Today, we checked into the possibility of climbing Mt. Fuji, this coming weekend. That'd be fun, and not terribly expensive if we didn't take the bullet train (shinkansen). Shinkansen is a faster ride (duh!) but costs about $100 to get you 75% of the way. (It doesn't go north to the mountain.) It takes, I'm told, about four to six hours to reach the summit. One of the requisite goals for a Japanese traveler with available time, is to do just that, and to time it so that the sunrise can be seen from the summit. (Hmmm... a little quick math: the sun rises here at about 4:30AM... subtract six hours for the climb, minus four hours for the trip to there - we have to start at about 7:30PM. Then about 10 hours to get down and back, at about 2:30PM. Oh well, it's worth it, right?) Well, it might have been. In July through August, the gateway to the mountain is never closed. But beginning September 1, they open the gate at 6AM, and close it at 7PM. I don't know what they do if you aren't down by 7, but I don't think we want to find out (*I* certainly do not). It's horribly cold up there after September (I'm told). Heck, to me, 65 degrees is horribly cold, so I'll take their word for it. :~} So we're going bowling Friday instead. That'll be fun. A group of about eight of us tearing up the lanes of a Japanese bowling alley.
Today was a late workday, so I didn't get out, except to eat (my favorite: katsu dombure - a Chinese pork specialty [complete with polished rice]). I feel sorry for those people who polish that rice. I can just picture them with their little polishing sanders, holding each grain with a pair of tweezers and getting it to look just right before moving on to the next one. And then what happens? They get blamed for killing people! My, my, where's the justice in that?!?!? :^)
OK, I'm being silly again. I know they don't polish it that way. It's faster with regular sandpaper.
It's drizzling outside, which it's done most of the day. Temperature in the mid 70s, I'd say.
Well, that's the news, sports, and weather report for the day (complete with a one-minute food advertisement and a public service announcement). Be sure to turn off the set on your way out.