• Mt Fuji

    Day 90-91 Upside Down Mt Fuji and a Giant Swan Ship

    Feb 20 • Blog, Honshu • 2727 Views

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      One major reason why I wanted to cycle closer to Mt Fuji was to see Sakasa Fuji, literally meaning, Upside Down Mt Fuji. Mt Fuji has many different nicknames, depending on the way the clouds cover the mountain, or by how the sun shines from behind her. The mirrored reflection of Mt Fuji appears on the surrounding lakes, only when the water is dead flat. This seems easy to come across, but the weather conditions have to be just so. Waking up by Lake Kawaguchi, I walked across the bridge to catch Mt Fuji in the early morning haze. It was near perfect in its faint appearance, as if it were a huge water color painting in front of me. No, there was no blue sky, nor a clear definition of the mountain, but it felt just right. Not only was I lucky with Mt Fuji being in a good mood, the wind in the morning decided to wait just until I was done with my morning walk. Twenty minutes later, I could not longer see the mirrored Mt Fuji on the lake. Moving on from the dreamy images of Mt Fuji,

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  • Shiraito no taki Shiraito Waterfalls

    Day 89 Mt Fuji & Me in a Good Mood

    Feb 16 • Blog, Honshu • 2873 Views

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    I was finally cycling to see Mt Fuji. Sure, I’d seen it many times during my airplane and shinkansen rides. But this was different. I was going to see it much, much closer. It is not an exaggeration to say that even a 30 second glimpse of her from the train is something everybody loves in this country. The symmetrical beauty with snow on top is the world-famous image of Japan that appears in many historical art as well. The gradual curve expanding to its surrounding is considered the symbol of an open-ended growth and prosperity. Well, that gorgeous, “prosperous” curve was to kill my knees and back after I left off Fuji City to cycle around to the other side of the mountain. You may have noticed from my photos by now that many of the stunning sights in Japan are created by the abundance of water. Shiraito no taki, which translates to waterfall of white strings, was one of such breathtaking places. Since I saw the sign of the waterfall, I changed my route to cycle up i

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  • Heart Cake

    Happy Valentine’s Day from Japan!

    Feb 14 • Blog • 807 Views

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    Happy Valentine’s Day! I made the cake with the strawberries made by the farmer in Takeo, Saga. Sweet indeed! The funny thing about this holiday in Japan is that we, women, give chocolate to men. St. Valentine’s Day was introduced to Japan by a chocolate company in Tokyo back in 1958. After the first year of its flop in selling chocolate, they used the “Women to Men” marketing tactic, which has become the norm that no one even questions today. Later “White Day” was introduced. March 14, a month after Valentine’s Day, is when men are to give back to women. Though Valentine’s Day is a bigger deal, love goes around to everyone

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  • HarleyRiders

    Day 88 Wasabieee! Harley Riders on Strawberry Beach Line

    Feb 13 • Blog, Honshu • 2600 Views

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    You know what wasabi is by now. Not horse radish. It’s that hot, green stuff next to your sushi that gets to your nose when you eat too much. One time a friend told me about the story of what he did with this hot Japanese delicacy. He made a big ice cream scoop shaped wasabi and served it to his friend as a prank, saying that it was green tea ice cream. Men. You can guess the rest. Though unbelievably painful that must have been, I admit that I too, got a good laugh out of this story. Although normally what you would see in a sushi restaurant is made of the powdered form of wasabi, this is what the plant actually looks like. It is grated when eaten. Wasabi root requires being grown in a great volume of very clean water, and for this reason, it cannot be grown just anywhere and everywhere. Shizuoka as well as Nagano are known for its production, and I stopped by one of the wasabi companies en route. They showed the process of various wasabi products such as wasabi pickles, using t

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  • Follow Your Gut, Follow Your Dreams

    Feb 13 • Blog, Honesty, Inspiration • 826 Views

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    It takes guts to believe in myself. It is much more difficult to believe in myself than others. Letting go of something that “secures” me in my head, not going back somewhere I’ve been, choosing not to do something I know how, those are very, very difficult things to do. Coming up with the idea of going cycling by myself and actually doing so was the same thing. Before even getting to that idea, I had countless battles in my head that made me cry many times. I never told anyone about that crying part. I only talked about the smiley, fun things so I wouldn’t make anyone worry. I want to tell you, and also myself, that it is OK to let go. It is better to let go. Listen to your heart, it already knows where it wants to go. My friend sent me this message just now, and I want to share this with you as it lifted me up: “You have to follow your gut.  Even if it seems contrary to the evidence.  You know in your heart what is right.  Unfortunately we all feel press

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  • Wind Power Plant

    Day 86-87 Thinking About the Power of Food and Future

    Feb 8 • Blog, Honshu • 4936 Views

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    It is often said that things must be so expensive in Japan. This is all relative and depends on which country you are comparing it to, but I can say it doesn’t have to be so. Besides not having to tip when you eat out, many good food can be found at a very reasonable price. Something new to me in the region in and around Nagoya was their “morning” set. I was told that a cup of coffee in the morning comes with a free toast and a boiled egg, and it was true. The interesting regional 100 yen upgrade option was their ogura, sweet red beans, for my toast. I don’t usually “supersize” my meals, but I took it as I’d never heard of that combination before. Apparently it was a norm there. Because Japan is surrounded by the ocean, it is impossible to miss seeing boats when you are out cycling along the sea. From small wooden fisherman’s boats to huge cruse ships, including the ever so famous battleship like Yamato that sank down to the Pacific durin

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  • Finding Sachi on Tokyo Podcast

    Guest Appearance on TokyoPodcast!

    Feb 5 • Blog • 1007 Views

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    Ohhh, this is really fun and exciting! I was interviewed about my Japan cycling tour and it’s now out on podcast! Many thanks to Anthony Joh, the creator of tokyo-podcast.com, his website is amazing with lots of interviews with various people in Japan. Have a listen to my hyper talking, this will make you smile, if not laugh. http://www.tokyo-podcast.com/finding-sachi

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  • Grilled eel and rice dish that can be enjoyed in three ways

    Day 82-85 Prepare to Drool! Through Typhoon into Nagoya

    Feb 3 • Blog, Honshu • 2817 Views

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    Let’s go back. Back to the time I was cycling in Nagoya last year. A slight delay I admit, but the deliciousness in Japan has not changed since. Vividly I remember how windy it was heading to Nagoya. A big typhoon had just passed, and of course, I decided to cycle along Kiso River where the road was higher than the other ground. A lovely idea for such nice view, not so when the wind was gusting so badly I could hardly be standing still with my loaded Sakura. I was trying to go forward by cycling very slowly, but I felt like a piece of paper. I had to stop and keep my body low for a while. The moment the wind got weaker, I walked my bike to the end of the road. The day got whole a lot more fun when I took a turn and the wind was on my back. Have you ever cycled with the left-over typhoon wind? It’s a turbo engine! The golden “shachihoko” (mythical protector that looks like half carp and half lion) were sparkling on top of the roof of Nagoya Castle. Nagoya is one

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  • Deer in Shiretoko, Hokkaido

    Day 193-195 Ringing The Bear Bell in Shiretoko National Park

    Oct 1 • Blog, Hokkaido • 3301 Views

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    After waiting out the big typhoon to pass, I cycled into Shiretoko National Park. That area has a high density of brown bears as well as deer and the beautiful wilderness. Though brown bears are seen in other parts of Hokkaido, this was definitely a place I had to get a bear bell to make noise while cycling or walking around in order to lessen the chance of meeting a bear. Look at this charming bear on my bell. Yeah, that’s not what I ever want to encounter in my lifetime. This is where Shiretoko is located in Hokkaido. It’s a mountainous peninsula, which is UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage Site. In the winter, the mountains turn all white, and drift ice come down to the shore, making this area a completely different place from summer time. The pictures I was shown of the winter were absolutely stunning too! Look at the size of a brown bear’s claw. Not that I needed to increase any more fear for bears, I just needed yet another assurance that it was something I d

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    • Godly clear blue pond in Hokkaido, Japan
    • Old locomotiv train and my pink bike in Hokkaido, Japan
    • I bet Ansel Adams would've loved Hokkaido, Japan

    Day 189-192 Cycling Hokkaido from Prison to Pond

    Sep 21 • Blog, Hokkaido • 3272 Views

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    Departing from Lake Saroma in rain, I found an entry way to the Okhotsk Cycling Road. It was along Sea of Okhotsk, nearly 40km long that led to the city of Abashiri, just where I was heading. There are many old railways in Hokkaido, and this cycling road apparently uses its old path. Having talked with a couple of travelers who were into these old train history, coming across an old locomotive train along my cycling way felt a bit more special than it would have otherwise. Just when I was admiring this old train, I kept hearing music from nearby. I soon found out it was the annual Glasswort Festival in Lake Notoro, where I could view the lake with red glasswort in season. This is a quite rare site, and this lake happens to have the most amount of this plant in the country. It was pretty, however apparently it used to be even redder before. The past year of conservation effort has had an opposite effect despite their best intentions, and they are trying to revive back the brightness of

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