• Strine Sports

    Getting Off to a Good Start

    So far, the winter of 2022-3 has been fairly kind to Tokyo. Unlike 2022, when the early days of January saw snow and generally gloomy weather, this year has been warm and sunny on the whole. Kangaeroo got on the bike early today and headed downtown to meet some mates near Tokyo Tower. It’s Coming of Age Day in Japan, a national holiday, and the first when legal adulthood in Japan is designated as 18 years of age instead of 20, as it had been up until this year. The holiday is also one of those made flexible a few…

  • Unknown Nichigo

    Koala-ified for Anything

    Tokyo is a city full of surprises. And that is the least surprising aspect of the world’s largest city. Kangaeroo got a pleasant surprise yesterday while pottering through the backstreets of Shinjuku, one of the Japanese capital’s many sub-capitals. For some reason, Lord alone knows why, there was a statue of a koala and her joey in a pocket-stamp sized park in Shinjuku. Japan had something of a mini-love affair with koalas in the mid-1980s when Australia successfully sold itself as a tourist destination to more gullible markets and then got greedy with price gouging to compliment the traditionally abysmal…

  • Strine

    A Sobering Thought or Two

    January 7 is a landmark date in Kangaeroo’s life. The foundation stone of his life was laid on that date. There’s no real need to go into details. Everything started from there, and the foundation is the bedrock for living to this day. Times are not great for many ordinary people anywhere nowadays. Most, probably. But on a broad scale, they are not too bad for Kangaeroo. If nothing else, Kangaeroo has health. Physical life began a long time earlier. But that alone was not sufficient. Mental and spiritual wellbeing were missing. They are largely here now….for the most part.…

  • Strine Sports

    Nature’s Double Delight and Not a Skerrick of Proof

    Nature turned on a absolutely glorious morning – albeit a freezing one. There was a huge moonset in one direction and a delightful sunrise simultaneously in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the only camera Kangaeroo was carrying was on a smartphone. This rarely takes decent pics at the best of times, let alone trying to get a lunar shot, which is challenging at the best of times with the most sophisticated equipment. Then, blessed with a delightfully colorful sunrise and otherworldly cloud pattern on the return journey, positioning and timing rendered photographic evidence impossible. Kangaeroo was not in a good spot…

  • Strine Sports

    Trekking Up Takao

    For the last day of the 2023 new year’s break, Kangaeroo and Co. headed up to the delightful Mount Takao in Hachioji. Leaving late in the morning, a short trip by bus and train had us at the foot of the mountain. A healthy walk of little over an hour had Kangaeroo at the peak. Normally, Mount Takao affords an amazing view of Mount Fuji. But this time, the clouds that frequently cover the iconic Japanese mountain won the day, but the view was still magnificent. A bowl of soba noodles on the top of the mountain, then back down…

  • Strine Sports

    Doing Something Better than Nothing

    Kangaeroo had a rare late night, typically torrid sleep and woke with great reluctance when it came time to take a customary morning cycle. Eventually, Kangaeroo did get up and drag himself out of bed thanks to the events of the previous day. For much of December and continuing on into the new year, Kangaeroo had been gutsing himself daily. Pigging out is a traditional way to greet Christmas and the new year. And this year was no exception. With a year of substantially reduced inactivity and greatly increased stress and pressure (that resulted in damaging emotional eating as an…

  • Strine Sports

    Tower of Strength on an Icy Morning

    Today started with a pre-dawn trip to Tokyo Tower. A quick get-together with some mates over coffee and chockies followed. And then it was a ride back home. Now it’s on to familial duties. It was cold and dark heading into town. Just about every traffic light seemed determined to earn its keep by making Kangaeroo stop. Still, Kangaeroo got to ride in with a reasonably quick time. The get-together was over pretty quickly. It was nice to see some old faces for the first time in a while. It also reaffirmed how much the pandemic has changed things. Yet…

  • Strine

    Bumping Into the Candyman

    Today was supposed to be a day for a new beginning. It was: just not the way it was meant to turn out. After today, Kangaeroo will be bigger and bolder. Rather than in a metaphorical sense, though, it will be a literal increase in size following a day of comfort eating to try to feel a bit better and then to compensate after gorging. An early rise was supposed to spark a trip downtown, but instead saw a return to bed. A day dedicated to seeking professional options was utterly fruitless and ended in a bitterly depressive downward spiral.…

  • Strine

    Kicking Off 2023 With Central Tokyo Loop And Super Sunshine

    If nothing else, 2023 sure started far better than the awful year of 2022 did, and eventually led to a wonderful ride focused on a central Tokyo loop. Just as had happened 12 months ago, Kangaeroo headed off on the first day of the year before the dawn. Unlike 2022, when sleet and snow had been the order of the day, 2023 was bright and clear, a much more attractive prospect even if it was still equally as cold and dark as it had been the previous annum. The objective for the day was to take part in the Half-Fast…