News

Well, two pieces of news this week.

On Sunday, I teamed up with a friend from HK (who is in the process of moving to Tokyo) to hire motorbikes for the day. We rode down to Mt Fuji and around the side of the mountain. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there, riding along motorway (Tomei) most of the way. The countryside around Mt Fuji is wonderful when contrasted with the sprawling metropolis that is Tokyo. Then we rode back to Tokyo along another expressway (Chuo).

While at Fuji-san (as the mountain is referred to), we visited one of the lakes. Only to witness an amazing boat with a swan neck at the front - towering maybe two stories above the boat's roof! The boat takes people for rides around the lake. Only in Japan...

I rode a Z750 - not a bad bike at all. Pictures here. David (the friend from HK) hired a Yamaha MT-01. This was after initially booking a BMZ K1200R. Then changing his mind when he realised that it might be too big, given that he had not ridden for around 10 years. We were in Mt Fuji and had stopped at a Yamaha dealer to look at bikes when the guy at the dealer told David that his bike was a 1700 cc bike. We did not really believe this. The following day we looked it up on the internet to find that it was true. So after aiming for a smaller bike, David ended up renting a bike with a motor the size of a car! Still, it was fun to ride albeit a little on the heavy side.

Second piece of news. Last night I moved to a one-bedroom apartment instead of the studio that we've been staying in. Too many trips carting trolley-loads of stuff from one apartment to the other (in the same serviced apartment block). I will get organised with a few pictures at some point.

Tomorrow morning it is off to the airport to catch a plane to HK for the long weekend. Sonia arrives later tomorrow night. That's all for now.