Saturday morning I got up early – around seven o’clock, and had some granola for breakfast. For some reason I’m getting up early, but gradually I’m sleeping more and more. That’s a good sign.
I talked with my family by phone, and my grandparents are wrapping up their trip to Northern California. It sounds like they had a good visit, and I’m glad that they were able to fly up and spend some time out of the heat and break up their routine.
After breakfast I was eager for some adventure, so despite the heat I put on my hiking gear and walked out of the house looking for some ground to cover. I had earlier considered going to Koya-san, a sacred mountain near Osaka, but the time to get there and back wasn’t in my favor. It would be a rushed trip – instead I’ll try to go when Kuniko is at home – that way I can stay the night in Osaka afterwards and spend more time on the mountain.
My alternative course of action was to catch the JR train to Sone, and hike up to the temple to the west of Takamikura mountain. It was a long hot walk, and the only tricky part of the journey was managing wear to put all the sweat that was pouring off my body. I had brought an old T-shirt to use as a mop rag, and it worked pretty well.
The temple was nicer than I remembered, and I spent time exploring the area, walking through the clouds of smoke from the incense, and reading some of the fortunes that people had left hanging on the walls in the hopes that they would come true. After about 30 minutes of that, I went back along the temple walkway and bought some shaved ice and some rice cakes wrapped in leaves.
On the way home I stopped in for some sushi at my favorite revolving sushi place, and got out of there with a belly full of sushi for 1200 yen (around $12). Once I got home it was a cold shower, and then I spent the afternoon alternating between studying and reading an electronic version of an old Dick Francis novel.
By dinner time I was still full from the sushi, but I had put some meat in a marinade and I needed to cook it. The marinated meat turned out great, and together with the onions and mushrooms over white rice – excellent. I’m going to try to same thing with some chicken breasts next week. I want to try a sweet marinade on the chicken, teriyaki style.
Kuniko called from her school and we chatted for about 20 minutes. She’s going to have a day off on Tuesday, and I’m working to get that day off as well. Not sure what we’re going to do, but I’m probably going to Osaka to see her, since she came to my place last time. She’ll be exhausted from living at school for five straight days, and so we may just rent a movie and relax.
