travel

Katsuura open water swim

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So, last year I didn’t get around to posting up any open water swim reports. But I did do about 5 or so races last year. Here is a belated account of the first open water swim race from last year.

Race date: 21 June, 2015.
The event was the Katsuura swim festa and the race was held at Moriya beach in Chiba. I had actually been to this beach before on a day trip where we SUPed and snorkeled.

From Katsuura OWS 2015

Race distance was a short one and I went with a couple of friends. We did the 1.5km swim (which was the longest distance on offer). Water was a cooler side, I think about 21 degrees. It was a bit fresh without a wetsuit.

Here are a bunch of pics from the day:

From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015

Conditions were decent enough:

From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015

Race course:

From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015

This was a slow swim for me. I’m not 100% sure, given that it was nearly a year ago, but I think my time was a shameful 45minutes for a 1.5km swim. Can’t be sure that is right though but it was the first race for the year and a cold one at that.

From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015
From Katsuura OWS 2015

Overall a nice easy race doable from Tokyo. But yes, was a bit a cold and I was a bit out of practice. It’s always good to do a short distance swim to start off the season.

2015 Onjuku open water swim

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Another year, another Onjuku swim. This one is tradition on the racing calendar with a decent enough following with fellow swimming friends. We had a small contingent of us turn up for this race, back in September last year.

It’s a 3.84km swim at Onjuku beach, one of the better beaches around and a favourite in the summer. Had also swum in the previous year.

It was a nice day for a swim with a good atmosphere:

From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows

Water conditions weren’t great. There was lots of seaweed upon entry.

I have also spent quite a fair bit of time at Onjuku, and what was surprising this year was the amount of jellyfish out there. I was a bit worried and thought about pulling out when they had warned us of jellyfish. I thought I’d at least start the race.

Holy moly, I have never seen jellyfish this big. These were really big ugly jellyfish that were the size of soccerballs. It really was quite phenomenal. I, of course, got stung on the hand by a big one, but decided to still swim on. It was a bit of a tough race trying to dodge all the jellyfish. I always find the Onjuku course quite tough. It requires swimming into the ports at each of the beach.

My time was on the slow side and it was slower than last year as well. For 3.84km, my time was 1hr 31min. But ok considering I was stung badly on the wrist and had to actively dodge jellyfish for the rest of the race. Had never seen jellyfish so big and so ugly. They were nomura jellyfish.You should google them. Ugly things. I ended up getting quite a bad reaction from the water here and ended up with a rash. Last year was particularly bad for my swimming rashes. I get really bad allergic reactions.

Another funny thing about this swim was that both The housemate and I featured on the race promo poster! It was an action photo from the previous year’s race that was used for the 2015 event.
I’m the one that is basically stacking it in the water, yes, ever the clutz am I. We were able to score a few of these posters as well.

From Onjuku ows
From Onjuku ows

Will most likely enter this race again this year too.

Palau: clam city

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There’s a famous snorkeling spot in the Palau islands called clam city, where you’ll find the some of the biggest clam shells around. Most snorkeling day tours will stop here for about half hour to have a look at the giant clam shells. If they closed, you tap on them and they open up. Also some fish around too. Snorkeling is one of my favourite things to do. Could do it all day long. Basically, I love anything that involves water, really.

And the water in Palau is truly incredible. Seeing and being out on the water every day during my week there was the best thing ever.

Pics from clam city.

From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau

Giant clam shells

From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau
From Day 2 – Clam city Palau

Underwater freediving in Palau

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Some gratuitous photos of me underwater freediving in Palau. Met a photographer there whom I spent some time hanging out with. He took these cool pics of me. I am pretty sure I was a mermaid in another life.

From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau
From Underwater in Palau

Palau: Long beach island

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Palau was an amazing country. Unbelievable pristine waters. A water lover’s paradise. I had such a wonderful time there. Was totally in my element and was in the water every single day.

This is long beach island, where at low tide, it’s a long stretch of beach and white sand that reaches an island.

The water clarity is truly incredible.

From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island
From Day 2 Palau – Long Island

Naoshima Diary: At Uno Station

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The Cliff notes of my long weekend trip to Naoshima:

Friday night: Depart Tokyo station after work. Board 7:30pm shinkansen to Okayama station. Arrive Okayama station at 11pm. Check into hotel for the night and crash out into bed.

Saturday morning: Early breakfast. Check out of hotel at about 8:10am. Board the 8:24am train departing Okayama bound for Uno station. (Change at Chayamachi enroute to Uno). Alight at Uno station about an hour later.

Destination Uno reached. A most awesome name for a train station and a small port town.
I was quite excited to be at a place named after a card game.

From Uno station
From Uno station
From Uno station
From Uno station

At Uno with numero uno!

From Uno station
From Uno station

Okay, let’s try that again and let’s try to not get hair obscuring the face.

From Uno station

That’s more like it.

Outside Uno station are two giant monuments. This one….

From Uno station

And this one: the Goddess of the Sea:

From Uno station

And now it’s time to smell the cheese:

From Uno station

And incidentally, ticked off another prefecture – Okayama prefecture done. Only another 8 (?) to go!

Hello Kitty dim sum

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I was in Hong Kong in May for a work trip. Whilst there, I had to visit the Hello Kitty dim sum restaurant.

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Little dumplings that were too cute to eat.

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If you’re a hard core kitty fan, this is the place to eat at.

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And if that is too much  food, you can the leftovers home in not a doggy bag, but a kitty bag!

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Simply purrfect.

Naoshima red pumpkin

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Ugh, I have a huge backlog of blog posts, or rather photos to upload.

Here are some from about 9 months ago. I never finished that Naoshima diary.

In addition to the giant yellow pumpkin found near the Benesse art park, there is also a red pumpkin sculpture by the ferry port, the main arrival point onto the island.

From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin
From Naoshima red pumpkin

I framed Roger Rabbit (a visit to Okunoshima)

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Kicked off another item on the Japan bucketlist and went to Rabbit Island (formally known as Okunoshima).

From Rabbit island

Last weekend, took an early flight to Hiroshima and then from there a bus to Takehara station and then a train to Tadanoumi and then a port to Okunoshima island. A plane, bus, train and a boat hop away from Tokyo and I was finally on Okunoshima.

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Okunoshima is a tiny tiny island within the Seto inland sea, inhabited by rabbits. The island is pretty much uninhabited, but is a popular tourist destination. There is only one large hotel on the island which is usually always booked out, so we went “glamping” instead. (Glamping = glamour camping).
All accommodation on the island was booked out, so we got a special package from the hotel’s campsite area. The package was amazing value. 7000yen got us a tent (already set up), ground mats, a tarp and table set, buffet dinner at the hotel, buffet breakfast at the hotel and use of the hotel onsen. You can also BYO tent and set up on the campsite, but it was so nice that they set up our campsite and got to use the hotel facilities.

Prior to arriving on the island, at Tadanoumi ferry port, you should be sure to buy the rabbit pellets. You can buy 6 packets for 500yen. There is no food on the island for sale for the rabbits (or humans for that matter). The island has no shops and we struggled the first day when we discovered there were no shops, restaurants, conbinis etc, and only a couple of vending machines). Be prepared to bring your own food and be sure to buy the rabbit food when you buy the boat tickets.

From Rabbit island

The only facilities are at the hotel where there is a shop and restaurant to get food. Apart from that, there is not much on the island, apart from a lot of rabbits. There are also a bunch of military remnants and the poison gas museum. Okunoshima was used as military island during the war, and was the base for a poison gas manufacturing facility. The island has quite the sinister history. Very fascinating though. But a lot of people died as a result of the poisonous gas effects.

We arrived on the island at about 1pm. It was a beautiful day so we pretty much walked around the whole island (which has an approx. circumference of 4km). There are a lot of military ruins and remnants to see as you walk around chasing and feeding the rabbits. The island also has a bunch of really nice beaches, the water looked so clear and clean. Would be great in summer for a spot of camping and swimming.

Brace yourself for cuteness.
Who framed Roger Rabbit?
I did!

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Eating cabbage – Lady and the Tramp-style

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Tiny bunny:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

The rabbits eat right out of your hand

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

The bunnies are so adorable:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

And here’s a gif:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Also no cars on are allowed on the island without a permit and there are no residents on the island, only the people working at the hotel:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Military remains:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

Seto Inland Sea:

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island

A photo of a photo in the hotel lobby:

From Rabbit island

Quite a few of the rabbits have mangy or scratched out eyes. They get into fights with each other.

From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island
From Rabbit island