A little flavour of August

Hi Everyone,
Ok, I realize I have shown poor form in the last few weeks with keeping this site up to date. Some of you have heard from me through Facebook (of which I am now sadly an addicted member) but that may leave the rest of you in the dark. Here, and in colour, is a little refresher for all of you.

Melissa and I now have wireless broad band internet in our home. No more sitting out in the hall of our apartment building, in an effort to get better reception from our neighbor's router. We are cruising at 54Mbps all day long. We have skype so we are able to make calls to other skype members for free. That means long chats to people back home without the huge DoCoMo or SoftBank bill (those are two of the leading phone carriers here).

Melissa went on an expedition to the peak of the highest mountain in Japan. She, without me, climbed Mount Fuji. I had little interest in the 6 hour ascension, especially since it is traditionally done at night. The point there is that when you reach the peak, at approximately 4:00am you are blessed with the most amazing sunrise you will see in your life. Melissa has photographs (which will be posted here in the near future... Melissa is going to add a special blog article for us all) which show the sun coming THROUGH the clouds. She described it as this unearthly orb, rising through the flowing milky dense mist. I know it is physically impossible for that to happen, as the sun is certainly not in our atmosphere and cannot emerge from beneath and among the clouds, but the pictures captured the effect nicely... so stay tuned anyway. What my entry lacks in pictures, her's will more than make up for it.

We had a record breaking peak temperature here in Osaka last week (never before in recorded history, in Japan). The mercury reached a blistering 42.5 degrees celcius. It has been ridiculously hot for the past few weeks and our electricity bill arrived yesterday to show us just how much we've needed the AC unit in our bedroom. The crowd shouts "How much Mike?". 384Kwh resulting in an $85.00 hydro bill. That may not sound too bad at first, but consider that we live in an apartment that is the size of most of your living rooms... only 400sqr ft (give or take 2sqr. inches). It is no surprise why fans are a staple in the Japanese way of life. The yukata and kimono is another not-so-obvious reflection of the temperatures that are reached here in central Japan. The fact is, kimonos and the male version - yukata - are bloody comfortable, and airy, compared to our denim and cotton clothing. We also carry around hankies and small pocket-sized towels to wipe our brow and neck. It is the thing to do, even though it looks silly and old-fashioned. Trust me, you would look and feel so gross after 10 minutes outside if you don't have one. Here is an interesting image... I get out of the shower, and I dry myself off starting with my hair, then my face, shoulders, back and arms, chest...etc... by the time I reach my legs, feet and toes, my brow is dripping again, and perspiration is forming on my shoulders and arms. I could start all over again from the top and not be completely dry while my towel becomes more and more wet. It is laughable.

I have posted some short videos on YouTube (thank you Mr Shiu for the suggestion). Do a search for: Mike In Japan 2007. There are three videos. I will add some more in the near future with the same heading "Mike In Japan 2007..." so that you can find them easily.

I'm sorry this update is a little lame, but we haven't been on any wild excursions lately. We did another sailing trip yesterday, but since that is the topic of my last post, I will spare you the similar details, as enjoyable as it was for us.

Until we meet again,


Mike