Discgolf is not dead! Despite not updating that section for months, I have actually played about 3 times. So why is it appearing in the My Life section? Well instead of going to the usual course in Tachikawa's Showa Kinen Park, I've been playing at Tokyo's 'other' discgolf course, the one in Tatsumi, which is like the Tachikawa course's poor cousin. The Tatsumi course is inferior in almost every way. The fairways are much shorter, there are only 9 holes as opposed to 18, and there are minimal obstacles like the trees, ponds and streams that make the course in Tachikawa so interesting. All this contributes to ridiculously good scores which is I guess is the main reason it's been left out of the discgolf section, although I might stick it in there someday if the mood strikes me. The Tatsumi course does have one redeeming point though, it is near JC's apartment which is generally much closer to everyone than far off Tachikawa is, much easier to get people to come out and play.

Kirin Beer Factory!

In these lazy, hazy, crazy days of Tokyo's killer summer heat, what could be better than taking a free tour of Kirin's Beer Factory? We headed out there on a Saturday which might seem like a pretty good day to join a tour, but the factory workers had other ideas and selfishly decided to take the day off. Instead of watching bottles and cans zoom merrily around the conveyer belts getting filled up with beer, we had a great view of what all the production lines and machines look like when they're turned off. Kirin thought to solve that problem by having little TVs on the walls showing what things look like on a beer making day, but the effect was comparable to driving all the way to a baseball stadium in order to watch the game on TV. To add insult to injury, I wasn't allowed to take any photographs during the tour, which is why the pictures are all of us drinking our free beer (yes free) after the tour. Only two glasses each though unfortunately. However seemingly nothing is stopping you from just heading back to the beginning and taking the tour again if you're really thirsty. Cheers!

Headed back to Kumi's hometown again, but in the summer this time. While the winter is cold and grey, with little to do except watch bad Japanese TV, the summer has endless outdoor options. I stayed for two nights and managed to fit in a ton of interesting stuff. We headed up to this area famous for having 5 different coloured lakes. Sure enough the lakes ranged from blue to yellow to green to red to brown. We also spent most of a day at this beautiful waterfall/river just relaxing. I hadn't brought my bathing suit but I just couldn't help myself and jumped in the water with my clothes on, sans shirt of course. It seems that kind of thing isn't done in Fukushima as Kumi's mom wasn't too impressed, insisting that I go buy a new pair of pants to change into lest I get a cold. There were no clothing shops to be found though so I had to settle for air drying, which I did admirably. Other highlights included hanging out with Kumi's niece and nephew, catching the usually shy Tora in a state of repose and driving to Yamagata to eat Yonezawa beef. Awesome!