Autumn Scenes from Shinjuku Gyoen
November 16, 2008
This past Saturday was supposed to be my 7th summiting of Takigo-yama, but unfortunate events with the Chuo Line lead to the nixing of that, but on the positive side led to a very good autumn afternoon in Shinjuku Gyoen. It was unbelievably Aya’s first ever time to this famous Tokyo park! I of course have been 20+ times as it’s within walking distance to my apartment.
Autumn Dusk Skies of Shinjuku 2008
November 14, 2008
There is no doubt I pay way too much for my shoebox of an apartment in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Yet, there are certain benefits to living in the building I do. One of the greatest is the ability to see the sunset each and every day the weather allows for it. Over the course of the year the sun sets over distant mountains in summer, to behind Shinjuku’s skyscrapers in winter and to where it can be seen setting in the above photograph, between the skyscrapers of Nakano-sakaue. Autumn often offers the best sunsets and dusks skies, and even the very rare orange sunset (above).
Last night time Palace laps?
November 10, 2008
FULL RIDE STATS:
- Distance: 15.87 miles
- Time in motion: 1 hour 03 minutes 54 seconds
- Average speed: 14.9 mph
- Max speed: 26.4 mph
3-LAPS STATS:
- Distance: 9.40 miles
- Time in motion: 33 minutes 58 seconds
- Average speed: 16.6 mph
I am actually writing this cycling report like 10 days later. That’s how turned off I was by this ride. I couldn’t even get myself to write about it until now. It was my first cold weather ride of the year, thus the first time I donned my winter Pearl Izumi cycling pants and full finger winter gloves. The pants may not have been necessary, but I never actually felt that overly warm. The gloves were definitely needed.
About this ride . . . well, right off the bat once I got to the palace I got totally boned at one of the first lights on the huge decent, which should be the fasted section of the loop. I had never have to come to almost a complete stop there before. Usually I just whiz by at 28mph. This time I was stuck tip-toeing between traffic stopped at the red light.
And then it was just a total parade of red lights. Plus some street lights on the Tokyo Station side weren’t working so it was quite dark. Then some fool tried to challenge me on the ascent section. I thought it was a real cyclist on a road bike, so I yielded a bit as I felt they were just shadowing me and I didn’t like it. Turns out it was just some fool (j-dude) on a not mama-cheri but some slightly better city bike trying to be a hero. It just annoyed me and I quickly passed him and dropped him.
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Daily Photo: Jason rolls down a hill in Tochigi Prefecture!
November 10, 2008
I’d been seeing kids rolling down hills quite a few times lately, for example at this farm in Nagano. So as soon as I saw this very grassy and rolling hill near Senjogahara Moor in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, I new at some point I’d be rolling down it. The hill was a very gentle one, part of a large open green grass area that I rarely see in Japan. I wanted to run out to it and run around wildly. So I did.
POLICE STORY [1985] review
November 10, 2008
I am no fan of CG in movies, even though so many I see and like have it. I am not a fan of it because after watching a very analog and visceral film like POLICE STORY starring Jackie Chan, (who also surprisingly directed), there is absolutely nothing like Jackie and stunt people keeping it totally real on film. And Jackie keeps it way more real than any other action hero on screen. You can see two of his most famous stunts in this movie: grabbing a onto a moving bus with an umbrella and sliding down a huge floor to ceiling two story pole through strings of electric lights.
Senjogahara Moor in Tochigi Prefecture Japan
November 9, 2008
As Aya and I drove along a country road after leaving Nikko, to my left a vast expanse opened up, and from very first sight I was dazzled and drawn to Senjogahara Moor in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. This moor was not a scheduled stop on our trip, but thankfully I pulled over so we could pause and get a better look at this most unusual landscape for Japan.
CYCLE MODE international 2008 Tokyo, Japan
November 9, 2008
Thanks to a tip from a student semi-interested in cycling, Aya and I were able to spend a very exciting Saturday afternoon surrounded by all things bikes at CYCLE MODE international 2008 at the expansive Makuhari Messe exhibit space. This even was better than I expected, and I ended up feeling totally stoked after having demo-ridden three very expensive bikes on the road and mountain biking mini-tracks the event organizers had setup.
Halloween in Nikko Japan Fall 2008
November 8, 2008
After five and a half years in Tokyo, Japan, I finally made my first visit to Nikko. I had heard about Nikko many times, as it’s one of the premier tourist destinations in all of Japan, as well as being a World Heritage Site. I heard of monkeys running wild, and even taking baths in outdoor hot springs. I was expecting a huge hub-bub. Of course, like most things, my expectations and reality were nowhere near matching. I found Nikko to be a small, reserved sanctuary of temples and shrines tucked away amongst a forest of tall trees. And no monkeys.
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