I’m pretty lucky that I live on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, which has some really fun roads to ride. This morning I rode Route 1431 from our house in Cedar Park to Marble Falls, then up to Park Road 4, which goes past Longhorn Caverns State Park, and then on to Inks Lake State Park, where I took these photos. It was so much fun, that I turned around and rode the same way back home, and made it in time for lunch! It was a total of about 150 miles round-trip and a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning.
I took the photo above early in the morning when I was taking a walk from our hotel room to the outside onsen. It was probably about 6am and Mariko and the kids were still asleep, and I could have just stayed in bed as well but I really wanted to make the most of our stay so I made the sleepy walk along the path.
Just do it
One of the things I am trying to do is to be more active. By active, I don’t mean exercise, but rather if there is an opportunity to do something, I want to take it rather than just stay in and relax. The problem I’ve had in the past is that it is difficult for me to get started doing an activity. Once I am actively engaged in that activity, however, I almost always have fun and it is worthwhile. But just taking that first step has been a barrier. I’m not talking about a large project or adventure, but more like daily things. For instance, I always remember my brother Kevin would ask me to go golfing, but I would be hesitant to go. I’m not sure why, but I would rather take the “safe” option and stay home. But of course when I went golfing, I had a lot of fun and couldn’t wait to go again. Kevin mentioned something about that… how I should just get off my butt and go. (Not his exact words)
Let’s go
Back to my vacation… I arrived at the outside onsen and joined several other guests to enjoy watching the sunrise over the mountains, which was a pretty dang cool thing to do! But it didn’t stop there… after I returned to the room and changed into my regular clothes (and the family was still sleeping), I decided to go on a short hike. The hotel we stayed at has a few trails of varying lengths that start near the entrance so I took a short one, which led to a small stream and waterfall. I thought I might see a few other guests on the trail, but I ended up not seeing one single hiker. (I found out later that there was a longer, guided hike that left earlier.) The hike itself was good, but it was already starting to get muggy and I was constantly in motion trying to keep the mosquitoes at bay, and spider webs out of my face. However, I am glad I went for the hike. It was a new place that I would probably never go to again, I got some exercise, and I created some lasting memories.
I’m glad that I am making decisions that lean towards taking action rather than ones that follow the “safe route”. We only live once, and thinking of all the possible memories and experiences that we are missing makes me a little sad.
in 2011 I visited Osaka and had a super-spicy curry at 上等カレー near Tsukamoto Station. It was soooo hot that I was in a daze. Mariko and the kids said I was crying, but I beg to differ! My eyes were watering, yes, but that is different, isn’t it? Also, I had a sort of hiccup due to the extreme heat and it hurt to breathe too quickly. My facial muscles were slack. Take a look at the photo below and see for yourself.
Super Spicy Curry Face
Regardless of how each of us recall that meal, the memory of it is a great one, and I wanted to experience the same spiciness during this vacation as the one in 2011. So I asked Mariko if we could go to the same curry shop, but she said there was a branch of the same shop near where we would be that day and that we should go there. Sounded good to me! Outside the shop is the ticket vending machine where you choose what you want to order, and put in your money. We noticed that there was no options for spiciness level and that kind of set off some alarms. We ordered the regular curry and saw that there were bottles of chili powder on the tables so you can adjust the level of spiciness yourself. I added a few dashes, and it still wasn’t as hot as it was in 2011. Back then, the cook just asked us how spicy we wanted it, and I told him “very spicy”. But now, the self-serve chili powder just wasn’t cutting it! I added several more dashes of powder, but it wasn’t getting any hotter – I think I maxed out that chili powder’s capabilities. I was pretty disappointed.
The curry itself was pretty tasty, but I was hoping to have the same experience as before! So, for the next time, I asked Mariko to do a little research so we can visit a curry shop with super spicy curry, just like the one in 2011. In fact, we might try the Tsukamoto shop again, but I don’t know if they will just have the self-serve chili powder which would be disappointing.
Curry Shop near Tsukamoto Station
Just for reference, if you are familiar with Coco Ichiban Curry, where they have a spiciness level 1-10, I normally will order the level 10. I’d say the curry in 2011 was probably a 15+.
I wanted to visit Fushimi Inari Shrine this trip because it looks so cool and is one of the top tourist destinations that I haven’t been to. In the past I wasn’t so interested in seeing the touristy stuff, and since I was always with a local (Mariko), I enjoyed going to places that a native Japanese person enjoys. But lately I see a lot of photos from friends who visit the touristy places and I start to think… “Shootz, I haven’t even been there even though I have visited Japan so many times!” And I kind of have a new outlook on life… where I want to experience all sorts of things and not really care about stuff that doesn’t matter. For instance, looking like a tourist used to bother me a little, but now I don’t care about it. Anyways, the feeling of being a tourist might last only a short while, but the memories of visiting an amazing place will last a lifetime! And you know what? I am a tourist after all! Why try to pretend that I’m not?
Also, as I try to look for positivity in all things, I realize that being a tourist can actually be fun and that you can have some interesting interactions with the locals, who are almost always friendly and generous with their time.
So this trip when Mariko asked me what I wanted to do and see, I included Fushimi Inari Shrine and Himeji Castle on the list. I also mixed in some local stuff, like seeing a baseball game, and it turned out to be a great mix of activities, with items being removed from the bucket list, and precious memories created!
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/200 sec, ISO100 Enjoying Ramen at Kamukura
Food is good! And the food in Japan and Hawaii is hard to beat. One of the things I look forward to most when traveling are the vacation eats: meals at the local restaurants and sampling the regional cuisine. This past trip to Japan, I ate almost everything that was on my list:
Sushi
Okonomiyaki
Takoyaki
MOS Burger
Yakitori
Izakaya goodies
Ramen
Curry
Kushiyaki
The only reason I didn’t gain 10 lbs is that in Japan you tend to walk quite a bit to get around and I’m also glad that I got to run, swim, and surf to keep my metabolism up.
Besides the yummy food, we had a lot to drink, not only beer, but lots of iced coffee and canned coffee (I have to keep my caffeine addiction in check). I loved it all! Of course, the above list was just the Japan leg of the trip. In Hawaii we continued our constant feasting with:
More sushi
Poké
Korean BBQ
Plate lunch
Fresh tropical fruits
Smoothies
Himalayan/Nepalese
To finish off the vacation, we had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Torrance! It was really cool to have my parents and my brothers together at one time, something that doesn’t happen very often since we live so far apart.
The meals we have while traveling are a great opportunity to not only try different flavors or revisit signature regional flavors, but also to make great memories around these special meals. Vacation Eats are a great opportunity to add a lot of color to the vacation (and also life in general). Food is good!
We had a lot of fun one evening when we visited Koa’s classmate’s family for dinner and summer fireworks. After we ate the delicious food, we all went to the nearby park with our bag of sparklers and other small fireworks and then spent the next hour or so setting them off and having a good time. It was really cool and a very “Japanesey” summer activity. I loved it! It’s just one of the many things I love about summer in Japan and why it’s my favorite time of year to visit. I hadn’t spent a summer in Japan since I lived there in the 1990s and I miss it so much… I love summer!
I recently returned from a vacation to Japan and Hawaii to visit family. I almost didn’t bring my running shoes, but at the last minute decided to throw them in the suitcase (along with socks, shorts, and a shirt). I didn’t know if I would have a chance to do any running on vacation but I really wanted to try, plus my running gear is so light and takes up hardly any space, so I didn’t have much of an excuse not to bring it. Honestly, my primary motivation for bringing my gear was that I thought it would be cool to add some new data to my Runkeeper and Strava profile (gotta expand my running outside of Texas!), but it turned out to be so much more rewarding than just recording the data!
Osaka Castle Manhole Cover
When I arrived in Japan, I suffered from a bit of jet lag and woke up at about 4:30am – an hour earlier than usual. The sun rises pretty early in Japan as compared to Texas so I was able to get out the door and start running around 5am, but I usually decided to wait until around 6 to hit the streets. I didn’t do any research as to what route I would take on that first day but I just wandered around the neighborhood and let the route decide itself. Surprisingly, I saw a few runners out there on the city streets with me! I noticed however that my neon green tank top was really different from the more conservative running t-shirts that everyone else was wearing. I was a little embarrassed, but whatever – I was on vacation! :) I ended up running over 3 miles that day, and when I returned home everyone was still sleeping so I could enjoy a nice long shower and then relax on the balcony.
Yodogawa River
I told Mariko about where I ran, and she suggested I run along the Yodogawa River and that I should be able to make it to the sea if I kept running that way. So for my next outing I traveled along the river and had a nice 2-mile run along the water. The path is popular with other runners, walkers, bicyclists, and people walking their dogs so it was always interesting looking at others (and their dogs). A lot of elderly people walk on that route too and they are usually very friendly offering a “Ohayogozaimasu” (good morning) as I pass by. This route would be my regular morning run while in Japan, and I eventually extended it to an 8.7 mile run to the sea! Actually, it didn’t really look like the sea because it is very industrialized, but still, I went just about as far as I could.
I modified my route a little bit to bypass one large intersection where I got delayed by a passing train that first day, and this alternate route was so cool because I got to see a sports field where people were playing gate ball, got to run through a tiny tunnel, ran on top of a wall right next to trees filled with cicadas (I had to cover my ears it was so loud!), and saw a bunch of cool scooters and motorbikes. That’s one fun thing about running – it’s easy to explore new places and see new things.
Every time I returned home from my morning run I felt so good and energized and ready for the day’s activities which included a lot of sightseeing and plenty of good food. The morning exercise really kept me going!
The next leg of our trip was in Hawaii where we stayed with my brother on the island of Oahu. His house is on the side of a steep hill which made the morning run very interesting. I actually only ran twice, but the first run was so memorable and one of the highlights of my trip. The first day in Hawaii, we went to the farmers market at Kapiolani Community College and picked up some fruit and had lunch. I saw a bunch of runners and my cousin Taylor said that many people run around Diamond Head and that it was probably the most popular run on the island. Well, that piqued my interest! So right then I decided I wanted to do that run, but I didn’t know if I needed to drive and park somewhere near the beginning of the run.
Diamond Head Crater Sign
A couple of days later, though, I woke up before everyone else and went for a run down the hill and headed towards Diamond Head. Before long, I was at the community college we visited before, so I decided to try to run around Diamond Head. I stopped a few times to check Google maps to make sure I was going the right way but eventually I found myself running along with several others going east on Diamond Head road and completing the loop around the crater, then I headed back towards the house. I was on cloud nine! When I reached the steep hill I had to walk up it, but was still in a really happy state and that set the mood for the rest of the day, if not the rest of the trip!
If you like to exercise and like to travel, I highly recommend taking along some gear on your next vacation. Running gear is usually pretty light so it’s easy to pack, and running in a new environment is super fun and interesting. You’ll also have plenty of energy because the newness of the environment is so invigorating!
By the way, I ended up buying a more conservative short-sleeve running shirt while in Japan, so I didn’t have to wear my neon green tank!
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