Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away

Horse-riding is an integral part of living for many in country Australia, where Kangaeroo spent the formative years of life.

Incredibly, in spite of this, and despite a landmass 26 times greater and population only about 1/6th the size, Australian horse riding services are generally far more expensive than their Japanese counterparts.

Provided you’re happy enough riding in a relatively confined space, it’s unbelievably accessible to ride horses in Japan, financially and in terms of getting to places to ride.

Moreover, there’s far less red tape involved in riding in Japan, where helmets, high-viz and other rigmarole are not mandatory as they are in the Aussie nanny state.

Kangaeroo’s days of regular horse riding are long gone, but that doesn’t make him a “neigh-sayer” when it comes to Japanese gee-gees.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

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    Tempted by the rice paddies, which now look like mirrors as they are filled with water and the stems planted, I rode through western Tokyo along the Tama and Aki rivers into Itsukaichi to climb and take beautiful photos. It’s been a while since I have ridden in the mountains, but the stars aligned today and I decided I’d try to see whether I could still do it. I’m about 30 kilograms heavier than the last time I rode higher than 400 meters in elevation, which I reckon was about four years ago. And now I’ve just remembered that I rode a climb earlier this year, so I am lying….

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    豪キャブラリー: Carn

    CarnはKhanとまったく同じ発音。Genghis KhanやKublai Khanなどの歴史的に重要人物のKhanは深い意味がある言葉。由来がローマ帝国「シーザー」が由来であり、重みをそれなりに感じる。しかし、オージー英語のCarnは、それとはまったく違って、Come onの砕けた言い方にしか過ぎない、、、  スポーツチームを応援する時「Carn the Aussies!」などのように叫ぶが定番の応援型だ。

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    The Rising Sun Just Stole My Heart Away

    With only mildly sincere apologies to perhaps the ultimate bogan band, Cold Chisel, this morning’s rising sun just stole my heart away. Although Jimmy Barnes and the Chisels had their girl stolen, I had mistakenly believed it was their heart. But the title was too good to throw away, so I had to tie them into this in some way. It’s been a somewhat lousy week, mainly because I have been flat out and it has stopped me from riding regularly. Mrs. Kangaeroo was on night shift last night. As always when alone, sleep didn’t come easily. I got to crunch out a decent chunk of the work that needs…

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    Monkeying Around With Shared Kobe Steel(e)s

    Of the many commonalities shared by Australia and Japan, perhaps one of the quirkier ones is that both countries are home to a Kobe Steele known for monkeying around. Australia’s Kobe Steele founded the Orangutan Foundation International Australia (OFI Australia), and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021 for her services to conservation and the environment. Japan’s Kobe Steel Ltd., meanwhile, monkeyed around in a far less noble way, falsifying inspection and quality data on steel, aluminium and copper products for years, affecting hundreds of customers and resulting in billions of yen in fines after causing one of Japan’s most significant industrial quality scandals in recent…

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    Batch Of Brommies Bring A Little Bit Of Magic

    Maybe it’s the residue of all the macabre atmosphere of Halloween or some other mystique, but the past couple of days have been a bit enchanting. Rather than fall for all the made-up poppycock, I reckon the magical feeling probably stems from my Brompton bike. The bicycle that really got me into cycling has sent most of he past few years gathering dust, but when it gets rolled out, there’s something truly special. Yesterday, I got our and headed down on my Brommie to Tokyo Tower for a morning meeting. It was a great ride, if a little chilly, as well as somewhat chilling with drivers on the busy road…