I like to pretend that there aren't many things which I fear, but the truth is, there are plenty. Spiders, centipedes that bite, excessive speed while riding in cars, the liver eating guy from the X-Files (even though he's not real...I think)...well, you get the idea. A few years ago, much to my chagrin, I had to add another to the list: cycling in Tokyo.
I decided, though, to give it another go, after moving to a more western and less traffic-filled area of Tokyo last year. However, procrastination and nerves kept me out of the saddle until just last week. Partially motivated by H.'s assertions that I was leaving my bike to rust (which he had very kindly fixed up for me on two separate occasions), I hauled out my Tokyo maps and figured out how to get from my apartment to the Tama River Cycling Path (not to be confused with the Tama Lake Cycling Path).
I had made one other trip along the Tama River. Several years ago, after I moved to Yoyogi from Ogikubo, I had to get my bike to my new place. Trial and error (and my trusty maps) got me there, but I had to head towards the ocean and Haneda Airport on that occasion (and then had to bike up through Shinagawa, Shibuya and Harajuku - not fun!). This time, I headed towards the mountains, very, very hazy in the distance.
Despite some super-speedy cyclists who seem to have a hate-on for anyone who can't go as fast as they can (and pass, from the oncoming direction, at the most inopportune times), and scads of baseball-playing youth who weave all over the place on their little mama-chari bikes overflowing with equipment, the Tama River path makes for some nice cycling. I've been out twice, the first time going a bit further than Yotsuya Go-Chome (not the one in central Tokyo), and then this morning making it to Fussa-shi in Mizudori Park (round-trip=50km give or take) out Musashi-Itsukaichi way. By the end, it was greenery galore and, I'll wager, a degree or two cooler than the rest of the path. Pure joy! And the even better part is, I wasn't scared at all. Boo yeah!
"Oh," sighed my husband, "there are so many flowers these days that I have never seen before."
Poor chap. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, times are always a-changin'. In the case of flower variety, I would argue that it is for the better because I just love pretty things.
I actually don't have many pictures of flowers at the moment, but I am sure they will proliferate over the coming months, so just hold tight if you're aching to look at pictures of flowers. But, for starters, here are a few.
Morning glories are called "asagao" in Japanese, which translates as "morning face". They are all over the place. These are from a house in our neighbourhood.
If you're interested, find a video here to learn how to make an origami morning glory. It's in Japanese, but you really only have to watch the lady's fingers to get the gist of things. A few of these, plus leaves (also shown) made with some delicate washi (Japanese paper) and glued onto some cardstock, make a really cute greeting card.
Did you know that the seeds of the morning glory are hallucinogenic? According to the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, a Government of Canada webpage, the Ipomoea tricolor variety was long used in southern Mexico as a hallucinogen, prepared into a drink. But I'd stay away from the seeds in the "Bon Appetit" way if I were you - if you scroll down to the bottom of the linked webpage, there's a story of one attempted trip that went badly wrong... Actually, there are two stories. One about a cat (accidental, one would think) and one about a girl (250 seeds consumed, eh? Nothing accidental about that).
I believe these to be rhododendrons, although I may be mistaken. I'm always forgetting. In Japanese (if I'm right...) they are called either "shakunage" or "tsutsuji" (which is also one of the words for azaleas, my other guess, but as they're from the same genus, this isn't surprising). According to eHow, rhododendrons have ten stamens, while azaleas have only five or six.
I counted the stamens in the picture of the white flowers, and there appear to be ten, hence my guess.
There is a hotel in Hakone (the Odakyu Group's Hotel de Yama, named with a delightful blend of French and Japanese) that is famous for its azaleas and rhododendrons (apparently, it has 3000 azaleas). Each year Japanese descend on the grounds in droves to get some sweet pictures with Fuji san and Ashinoko (Lake Ashi) in the background. When we went, alas, they had barely started blooming and the whole flower-seeing
adventure was a bit of a bust. *sigh*
Poppies, poppies, poppies - how I love poppies! These poppies were part of a group of multi-coloured poppies in one of the parks near my house, Musashino-Koen. They are so pretty!
Hear this! I have good news! The rainy season is finally over!
And thank the good Lord because...UGH! It had its upsides (cooler nights, which were much appreciated), but rain all the time means humidity, which means mould, which means I am not a happy camper. Of course, it's still humid, so there will still be mould, but at least it's sunny, which keeps me happy.
It doesn't feel like I've been up to anything exceptionally interesting, which I suppose is the result of being busy with work and whatnot lately, but I had some photos that I wanted to post, so I thought I would do a little (read: long and rambling) entry to go along with them.
First up: Last week, H. wanted to look at some camping supplies (another new hobby), so we headed to Ochanomizu and Kanda (the sports districts, I suppose they could be called. Also, musical instruments). They're neighbouring areas of downtown Tokyo. Apparently, once upon a time, you could see the Imperial Gardens from the area, but now, not so much. Thank you,development.
There are, not surprisingly, a number of historical buildings in the area, but we committed ourselves to only exploring one since we had economy supporting to do. Our pick had European flavour. It had religion. It had a dome and bells. It was... Holy Resurrection Cathedral, AKA St. Nicolai-do, the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church.
St. Nicolai-do was built in 1891 by the priest Nikolai Kasatkin (originally Ivan Dimitrovich Kasatkin), who was made Archbishop of Japan (1907) and later canonized (1970) as "Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, St. Nicholas". Unfortunately, the only info on him that I can find (and read... blast these poor Japanese reading skills!) is Wikipedia, but he seems quite interesting. In fact, through reading about him and the cathedral, I learned about a rather interesting snippet of Japanese-Russian history. Apparently, a Japanese police officer was a little too stabby-stabby one day and tried to kill the future Tzar Nicholas II! If you're interested, check out the Otsu Incident (again, the only site with much information is Wikipedia...).
Anywho, the cathedral was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and subsequently had to raise money via the choir to rebuild. Apparently, it's a little smaller now, but it's still darn pretty. The inside is quite something, too (no photography allowed, unfortunately).
I decided, though, to give it another go, after moving to a more western and less traffic-filled area of Tokyo last year. However, procrastination and nerves kept me out of the saddle until just last week. Partially motivated by H.'s assertions that I was leaving my bike to rust (which he had very kindly fixed up for me on two separate occasions), I hauled out my Tokyo maps and figured out how to get from my apartment to the Tama River Cycling Path (not to be confused with the Tama Lake Cycling Path).
Despite some super-speedy cyclists who seem to have a hate-on for anyone who can't go as fast as they can (and pass, from the oncoming direction, at the most inopportune times), and scads of baseball-playing youth who weave all over the place on their little mama-chari bikes overflowing with equipment, the Tama River path makes for some nice cycling. I've been out twice, the first time going a bit further than Yotsuya Go-Chome (not the one in central Tokyo), and then this morning making it to Fussa-shi in Mizudori Park (round-trip=50km give or take) out Musashi-Itsukaichi way. By the end, it was greenery galore and, I'll wager, a degree or two cooler than the rest of the path. Pure joy! And the even better part is, I wasn't scared at all. Boo yeah!
