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.

Darren, Donny, Toffee and I made some use of our day off last Monday. We rode our bikes from Minami Settsu along the Yodogawa river to Osaka bay. It turned out to be a rather gruelling experience. The Yodogawa river has a cement path running along side it, which makes it perfect for biking or walking. Unfortunately, the cement path doesn't quite go all the way to the harbour and we had to double back a couple times. Monday was a gorgeous day and the temperature was almost perfect. It got a bit cold when the sun went down as you can see in the last picture. Check out some of these pictures:

As some of you already know, I went to Awara Onsen in Fukui prefecture for the winter holiday. It was my first time to dip into a hot spring in Japan. Everyone has been telling me how great the hot springs in Japan are, but I couldn't help but wonder what the big fuss was all about. After all, it's just hot water. As it turned out though, the onsen experience was very relaxing. The water was quite clean and set at the perfect temperature. The food in the hotel was awesome. I was stuffed after every meal! I didn't really do anything except eat, sleep and bath for 4 days. We did, however, take a short excursion to Tojinbo as you can see in the following pictures.