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Nokonoshima: flower park

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Last autumn, whilst down in Kyushu, I took a half day trip to the island of Nokonoshima – just a short train and boat ride away from Fukuoka. I was in Saga at the time, so had got up early to travel from Saga to Fukuoka and then to the boat port.

Nokonoshima is a very small island. The only thing I saw there was the flower park, which is what the island is famous for. The park occupies much of the island.

From Nokonoshima

Highly recommend going when the flowers are in season. I was in luck. Even though it was November, I managed to catch the field of cosmos flowers. Weather was surprisingly gorgeous and the view of the surrounding waters from the island was really nice too.

Enjoy the colourful flower photos:

First, the boat ride:

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

And if all that water makes you wanna pee, follow the signs once at the flower park:

From Nokonoshima

Once you arrive at the port at Nokonoshima, you need to take the local bus to the park. It’s all uphill, along windy narrow roads, so a rental bike is not really recommended.

The flower park is at one of the highest points on the island. Great views:

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

The park is quite large. There are different sections for different flower fields. There is even a small animal/farm section.
Saw me some goats….I’m not kidding!

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

There’s even swings for the kids:

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

The highlight was the cosmos field:

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

And these flowers were cool too, really bright:

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

Allow yourself a few hours to walk around the park. It’s super relaxing and peaceful. Take a book, chill out, pack a picnic or eat at the restaurant there.

From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima
From Nokonoshima

I managed to spend a couple of hours here, and then made my way back to Fukuoka for my afternoon flight back to Tokyo.
All in a day’s work.

2015: New year, new word

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2014 was a good year. A welcome change from the crappy year of 2013.
2014 was such a good year, that I fear 2015 will be a bit of a mixed year.

As you know, I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, every year, I chose a word at the beginning of the year to embrace for the new year.
Last year’s word was Focus.
Did pretty well on achieving a few goals.
Recap of last year can be summarised as:
– changed jobs during the year;
– lots of travel (4 more countries ticked off the list);
– lots of ticking off stuff on the Japan bucketlist. I think I’ve now done about 40 of the 47 prefectures.
– Also did some PB swim distances. Much of last year was spent in the pool. Did an 8km open water swim race. And got 2nd place medal in age group. Missed out on completing a 10km open water swim. Started it, but was unfortunately pulled. So the elusive 10km marathon swim remains on the bucketlist.
– Was also lucky enough to have both my brothers visit me throughout the year (both at separate times). I also did not go back home last year, which is a rarity for me. But have two trips on the agenda for this year for weddings – both best friends getting married this year.

So for 2015, my word is “Minimal”.
Because less is more.

This year will be about cutting back, decluttering (time to discard all the stuff I have a tendency to hoard), minimising all the necessary crap, consuming less, perhaps eating less (I’ve packed on the festive 5 kilos that ensue with Christmas, New Years holidays.) Will try and spend less this year, lose some weight, work smarter and be more efficient with my lifestyle.

Here’s to another year. Make it count.

Afternoon tea in Yogyakarta: Phoenix Hotel

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I’ve been a bit disappointed that I’ve done so few high teas this year, especially in Japan. Most of my afternoon teas have been overseas lately. I just haven’t gotten around to writing up reviews. I still have a few from a couple of years ago (gasp!) that I need to write about.

On my quest to do high teas around the world, I racked up another one in Indonesia way back in April/May this year during Golden Week. When one thinks of Indonesia, I’m sure one does not associate it with high tea, least of all in the city of Yogyakarta. Stayed one night at a fancy hotel where we didn’t leave it for the duration of our stay. We enjoyed the pool, room service and the afternoon tea spread.

Afternoon tea was at the Phoenix Hotel.

Nice courtyard views:

From Phoenix afternoon tea

Nothing more relaxing than afternoon tea.

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

Fancy sweeteners: an assortment of sugars.

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

Interior views:

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

What I liked about this, was that there were two plates of savoury foods:

From Phoenix afternoon tea

I loved the food in Indonesia. Up there with Thai food.

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

Yummy savoury morsels:

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

Portion servings were perfect.

From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea
From Phoenix afternoon tea

The perfect scene:

From Phoenix afternoon tea

All round a very good afternoon tea especially so by Indonesian standards. Pleasant surrounds, good food and customer service was satisfactory.

Ogasawara Islands: Day 1

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Ticked off another destination on my bucketlist – the Bonin Islands, otherwise known as Ogasawara Islands – truly paradise.

It’s about 1000km away from Japan yet is still part of Tokyo. It is Japan’s southermost spot.

The Bonin Islands mean “uninhabited islands” and are an archipelago. Two of the islands however are habited – Chichijima (father islands) and Hahajima (mother island).
They were designated as World Natural Heritage sites a couple of years ago.

The ONLY access to the islands are by a 25-hour boat ride from Tokyo. There is no airport on the island. Boats only depart once a week so the basic itinerary is 5 nights. 2 of which are spent on the boat and 3 nights on the island. If you miss the boat or want to stay longer, you have to wait for the next week’s boat departure. Life on the island, as I discovered, revolved around the boat’s island arrival and departure.

I was lucky to go there during August – summer holiday and the end of Obon. Managed to get a spot on the boat, but even harder was finding accommodation. Given that accommodation is limited and it was peak season, a lot of places were filled up. And I had left it last minute. I only decided to this trip 1-2 weeks prior. I did end up finding a small minshuku to stay at.

The only departure to Ogawasara Islands is on a Saturday so I left on Saturday morning and would not arrive on Chichijima until Sunday lunchtime.
Tickets are not cheap. About 30,000yen one way and that was for the cheapest class which was basically a mat in an open-floor room. If you want beds in upper classes except to pay a lot more. And even more for the suites. I ended up getting a spot in the Ladies-only room which suited me fine. The general sleeping floor area fit about 100 plus people in the lower decks. They had a couple of ladies-only room which were smaller closed rooms that fit about 30 ladies. Considering I was traveling on my room, the ladies room was a better option. Got to avoid sleeping next time to snoring men and loud groups of people.

The boat was more like a cruise ship – restaurant/cafeteria, shower facilities etc. I normally quite like boat rides, but there wasn’t a lot of space on this boat – not a lot of free seating area. A bit tight in rooms filled with lots of people and not a lot of personal space.

I was looking forward to the 25-hour boat ride. Plenty of time to chill out and catch up on some reading. But I ended up getting seasick and threw up 3 times within in the first 5 hours. Napped a bit and ate some cup ramen on the deck. Ended up just sleeping through the majority of the trip to ward off vomiting. I got through one movie on my laptop and was in bed by about 7:30pm. Lights were turned off at 10pm.

A pretty long and uneventful boat trip. No wifi or phone reception on the boat either. Was ready for land.
Got some fresh air on the decks, enjoyed the views until arrive on Chichijima.
The Ogasawara Islands were amazing. Well worth the 25-boat ride.
A ticket to Ogasawara:

From Ogasawara boat

Bon Voyage:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

If you’re in second class, your beds are allocated as you bed. I got number 24.
My sleeping mat and pillow:

From Ogasawara boat

Out to sea:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

The next day:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Approaching the islands:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Everyone from Ogawasawara village on Chichijima comes to greet the boat on its arrival and all the accommodation owners come to pick up their guests.

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Look for your accommodation sign:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Welcome to Ogasawara:

From Ogasawara boat

Checked in my tiny room at the minshuku:

From Ogasawara boat

Ate lunch at a local cafe:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Chichijima – a small beautiful remote island located in the Philippine Sea, 1000km from Tokyo, and World Natural Heritage Site:

From Ogasawara boat
From Ogasawara boat

Next up is some dolphin spotting!

Ogasawara Islands: Dolphin swimming

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Ogasawara Islands is known for whale watching and dolphin spotting. The marine life down there is pretty specacular.
There’s no shortage of boat operators there who take you out to the various islands for snorkeling, and whale and dolphin spotting. Winter months are whale spotting season, so I opted for a half day dolphin swimming and snorkeling tour in the afternoon that I arrived on Ogasawara.

I got to see lots and lots of dolphins. Oh, happy days!
They got really close to the boat and there were so many of them.

From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling
From Ogasawara day 1 – minami jima and dolphin snorkeling

Snorkeling at Hirozohama

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Have been on a bit of a snorkeling spree lately. Here are some pics snorkeling at Hirizohama (southern Izu peninsula) taken a couple of weeks ago.

From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling
From Hirizohama snorkeling

Travel Notes:
Went for the weekend staying overnight at Yumihahama. Access to Hirizohama is difficult without a car as public transport is limited and infrequent.
At Hirizohama area, you take a boat to the snorkeling spot (1500yen return). The snorkeling spot is super crowded in peak summer period and everyone brings their tents. It is very rocky. But plenty of sealife.

G-Cans Tour: Tokyo Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Tunnel

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In between jobs I had some time off, which meant I had few spare weekdays up my sleeve. I was lucky to score a tour of the G-Cans, which is only available on weekdays. Signing up for a spot on the G-Cans Tour is almost like winning the lottery. You’ll be hardpressed to get a spot. Bookings are only available in Japanese and open one month prior at the stroke of midnight. So many people try to book at midnight that the site crashes. For hours I kept refreshing, fell asleep and then woke up at 4:30am to check what spots were left. Only 2 spots left for the month! I snapped them quicksmart.

“I’ve got a golden ticket”:

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMISlLyP5xlkoTQ4B7mDuuLCfQyySoZohbTKtyU/photo/AF1QipNnG_vDHUPix8CLVd6bV9Y2sYamF1LR2tIIuA0h

Be prepared to get up really early or stay up all night to book your spot, and you’ll need to navigate the site in Japanese. Got my online confirmation, so all good to go. Tours are only available in Japanese so you’ll need to understand Japanese or take a Japanese speaking person with you (just make sure that you’ve booked for the appropriate numbers). You can book for as many as you like (from memory, may have been capped at about 6 people though, although separate bookings are made for group bookings.) If you turn up to the tour and your Japanese is inadequate, they can refuse you for safety reasons.

Last Friday afternoon, the housemate and I had time off work to join the 3pm G-Cans tour. So what are the G-Cans? It’s the Tokyo Metropolitan Area Underground Discharge Tunnels. The place though is located in Saitama and will take over an hour to get to. Literally located in the middle of nowhere and then about a 40min walk from the closest station (or a very short taxi ride). The tunnels are part of an underground discharge network for Tokyo’s river systems to prevent flooding. It is the world’s largest underground floodwater facility and you can enter a portion of the underground part if you join a tour. And the tour is free.

The drainage facility is nicknamed the G-Cans and it has become a popular tourist attraction having received a lot of media attention when a car commercial was filmed there. It’s become popular photography spot for photo shoots etc. It’s quite the hike to get out there. You’ll spend more time getting to/from there than on the actual tour. From the closest station, we took a taxi there (about 1000yen). You need to bring your online confirmation receipt and then register and fill out a form when you get there.

If you get there early enough (about 15min prior), you can request to watch the English video which explains the facility in English. They also have an English brochure which was super informative. And then the one-hour Japanese tour begins. The tour starts in the museum with a video and some diagrams and displays of the function of the facility and then the fun part – going underground. You only get about 15 minutes in the underground tunnel which resembles a temple. And 10 minutes is allowed for photo free time. Also the area in which you are allowed to roam about in the underground aqueduct is also limited to a roped off area. Who knew drains could be so much fun?!

All in all it was cool and interesting. Super fascinating and really informative. People go there mostly for the photo op though. Pro photographers, media and press are also allowed access but need to get media/press permissions (applications are through their website in Japanese). I was super thrilled to be able to have the time on a weekday to do a tour there. Due to personal logistics, I didn’t take my SLR camera, although totally wanted to. Enjoy the photos….they get better towards the end…maybe…. no guarantees.

From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans

The Control Room…which no one was in control of….

From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans

The underground tunnel actually lies beneath this soccer field.

From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans

The entrance:

From G-Cans
From G-Cans

And then down a flight of 106 stairs and into the “temple” where I went overboard with photos, but that’s my style.

From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans

And here’s a GIFt for you:

From G-Cans
From G-Cans

I should add, that it’s wet and cool down there. In cases of heavy rain, tours will be cancelled as these tunnels will actually be functional.

From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans
From G-Cans

We ended up walking back to the station after the tour as we were literally in the middle of nowhere and no taxis. The walk back took about 40min. Along the way, we came across an awesome mural which was the perfect spot for some fun illusion photography.

From G-Cans

It’s a giant painting of a bench, but it looks like I’m actually sitting in it. Some nice squat work by me.

From G-Cans

5193573 2014-09-04 21:29:57

Run! Godzilla

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

I’ve been too busy to blog lately.
I’ve been attacked by Godzilla.

From Godzilla
From Godzilla
From Godzilla
From Godzilla

I haven’t quite been attacked by Godzilla, but I was recently attacked by jellyfish and sea lice. More to come on that in a future post.

Life has been hectic recently, hence the absence. But it’s all been good hectic. In a nutshell over the last 2 months, I’ve quit my job, got a new job, older brother visited me in Japan, went on a holiday, started new job and last weekend and this weekend have had/will have open water swimming races (race reports to come), and so many travel posts I don’t even know where to begin. Lots of fun and interesting times had recently.

Rest assured, lots of cool posts and photos to come soon!

Fish and Chips @ Gazebo

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Had me some yummy fish and chips yesterday after the swim. Yes, fish and chips in Japan. And they were pretty good. After yesterday’s ows race, I thought I’d walk all the way back to Zushi station (about 5-6km). Enroute, I would stop at the Gazebo. It’s a small fish and chip eatery that I’ve seen on the bus on the way to Hayama. I keep telling myself to stop there. I walked about 3km to get there so was well due for lunch having already just swum 4.5km as well. It’s along the main road between Zushi and Hayama so you can’t miss it.

From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips

I haven’t had fish and chips in ages. It’s an Aussie thing. A shame they don’t do potato scallops here. Hmmm, have a real hankering for potato scallops right now. Ordered me some fish and chips and a beer. They have quite the decent alcoholic beverage selection ranging from beers, wine, and sparkling wine. They even had VB!

From Gazebo fish and chips

The fish and chips were yummy. Good clean fish and the chips were perfect. Even served with tomato sauce and vinegar for the chips! The homemade tartare sauce was really delicious too. Just like being back in Oz.

From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips

Was a bit of a glutton and also ordered a side of popcorn shrimp. Popcorn shrimp is my kryptonite.

From Gazebo fish and chips

This place is cool and casual. The owners are a Japanese couple. The guy had lived in Australia (Gold Coast) for a bit, so was happy to learn that I was from Australia. His wife waits on the tables, and he operates the fryer. There’s an older guy as well who helps in the kitchen. It’s all cooked right behind the counter.

From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips

A real shame I was too full to fit in ice cream:

From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips
From Gazebo fish and chips

Highly recommend!

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From Gazebo fish and chips

Gazebo at Hayama. About a 2km walk from Zushi station, or take bus No. 12 from Zushi station (heading for Hayama). Alight at Shoujouji (Shoujou temple) bus stop and then walk about 50m ahead. It’s on your left hand side along that road.

Hayama OWS

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Another weekend, another swim. No rest for the wicked. So straight off the bat from last week’s 10km swim, I did another swim just yesterday. Wasn’t going to take it too seriously. It was going to be a nice fun training swim. Since the 10km swim, I only swum once during the week, a slow 2km. It was mostly a recovery week despite yesterday’s 4.5km swim. It was a Hayama beach area, so pretty convenient from Tokyo. It’s also “our local” open water swim “club” venue. It was organised by a private triathlon group so entry was pretty pricey -10,000 yen for a 4.5km swim. But it was well organised. And you bet we got a t-shirt and swim cap included.

It was on ridiculously early. Decided an early Saturday night was in order. Was in bed by 9:30pm. Woo hoo. Hashtag: Painting the town beige! Was up at 4:30am and on the 5:30am train to get the train to Zushi and then the bus the race beach. Caught up with some fellow swimmers on the way. I had a few swimming friends who were also racing today.

Registration was until 8am with our race starting at 9am! On a Sunday morning! It was a really good turn out for the race. Atmosphere was good and a well-organised event. Water conditions were good. Weather was hot and humid despite being hazy.

From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS

The water was surprisingly colder than what I was expecting. It was only about 22-23. Very fresh but comfortable enough.

From Hayama OWS

They had a lot of lifeguards and water support crew. More than I’ve seen at a race in a long while.

From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS

Warm up swim time:

From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS

It was nice that they had a wetsuit and a non-wetsuit category. This was a really professional race event. We even had ankle time chips! A rarity at a lot of swim races here. There were 3 distances – 1.5km/3km/4.5km. I went for the 4.5km swim sans wetsuit. It was going to be a good open water swim training session for the 10km open water swim I’ll do in about 7 weeks time. See how I go today and then double my time and then some. I also raced carrying two gels in my cossies as a practice run. I hadn’t planned on practising feeding, but I did end up consuming a gel during the swim. The course was a 1.5km triangular loop, with an land entry between each lap. Run up on the beach, cross the mat, pass the drinks table, and then back into the water. The drinks table didn’t have any water, only sports drink. I prefer water to get rid of the salty mouth. Pre-race photo op:

From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS
From Hayama OWS

Hayama Open Water Swim:

From Hayama OWS

Time to do our thing. The start was a bit weird. There was no countdown and I was expecting a horn, but all there was, was a whistle. Just all of a sudden we were waiting around and then it was time to race. Not much of a lead up. Anyway, you can see me here on the right side of the photo, just casually walking into the water:

From Hayama OWS

Water was murky and not as clear as I would have liked it. I actually thought the course was clockwise, but it was actually anti-clockwise, so just as well I followed everyone else. There was about 300 of us all starting at once. It was definitely a more aggressive race. I took a few blows and probably gave a few too. I didn’t mind it so much. It gets you revved up. The distance from the start to the first buoy felt long. And it felt long on each of the three laps. After the first lap I took a cup of drink from the drink station. Was disappointed there was no water.

On the second lap, I took my gel instead of their sports drink. It was more time efficient for my to drink my gel on the run rather than stop by the table as well. On the third lap, going back out there was a lot more seaweed and debris that we had to swim through. I felt little stinging things in the water. I get very bad allergic reactions to the waters in Shonan. I usually make it a policy to not swim anywhere in the Shonan area – Miura, Zushi, Enoshima, Kamakura etc. Actually swimming in Kanagawa prefecture in general is not that great. I find that because it’s close to Tokyo, the waters are bit polluted and not so clean. Much prefer Shizuoka and Chiba prefecture. I don’t get as much of an allergic reaction. Am now covered in an itchy rash all over my torso. Just the usual, I guess. I should be used to it by now. Am somewhat concerned about the 10km swim I’ll be doing (the Shonan swim). It’s from Zushi beach to Enoshima beach (a point to point swim) in the festy sea lice waters.

I have a bad feeling I am going to get a crazy allergic reaction after swimming there. Mark my words.

This 4.5km swim was a fun swim to do though. I did it 1hr 14min which was good considering lack of training and during my recovery week. I would have liked to have gone a bit faster, and to have especially beat Youri but he beat me 3min. I really don’t do enough sprint/interval work. Got 5th place in my age group. And 68th out of 117 in the non-wetsuit category. And what a better way to end your race than with some free sazae (Japanese for turban shell. which we got as a post-race snack (it’s food, not a souvenir). I hate this stuff – it’s super chewy and salty and bitter and tastes very offal-ly.

From Hayama OWS

July is gonna be a busy month and I don’t foresee much swimming training happening which concerns me. But hopefully will have lots of travel pics coming up soon.