This and That in Feb

February is known to be the coldest month in Fukuoka.

But as you can see @ some of the pictures here below....

there are nice days as well.

It's now our 29th year of being "house less".

First 19+ years on board of Jan Haring an now almost 10 on board of Alishan.

And we still like it...even in winter.

Especially here in Meinohama Fishing Port..

.

Fisherman Shota shouting: Hey Yap, do you want some kombu? 昆布

A few boats further it's Ma-chin...offering us a nice fish.

Yes we are well looked after.

And we too look after our host country...like posting this picture.

You think of it what you like...

The Nishi Nihon Newspaper, a biggy here in Japan, is of course always on the look-out for Stories.....

Somehow they had spotted Alishan.

And like other years, we had to celebrate 3 birthdays in a row.

It's the 23th time to do so.

 The first time we met Paparin was in 1989 during a pre-race party for the

Auckland-Fukuoka Yacht Race.

(that's how and why we came to Japan).

Ever since, Paparin has been looking after us ever, hence 

He is our Paparin. 

82 years young.

A few days later it was time to invite Mena for a meal.

(read more about Mena   HERE  ).

And then we had an other birthday in the family, 

Sister Noriko.

(to Nori and Wakame aka Tante Prik).

So, again a party meal on board of Alishan. 

......see here how creative Marijke's cooked-food art has become...;-)

(btw, it's aubergine with xyz sauce and some andive).

Salute

Black-Hairy-Mountain, aka Mt Kurokami

After that boring run under & along the Fukuoka City Express Way,

it was time go Nature Again.

This time in Saga Prefecture.

Signs at the start of the trail...

of course it needs some japalengish reading skills,

but now we know.

We followed the brown line in the left bottom corner of the picture here below.

We decided to take it easy this time as some of us were in a recovering mode after a 100K run ( Well Done Noriko!!).

and some of us were suffering from a running nose.... 

The trail had lots of tree and plant markings.

This plant is named: Neko no chi-chi  

(cat's boobs...)?

Today's team; Noriko, Yumi and Ohara

 Parts of this mountain area is so different from what we see here in and around Fukuoka.

Some steep sides indeed.

Hmmm, volcanic ??  

Super, there should be a nice hot-spring waiting for us after the climb!

Waiting and waiting.

(while the great view is behind them).

We made it, time for a snack.

At the top: In case you are lost, there is a map of the area.

This part of Saga is famous for its pottery, hence the map is also made 

"china style"

And indeed there was a SUPER hot-spring at the bottom of the mountain.

I took some close ups of my fellow bathers...

Hihi, see what happens if your camera is still outdoor cold (5C) 

and inside the hot-spring it's close to 35C.

Well that was a fun hike & a great soak.

Of course it was followed by some good Saga food.

(+++ vegetables).

Salute

A Boring Round of 36

Boring? 

Yes, It Was.

 It ?

Right, a loop-run-run around Fukuoka City...

...."following" the Urban Express Way.

As you know from this Blog, most of our running trails are out in country side, the bush, hills or in the wop-wops, 

Great Fun Ks.

But now, for once....Boring.

We had been talking about "doing it" for so long...

... so finally last Monday it was The Day to Go for It.

Hmmmm, we?

No, just me! as most buddy runners were out of town 

and others knew it was gonna be a Boring One .

And so it was!

For 95% It was done under or beside the F.C.U.E.W. 

The loop-run was 36Ks long and i had to share it with other traffic 

AND noise!

Blahhh. 

But my Asics and i did it.

See here:

A boring picture-story for You!

                          

Just south form our location, i picked-up the F.C.U.E.W. 

This is at Meinohama.

Most NW corner..

Most W point, with a side line of the F.C.U.E.W. going in direction of Itoshima...

Ohhh, i should have gone that way.... 

Most SW point with Imori Yama in the distance....

Ohhh, i should have gone that way.... 

Crossing Muromi River...

There is a nice trail along the river all the way to the mountain range...

Ohhh, etc...you know it...by now...

Here goes the F.C.U.E.W. into a tunnel, only for cars.

Bicycles and runners have to zigg-zagg , AND FIND! their way around Fukuoka University grounds.

Told you...boring!

F.C.U.E.W., road, side walk and Shinkansen crossing.

Ha, some excitement.

Luck had it i had to cross the railway line at the right moment.

Always look left, right and once more L & R.

(5 minutes rest time;-} ).

4x pictures spelled with a Big B.

Most SE point....there must be an airport near here...

Took this picture also to show you...what beautiful weather it was. 

Most E point.

Double layer of F.C.U.E.W. with the Hakata Station area connection on the left.

                             

Most NE point.

From here i had to take a "short-cut" as .....

 F.C.U.E.W. in the distance,  

with in front, Fukuoka Boat Race Playgrounds.

F.C.U.E.W. taking the bridge over Nakahama Harbor...hence the earlier short-cut route.

 Back together again.

Once more, we are crossing Muromi River, 

the F.C.U.E.W. run is almost round.

From here i made a dash for Alishan.

And a hot bath.

On the map it looks okay, but ...you know better now.

Salute

What's White?

For sure ski resort Kiroro near Sapporo is white!

As we hadn'd done any slip-sliding-on-skies for 7 years,

 it was time to pick up this wintery habit.

(after all, it was one of the reasons why we came back to japan after 4 years sailing around in SE Asia).

Together with running buddies we jumped on board of an very early morning plane and flew to Hokkaido.....

Just a few hours later we made it to the ski-slope

for a few warm-up, ahum, trial runs.

And indeed we both said:

" Oh yes, this is fun, now i remember" 

The first 2 days , as you can see, the conditions were lousy,

but what the hack...

At the top with Marijke, Yumi, Noriko and Kotake san (aka Mr Mt Blanc).

But....on the last day the sun came out

 and see here some shots-in-white.

Hey,.....where is every body....??

 

Our hotel wayyyy down below.

Yes we could have slip-slided right onto the front door steps.

 

Here comes Marijke: just 1 day fresh in her new year,

 & showing off skills like a young rock-star.

 

Say No More...
 

some blue in white

 

..........

 

Yes, it was a Great Long Weekend in White.

Thank you team!

Of course we couldn't leave Hokkaido

with-out eating a decent portion of spider crab.

Yummy.

salute