July 4th, 2010
I enjoy taking long bicycle trips from time to time. I thought it would be a good day’s challenge to circle two famous mountains of Niigata, Mt. Kakuda and Mt. Yahiko and return home before nightfall. Mt. Kakuda and Mt. Yahiko are not famous for their height. Mt. Yahiko is only 600 some meters high. They are famous for being the only mountains smack dab on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the midst of the flat rice fields which Niigata is famous for. Click the photo to see an enlargement.
Niigata has some of the flattest areas in all of Japan. One reason it’s so flat is because much of Niigata (Japanese meaning “new lagoon”) was reclaimed from the ocean. All of the rice growing area between the Shinano and Agano rivers, meaning the area you see in the photo below, used to be under water.
Mt. Yahiko and Mt. Kakuda from a distance of 20 kilometers. Toward the back of the rice fields, you can see the Bullet train tracks.
It took me a little over two hours to cycle 30 some kilometers to Kakudahama which is the northern base of Mt. Kakuda. I didn’t know the roads but followed what I thought was the closest route by line of sight. It turned out that I probably zigzagged back and forth on the roads between the rice fields a lot more than I needed to.
From Kakudahama I took the only road that runs along the coast of the Sea of Japan, a road over rolling hills and through several tunnels. The traffic was light being mostly tourist and therefore a bit safer for a cyclist than a normal highway. I needed to ride as far as the lowest point past Mt. Yahiko. I knew I reached it when I arrived at the mouth of Bunsui, a river which is a tributary of the Shinano river, the longest river in Japan. There is a road running parallel to it going the direction I needed to go, and I knew it would be therefore flat.
I could add photos to this post. If you want to see them, please say so in a comment.
December 21st, 2009
Princess with her toy
I took an overnight bus from Tokyo to Aomori City and met up with Judy who gave me her Shih Tsu dog, Princess. Continue reading »
November 30th, 2009
November 29, 2009: While hitchhiking to town I noticed a lady walking toward me from a distance with what appeared to be her car parked by the side of the road behind her. I correctly assumed she was going to offer me a ride. She had another lady friend with her who was the driver. They seemed a bit overly impressed to meet me which caused me to become suspicious.
I asked them, “Do you want to sell me something?”
“No!”
“Are you folks into some kind of religion?”
“No!”
They asked me if I had eaten lunch yet and invited me to a restaurant to talk. I accepted the invitation because I wasn’t in any hurry and knew it would give me an opportunity to share my faith with them.
In the restaurant I offered to give them two Activated magazines. As soon as I pulled them out of my briefcase, they turned them down. The only kind of Japanese who refuses to accept literature from me are people into some type of religion, and sure enough, these two ladies turned out to be Nichiren Buddhist people, and their intent was to try to convert me!
Most Buddhists are very tolerant of other religions, and they have no problem toward Christians in general. The Nichiren sect is the notifiable exception. They will flatly tell you to forsake Jesus Christ and pray to their idol using their chant instead. Every time they chanted that horrible chant to me, I started to pray the “Our Father” prayer and told them that prayer works for me. To their credit, they did listen when I told them why Jesus died on the cross, and for what reason, to save all of mankind from sin.
Normally when a Japanese person invites me to a restaurant or coffee bar, they will pick up my tab. I fully expected this to happen but to my embarrassment I walked halfway out of the restaurant and was told I hadn’t paid my bill yet! Next time I’ll be more wary when a person seems overly interested in talking to me even though we just met. Either they want to convert you or sell you on some network marketing type of product. :-)
May 11th, 2009
I was so happy to receive messages via classmates.com from long lost friends I knew in high school! One of them was from Debbie Olson Chancey who I used to call “The Hot Dog Queen” because she worked at her father’s Vienna Hotdog where I used to hang out at. The other two where from my old buddy, Jimmy Novak with whom I used to hang around with, and Donna Wright Krieps, one of my classmates in George Washington High School in Chicago. The graduating class of 1969 is having a reunion on June 27. Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend — no money for air travel. ;-(
March 9th, 2009
A dear friend in Norway sent me this photo of candle wax dripping on a plate under the candle:
Candle wax on a plate
Absolutely awesome! I believe it to be a sign from Heaven! Or a coincidence? You decide. Click on the image once, and then one more time to see a closer view.
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