quote of the day

"To hate is to show you still care. Who needs that? Focus on what’s really important."

-Henry Rollins


p.s. i'm trying not to care.

twenty five for twenty ten: august

1 hula hoop for 30 minutes 3 times a week
fail.

4 start an etsy shop/sell something i made
the etsy shop set up is underway but at a mini stand still...for now.

5 make a budget and stick to it (continue ds budget book)
no working budget but still sticking with the ds.

8 make two quilts (from start to finish)
i just have to finish hand-sewing the binding to the back of my picnic quilt.

17 climb mt. fuji
check!

20 vacuum and wipe floors once a week
fail.

21 read a book once a month
i'm in the middle of another sookie stackhouse book.

23 call home at least once a month
i called but it was almost all business and very little chitchat.  better than nothing though.

25 keep nails looking nice in an effort to quit biting my nails
sadly, i don't have fun nails to show off. i went back to my natural nails at the beginning of august and am trying to see if i've broken the habit or not. my nails are so weak and flimsy that they were breaking left and right, but i managed to keep from picking and biting at the too much until i stayed and worked on the top of mt. fuji for four days. then, the wear and tear resulted in stubby little nails which i have been picking at the last week or so. *sigh* back to zero? and note to self: must invest in good nail polish.

sunday night sewing

i don't know that i've ever found a fabric with flowers, butterflies, random english and skulls, that i liked enough to buy.  until now:

the fronts

the back, coincidentally almost identical

both lined in blue on blue stripe and 14cm x 17cm.

i almost wish there were more skulls...

retail therapy

○ 1 meter : frog print from Now I Know My ABC's

○ 2 meter : princess and the pea (in white) from Far Far Away

○ 1 meter : a purple floral print with orange and green accents,
says "Sevenberry Made in Japan" but i can't find anything online...

○ 1 meter : black "japanesy" looking fabric with tiny little white,
pink, blue and green stitches in lines.  it sounds really bizarre but
i don't even know how to go about googling it to get a picture... and i tried!

○ 1 meter : purple with perpendicular hash marks,
another "japanesy" fabric with no label on the selvage

○ 1 meter : funky red and blue and pink and green print
with flowers, butterflies, a couple skulls and some nonsense text
(damn these non-labeled selvages, i give up!)

○ 1 meter : royal blue and aqua blue thin stripe

○ 1 meter : all bright colors, squares with different cartoon pictures
including bumble bee, cherries, train, car, heart, skull, flower, whale, shooting star...

○ 2 meters : white and beige thin stripe

○ 2 meters : white with tiny (tiny!) gold polka dots

○ 1 meter (x3) : alice in wonderland print (3 colorways) for a friend

○ random size scrap, about 1 meter (?) : BLINDING sparkly purple

○ 2 meters : kelly green canvas strap

○ 2 meters (x3) : thick drawstring in teal, grey and black

○ various zippers (4 hidden, 8 regular)

○ cranberry cream cheese bread

○ cocoa soy milk "juice box"

○ 210mL snowcone syrup, strawberry (x6)



as i left tomato (the fabric store in nippori) i was starving, so i stopped for the bread (oh so good) and soy milk snack, before heading another 20-30 minutes on my bike looking for snowcone syrup.

but then i passed a 100Lawson and low and behold, they had some.  little 210mL bottles for 100yen.  i don't know if that's cheap or not, but i anticipate eating snowcones at least through the fall, if not longer, so i have to stock up now because i bet as soon as september 1st hits (or some other arbitrary date that marks the end of summer and beginning of autumn), there won't be a summer treat to be found.

off to sew with my new fabrics for the evening!  :)

bracing myself

i don't really talk about work (the good or the bad) a lot, because i don't really think i should, but i went into work yesterday and heard lots of gossip as well as some official news that all screams HUGE CHANGE over the next three or four months.

i'm not opposed to change, especially when some of it will make my work load actually manageable (though some might mean even more work)...

*sigh*

just the prospect of things is tiring.

things i love thursday

.nashi season/anything nashi flavored.
.falling asleep without even knowing it.
.the album "save me, san francisco" by train.
.left over catering food from work.
.holding babies.
.snowcones.
.outside cafe balconies in the evening.
.this massage cushion (i want!!)
.tootsie rolls.

quote of the day

if you want better from others, be better yourself.

- the universe.

mt. fuji : part three

(part one) (part two)

it was about lunch time when i got back to the hut.  i was in a sleep-deprived state of mt. fuji exhaustion and after lunch, i gave in to a 2 hour nap.  this time around, i was "working" for free.  i wasn't a guest, since i wasn't paying to stay, but i also wasn't obligated to do anything except earn my meals.

i don't think i've ever posted about life on the top of mt. fuji here because every time i get back, i'm overwhelmed by the number of photos i took and the sheer amount of time that i spent there.  of course there are people who have spent longer summers, or more summers, up there than me, but 4 weeks of 16 hour days is, well, a long time no matter how you look at it.  this time, i only have 4 days and 240 pictures to deal with.

in general, the day goes like this:

3:30  wake up
4:00 open for business (busiest time of the day)
5:00 sunrise
7:30 staff breakfast
9:30 cleaning
10:30 tea and snacks
12:00 lunch
3:00 cleaning
        tea and snacks
        check in for overnight guests starts
5:00 guests' dinner
        staff dinner
6:00 clean up after guests' dinner
        hang out and start getting ready for bed
7:00 lights out

between 10:30 and 3:30 there are various waves of climbers looking for warm food, stamps for their hiking sticks, and a place to rest after making it to the summit.  if i were a paid worker, i would be obligated to hang around the hut and be available to take orders, clean or do any other task our boss doles out.  but this year, when business was slow, i'd hop over to neighboring huts to chat and catch up with people i knew from the past two years.  i also got to go with one guy who's been working on mt. fuji for 30some years to the watering hole.

the watering hole is a little known (and roped off) spot on mt. fuji that provides all the summit huts and shrines with water.  even in the summer, there are snow patches in the crater of mt. fuji.  one such snow patch is close to the top and melts down into a "field" making a little pond (more like a big puddle).

there is a gas pump and extensive piping that pumps the water around the crater to the huts.  all the food made on the summit is made from this run off water.  summit workers get to take a bath once a week, which is also run off water.  every day, someone has to fill the gas tank and make sure the water pipes aren't clogged.

for long term workers, meals and tea time are highlights of the long days. the same cook was there this year and i ate some really good meals,

and tried to finish a whole serving of natto gohan, but was unsuccessful (i made it halfway before giving it away).

each morning i helped unload the supply bulldozer with the guys, throwing cases of pocari sweat and hot cocoa like they were empty. i don't have any pictures this year, but the bulldozer comes up every morning around 9:30 to deliver food, supplies, gas tanks for the generators that run everything, and anything else the bosses "order" from down below.

and, one of my favorite things: i saw three more beautiful sunrises from three different places on the summit.

on my last day, i went to the shrine and got an omamori and read the ema. i also got the shrine's red ink stamps on the pouch i use to carry my iphone.

at 11am, i got a ride down part way on the bulldozer heading back down, which probably saved a good 40-50 minutes of descent. i booked it the rest of the way and made it from the lower 8th station edo-ya (roughly 3,300meters) to the 5th station (2,300meters) in just over an hour.

after 4 days, i was physically tired and just a bit boroboro from the cold temperatures, intense sun, lack of oxygen and dry air.   but i also felt great and somehow recharged.

i made it into the last seat on the 1pm bus with about 1 minute to spare and slept as the bus made its way back into tokyo.  i was home before 4pm.  i don't think i've ever made it from top to bottom that quickly.  and, 3 days later, i am still feeling the pain from it.

but it was all totally worth it.

mt. fuji ema

ema are little wooden plaques sold at shrines that people buy, write their wishes on, and leave hanging at the shrine.  (wikipedia will tell you a little more if you're curious.)

i think these wishes show the humanity in people, like reading a tame version of postsecret and i can't help but give in to the voyeur in me and read one after one.

this 14 year old girl is hoping she gets into X high school and that she can live healthy and happily.

this couple (29 and 26) says, "we hope we can have a child♡we're waiting [for you]♡"

this 11 year old boy hopes to get better grades in japanese class and to become a huge soccer "genius."

this first time 25 year old climber prays he (?) can successfully find a job.

this couple (29 and 28) hopes to have the happiest family in japan.

mt. fuji : part two

(part one)

the bus ride was uneventful.  in fact, we arrived at 9:35pm - 20 minutes early.  we gave ourselves a 10pm starting time, made a trip to the bathroom, stretched and got ourselves psyched up to start climbing.  while we were waiting, bus after bus came with more and more hikers.  the weather was good and it was good to know we weren't totally crazy climbing through the night (or, at least to know we were surrounded by equally crazy people, one of the two!).

the first bit of the hike actually has some downhill sections but then quickly goes into uphill mode before the 6th station.  the 6th station is also the "safety center" and the men are wearing uniforms that resemble police officer uniforms.  the old man is the same guy who stopped me (and Chelsea) a few years ago when we tried to climb in the middle of a typhoon (won't make that mistake again!).  he handed us each a mt. fuji map with all the mountain huts and travel times between them.  the numbers were pretty much the same as the ones i'd found and jotted down off the internet (give or take 10 minutes).

i don't have much to say about the hike up.  Ro and i hike at roughly the same pace, which makes for easy travel.  we stopped here and there, but never for more than 10 minutes.  if you stop any longer, all that sweat cools and you get seriously cold.  we also attempted to evade the annoying bells attached to many a hikers sticks (each mountain hut has "stamps" that they burn into the wooded sticks for the ultimate, and most costly, souvenir of your climb).  if we heard a bell coming, we'd wait to see if they took a break too or not.  if they did, it meant time to leave for us.  we were prepared clothing wise, but the hike kept us fairly warm; Ro was the only guy still in shorts somewhere among the 7th station huts.

we took a bag of hard candy, some chocolate covered almonds and 2 liters of fluid (1L water each, another liter of pocari sweat for me and lemon vitamin water for Ro).  we also had 2 calorie mates (ate half, i think) and we had more chocolate, but didn't eat it.  during one clothing change, Ro used the bathroom (probably was 200yen?), but otherwise, we made it to the top without buying anything else.

around the 8th station huts, things were starting to get backed up.  between 1:30 and 2:30am, the people who started climbing the day before and slept mid way in the huts start getting up and making the last stretch to the top for the sunrise.  there are tour groups of 20-50 people, which clog up the half switchbacks and half semi-rock climbing trail.  there were people climbing up into all available spaces between the roped off trail.  i'm estimating that it added an hour to our climbing (which worked out fine in the end as we still made it with lots of time to spare).  the photo from part one is looking back down the mountain with everyone jammed together with flashlights and headlamps.  near the top, things started to move again (comparably) and we got to the top just before 4am.

we stopped by some of the huts and surprised people i knew from previous summers and made our way to the hut i worked at the last two summers.  Ro and i both had ramen and waited until just before 5am to head outside and find a good spot to watch the sunrise.

the sunrise was better than anything Ro has seen in his previous two climbs (both were cloudy and there was no real "sunrise").  beautiful and amazing yes, but not spectacular.  what was spectacular was watching it sitting huddled together on the top of the world. (cue cheesy music)

we returned to the hut but felt bad for taking up seats as two nonpaying customers.  instead we snuck into the back (okay, a girl i knew from last year said, "why don't you go to the back?") and found an open sleeping spot.  we slept for a couple hours until we awoke to the hut staff opening the back door to clean the sleeping area.  we surprised them as we were on the top bunk of the barrack style sleeping area and no one noticed us.  it was kind of awkward, but whatever, Ro and i giggled under the covers before forcing ourselves up and out from the warmth of the blankets.

we hung out for a couple hours, wandering the "village" on the summit and saying hello to people i knew.  we fell asleep out on the bench seats in the sun and ate chocolate covered almonds.  pretty soon it was time for Ro to leave.  he had to work the next day and i was planning on staying up for four days as part guest part worker.

i walked with him part way down the trail, kissed him goodbye and managed to snag a ride up on the supply bulldozer that was just coming up the trail.  and soon i was back up in the summit village...

mt. fuji : part one

in very un-me fashion, i didn't take a single picture until 40 minutes from the 3776meter summit.  and even then, it turned out like this:

timestamped 3:17am.

wait, let's back up.

late last week, i called and reserved 2 tickets for the odakyu highway bus to gotemba early sunday morning.  from there, Ro and i planned on taking another bus to subashiri 5th station and start climbing around 10am to be in time for dinner on the summit at 5pm.  the other option (keio highway bus from shinjuku to kawaguchiko 5th station) was booked, so we settled for the gotemba route.

(Ro and i have both climbed both routes, and while Ro likes the climb of the subashiri route better, i really dislike the descent of the subashiri route.  luckily we didn't have to agree on a route because it was logistically decided for us.  and technically, we could take one up and the other down since we took the bus and didn't have a car in a parking lot to return to.)

saturday night, we got all dolled up (yukata and jimbei) and took a boat ride out onto tokyo bay for the fireworks.  it was a wonderful night.  i couldn't eat a lot of the stuff in the bento (sigh) but it was all you can drink and we helped ourselves to canned lemon chu-hais all evening. (it was that, beer, or calpis water and the beer wasn't mixing well with my tight yukata obi)

we got home around 10pm, hardly still tipsy, finished packing for mt. fuji and were in bed around midnight.  sometime before it was light out, i woke up with that funny taste in your mouth you know isn't going anywhere good.  after laying there for a bit, i finally made the executive decision that getting it out would make me feel better.  turns out there was nothing in my stomach, but it had a good bile-ridding go anyway.

sometime before our 5something alarm, i woke up again.  this time i didn't have to help my stomach; it did all the work.  still nothing but stomach acid.  but i was determined to get up and feel fine.

we made last minute bag packing, made a pit stop at the conbini for water and snacks and got the train.  i was feeling a little uneasy, but knew there was nothing left to throw up and was just hoping my stomach would settle.  we got on the train and sat down, relieved to be on our way.  and then it hit me.  i said, "we have to get off.  at the next station."  i asked Ro if he had a plastic bag.  he quickly dumped out the contents of a bag into his backpack and handed it to me just in time.

classy 6:30am morning on the yamanote line, eh?  i'll admit i left that bag on the platform before getting on the train to go back home.  (sorry station guys!)

i spent the rest of the morning in bed sleeping, trying to calm my stomach and fears.  Ro spent the day betting on the horse races and me on google, playing out all senarios (i know, you're all thinking it!).  at noon i called my boss from last summer and told him we wouldn't be making it it to the top tonight.  i said we might climb overnight, but weren't sure yet.

i looked online at the keio bus website and they had seats available leaving shinjuku at 7:30pm, arriving at kawaguchiko 5th station at 9:55pm.  at 4:00pm, i made a second bus reservation (since the first one from the morning went wasted...) and we made plans for nausea medicine and flashlight buying, dinner at Gusto and getting the train to shinjuku.

we arrived in shinjuku with about 10 minutes to spare, and Ro had to go to the bathroom.  he snapped at me when i insisted we go above ground to orient ourselves and THEN find a bathroom, whereas he was content rushing around in the maze of shinjuku station's underground "streets."  i won and we walked through keio department store in our hiking get up and backpacks to find a bathroom.  he said, "NO ONE else looks like us" but i'm SURE we weren't the first to do it.

we hurried back out, went to the bus terminal, paid for our tickets, and got on the bus with about 3 minutes to spare.  the bus had room for about 40-50 people but only about 10 seats were actually taken.  the bus took off through downtown tokyo and onto the highway and we were on our way...

things i love thursday

.tax refunds.
.these wedding photos (GORGEOUS!).
.sitting and sewing the binding on my quilt.
.this eyeliner.
.fireworks from a boat in tokyo bay (yukata&jimbei to boot).
.climbing mt. fuji with Ro.
.that little "village" on the summit.
.more accidental naps.
.four days of sunrises.

setting the record straight

i realized that most of my posts lately have been on the negative side (aside of things i love thursdays and my summer list) and i thought i should say that it's not at all representative of how i've been feeling lately.

sure little things annoy me enough to write letters, and i've been fighting some kind of cold and scratched corneas, but i've also gone to the beach twice, had dinner at Ro's, gone drinking with friends (and got nice and tipsy, missed the train that goes all the way to my stop and walked the last 40 minutes, and had a fabulous time) and quilted and started hand sewing the binding on my picnic quilt.

Ro and i are going to see the fireworks over tokyo bay from a yakatabune tomorrow night and then climbing mt. fuji together on sunday. i also got a postcard in the mail confirming my tax refund so i'm feeling generous and may just have to take Ro out for yakiniku tonight.

so yeah, actually, things are pretty good.

just for the record.

things i love thursday

.having customers request you.
.nine days of vacation starting today.
.yakatabune for tokyo bay fireworks on saturday.
.hiking mt fuji on sunday (staying til next thurs or fri).
.accidental naps on tatami beach house floors.
.homegrown watermelon (suika wari-ed and eaten).
.my almost finished picnic quilt (cupcakes and polka dots).
.finding a 100yen lawson nearby.
.bike riding in the "cool" evenings.

letters on a tuesday

dear mommy (customer) at work today,
i can understand japanese, and am not impressed when you brag about there being a gaijin living in your apartment complex, as if they are a free english lesson waiting to happen.

dear friends of mommy at work today,
we (as in, us gaijin, you know, us?) don't really appreciate being used for our gaijin-ness and native english ability. you should be ashamed that you encouraged your friend to invite "the gaijin" over so you could get in on the free english lesson.

dear awesome coworkers,
thank you to those of you who believe in "you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours." i know when i help you out that eventually the good karma will come back.

dear not-so-awesome-coworker,
i do a damn fine job cleaning the floors without you harping on me. if i really wanted to be a bitch, i could point out every hair i have to pick up AFTER you've vacuumed. but, i'm not a bitch like you.

dear former coworker's dad,
it's only SLIGHTLY patronizing when you ask me if i know the difference between "reizoko" (fridge) and "reitoko" (freezer). how much MORE japanese do i have to speak before you realize i'm not an idiot?

dear summer cold,
you suck. or, blow, considering how many tissues my nose has gone through in the last week. leave me alone already.

dear bed,
i haven't seen you as much i would like to. we'll make up for lost time. soon, i promise.

things i love thursday

.snowcones.
.the beach.
.spray on sunscreen.
.aoyama teruma.
.joy from random acts of kindness.
.relatively cheap prescription drugs.
.hugs from kids.
.jolly ranchers candy.
.one hour photo that takes 10 minutes.

one thing or another

it's always one thing or another, isn't it. last week it was my eyes, this week my throat. another doctor's visit fee and another prescription later...i'm hoping my body doesn't totally fall apart by next week.

i went and got my nails "done" today. i'm seeing my real nails for the first time in five months. my nails are so flimsy and weak compared to the rock hard gel nails so things like typing feel really weird. i'm going au natural to see if i have really kicked the nail biting/picking habit. i love the colors and the sparkles and look of gel nails though, so i might eventually go back to getting them, but for the next 3 or 4 months, i'm going to see how my real nails go.

i also stopped by a one hour photo shop this morning and made about 30 prints. Ro made some comment the other day about wanting to update our "us" photo frame so now he'll have some recent* photos of us to add. (*all the photos that haven't been printed since last october. ha!)

now i'm home in my messy messy apartment trying to find the motivation to clean. may be having guests on saturday night, which should help, but my throat hurts and i just want to sit here and eat snowcones all day.

which reminds me, i never posted about my snowcone maker. Ro bought it for me and had it sent directly to my house. it's fabulous. and perfect since left on its own with no A/C, my apartment is a nice toasty 35℃. with all this talk of heat, i think it's about time for another snowcone.

summer list

while everyone is starting to wind down their summers,
it seems like summer has just started here in tokyo,
and here's my to-do list:

☆ go to the beach (kamakura? or...?)
☆ see the fireworks with Ro
☆ bake summer goodies (pudding and cupcakes!)
☆ go to a pool somewhere
☆ climb mt fuji
☆ have a picnic (with my picnic quilt)
☆ drink beers on the balcony (post revamp?)
☆ beer garden!
☆ ...

other ideas?