spend more time outdoors

Yesterday my friends and I walked around the Yamanote line in Tokyo… 40km total, I went from Akihabara to Shinjuku heading south. Probably about 20km or more. We took photos at every stop, stuffing a local in every photo.

It was great to be outside walking with such a huge group of friends (give or take 20 people). We saw areas of Tokyo we would never normally see, and it was such a beautiful day (which has been rare lately). Great to be moving.

Had a bunch of Cherry Blossom Parties (Hanami) over the last few weeks… good to get out in the fresh air and sit with friends under some beautiful trees. The weather hasn’t been great this spring, but there have been a few amazing days.

Last weekend we went to Takao-san in West Tokyo. Not a high mountain, only 600m, but it was nice to get some relatively fresh air and see some trees for a change. I love hiking mountains… the feeling is great (although 600m can barely be s=classed as a mountain).

Definately getting outdoors. I really appreciated seeing the stars… it’s been a long time since I saw stars… we don’t usually see many in Chiba. Maybe about 5. It was great to get out in the freah (if very thin) air.

On Wednesday me, Gavin and 4 others climbed Bandaisan in Fukushima prefecture. Very cool climb, felt great to get outdoors again. Stayed at the peak for about an hour, chilling out, checking out the view and the crazy insects. Then we went to the lake and had a splash, and took a drive home throught he rice paddies and a small mountain road with a hidden snake shrine. FanTASTIC day.

Going outdoors a lot this season… since it’s getting warmer and the cherry blossoms are blooming. I think I may have even gotten a little sunburnt today… that was exciting. The cherry blossoms are pretty nice, and they give me a great excuse to get out into a park and see the outdoors. But I think a little more hiking should be involved.

Spent a lot of winter in the moutains snowboarding. That’s about all the ‘outdoors time i’ve had recently… about 4 times or so. It’s pretty had living in Tokyo to get outdoors… or at least to what I consider the ‘real’ outdoors… no buildings and such. So for Spring 2006 it’s going to be a lot of parks and a bbit of hiking in the mountains.