A half day hike to Mt. Takao.

 Located in a suburb of Tokyo, Mt. Takao is the most famous destination for a-half-day-hike in Tokyo. Personally, I like climbing up on this 599 metres mountain because of its casual and convenient access from cities like Shinjuku and Tokyo Station. Getting on the train Chuo-line, and all you have to do it just sitting until it brings to the nearest station Takao.

 In one afternoon of August 2016, I visited there. So... why don't we take a look at photos of scenery? :)

 The clock just hit 13 o'clock when I arrived at the station. Indeed, it was a hot summer weather, and I got off the train, I felt as if I walked into a jungle-type-climate. High temperature with extremely humidity, it was truly a summer day of Japan.

 The panel in front of the station shows seven trails leading on the top. Either way, it takes several hours to get through to the top. Trail one is the most popular one, which is 3.8km length, mostly paved, hence it's not that hard for first-timer. As a second-timer, I decided Inariyama Trail, with 3.1km, which many people say the hardest trail. Is that true? Well. let's find out :)

Well well well...It was actually tough XD. I found how hard walking on a unpaved trail!

 This was the final steps toward the top of the mountain....And...

  Here we are :) 

 Fortunately, not so many people gathered at that time, and I unpacked my lunch box, bought a glass of beer for $8. I have to admit that I'm not a person drinking alcohol so publicly. But the flux of accomplishment in my mind drove me to a kiosk nearby, haha. There were many foods available on the top of the mountain: from icy cold cucumber, sweet rice cake and stuff. It cost higher than the average price in cities, but that's the way it is on mountains :)

 Well, it's time to go back :D This time I took Trail one.

 It looks things are much more exotic on Trail one, attracted me so much. Well, I believe I'll be back to Mount Takao in Autumn as well :)

A scene from this week.

 I love my life, and hopefully it goes on and on...

Going to a new phase.

 When I divorced last year, I felt like everything in and out of myself had fallen apart, and there was nothing I had left in my hand. Once again, I seriously thought of committing suicide, finishing the last thing I had at that time: my life. As I barely continued to live the exhausting days and weeks, however, things slowly began to shaping up again. I met people that hadn't seen each other for many many years. I started working harder and eager, with my passion. And it turned out to make my new life worthwhile.
 Things hasn't got better than the period of my marriage. Perhaps it wouldn't be forever. But, I'm going forward, for now, anyway, just hoping for good :)

Going to August.

 This was a week when I visited so many places for work as well as just entertain myself. Cycling all the way for 75km to take part in a dinner party, visiting a museum to see some paintings.

 Hopefully the month August is as fun as this month :)

Cooking grilled sardine with thick sweet teriyaki sauce :)

Although sardine is still cheaper than most of other fish, plus available all seasons, it was way cheaper decades ago. Sometimes fisherman had to threw it away, since the costs of fuel, getting to the market and stuff is much more than the price of sardine itself. Now that the volume of landing decrease, the price is getting higher and higher. But still, sometimes we can find a quality of sardine, which can be eaten in raw like sushi, in a good price such as $3 for 6 of them.

I bought it one day, carefully cleaned it the kitchen, then grilled. Served with thick sweet Teriyaki sauce, it was so yummy :)

Whenever buying sardines, I always put their bones into heat oil, cooking deep fries (We call it hone-senbei in Japanese). Seasoned with salt, black pepper and lemon juice, it's the best going with beer! :)

Cafe, Mt.Fuji, and some espresso.

  This was the week I once again came back to my hometown to enjoy my weekend. Coming across the Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in this country Japan, getting to the city of Nagoya takes 5 hours by car.

 So....How about taking some rest in a Japanese-style cafe "lamp"? (Official site is here) With a cup of espresso in the morning, I found myself getting back on where I used to be.

 I'll be back to Tokyo within several days :)

Cooking, Matcha, and fireworks nearby.

 This was a week when I put much of my energy on cooking as ever. Not only Japanese food, but also Italian food is joy to do. Among those, I'm a big fan of making gnocchi, rolling the dough, cutting pieces, then pushing a folk on each of them, like a child playing in the kitchen. With hand-made tomato sauce on top, it was really an enjoyable afternoon for me :)

 And here it was. I steamed rice with yellow corn, which is now in the season in this country. Adding some salt and alcohol sake before boiling, this dish deeply reminded me of my sweet old days.

 While cooking, I heard of a huge explosion-like sound miles away from my room. I first thought it might have been a thunder of lightning or something. Maybe it would be soon raining here in Tokyo. As sounds continued, however, I realized it wasn't: it turned out to be lots of fireworks taken place somewhere not far away from here. I grabbed my camera and my tripod, dashed onto the street to find a flat place, then began to shoot. The fireworks themselves were rather tiny, almost like lighthearted ones. Well, I enjoyed it though, since I haven't seen them over a year at that time :)