Biking Around and Free Vegetables

Before going out for another bike ride and have some Sunday shopping with friends, I'll leave a quick post. Yesterday, I biked 8 miles to meet with a couple friends just so we could run around the lake. I am so jealous they live so near. Rea and Del also climbed Mt. Fuji with me last year. They are going again this month! While Rea has been regularly running for a year already, Del does not run at all so he just biked along. Rea got busy around April and stopped running to focus on work (like me, they are also IT Engineers). Yesterday was her first run since April and she got really tired 30 minutes into the run so we had to walk the rest of the course. Goes to show how running should be a regular thing if one wants to maintain endurance. She promised we'll run the entire lake perimeter next time so I'm hoping this will be a regular weekend workout. We'll see.

{Lake: Pic From Google}

As if my veggie supply is not enough, I've been getting free veggies from workmates. Some of the people I work with have farms and they sometimes share their harvests with us. I have received the biggest reddest tomatoes, potatoes, and melons in the past. This week, I received another big bag of potatoes. It was just too much I had to share the rest with friends. Hahaha!

{Unfamiliar (for me) Melons}

The melons I received before where not the usual melons that I know of. It was my first time to try these and I didn't know how to cook them. They told me these were pickled. Having no pickling skills at all, I just randomly added them to soups, sliced and ate them just like cucumbers, and added them in sandwiches for the crunch. I'm still alive so I guess that was okay. :P Have you tried pickling? What fruit/veggie have you tried for the first time recently?

Are you thirsTEA?

When it is not water I am drinking, it would most likely be tea. I love tea but that was not always the case. Back in the Philippines, I was more into coffee. My tea intake was limited to TCB&TL's chai latte which was always the perfect drink while bonding with girlfriends. That all changed upon moving to Japan. I spent the first three months in language school where all our meals were accompanied by tea! Being used to drinking water at meals, I was shocked that there were no glasses set at our table. Instead, there was a kettle and tiny cups at one end of the table. One of my tablemates kindly poured me a cup of hot tea and it was love at first sip. The tea tasted simple and clean; just the right drink for any meal. Ever since, I've always had my meals with cups of tea. I feel lucky to have been able to go to a couple tea ceremonies!

{Sadou: 茶道}

The ceremony follows a set of etiquette; the movements are precise; and each detail has meaning and significance. We even had trial sessions the day before to make sure we knew what to do and what to say. Other than trying not to forget my lines, the ceremony was lovely and calming. The deliciously thick bitter taste of the tea was perfect with these pretty sweets.

{Too pretty to eat :P}

One of my favorite things working in a Japanese company is that I can have tea anytime. There is always a fresh pot in the pantry and during summer, there is a pitcher of green tea chilling in the fridge. It is more awesome knowing that the tea we drink comes from local plantations. Biking around, I'd sometimes stop to look at pretty tea fields.

{I love green.}

Matcha flavored sweets are also aplenty. There are tons of cakes, pastries, mochi, ice cream, and chocolate to choose from. While the simple green tea is recommended daily, I think it is perfectly okay to indulge in these sweets from time to time. :)

{NomNom}

How about you, do you love tea? Or do you prefer coffee instead? Are you also crazy with matcha flavored goodies?

A Walk In The Clouds

The positive feedback I received the past days from different bloggers made me very happy today. Thanks guys! As I continue with this blogging thing, I guess I have to let you know more a bit about me. :)

I am from the Philippines but am currently working in the IT field (programming) in a small city in Japan. Have you ever heard of my country before? Monique Lhuillier was born in the Philippines although her heritage is a mix of French, Spanish, and Filipino. She's the first person I could think of that I'm sure you guys would know. Also, we have great beaches and the sweetest mangoes.

It has almost been a year and a half since I moved to Japan. One of the things I really wanted to do here (aside from eating yummy Japanese food :P) was to climb Mt. Fuji. So one weekend last summer, we decided on climbing Japan's highest mountain (3,776 meters). Our group of four started our hike at around 7pm after we had dinner and shared bites of this yummy Mt. Fuji-shaped pastry.

{Mountain of Yum}

We hiked at a steady pace all night. Although the climb was generally manageable, the cold temperature added a bit of challenge for me. Night climb is popular during the summer months because it offers climbers a view of the famed Mt. Fuji sunrise at the peak. People would position themselves as they pleased and marveled as the sun glowed brighter.

{Watching Sunrise}

The peak was very crowded with climbers from around the world and all over Japan. There were families, friends, couples, tour groups, and solo climbers. The toddlers and the older climbers were the ones I was really impressed with. Aside from the usual souveneir and ramen shops, there were also vending machines and a post office (where one can mail a special Mt. Fuji postcard) at the peak! After resting a while and grabing a bite, we started with our descent. The view going down was unbelievable; the clouds were below us!

{Oh Happy Clouds!}

It was an amazing once in a lifetime experience, one where my mental and physical strength was tested. I am sure that with regular training and patience, running will also turn out to be as awesome. Is there anything you would like to experience at least once? Given the chance, I would not think twice about trying bungee jumping. Also, a hot air balloon ride would probably be the closest thing to taking a walk in the clouds. :P

{Amazing}