Memoirs of Aleisha

More photos of the mountain not hiked:

View from the mountaintop of the mountain we did hike:

I’m hoping this gif works!

Lake Haruna:

Despite the sunshine and blue skies, the weather was absolutely freezing. I had two layers of pants, and about 4 top layers including a snowboarding jacket.

Back on ground level:

The little knob of a mountain towards the left of this photo (not the big main dominating mountain), is the actual mountain we hiked:

Lakeside by Lake Haruna:

We stayed for the evening light illumination festival:

Check out the lights:

Tanigawadake Hike and Takaragawa Mixed Onsen

October 28, 2013October 8, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

One of the things I told myself I would do more of last year was do more hiking. Autumn is the best season for hiking in Japan because the weather is a lot cooler and the colours of the leaves are pretty at that time of year.

I don’t hike a lot, so this one was quite a tough one for me. It was a long, steep, rocky hike, but the view and landscape was pretty spectacular. Didn’t start off that way though.

This was the Tanigawadake hike that I did last October (yes, a little overdue, I know).
It first required taking the cable car:

The leaves were just starting to change colour:

Conditions at the hiking start point did not look good. Not good at all. How is this for visibility:

Trail was a bit muddy and wet too:

The fog cleared a bit and we were on our way:

Once we got closer to the top it was very picturesque. When I wasn’t sweating and panting away, I managed to get in a few photos. Ok, so more than a few photos.

It got steeper and steeper. Not entirely sure if this was meant to be a hike or a rock climb!

In amongst the clouds:

You would have thought we were climbing Fuji!

We were up pretty high:

There were even some small patches of snow. And this was October!

More climbing. Still not yet at the summit:

Stunning scenery:

I finally reached one of the lower peaks (there was still the upper peak as well):

I think I’m in heaven:

The trail of people:

What goes up, must come down. Coming back down is worse than going up. And going up was no picnic.

A beast of a mountain:

After a hardcore hike, we totally deserved an onsen. And we went to a really awesome. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this onsen. It’s a mixed outdoor onsen. There’s about 4 outdoor baths and all are mixed (there is one female-only onsen). This is one of the very rare mixed public onsens in Japan (no cossies allowed). You are allowed to rent a towel to wear into the hot springs though. Most of the ladies covered up with a towel (as I did), but be warned, that a lot of the men there won’t be so modest. The hot spring is a secluded location built across a river and there’s also a really nice ryokan you can stay at there.

A very cool onsen:

This is Takaragawa onsen for the record. Definitely want to come back to this place. Lots of different rotemburos to enjoy so long as you don’t mind being surrounded by naked people (towels are optional. Although I am glad I am not too much fatter than what I am because they towels on offer wouldn’t have covered all of me! Just something to keep in mind, if you’re on the bigger side).

Lake Biwa OWS

August 21, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Having already cycled part of Lake Biwa, and SUPed on Lake Biwa, on Sunday it was time to swim Lake Biwa.

From Biwako OWS

The Lake Biwa open water swim race is annual race, and has been on my bucketlist for a while now.
It’s Japan’s largest lake, and it was also an excuse to cross off another prefecture to my tally, bringing it to 35 prefectures (out of 47). I’ve got another 12 prefectures to go!

On the Sunday morning, I was not looking forward to getting back on a bike saddle. That damn mamachari. A 60km cycle and a couple of hours of stand up paddleboarding was probably not the best thing to before a swim race.
It was thankfully only about 20min cycle to the race venue.

I got to see the local Nagahama castle along the way:

Again I cycled along the bike path around the lake this time in the opposite direction (north, anti-clockwise):

To my left was the lake:

And to my right were rice fields and mountains:

How very Sound of Music of me to be cycling through the countryside.

The Lake Biwa open water swim race was held at Minamihama swimming spot. I cycled there from Nagahama. The previous day I had cycled from Nagahama to Shiga and back.

From Biwako OWS

I got to the race venue and parked the bike in the shade and settled in for a long hot day.

From Biwako OWS

I usually do beach swims, but a freshwater lake swim was going to be a nice change. None of that saltiness.
The most surprising thing about this swim was how disgustingly warm the water was. It was 30.5 degrees. It was in truth, a little dangerous. Especially when you’re going flat out, air temps were about 35 degrees, and you gotta swim 3.2km!

The lake though is pretty flat so conditions were pretty good for swimming, apart from the heat factor.

From Biwako OWS

I was entered in the 3.2km race which didn’t start until about midday.
It was 600m straight out, 700m across, and then 300m back in, times 2 laps of that course.

From Biwako OWS

Race number 514:

From Biwako OWS

It was a super hot day. Most people had brought along tent shades to camp out for the day:

From Biwako OWS

Here are some action shots from the 500m race:

From Biwako OWS

Eventually it was my time to race. There was about 200 people in the 3.2km swim.
I swam pretty fast and overtook a lot of people. The water was dangerously warm though. Not good. Not good at all.

Ended up with a time of 58minutes for a 3.2km swim which I was super happy with. I barely ever break the hour for a 3km swim. I felt dizzy and lightheaded afterwards though….a bit of heatstroke I think. I came 19the female overall (out of 35), and I think I got between 4-6th place in my age group. No prizes but I did walk away with a PB.

From Biwako OWS

Swim Lake Biwa. Check.

From Biwako OWS

Watch this space. There is talk of a Lake Biwa swim crossing next year which a friend or two and I are tossing around. There is an annual Lake Biwa crossing swim race – 16km, but it’s a relay event. We are thinking about solo crossings….whether this will actually happen or not, I’m not sure….

Only one more swim race of the Japan summer season to go….but there will be an Aussie swim race to report back on later in the year . I’m excited about that one!

Lake Biwa: Cycling

August 20, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Got up early on Saturday morning to travel from Tokyo all the way to Shiga prefecture.
Had planned on taking the overnight bus but the buses were booked out way in advance due to Obon and summer holidays. The shinkansen it was then.
From Tokyo to Maibara, it took about 2.5 hours on the shinkansen and then a short 9min local train to Nagahama station where I would stay overnight.
Upon exiting Nagahama station I headed straight for the west exit and to the rentacycle shop. There, I rented a bike for 2 days (for the Saturday and Sunday – only 2000yen for 2day rental plus a 500yen refundable deposit). I was going to be swimming a race in Lake Biwa on the Sunday and had to stay overnight the night before. I figured I would make the most of the weekend in Shiga ken.

The guys are the bike rental shop were super lovely and friendly. In fact, everyone I met in Shiga prefecture was super friendly. They only had electric bikes, so I made do with that. The guys were really concerned about the battery not lasting much more than 60km (I had told them I would be riding 60-70km on the Saturday alone). I would need to come back on Sunday morning to replace the battery.

Armed with my electric mamachari complete with basket, my plan was to ride to Notogawa about 30-35km away. I had found a place there where I could rent SUP boards. I sent off from Nagahama at about 11:40am. It was about 34-35 degrees. It was gonna take me a couple of hours to cycle there.

Lake Biwa is Japan’s largest lake (freshwater). It has a circumference of approx. 235km. At its maximum length it’s about 63.5 km and maximum width of about 23km.

This is Lake Biwa:

This is how much of it I cycled in 2 hours:

The most painful 30km ever. Cycling is not at all a comfortable sport. It was hot, I was carrying my overnight backpack, and my arse was killing me. Cyling is just nasty.

You can cycle all around Lake Biwa. There is, for the most part, an awesome cycle path that follows around Lake Biwa along the main traffic road. It is also pancake flat (or at least the portion that I cycled).
It’s a pretty easy cycling route, minus the bike discomfort factor.

Cycling around Lake Biwa in photos:

Follow the path:

Alongside Lake Biwa:

The lake stretches on for a really really long time:

There are cycling road signs around Lake Biwa so you shouldn’t get too lost. I did have to detour a couple of times though.

There’s a tiny tiny island out in the middle of Biwako:

Every now and then, you’ll have to veer through off the main road and away from the lake.

There’ll be more than a handful of bridges to cross as well, as lots of little rivers run off the lake.

Whilst I was pedaling away, this guy was just chillin’:

Whilst the lake dominates the view on one side, you’re surrounded by rice paddies on the other.

After a couple of hours of cycling, and weaving in out of some rice paddies, I finally stumbled upon my destination:

This was the SUP rental place. They went all kinds of water sporting gear here.

Such a cool little place. You can even stay overnight there.

It was about 2pm ish by now. Just enough time to get in a couple of hours of SUP. I’ll tell ya what though, my arse from cycling was killing me. I was not looking forward to cycling back. The guys at this shop were super super friendly. They gave me a free ice cream which was a welcome treat after that cycle. They drove me to a nice flat section of the lake where all the other SUPers were. Away I went. Doing anything but cycling, was pure bliss. Good conditions to SUP on – Lake Biwa is really flat, although the wind picked up later which made paddling a bit tough.

The water temp of Lake Biwa was disgusting warm. About 30 degrees.
I enjoyed my time out on the water – very zen. SUP is so relaxing. For me, just being out on/in/near the water is very relaxing and recharging. The other SUPers out there were all super friendly. They were all crazy fast SUPers and compete in races. One of the guys was fast enough to win himself a Hawaii flight prize at one his races. Impressive. I also met an American guy who is the owner of a surf and SUP board store back in Chiba. Got his details, so will probably check out his shop/surf school and check out the beaches in Chiba to keep practising.

At about 5pm I had to think about heading back. Ugh. I had to cycle another 2 hours back. I’m sure my backside was wincing at the thought.

I ploughed back to Nagahama on the bike. Did get to see a lovely sunset over Lake Biwa though:

Even at 6pm it was still 32 degrees!

It was dark by the time I got back to my hotel.
60km cycling around Lake Biwa. And Stand Up Paddleboarding on Lake Biwa.
My arse will thank me if I never have to get back on a bike again.
In fact, I’m actually tempted to sell my 1-year-old roadbike and get a SUP board instead.

Yo wasSUP

August 19, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Have found a new hobby that I’m addicted to: Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP).
So much fun! I’ve gone two weekends in a row now.
It’s been something that I had wanted to do for ages but never got around to until this summer. I had a sneaking suspicion that I might be half decent at it. I tried it for the first time a couple of weeks ago down at Koshigoe (near Enoshima). I got a lesson for a couple of hours and then had a bit of practice on my own. I was on an air SUP board which is a little trickier. And it was down at a surf beach where the conditions were a little tougher. Paddling is easy. The hard part is standing and balancing. I fell off the board so many times and ended up with major knee rash from the amount of times I had to heave myself back on the board.

Fast forward to the weekend just gone. I spent the weekend at Shiga prefecture for another open water swim race (that’ll be a separate post). I spent my time at Lake Biwa. With my newfound addiction, I researched on the Internet for SUP board rentals at Lake Biwa. I was in luck!

Found an awesome little water eco sports outfit that did SUP board rentals. Super cool, nice people. They even gave me a free ice-cream! They drove me down to a nice area of the lake where I went and SUPed. It was only my second time and it was out on a flat lake so it was soooo much easier. And I had proper board. Managed to not fall off once!

SUP is such a good workout! Really works the calves, and if you look at talented SUPers they have well-built calves. Being short (like myself) also helps because you need a lower centre of gravity to maintain your balance. It’s also quite the core workout. Being short and stocky, I have a bit more natural advantage, so I didn’t find it so difficult. I just need more practice and practice to work on my speed. Haven’t quite got up to SUP surfing yet!

Having since partaken in SUP, I’ve gone all OCD and have been researching all about it on the internet – mostly places where I can get rentals (SUP boards are expensive to purchase!). There are also SUP races which I might be tempted to do next year. In particular, there is an awesome event called “Paddle Mix” which is a 1km open water swim + 1km SUP + 4km run. That is totally my cup of tea!!!! I definitely want to enter it next year.

It’s such a bummer I live too far from the beach. It takes 2 hours to get to the closest beach from Tokyo. And it’s an expensive hobby. I guess it’s a little bit like snowboarding but on the water.

Here are some action pics of SUPing at Lake Biwa, ah fun summer days!

The shores of Lake Biwa – the largest lake in Japan:

From Biwako SUP

Out in the middle of the lake (I had my waterproof camera with me):

From Biwako SUP

Nice flat waters – ideal for starting out.

Me out on the water:

From Biwako SUP

A pro SUPer in the making, mark my words:

From Biwako SUP

It’s so relaxing, just being out on the water, paddling away.

From Biwako SUP

Sunset over Biwako:

From Biwako SUP

What can I say, I had an uber SUPer weekend!

Life’s a beach

August 5, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

週末のために生きている。
I live for my weekends.

Spent an awesome day at the beach yesterday.
It’s not often I get to enjoy a lazy day at the beach.
My trips to the beach are usually to compete in open water swim races.
Was nice to finally do a lazy summer beach day.

Headed out all the way to Onjuku Beach – the far side of Chiba.
Totally worth the 30buks and 90min train ride to get there.

From Tokyo station, you can get the express train “Wakashio” and ride the train in air-conditioned, reclining seat comfort.
Note: the train departs from Platform 1 at Tokyo station. There are TWO platform 1’s as we discovered the hard way as we stood waiting at the wrong platform and had to sprint through Tokyo station, the whole 500m to the other platform 1 to make our train. We literally got on the right train on the right platform in the nick.of.time. *You will want the Keiyo line, platform 1 and not the Chuo line platform 1.

You know you’ve reached Onjuku beach when you see the camel statues:

Onjuku Beach is one of the best leisure beaches I’ve been to. Way better than the Shonan beaches. The water was beautiful and clean and clear. We parked ourselves on the sand for 5 hours enjoying the sun, surf and champagne (BYO champagne).

This is how you beach, in style:

We rented a beach umbrella for the day. The sales assistant not only carries the umbrella to your beach spot, but even digs a hole in the sand and sets up the umbrella for you. At the end of the day, you just leave the umbrella and they’ll pick it up at the end of the day. Bless, Japan. And the beach has beach shacks which sell food and more importantly, beer.

Beer, books, the beach. Bliss.

And just when you thought the day couldn’t get better, the day was topped off with an onsen. There’s an onsen right by the beach. The water was amazing. It was a dark brown colour (the colour of coke)…it was like a bathtub of coca cola. It made your skin feel amazing.

The day was so ridiculously awesome, that I plan on doing it all over again next Sunday (except maybe try and get to the beach even earlier!)

Mud, sweat and beers: Where’s Wally Warriors

August 4, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Got a fun post for you today. Two weekends ago, a bunch of us entered in the Warrior Dash.
The Warrior Dash is a 5km run in fancy dress costume through a bunch of obstacles. Think Survivor-style obstacles in a festival-type atmosphere with music and beer.
Sounds like fun, ay. Try doing it in 30-degree heat, ridiculous humidity, and in a Where’s Wally outfit!

Riding the train at 7am in a Where’s Wally outfit. Mind you, I felt sexy!

We travelled all the way to Chiba to a place called Deutsche Mura – a German village theme park. Very random.

The turf here was ridiculously green and well manicured.

Here I am decked out in my outfit, in pursuit of Wally (or Waldo, for you American readers):

Our team of Where’s Wallies:

Everyone was decked out in costumes which was great to see:

Mario and Luigi:

The toga team:

Let the race begin! Contestants set out in wave starts every half hour.
We took it quite leisurely and helped each other out through all the obstacles, stopping for lots of photos along the way. The 5km distance alone was a struggle…I’m pretty sure we walked most of it.

There was probably at least 10 obstacles throughout the course.

Obstacle 1:

Obstacle 2:

There was fire jumping (somehow managed not to burn myself ;-):

The Spider trap (Obstacle 4):

Horizontal rock climbing:

Barrel jumping:

More climbing:

A much needed water break. It was so goddamn hot, we could barely breathe:

Wearing knee-high socks and a beanie probably didn’t help the situation.

More obstacles to get through, not even half way through yet!

Spiderman doing his thang!

Goddamn, more climbing. Someone kill me now says the girl with no.upper.body.strength. I should add that with a few of the obstacles, there was also an easier version (often shorter, smaller obstacle version). So you don’t actually need to be a superhero to compete in this event.

Will this climbing never end?!

Run, Wally, Run!

Pace slows to a walk:

We sweated our way through the course which was hilly, gravelly, up and down hills – a flat course, it is not.

Relief came at the water obstacle. It was a breath of fresh air. It was just what we needed on this 30-degree plus heat day. Never have I been so eager to crawl through tunnels submerged in water.
Yep shoes and socks, fully clothed into the pool.

Wet Wallies:

Time for an impromptu water fight!

And then back to the race (clearly, we were not going for the fastest time):

Where’s Wally now? Drowning, apparently (and yes, this is me):

We were sopping wet, and we still had another 4 obstacles to get through to get to the finish line.

More climbing!

And crawling:

Are you tired just reading this? You try running this course!

And because there wasn’t enough climbing obstacles, for a bit of variety, there was more climbing!

(I opted for the easier version)

Nearly at the finish line:

But not before doing the Mud Pit!

Fully clothed, with shoes and socks, glasses and beanie, we crawled through the muddy water:

We finished and survived! Hell yeah. Go the Where’s Wally Warriors!

Hooray for the finish line. It took us over 90 minutes to finish. Mind you, there was a lot of stopping and cheering and supporting everyone and photo taking etc.

Time for our medals:

Mind you, the laundry aftermath was a bitch! I had to put everything through the wash twice and had to actually dispose of my socks which were unsalvageable.

The Before and After shot: Evidence of a great day.

A super crazy fun day!
Mud, sweat and beers all round.

Mikurajima: Dolphin swimming

June 19, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Ticked off another of the Izu islands over the weekend – Miyakejima.
We camped on Miyakejima island, but went on a boat out to Mikurajima for some dolphin swimming.
Despite my burn injury I was determined to go on this trip. It had been in the works for a while and I had already paid for it, and I couldn’t not go and see dolphins.
We took the overnight ferry from Tokyo, and arrived on Miyakejima island at 5am. We got shuttled to the campsite, pitched up the tent, and after some bumming around and lunch, we went out for some dolphin swimming.

With the burn injury, I had resolved that I would not end up going in the water and would be confined to the boat which would have been a real shame. Much to my luck, I was able to rent a drysuit so I could at least get in the water for a quick dip.

I’ve never worn a dry suit before and geez, what an ordeal that was. It took TWO people to help me get into it. On top of that I had waterproofed up my burns. I did not want to think about getting out of the dry suit. I was afraid they might have to cut me out of it.

Anyway, the highlight of this camping trip was the heading out to Mikurajima to swim with dolphins. Mikurajima is a small island, home to only about 200 people, but what they lack in human numbers, is made up for with a population of about 100 or so dolphins that live in the waters surrounding the island.

Mikurajima island:

Feast your eyes (not your appetite) on these dolphins:

First up the underwater shots – which was a little tricky. It was pretty impossible to freedive in a drysuit. I was super bouyant and just floundering on the water’s surface. Some of the dolphins got quite close and even saw a couple of baby dolphins.

Mama dolphin and baby dolphin:

You can very faintly see the dolphin:

Two dolphins get close:

Spot the dolphin:

I couldn’t stay too long in the water, so eventually had to go back onto the boat. Got to see pods of dolphins.

Why do dolphins have to look like sharks on the water’s surface. It’s deceptive!

Seven dolphins in the one frame:

Some of the dolphins got real close alongside the boat:

Humans in the water:

The dolphins come to play:

Sun between the clouds:

Will definitely have to go back there at some point, when I am burn-free.

Matsuzaki-Iwachi beach OWS

June 10, 2013October 11, 2016memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Another week, another swim.
After last’s week double race in one day, less than a week later I was off doing another swim. Unfortunately, it was my worst. swim. ever.
The day, however, was still awesome nevertheless.
Awesome location, stunning weather and fun company.

I’ve finally found a group of ocean swimming friends in Tokyo. Happy days! It was quite the gaijin brigade. There was about 15 of us who swam on the day.
We even rented a van for the day to make the 4-hr trip down to Iwachi beach (Matsuzaki in Izu). We had to meet at a ridiculously early time, but yay for road trips and meeting new people. Beats taking the train down on your own. You might recall I did the same race last year.

Last year, I did the 3km race in 45minutes. I think the course was quite short. This time around, I did the 3km in nearly double the time. I was over an hour out there. I think I barely scraped through the time limit of 90 minutes. Results aren’t out yet but I was at least 75 minutes, I reckon. I felt every minute of it. I was slow-going out there. Two laps of a 1.5km course – I was beat after the first lap. And still had another lap to do. My elbows were getting sore and tired and I definitely felt the slow swim. So much for a goal time of 60 minutes. I have not actually worked up the distance this swimming season. I don’t swim much more than 1.5km per swim session. I haven’t done a 3km swim since last year, so I struggled doing the 3km this time. Definitely need to train more! Me thinks I’m getting old.
Still had fun though. The water was beautiful.

Ready to swim:

Off we go:

Approx. 75 minutes later, I emerge from the water. You can call off the search party!

59th place out of the water (about 116 registered), so about middle of the pack:

Looking pretty freaking happy after that 3km ordeal. Slowest time ever. Pretty embarassing.

Location was stunning:

After the 3km swim was the 1.5km race. Got to take some action shots:

LIfesaver pow wow:

Later in the day, I also swam in the relay. We had 4 teams entered from the gaijin brigade. It was a 3km relay with the first person swimming 500m, the second person swimming 1km, and the third person swimming 1.5km. I did the 500m leg. Another slow swim from me. My poor teammates had to work hard to make up for lost time. The boys did well and were superfast. We ended up getting 5th place (no thanks, to me!).

Relay team:

The day was topped off with the obligatory group photo:

And there’s nothing like bonding than getting in the tub together (onsen boat by the water):