Hiking

Just had a busy weekend.

On Saturday we had a birthday party followed by a night of gaming for my friend Travis. I will remember it as "the night with three cakes." As a group we bought one cake, and then one woman didn't know about the group cake and brought stuff to make cakes. She made one, then offered to make another, and in the late hours of our game, we took her up on her offer.

The following day, five of us went hiking on the west side of Shimokita, up a mountain called Nuidoshiyama (I think). It was very scenic. It was a revisit to a hike I did nearly three years ago when I first came to Japan.



For Christmas I got this cool cooking stove called Jetboil, and I had my first chance to use it while on an actual hike. We drank mate at the top.



and here is a picture of the tiny town of Ushitaki, which we stopped by on the way to meet a friend before the hiking trip.



It was a fun day, and after all that I went to a student concert. I was worried I would be sleepy after the hike, but the music was good and it kept me up. Among others, they played theme of the Godfather, which was the highlight of the night. And then halfway through they had a drawing based on numbers on our tickets, and Satoko and I won a little gift bag with a candle holder and other little prizes. Good times.