Take in Another Great Friday

Our Moon Rising dinner overlooking the ocean on the Tomoika coast.

Best clam ever! Two thumbs up to our chefs. Sorry about the noise!!!

Earlier that day. Hopping around in the park after school.

Treasures Above Tomioka

Iwaki - Day 1

LATOV, the Iwaki commercial plaza.

Iwaki is home to many urban shrines like the one below. Finding them is like searching for Waldo in real-life. It's a great way to enjoy the city and to get to know its alleys.

Sout West view of Iwaki.

Tuesday Morning

Yesterday was not a day for traveling or any kind of outdoors activity. It was wet and cold. Early in the morning we had a light rain which quickly turned to a heavy and consistent downpour. Fortunately this country is so used to heavy rains their drainage and flood control systems almost eliminate the threat of floods.


Today is looking much nicer. To the East, nothing but clear blue skies. There was a thick fog this morning due to the earth warming up quickly and evaporating what water it held. There are some nonthreatening clouds over to the West. They won't prevent me to exploring another city today. The only threat that exist today is the humidity. It warmed up so quickly this morning the air is now thick and causes one to break into a sweat very easily. I guess I'll have to dress very casual and walk slowly. Great for taking photos.

Turtles in Japan are not so different from those in the US. They all love to hang out on a log an a warm spring day.

Matsushima Bay

Matsushima is incredible. Definitely one of the most beautiful national reserves that exist anywhere.

Tomioka Temple

Japanese society is very modern and its culture is best descirbed by the word respectful. This country has many traditions that would take a lifetime to explore and understand. The historey of its people and the traditions that exist today are very remarkable. I am making my best efforts to learn and experience these traditions in a responsible manner that respects the local culture.

Above is one of the buildings at the temple in Tomioka. The building is hundreds of years old however it is in pristine condition. The roof is in solid condition. The artwork over the entry still shows every detail of the dragons sculpted in wood. The only sign that point to its age are a few holes in the siding and some decay at the base of the columns.

Sendai Visit

Welcom to Sendai. According to Wikipedia is the capital city of a Japanese prefecture. It's a major japanese city and one of the largest in the country.


A tree-lined boulevarde is nothing new but I was extremely impressed by the boulevardes lined by giant ferns. Downtown Sendai is base of operations major American, European, and Asian firms. The city skyline resembles midtown New York. The ferns are four to five stories tall and beautify an already spectacular town. Befor leaving Sendai I had to visit its shopping district. All the top luxury brand retailers have stores in the Sendai shopping center. There are also many restaurants, boutiques of all sorts, grooming and personal products stores, and much more. Most importantly, on rainy days like this one can still have fun, spend a little, and enjoy casual moments without much concern over for the weather.

Narita to Tomioka, JP

A fourteen hour direct flight from Newark, NJ to Tokyo, JP. I was tired. I was thirsty. Most importantly though, upon clearing customs and boarding the first of two trains I was focused on simply getting above ground and seeing this amazing country.

Shot of me on the Kesei Skyliner to Ueno station in Tokyo.

Welcome to Tomioka-machi, Fukushima. Loveliest place in the Northern Honshu.

Les âmes des deux gamins

My gift for Ms. Abigail Fay on her birthday.

Hopefully a reminder of how much she means to me.

Flowers that she will soon have in hand, I hope.

Les deux gamins

26.69

Samedi 1ere Mai, 2010

A fabulous day for a bike ride. The missision was to complete 27 miles in under 2 hours. Here are the stats.

Temp: 86 F
Wind Speed: 2mph
Total distance: 26.69 mi
Total Time: 1:55 hrs
Top Speed: 30.1 mph
Avg spd: 13.8 mph
Odometer: 175 mi

Result: An excellent day of riding and personal records in speed and distance travelled.

River Crossing

Amazing view of a former lodge on the Raritan River in Kingston, NJ.

Sent using AT&T Xpress Mail

Training: Fitness Sortee

Focus on lower body. 10 minute run to warm up. Hamstring curls maxing out at 65lb repetitions. Seated calf raises maxing out at 35 lb repetitions.

Use the link here to contribute to my ride against diabetes
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=6851&px=5822355

Training: Tour de Cure 2010

I am training for the 2010 tour de cure bike ride in Princeton, NJ. Commitment is to raise over $475 for the Aeropostale cycling team. Support for my ride is welcome. Proceeds from the ride go towards research for treatments and a cure for diabetes. The event is June 06, 2010 and I have begun training to complete 30 miles. Again any and all support is much appreciated.

Use the link here to contribute to my ride against diabetes
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=6851&px=5822355

23.95

Talk about a great day to get outside! If you're an active person you'll understand what the perfect day feels like. It's a day where your body performs. These are the days when moments pass with little effort and your mind connects with the body which then become one with your environment. If you're a runner, the earth becomes soft and the air flows into the lungs and out again. If you're into cycling the wind is always at your back and the tires beneath hug the road as if it were a missed friend or a long sought companion.

I clutched today by the jaws and made it mine. It was officially my gym day. Before 8 AM I was in the gym running then ended the session working on my torso. By afternoon I was in the 6-mile Run State Park. I took the bike out for the first long distance ride I have done since October, 2009. 23.95 was today's number. I did 24 miles on my bike. Granted it took just over 2 hours but that's okay. I made a few stops. The first was to look at a canal I had never noticed in the park. The second was a lake where the Princeton crew team trains. The final stop was at Wawa in Kingston, NJ for a water break. That's it.

I was tired but proud. I have officially begun training for the tour de cure bike ride in Princeton, NJ. I hope to do 30 miles for the event. After this afternoon's success I think I can at least finish the charity ride. I know I won't be among the first 100 to cross the finish line but I'll make sure I am in competitive form and end somewhere between riders 200 - 300 that cross the 30-mile marker.

Power Outage

Power's been out since yesterday. Been working out of Starbuck's all morning. We had a storm last night that caused a lot of flooding; it brought down power lines and trees. I am hoping the power is back up but I won't know until I get back to New Brunswick. I guess there's a first time for everything. This was my first power outage in the U.S. I guess living through droughts, shortages, and outages in Africa has its pluses.

Turkey Sighting!!!!

So this was supposed to be a picture of a gigantic wild turkey in mid flight trying to get away from me. Unfortunately I guess I took the shot a half second too early. The weather sucked so I blame it on the umbrella I was holding and the wicked wind. besides if you squint at the brush on the right side you can kinda make out the body of a wild turkey.

The Savage in Ol' Man Winter.

The storm shut down the city of New Brunswick, NJ and forced people to run for cover. The guy below fought with the wild weather looking for shelter in his car. He had just made it through 4 - 6 inches of a snowy icy mess in the street to even higher heeps on the sidewalks. The snow was falling at 2 inches an hour at this time.
I live 2 miles from downtown New Brunswick. The 20 mins it took me to get back home was with the purpose of getting there in one piece without damage to my Jeep. These are the only times i don't mind getting horrible gas mileage in this over-priced gas sucking beast. Rain, snow, or mud, this big guy has gotten me through it and is smart enough to correct traction failures. Look at the bloody road. The city stopped plowing because the snow came down to fast. Visibility in the photo is about 50 feet.

This was earlier in the day, the clam before the storm. It look beautiful. It was beautiful. People even went skiing in New York City, and had snowball fights everywhere. 11 inches later caused trees trunks to bend and lims to bend.

Overall, the storm shut down central Jersey. Every business with the exception of McDonald's was closed.

No Blood, No Sweat, still lots of Road.

Clear blue sky. Little to no wind at all. Red dirt beneath my shoes. Warm sun bathing us all on a rather pleasant January afternoon. I took an afternoon drive but had to stop when I saw that the river had froven over. Birds took advantage by resting on the ice. Occassionally they would pick at the water or take to the skies.