather
there are times when you can’t see the sunrise.
Thank goodness this wasn’t one of those days.
There were so many of us up there.
All looking towards the sunrise.
It felt amazing.

Hurrah!

So happy we invested in climbing shoes.

There is an Asama Shrine at the top of Mt Fuji.
We were all pretty tired
but our eyes were on the prize.
Akai Kitsune udon!
This instant noodle is usually about 100 yen
BUT… here it’s a whopping 800 yen!
Although to be fair, it includes the boiling water, too.
And no one hesitates because we’re all too cold and hungry.
It was money well spent.

We were at the top of Mt Fuji for awhile.
I even got birthday presents!

I do realize I’m super lucky to have friends
who are willing to climb this mountain with me.

Not everyone would.


We had all gotten climbing sticks at the sixth station.

You can get it stamped at every station
but we were too intent on climbing to stop.

So we all decided to get a stamp at the very top, which we did!


We couldn’t really tell in the dark.

But when the sun came out…
it was clear that Mt Fuji is a volcano.

Look at that mountain side!

The moths up here are so bright and colorful!

You wouldn’t believe it but
I got altitude sickness…on the way down!
I felt awful.
I wanted to throw up but I couldn’t.
The headache was raging something fierce.
I pretty much cried my way down the mountain.
And my dear sister and friends
were cool with it.
You know you have friends for life
when they stick with you even when you’re gagging.
It was quite the experience.


You’ll notice I didn’t stop taking photos.
Even when I was feeling my worst
I knew that I would want photos of everything later.
Also, the process of taking a photo
kind of took my mind off of feeling like shit.
It was gorgeous though.
Seriously breathtaking views.
I loved everything.
Especially since the more we descended
the more I started feeling better.
Whew!

Here we are on the same bench we started out
the night before at the sixth station.

So so tired.

But also super excited
that we actually made it up there!

And also made it back down!
Whoop!

Despite the cold, exhaustion and all the gagging
this was DEFINITELY the best birthday ever!

Happy Twenty Ninth Birthday To Me!

That Afternoon Exploring Kamakura

R is back in Japan!
My grade school friend from Michigan
came to visit Japan this month.
He used to teach English
in Hiroshima for a bit.
And this was his first time back since he left.
So he is going to be travelling around
catching up with friends…
and one of them being me! 😀 
——-
I took a day off from work
so we could go explore Kamakura!
One of my favorite places.

We got off at Kamakura Station
and decided to find a place to eat lunch.
We wandered around a bit
but it was worth it.
We discovered a
tiny Japanese restaurant called
Hisa-moto (ひさ本).
They had only counter seats.
R got the Oyako-don
and I got the Tamago-don.
So good.
Of course R being who he is,
he befriended the man sitting next to us
And soon they were sharing sake! 😀

After a fun and delicious lunch
we hopped on the Enoden for Hase station.
I wanted to show R the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in (高徳院).
I’d actually never seen it before either.
Buddha looked very peaceful, if you were wondering.

We later hopped on the Enoden again.
Got off at Shichiri-ga-hama station
to hang by the beach to see the sunset.
It was the perfect place to relax
after a full day of walking.
And gosh the sunset was a stunner!

Exploring a place is always fun,
especially with friends.
But exploring a part of Japan
with my grade school friend from MI?
So surreal.
So fun.
Pretty much the best time ever!
——-
We headed back into the city
and stopped by a small bar with live music.
R is an incredible piano player.
Seriously, he can pretty much play anything.
So of course we made him get up there to play, too!
Pretty lady singing jazz
salary men doing rock n roll.
It was a fabulous night full of music.
I loved every minute of it! x

HISAMOTO (ひさ本)
2-10-9 Komachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa JAPAN

神奈川県鎌倉市小町2丁目10-9
TEL: 0467 22 1548

That Afternoon with the Handsome Asian

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.

My grade school friend C was in town from New York!
He was here for work
 but we managed to squeeze in:
1. shopping in Harajuku
2. gabfest at Starbucks
3. paparazzi photo session
4. karaoke our heads off
5. go eat sushi
Not bad for only a short afternoon, right?
New York is so far away
and I rarely get to see him.
So I loved getting to spend time with this cutie pie! x

That Weekend in Yamamoto Recovering Photographs

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.
“I’ll be back…”
Ever since parting with those words
I was once again back in the town of Yamamoto.
Familiar faces at the town hall
quickly turn to smiles when eyes meet.
“You really came back!”
Yes, I did.
So glad I did.

This time it was for photographs.
—————–
“What would you take from a burning house?”
One of those what-if questions
that people always ask each other.
Even when I was younger
my answer to this was always he same.
“Pictures.”
—————–
The project I participated in
recovers photographs.
Memory Salvage.
These photographs found on the shore of Yamamoto
by the Self Defense Force after the tsunami.
The project not only tries to recover
but also hopes to return them to the owners.

Piles and piles of photographs.
Most covered with dirt.
Some already with mold.
—————–
The photos already documented and cleaned
are placed in a categorized library.
Already locals were looking through the library.
Looking for their past memories
they lost in the tsunami.
—————–
We worked in teams.
Cleaning off the dirt.
Digitizing each photograph.
The photo albums smelled like the sea.

Photographs of children in their Shichi-go-san kimonos.
Others of merry coworkers at a company nomikai.
Some too far damaged to ever recover.
—————–
This may not directly help the locals.
We didn’t rebuild houses or farmlands.
But this project called to me.
Because photographs are special to me.
And if there is even one survivor in Yamamoto
looking for a lost photo of loved ones
…I hope this project leads them to it.

That Week Volunteering in Yamamoto

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.

My company surprises me sometimes.
They rolled out Volunteer Vacation Days
for up to 7 days of paid leave.
So I signed up.
————————–
Knowing I wouldn’t be of much help in heavy labor
I chose to help out for a week at a soup kitchen.

This is the town of Yamamoto
in the prefecture of Miyagi.
Before the tsunami
they had a population of 16,695.
A small peaceful town.
The tsunami killed over 600 people
and approximately 80% of the land was affected.

This soup kitchen wasn’t for the temporary shelters
that were in place for the tsunami survivors.
This soup kitchen was for the town hall employees.
The employees themselves are survivors,
some of who’ve lost family.
Some who work all day at the town hall
only to go back to their cars to sleep at night.
Some who were here from a different prefecture
to help with the disaster relief and the lack of employees.
Our soup kitchen provided them 3 meals a day.

I had an image of sandwiches
or an onigiri, when it came to soup kichens.
But this one had various produce
and our menu was based on what we had.
I am not the greatest cook.
But one the first day
I was handed lemons, sweet potatoes,
and a “yoroshiku (do your best).”
Almost thought hard labor would have been better.
But with the help of CookPad
I spent the week cooking like never before.
I think I actually like cooking.

But there were, of course, many thoughts
throughout my time as a volunteer.
Some of us would talk together
during our bath time.
————————–
The employees that we would see daily
are all smiles and jokes.
Hiding their pain and worries.
————————–
Some would ask us why we were volunteering.
“Because I want to help”
somehow felt too light, too casual.
I wouldn’t be able to answer.
————————–
They would thank me for coming.
Again, no words.
What do you say to that.
————————–
There was no way we could say
“Gambatte-kudasai.”
You could see the strain.
They were doing that and more
all on their own.
————————–
But spending a week in Yamamoto
cooking and chatting with the employees.
“Oishi-katta-yo! (Delicious!)”
“Meal time is the best!”
These words from the employees
made my heart burst with happiness.
Those are the times I felt I did my job as a volunteer.
Made them smile
even if for a little while.
————————–
So glad I came to Yamamoto.
Now that I’ve been here,
I’ll be back.

That Afternoon at Heian Shrine in Kyoto

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.

Went to Kyoto.
Everywhere you look
there’s a picture waiting to be taken.
We went to Heian Shrine (平安神宮).
The grounds were vast,
gorgeous gardens.
How lucky are we to live so close to Kyoto?
(well, at least my parents do!)

That Week Home in Osaka

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.

Came back to Osaka to
visit my parents!
You never know whey they’ll move again
so now it the time to learn Kansai-ben 🙂

Osaka station is brand-spankin new.
Look at this view from the escalator
terrifyingly amazing.
———————
But I think I like the park by our home the best.
The park with the Osaka Castle.
It’s relatively people-free on weekdays
especially now, since there are almost no tourists.
———————
Osaka is still bright and glittery,
something that we haven’t seen in Tokyo of late.
———————
Something about Osaka.
Makes me feel free.