here i am at the top of one of the peaks of mt. tsukuba, perched atop some rocks that had me feeling a bit dizzy.

i hadn’t slept at all the night before and i met my small band of merry hikers at 5:50. 　the drive to mt. tsukuba’s starting point took about an hour and a half and we immediately started our ascent.

surprisingly, i was full of energy but definitely out of shape. 　the path was challenging due to the amount of rocks to be cautious about and i didn’t have the correct footwear for this climb. 　on the way up, there was a fresh water spring where everyone was drinking from. 　it was very refreshing and cool, especially since i didn’t prepare my own water supply.

after a couple hours or so of climbing, we finally reached the summit. 　there wasn’t much to see: a handful of shops/restaurants, a restaurant that rotated and you could hang out at the top to get a nice view, and lots of dragonflies flying around.

after a short break. we hiked up one of the peaks, called nantaisan (男体山) and came back down to the summit to grab lunch. 　after lunch, we hiked up nyotaisan (女体山), the other peak, where we saw an incredible view of the surroundings (see picture above) – that is, if you climbed up on a bunch of unsafe-looking rocks. 　much to my dismay, i dislike heights, i climbed up to catch the view and take some pictures and video clips.

after that, we made our way down mt. tsukuba. 　i went faster than the group, taking pictures of clusters of rocks along the way. 　these rocks have some meanings to them, for example: a woman’s stomach (signifying pregnancy?), a gate, buddha, a frog, two ships (arriving/leaving port), and so on. 　the hike back down wasn’t too bad, but my feet were starting to ache and i started to feel less cautious and started to slip around on the rocks. 　i didn’t injure myself but it took extra effort to be mindful of where i was stepping, and i was still running off steam at this point. 　i tried to spend time reflecting on the things happening in my life, but the slippery rocks put me back at attention.

finally, we reached the bottom, took a few minutes to rest and wait for the others, and made our way back. 　i was in and out of sleep on the drive back home, but what felt like 30 minutes was already an hour and a half and we were back to our area.

so the hike was about 5km, and i realized how out of shape i was. 　panting, wheezing, doubling over to catch my breath. 　i’m a little bit more leery about hiking mt. fuji this weekend since i’ll be hiking about twice as much as tsukuba, the crazy altitude, i’m an inexperienced hiker, and for some reason, death is in the back of my mind. 　i’m sure i’ll be fine, i’ve prepared the things i need for this weekend…although, not sure if my body, or rather my heart, is feeling up to the task. 　maybe i should go to the doctor.

it’s the last day of my summer vacation, i’m supposed to meet up with some people at 5:50am to go hiking a nearby mountain, and i haven’t slept a wink all night.

i guess i was just excited to go hiking so bad, but now i’m feeling the effects of another all-nighter.  at least it was a night of relaxation rather than partying; however, i still would have liked to get at least 4 hours of sleep.

while i was restlessly tossing side to side, i browsed some websites regarding what it is like to hike mt. fuji, which i am doing this upcoming weekend.  one site i came across appealed to me in its form and gave me a little inspiration in how i want to contribute more to blog, or at least something to try.

hence the picture of the fireworks that i went to the previous weekend, except my camera’s quality sucks in these kind of conditions.

well, time to hit the showers and survive the day.  hiking and karaoke to top off the last day of vacation, and then blessed sleep to handle the week that will start.

i should have explained the fireworks in higashi-urawa a bit more, but what else do you need to know?  they go boom and have pretty colors.

every day, same stuff.  wake up, work and work hard, go home, stare at the ceiling or computer screen for hours, fall asleep.

i know what i need to do to get out of this bs slump, but taking that first step, forget about it.  continuing after that first step, it isn’t even a day before i fall back on my ass.

though i have a few close friends here, the group i hung out with mainly last year pretty much split up.  if i invite one of them to do something, i can’t invite the others because they no longer vibe.  this kind of negativity, i feel, might be rubbing off on me now that i think about it.  it sucks having to be choosy when all you want to do is hang out with everyone and want everyone to have a good time with no negativity.  it does feel like i’d have to choose who to mainly hang out with just to strengthen some friendships further.  i guess i can’t be friends with everyone, and by all means, i don’t need to be friends with everyone…but to have to choose between those who you were already friends with?

well, obon is coming up next month as well as tentative plan to hike up to the top of mt. fuji.  looking forward to that.

when it comes down to it, my life is in my control, so if something is not right, i can do something about it.  take a step.

what am i, a woman?  that makes two creepy guys trying to hit on me while i’ve been here…would it hurt to have a creepy, yet lovely-looking, lady hit on me for once?  minus the creepy, actually…

1. design – loving it
2. retina display – hmm looks nice, i guess that’s cool.  oops, website failed to load.  78% of the pixels on an ipad?  definitely holding out on buying an ipad until next year then, rd + other welcome upgrades will be nice.
3. a4 – powerful, with a bigger battery = great battery times.   hmmm, 32gb of shortage, eh?
4. gyroscope – interesting, should provide more accuracy and control for some games.
5. new camera system – 5mpx, led light.  720p 30fps hd recording.  imovie, interesting…i could do a slideshow/movie on my way home from sightseeing and have it uploaded before i even get home.  $4.99?  figures it wouldn’t be included as an app when you get the phone.
6. ios 4 – haha.  ok.  multitasking, about time.  folders, a file system, or just a way to further organize stuff on the home screen?  hmm.  threading in mail, oh snap.  bunch of other stuff, bing included while keeping google for search engines.  too bad this won’t be available for my 1st gen iphone.
7. ibooks – cool.  download the same book to all devices at no charge, good.  winnie the pooh is steve’s favorite book, that’s amusing.
8. iad – mmmmmmeh.  i’ll just x out of ads, thanks.
9. and the extra point is (drum roll) – facetime – a little freeze, can’t imagine how at&t’s network will handle that.  i wonder if you can take pictures while in a video call.  a long time to make video calls a reality?  for apple, maybe.  ah, the catch, wi-fi only.  well, if apple brings it out, competition is sure to get fired up.
10. black and white phones, the pricing seems good ($199 16gb, $299 32gb), no doubt with a contract.  at&t mentioned, guess the verizon rumor will be laid to rest.
11. shipping in june, international in july.  dang, wish my current keitai contract ended now.

and it’s done.  perhaps i will change cellphone companies when my contract finishes up this november.  by then, the new iphone will have seen more improvements by means of the jailbreaking community.  also, around that time, there will be new android handsets to consider, hopefully these japanese cellphone companies get things going on the smartphone end.  i’m pretty bored of this clamshell phone now…

the following morning after my post prior to this one, i noticed that a couple of lymph nodes on the right side of my neck were slightly swollen.  not too painful when i touch them, but definitely noticeable.  this has freaked me out a little bit.  i have not yet gone to the hospital for a check up.  at this point i want to wait a couple days to see if they go down.  i’ll definitely get a check up after a couple days if they get bigger or remain the same.

i’m worried about what is causing the swelling, though.  my gf had strep, could that be it and my body is fighting it off?  i don’t have any symptoms, really, except for a slight cough and a little sinus pain.  very minute symptoms, if at all, honestly.  other culprits are stds, hiv, viral/bacterial infections, or cancer.  gah…

i’m probably freaking out about nothing but it’s been a while since my lymph nodes have gotten swollen.  i think the last time was when i was a pre-pubescent teenager…i’ll get checked this week just to make sure, friday at the latest.  ugh, i hope it’s not anything serious, just a viral infection of some sorts.

anyways, this beer i’m drinking can’t be helping.  it’s a pretty strong beer from germany, at about 14% alcohol…dang.  the taste is all right, definitely not a taste i am used too.  very cold medicine-y.  it’s not terrible though, but it is pretty expensive at over 600 yen per bottle.

i recently had a discussion about turn-ons with someone.  he likes the whole quiet, demure kind of lady.  i believe the term was ‘yamato nadesico.’  basically, it was about the ideal japanese woman.  i see plenty of women like that here in japan: very pretty, soft-spoken, respectful and all.  i do dig that style, it’s rather conservative but it’s cute at the same time.  however, i also like to see a women rock whatever style she likes and she does it confidently.  whether it’s hip hop, a little more risque, perhaps a little out of the norm – as long as she’s comfortable with it.  maybe my taste in women is really broad, but whatever style a woman chooses to adorn, what matters to me is what’s on the inside.  just because a woman looks a certain way doesn’t necessarily mean they are what they look like.  plenty of deceitful people behind the good looks and fashion.

wish i could make a bit more money………

cold temperatures and rain, the gf has strep throat it seems so she’s out for the rest of the week, work is work – on the plus side, got paid, started studying again though i will still be woefully unprepared for this next test coming up in less than a month, and i’m smoking less lethal cigarettes…

those camel filters were quite deadly, can’t believe i’ve been smoking them for as long as i have.  on to the caster 1mg cigs, but am looking forward to just stopping this whole habit for good…well, maybe once in a long while won’t hurt…but not this every day thing that i’ve been doing for about 3 years now.  some days, i wonder why i even started – i remember that time and what was happening…but there really was no point.  i wasn’t exactly crazy stressed…maybe bored?

anyways, yea, 16 more months.  count it, i sure am at this point.  not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  however, making the most of it.  ch’yea.

people who wanted to see me made it their mission to see me – i mean, trifecta love!  driving down from sf, flying in from ny – just to see me for a night?  i’m still left speechless at that, what did i do to deserve these awesome friends of mine?  love ‘em.

others made similar efforts, repeated efforts even, to hang out.  i really appreciate that.  there were some who simply said ‘call me’ or ‘hit me up’ – but that was it.  although i wanted to see them, my time is short people, you have to work around me!  it’s all good though, maybe next time!  certainly is difficult to be very accommodating in that kind of situation.  especially difficult when you use facebook as your main point of communication.

earlier i mentioned that i didn’t have to worry about a thing, well, i take that back i guess.  i had been worrying about what to do in the near future and that carried over into my vacation.  i was able to talk it out with many of my family and friends.  i came back to japan with some clarity in the matter.

going back to california i felt that i hadn’t forgotten a thing – my usual driving routes, places to eat, etc.  things have changed, of course, but it’s sort of like i never left.  only being away from japan for 10 days, i came back standing around shin-koshigaya station briefly wondering where i was and where i had to go from there haha

i do feel that things have slowed down a bit, a year and a half in japan now.  i’m definitely accustomed to everything that has to do with work, things are peachy.

i definitely need to put a bit more effort into the future though – save more money, study for the gre, up my japanese skills to a more than conversational level.  i can do these things.

here’s looking at another 16!

edit: lakers sweep the spurs, b.o.b.’s album is tight!