Mt. Fuji & Yamanaka Lake trip

This past weekend, I went with some workers from my school and some Japanese friends to a lodge on a lake (Yamanaka Lake) near Mt. Fuji.

It was an older lodge and had lots of traditional things there.

There was a group of 10 of us and we had 3 rooms that we stayed in.

Here are some pictures of the lake that we stayed beside and the view of Mt. Fuji in the evening:




The staff at the lodge made us a great feast over a fire in pit in a large dining room.




We even had raw horse sushi:




The next day, we went for swan paddle boat rides around the lake:

We then went for a long drive around Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, it was very foggy and misty that day, so we couldn't see Mr. Fuji, but it made for good photos at a shrine we visited:









The last photos are by the ocean on the drive back to Hamamatsu:

Sunday drive

Today, Ayako and I took a long drive around Hamana Lake (the large lake near our city) to find the last cherry blossoms in full bloom. It was a good day for walking around and feeling that spring has arrived. Here's some photos from the day:

student party

Last night, I had some of my students from my Welding Rod class come over to my apartment for a get-together. We had good food to eat and then played some pool and had a small darts competition. Here's some photos of the fun.

View the weather in Hamamatsu

I've put a link (on the side bar under the map) to a view of ACT tower in Hamamatsu which shows the current weather. . . Enjoy!
Of course, if it's night time here, then it will be a pretty black pictures with red dots where ACT tower is...Sorry^^

Nagoya trip

On Sunday, I went on a trip to the city of Nagoya, which has about 2.5 million people in it. I went with a student of mine, Masaya, and his girlfriend, Junko. It's about 90 minutes west of Hamamatsu. Since it was raining most of the day, it became a shopping tour. We stayed in one area and went to a couple of the big department stores and some other stores. Since Masaya and I both like ska music, we often talk and trade music. He recommended a Japanese ska CD which I bought. I also got a couple of t-shirts. Here's a couple of photos from the trip in front of the Nagoya tower:

Hanami

Last Saturday, the teachers from my school had a get-together for cherry blossom viewing (hanami). We met in a park near our manager's house. We got there about 1 pm although he had been there since 8 am to save a good spot for us. We had a good picnic andwalked around looking at all the cherry blossoms. Here are some of the photos from the day:

Cherry blossoms

On Saturday, I went for a hike near Hamamatsu with some other teachers. We had a good view of the city on the way up the mountain:
On Sunday, I went with Ayako to Hamamatsu castle which is close to where we live:
As you can see, the cherry blossoms are out now, so we got lots of shots with them:
I also got to take some fun nice shots with my new camera:

I have seen cherry blossoms in Canada, so I thought it would look the same here. The major difference I've found here is that I see cherry blossoms everywhere and in long rows and along rivers which make them that much more beautiful in Japan.

This coming Saturday, I'll be going to a cherry blossom viewing party (hanami) with my co-workers, so there'll be more Cherry blossoms (sakura) to come.

Hiking in Mikkabi

Here are some photos of a spring hike we did at the north end of Hamana Lake. In the photos are Daniela, Jen, Jenny, Ayako and myself.

My weekend

Woke up late on Saturday, and since it was raining decided to go shopping to stay inside. I bought a towel cover for my surfboard and a guidebook for Japanese birds. In the evening, Ayako and I went to a restaurant strip that has about 6 ramen restuarants and 5 other Japanese restaurants. We went to the ramen restaurant with the shortest line and it was still a 10-minute wait. Here's a couple of pictures from that place:
After dinner, we saw a number of dance performances by teams from all over Japan. It was part of a dance festival that is held in Hamamatsu every year and had about 100 teams participating. It's the 6th year of the event and teams range in size from 6 to 100 people and can do anything as long as they dance and use a musical instrument. It was great seeing lots of members of teams walking around downtown in their costumes.

I also recently heard that Hamamatsu is one of four venues for the 2006 World Basketball Championships that 's being held in Japan starting in August. I'm surprised that Hamamatsu is big enough to be one of the sites but then again, the smaller town next to us was one of the sites for the 2002 World Cup.

On Sunday, I played soccer in a 2 friendly games against some high school teams. Our team was made up of foreigners (most of whom were much better than I am). We gotten beaten by the high school "B" and "C" team though. It was very windy and a bit cold, so I was surprised when I realized that I got a bit of a sunburn during the day... a good reminder that I'm living much further south than I have before and that the UV rays are stronger here.

St. Paddy's Day

Went out last night for St. Paddy's day.
Unfortunately here you can only find half pints of Guinness
and those are hard to come by.
I paid $7 for a half pint at the first bar
and then luckily found $3 half pints at another bar.
We even had a special treat by finding a new street vendor selling shawarma,
although of course it was $6 to get one...but definately worth it.

Home-made Ice Cream

On Sunday, Ayako made some wonderful mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was very creamy and very yummy.

Sanaru Lake

Near the school that I teach at is Sanaru Lake. It is a pleasant little lake that attracts many birds and people strolling by it even though it is the second most poluted lake in Japan. Ayako and I went for a bicycle ride around there on Saturday. Since I didn't know the area attracted many birds, I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of places set up for birds such as fences in the lake and large nesting areas.



Still keeping with the theme of birds...on the way home, we passed by a vending machine selling fresh organic eggs...very interesting:
And we also passed a small Japan plum tree in full bloom:

Birding & a bicycle ride

On Saturday, I went for a bicycle ride to the beach to try and take photos of them with my new camera and its longer zoom. Unfortunately, it was too windy for birds at the beach but I got some good shots of birds in the river on the way to the beach.

Apartment set up

I've got most of my apartment set up now except for not having any pictures on the walls yet.
This is my bedroom:
Next is from my bedroom, looking into my extra room. It now has a mini pool table and a desk, but soon I will have a TV set up in there and hopefully get a sofa there as well. Since I've got an extra room now, feel free to come visit me in Japan and let me show you around my wonderful city.^^
And here's some shots of my living room and kitchen:

Surfboard

On Saturday, I bought a surfboard from a teacher who is leaving Japan. There's another teacher here, Jack, who is a good surfer and is willing to help me with learning how to surf. I still have to get a wetsuit since the water doesn't get warm until June, but with a wetsuit, I should be able to start learning how to surf soon.