In June the boys went hiking in Shiga on the north of side of Lake Biwa. This hike is the most memorable for me. I love waterfalls and Yotsubuchi no Taki is known for its eight waterfalls. Each one is beautiful and the higher you climb the better it gets. What made this the best hike was the climb using ropes, chains, ladders, and questionable bridges. You don't need any hiking gear but using running shoes might have you slipping around. Here are some pictures of the hike. I recommend this hike! Once you climb up it's a couple more hours across the ridge and down to the train station again. This hike took us about eight and a half hours to complete (after leaving the breakfast house). We didn't push hard, took lots of pictures, and rested many times.

On the third of June, Donny, D and myself went to Shiga prefecture to hike up 8 waterfalls. This hike was one of the best hikes we've done in Japan. It was a bit challenging at times but well worth the effort. After hiking up 8 waterfalls we pressed on and climbed up a few mountains. Walking along the ridge that connects the montain tops we were able to see Lake Biwa in all it's glory.

We started the hike in a small town called Kurodani.

Now that spring is here, we decided to do our first hike of the year. Darren, Dave, Donny, Suzuko and I went to Ohara on Monday to get some fresh air. Our goal was to hike Konpira mountain. For Darren and I this was our second time, but it still turned out to be quite an adventure. Like many hiking trips before, we ended up going the wrong way. The hiking book that we use isn't the best at giving directions! However, the path we took led us to an even higher mountain then we planned on hiking. In all, we hiked three mountains on Monday. Please enjoy these pictures:

The Cat's Meow: A restaurant on Granville Island (Vancouver)

I just wanted to show Darren that Vancouver has the Cat's Meow! In English if you say something is the 'cat's meow' it means that it is the best. So for example: My wife's cooking is the cat's meow. This translates as: My wife's cooking is the best.
In fact you can say almost anything with the word cat. The cat's pajamas or the cat's ears would both mean the same. Although it should be noted that 'meow' or 'pajamas' are most commonly used and anything else would be an inside joke.