Hiking on Mount Takao

今日の日本語の言葉: yama (山) - mountain

As you can tell from the title, this word was brought to you by where I was today, which is Mt. Takao

I woke up late today. I was supposed to wake up at 5:30, but instead woke up at 6:15. Of course, I gave myself plenty of time, so I wasn't in a panic. I got changed, ate some curry for breakfast, and put together my bento for the day from the stuff I got at the convenience store last night. Some rice, black sesame, chicken, ginger, and seaweed flakes inside the little piggy container.

I left the house at 7:30, hoping that it would be enough time so that I wouldn't be late to meet everybody in Shinjuku at 8:30. The problem was that when I got to the station, I realized I had forgotten my commuter passes at home, and thus, I actually had to buy a ticket. I've never done that before, and so it took me a bit to figure out (which then caused me to start off later than I wanted to). However, I still got there first, before everybody else, so I guess I got worried for no reason?

Look at how many places are listed on those signs...

From Shinjuku, we took a one hour train ride to the mountain's station, where, across from the mountain, I saw a very cool museum that I would love to go to someday. It's the Trick Art Museum, which has stuff like illusionary art, 3-D chalk art, and other stuff like that. Too bad that it's so far away, though. I'm not sure if I want to take this train ride just for that, you know?

Here is where I'm going to do a general summary on my experience hiking Mt. Takao, and then let you browse the pictures and see for yourself. There's a lot to tell if I want to go into detail, but since there's just so many details, I don't exactly know where to start! The leaves were changing, so that made for very beautiful scenery. Apparently this time of year is the best time of year to go hiking on Mt. Takao, due to the colorful foliage. Of course, it was an overcast day, so the sky wasn't blue and the faraway views weren't as clear, but the foliage more than made up for that.

I was hiking with a couple of CIEE college program students, including Gabby, my fellow Harvard friend. Ellie, another CIEE student, had her father and uncle along too. I hit it off with the uncle right from the start, and we talked practically the whole trip. He's a very interesting guy who speaks surprisingly good Japanese. His accent's off, but his vocabulary and grammar is great. This comes from the fact that he lived in Shinjuku for a few years back when he was younger as he was learning aikido (a form of martial arts). He then went back to northern California and became a cop for twenty-seven years. And hearing about his cop days is so cool. He's experienced, like, all the action cop things: high speed car chases, shoot outs, intense investigations—the works.

On the way up the mountain, I took the cable car about a quarter of the way (which is as far as it takes you) so as to not get tired for the rest (there was still a lot of walking left to be done). However, on the way down, I walked back the whole way (which is actually harder than walking up; my poor knees...). Along the way, there are various places you can stop for scenic pictures, which were sort of clouded over, but very beautiful nevertheless. There were also many shops and temples along the way. I even got myself a love fortune which... well, if I follow it, then I would break up with Aaron, give up on love for a while, wait years for marriage, then find someone who's a Scorpio born in the year of the Ox. Err... I'm not going to follow that part of the advice. But I kept it anyways because it said that whoever does love me know in a romantic sense is a very dedicated person, and will treat me kindly. That is very nice to keep with me in my wallet (as you're supposed to do with good fortunes).

On the way up, I tried out two new foods: manju and budou-su ice-cream. Manju can either have a mochi consistency, or a crispy outside, like the one I had. The outside is basically like a waffle, and the inside is red bean paste (what defines a manju). It's really sweet, but I imagine that it would actually be good with some milk (sweet things are always better with milk). Budou-su ice cream, on the other hand, is pretty sour. In fact, it tastes a little like Welch's mixed with a little of wine sourness—which makes sense, since it's grape vinegar flavored ice cream. Talk about weird... I don't think I'll ever drink Welch's grape juice again. Not that I ever willingly drank it in the first place.

Occasionally, we would find these little statues with black marble balls on them. On those balls is a kanji for something like your heart, strength of will, eyes, ears, body, etc. You rub the ball for the improvement of that specific aspect, and then you roll the thing underneath to see what it predicts will go bad next. I rolled it three times and got eyes all those times. I think I should stop reading in the dark... 

I think it would be fun to sort of do a scavenger hunt with those statues, you know? Rub it for good luck, then roll to see what the next one you should find to rub is. Then go around until you've got them all! And since they're not marked on any map, you sort of have to explore all the trails on the mountain. Crazy, I know, but it would be hella fun.

There was also this nice Buddhist shrine thing along the way, up a small set of stairs. It's called the Takao Mountain House of Buddha of Peace and Serenity, if you translate the kanji on the big totem in front of it. It's a really quiet and beautiful place, especially if you're listening to Yiruma as you observe it. Yiruma always makes things better.

The view from the top of the mountain is spectacular. I'm sure it would be so much nicer on a day without fog, but the fog also adds a certain type of mystery to it. Of course, that same fog also makes Mt. Fuji a mystery to my eyes too, which I should be able to see on any other day. -_-"

We ate lunch at the top of the mountain before climbing back down. I had my bento and my onigiri, over which I put so much spice. <3

The hike back down was killer, just because going downhill is so tough on your knees. It's pretty steep, too, and the rocks were slippery because of the light rain. I totally thought the whole way down that I would fall, and I came close to it twice. But when I reached the bottom, at where the cable car trip started, I threw my hands up in the air and said, "You know, it's been a long time since I've walked down a hill without falli—" and then I fell. Of course, Maggie. Of course. Go ahead and jinx yourself, and then slip when the ground is flat. *sigh* 

You rub this octopus for good luck. This octopus is here because the roots of the tree beside it looks like an octopus's tentacles.

I ran up these stairs! Hell yeah, what a badass. It was like, the only workout I was ever going to get in Japan, so at least I would take it seriously. It's... 108 steps, I think. So, like, eight floors? I was so out of breath by the top. Holy cow. I am out of shape. -_-"

But there was an easier path to the right that I didn't take, so at least there's that redeeming quality, right? I took it on the way down, though, just so see what it was. It's called the "woman path," and the "man path" is the staircase. xD

Names of patrons of the Buddhist shrine 

I really hope that's a family name, and not some stupid guy trying to get
Buddhist monks to pray for him to get  more booze... -_-"
It was still really funny to see this anyways, though. xD

All the little statues around the mountain have these cute
scarves and hats on them~

Look at those roots! Doesn't it look like something out of a Miyazaki movie, again? 

View from the top of the mountain

I really really love those smoke stacks/long cloud things. 

On the train ride back to Shinjuku, I had a very nice conversation with Peter about school, future plans, etc. that made the time pass by very quickly. It's one of those conversations where you really wish it didn't have to end, since things are so interesting, and there's never any silence, because there's always something to say.

I left from Shinjuku back to Nishi Magome by the usual route, and when I got home, all the lights were off, so I assumed everyone was gone. But actually, Yoshiko-san was just upstairs, and when she made some noise, I totally freaked out.

Anyways, we have an advent calendar! Last year, she made this advent calendar, which is so cute, and all the stuff hangs from little clothes hangers. I just can't believe that my host family celebrates Christmas enough to actually have one of these. I don't even know many American families who do advent calendar. It's very nice to see hanging around the house though!

Before dinner, Ryosuke and Ayuka were playing around with some blocks, and Ryosuke decided we would play the most difficult game of Jenga that I have ever played in my life. Do you see how thin those blocks are, and how tall that thing is? I totally lost, too, if only because it was my turn during which Ayuka decided to knock the tower down. It wouldn't have gone well anyways, had it been left standing. That game is tough with thin blocks. Ryosuke also decided that he'd play around with the domino effect, and he made a bunch of cool shapes which he then knocked down.

For dinner, we had the biggest thing of bibimbap I have ever seen. It was so delicious, too! It's one of the better ones I've had, and the chiffon cake that followed just made it an all around wonderful meal. I also drank about two cups of milk just for a little slice of chiffon cake, and that was pretty delicious also. Oh, I love Korean food! <3

Hopefully, this post has inspired you to go out and see some nature today! Or at least eat some Korean food. I think the plan tomorrow is that I'm going to take Ryosuke to the Kasai Aquarium, since he asked me once at the beginning of my stay whether or not I would take him, and I said I would. I think he thought I forgot, so he was very ecstatic when I mentioned it again today.

More on that tomorrow!
マギー