You be the judge

Today's walk took me through the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Although there weren't many flowers out, the sun was shining for the first time in quite a few days, and I enjoyed wandering around looking at the trees and the grass, and the ducks and the geese on the river.

While looking at a map near the entrance to the gardens, I noticed they had a bonsai collection. I'd actually seen it a couple of times before, but I was so underwhelmed I'd forgotten all about it. The last time I saw it must have been over ten years ago. Anyway, since I was passing, I decided to check it out again to see if it was as pitiful as I remembered. You be the judge...


Distance walked today: 23.5km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 331.7km
Days left until departure: 8

What could go wrong now?

With just ten days to go before I'm due to leave for Japan, what could possibly prevent me from completing my walk as planned? Here are just a few things I can think of.

• I get another ingrown toenail
• I suffer a relapse of my groin strain
• I suffer some other entirely new injury
• I catch swine flu and get quarantined on arrival in Japan
• I catch normal flu and get quarantined on arrival in Japan
• I sit near someone who has swine flu on the plane and get quarantined on arrival in Japan
• I sit near someone who has normal flu on the plane and get quarantined on arrival in Japan
• The Air New Zealand cabin crew dispute escalates and my flight to Japan is canceled
• A light plane crashes into the Sky Tower while I'm dining at the Orbit restaurant in Auckland the evening before my flight to Japan
• I am attacked by a bear

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 308.2km
Days left until departure: 10

Hike to Hornby

It rained throughout today's training walk, at times quite heavily. But I didn’t mind. I've grown to quite enjoy walking in the rain. Plus I wanted to give my waterproof New Balance 965 shoes a good workout in the wet. They came through OK. My feet certainly stayed dry, which is the main thing.

While at Hornby I checked out the Columbia outlet store to see if they had any fleece vests. I already have a Columbia fleece vest that I was intending on taking to Japan, but Mrs Fool doesn't like it. She says that it's too big and that it sticks up at the shoulders, a bit like a Japanese kataginu, or shoulder piece, as worn by the handsome warrior in the photo below. So I've been looking around for a replacement. I've tried on quite a few over the last week or so, but I'm having trouble finding one in the right colour, the right size, and the right style.


Distance walked today: 15.6km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 308.2km
Days left until departure: 11

Hello and goodbye

I've decided to give Twitter the boot. Following all the drama I went through in setting up a Twitter account and having it hacked (?), and the failure of the Twitter support staff to even respond to my email asking what the hell was going on, I've decided not to risk using Twitter to keep you informed of my progress as I walk the Tokaido. Instead, I've started a separate blog at Blogger where I'll post messages via email from my mobile phone in Japan. Before I go I'll put a link to the new blog on this one, so you won't even have to memorize the new blog's address.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 292.6km
Days left until departure: 13

Scroggin

When Erik and I walked the Nakasendo in 2007, we kept ourselves going between meals by nibbling on trail mix, or scroggin as we Kiwis call it. We couldn't find any trail mix in Japan, so we made some ourselves with some dried fruit and nuts we bought at a cake ingredient supply shop in Kyoto and various other ingredients we found in supermarkets along the way.

This time I'm thinking of taking a supply of scroggin with me from New Zealand. I'm currently testing two varieties, one from my local supermarket, and another I found in a supermarket in Northlands during my walk on Wednesday. Although the latter bears the name scroggin, I don't really like the flavour, or the individual packaging, which reminds me of the kind of wasteful overpackaging you see in Japan.

Snacking Scroggin (left) and Scrummy Mix

Incidentally, according to Wikipedia the name scroggin, which is only used in New Zealand and Australia, is possibly an acronym for "sultanas, chocolate, raisins, orange peel, ginger, glucose (sugar), improvisation or imagination (i.e., the chef is supposed to add a favorite ingredient), and nuts."

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 292.6km
Days left until departure: 14

That's more like it

Bento.com is a great website if you're after information about restaurants in Tokyo. I usually check it out whenever I'm heading to a part of the city I'm not familiar with to see if there are any restaurants I might enjoy.

Recently they posted a special article on jazz cafes, which made for interesting reading in light of my own recent series of posts on the topic. But the weird thing is that right after I'd checked the full list of jazz bars and cafes at bento.com, I went to bed and picked up the novel I happened to be in the middle of (The Last Assassin by Barry Eisler), and the first thing I came across was a detailed description of one of the jazz bars I'd just been reading about, Volontaire.

The very next day, I stumbled upon this profile of Eisler at Japan Today. As well as being an ex-CIA operative, it seems Eisler loves listening to jazz, has a black belt in a martial art, and spends a lot of time at hostess bars (in the name of research, of course). So that's at least two things we have in common!

Bonus bento.com link: cat cafes in Tokyo

Distance walked today: 26.6km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 289.6km
Days left until departure: 15

A dilemma

Recent events have reminded me of the importance of protecting myself from the sun by applying sunscreen and wearing sunglasses whenever I go outside. However, until my skin graft "settles" some more, I can't apply sunscreen or wear sunglasses. But with just 16 days to go before I head to Japan to walk the Tokaido, I need to get out and train now. Thank goodness for my Outdoor Research Nimbus Sombrero (Java).

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 263km
Days left until departure: 16