Mount Takao

At the start of September, Yuki, Clara, and I went with a few friends to Mount Takao. Mount Takao is right on Tokyo's doorstep and relatively easy to get to. I guess the primary reason for going to Mount Takao was to sit outside in the popular beer garden and enjoy a summer's night before the start of autumn.

As with many other places in and around Tokyo, the only drawback was the crowd. People flock to Mount Takao in summer time to visit the beer garden and to enjoy the countryside on the doorstep of Tokyo. It was therefore no great surprise to find the mountain mobbed which led to a wait 90 minute for our opportunity to enter the beer garden.

We each paid ¥3,000 yen which entitled us to eat unlimited food from the buffet and consume as much beer as we wished. It is actually not great value for money as after you queue, eat, talk, visit the toilet etc, the 90 minute time limit expires very quickly. It was nice to do something different although I do not like to be hurried along by time limits as it does not fully allow you to relax. I have also never been one for speed drinking and prefer to sup my pints over an extended period. Therefore, the 90 minute time limit is not really for me...

I have two recommendations for Mount Takao beer garden:

1. Extend the season - allowing people to only visit in the summer months creates unnecessary crowds which could be better accommodated over a longer season. Opening all year or during spring, summer, and autumn is entirely possible due to the mild Tokyo climate.

2. Get some speciality beers - As it is advertised as a beer garden, I was expecting some beers that were slightly off the beaten track. However, there was only the standard blandness of Asahi and Kirin on offer.

Anyway, visiting Mount Takao was an enjoyable departure from the standard weekend activities, but I cannot escape the nagging feeling that it should have been better.

iPhone Returns

My original iPhone never returned, despite a visit to the local koban (police box) and contact with the taxi lost and found office. I ended up getting a new iPhone instead and I hope this one will last longer than 6 months. I need to be more careful.

I have heard that there is an iPhone application that enables you to track the phone via GPS if it ever gets lost or stolen. I need to look into that. I also need to consider some extra security measure for my new phone and create a PIN code that prevents others from accessing the phonebook and other stuff. I'll work on that over the next week or so. Anyway, my old phone number and email address are unchanged so you can still get in contact with me in the usual way.

Lost iPhone

I lost my iPhone on Friday night.....I think I left it in a taxi (after drinking Hoppy, a beer flavoured drink mixed with a spirit called shochu). That means I will be incommunicado for the next week, so if anyone needs to get in touch, please either leave a message on this blog or contact me through Facebook.

As this is Japan, there is still a reasonable chance that I will get the phone back. I certainly hope so as I don't like the idea of all my email addresses and phone numbers being lost for good. I will keep you informed of any progress that I make.

Scottish Friends

I thought I'd post this picture of the group of friends that Clara made while she was in Scotand. Soon after we arrived in Inverness, we noticed a couple of girls hanging around the front of the house. Being my usual cheery self, I assumed that they were up to no good. However, it turned out that they had heard that a potential new friend had arrived all the way from Japan.

By the end of 3 weeks, the new group of friends that Clara has made extended to about 10 kids, all of similar age. Clara had a great chance to socialise and has not had a similar opportunity like that in Japan yet. Hopefully it will boost her self confidence and will encourage her to be more outgoing when she visits Scotland next time. As Scotland and Japan are two very different countries, I hope that being exposed to both cultures regularly in her formative years will help her become a more rounded individual.

Final thoughts.....

It was lovely to be back in Scotland - I never fail to be impressed by the scenery and open space. Quite a pleasure! 1 week is certainly not enough time to fully relax or do all the things I had wanted to do. However, I managed to achieve a lot during my short time home and hope that my next visit will be slightly longer.

Cuillin Hills Hotel

On the 22nd July, I made the drive from Inverness to Skye. As I was in Scotland for only one week, I wanted to maximize my time there and see my Granny as much as was practically possible. Therefore, the decision was made for me to stay the night in the Tongadale Hotel in Portree – this would allow me to see my Granny on both the 22nd and 23rd July.

I do not drive in Tokyo - cars are not really required for most day to day chores and are an unnecessary expense. I enjoy driving but can see not pleasure in driving on gridlocked roads.
As I have had little ‘behind the wheel’ action over the last couple of years, I really enjoyed zipping back and forth to places in my parents’ car. The drive to Skye on the 22nd July was a pleasure, and despite being the height of the tourist season, I found nice long stretches of open road which allowed me to drive at a heady pace.

After checking in to the Tongadale Hotel, I got back in the car and drove up to see my Granny. She was generally in good spirits each time I visited and we managed to talk well and reminisce over some past events. Once I had seen my Granny, I then had to decide what I should have for dinner. I decided to go to the Cuillin Hills Hotel to eat as I had been told that it had recently been renovated. The Cuillin Hills Hotel actually has a special place in my heart for a number of reasons…..the views from the hotel are lovely, I had a part time job there as a student between the ages of 13 and 20, and it was also the place where Yuki and I had our wedding reception. Visiting the Cuillin Hills is all part of the ritual of going home and if I ever failed to visit, it would be a sign my ties with Skye are weakening.

The renovations at the hotel were very well done and looked quite classy – almost something from the Jazz Age of 1920s America. There was a sympathetic extension to the front of the hotel, a nice long wooden bar, and tastefully decorated bar area. Despite being the height of summer, the hotel seemed quiet and as it was still light, I sat on the lawn at the front of the hotel and soaked up the views and memories from years ago.

As is clear, all was well and I was impressed with the renovations, the selection of beer at the bar (including Budvar), and the professional Eastern European staff. As I decided to eat relatively early (6pm) I was able to get a table beside the window with views of Loch Portree and the distant Cuillins. I placed my order (lentil soup and a lamb dish for my main course) and gently supped my pint of McEwan’s 80. Once the soup arrived, I dispatched it with ease and wrestled with buttering the crusty roll. The roll was not too user friendly and after I had finished my soup, my table and immediate surrounds looked like an eczema convention had recently visited.Anyway, after the very pleasant soup, I was really looking forward to the lamb. Unfortunately, the lamb was more akin to mutton and whatever the sauce was, it simply did not work. Poor quality meat made worse by a dish that seemed to have been put together by a Russian submariner. I left the dish half finished and considered complaining but decided that it was not worth the stress. Everything about the hotel impressed, but was sadly let down by the food.

After my dinner at the Cuiliin Hills, I walked into town and met up with a couple of friends. We had a drink in the Merchant Bar (which is starting to look a little tatty) and then the guys (Malky, Gareth, and Iain) decided we would like some drinks in a more refined setting. We returned to the Cuillin Hills Hotel and sat in the garden for a while before refraining to the bar. Nice to see some of the boys again and a pleasure to get the craic in.

Invigoration

In Tokyo I sometimes feel like a hamster stuck in a cage - constrained by concrete with any form of nature hard to find. The place where I work (called Makuhari) really emphasizes the discomfort and underlying tension of urban life with a sterile and charmless environment. Even the bird song that can be heard is artificial and emanates from hidden speakers........

That was why I was desperate to spread my wings and get a battering by a good Scottish wind and to let my eyes be massaged by some picturesque views. It was genuinely uplifting to head to the beach near Inverness and was a great bit of exercise for us all.

I walked along the beach and did not make the return journey on foot as I wanted to sample a couple of ales in the nearby hostelry. A lovely little walk and a satisfying couple of pints. It is nice to live a little.

Scotland

The day after Clara and I arrived, I went to Holm Mills to see Neil, my friend from the Isle of Skye. After a quick hello (Neil was working that day and Holm Mills always seems busy), I transferred myself to the cafe with my newspaper for lunch and a couple of 'holiday beers'.

There surely is no better way for an expat Scot to celebrate being home than to eat a plate of haggis. Despite the fairly unusual ingredients, I love it, especially with a bit of brown sauce.

Neil dropped by my table a couple of times to chat and after lunch we stood by the banks of the River Ness for a few minutes and did our best to catch up. It is always good to see Neil - I hope we will be able to meet again at Christmas time. Unfortunately, the timing of my visit to Scotland clashed with Neil's holiday plans as he was shortly to embark on a journey to the south of England and Wales. However, there is always next time.....

Conveniently for myself, Holm Mills sells a lot of great Scottish products and souvenirs. Just before I returned to Japan, I visited the shop again to pick up gifts for some of my colleagues, friends, and family.

As you can see, the first day of my holiday was a gentle reintroduction to Scotland and a solid foundation for the remainder of my time.