Lake Biwa BBQ …and stuff

This week was a good week at work. Nothing really out of the norm happened, but it was a good. The office has become a much happier, more relaxed place over the past few weeks. I think Elizabeth has helped with that. She is always smiling and joking and she gets along well with everyone. She is also learning Japanese. She is taking it much more seriously than I have been, which has really motivated me to make more of an effort to study.

I had a good week outside of work as well. I found a few new restaurants, which I will definitely be going back to. I also got a chance to chat with my parents. My connection kept cutting out, but after several calls I was able to catch up with them. Things at the farm seem to be going well. There are little baby animals running around and new projects going on all around. It is always nice to hear from my parents, they always seem to be encouraging without even meaning to.

The week was good overall. We had a little party after work on Saturday. It was a welcoming party for Elizabeth, and a farewell party for our assistant manager Aska. Aska has been one of my favorite people I have met in Japan and I will miss her a lot. She was always happy and never too busy to offer a smile or laugh. She was the coworker that always helped to keep everyone happy, and worked to make sure everyone was always on the same page and any problems that arose never became too great. There is a new part time assistant manager who is supposed to help with some of the stuff Aska was responsible for, so hopefully the work part of everything doesn’t become too overwhelming. But I know everyone will miss our friend Aska. I will definitely see her around Osaka or Tokyo though.

The party was pretty fun though, )until Aska started crying when she was giving her goodbye speech). Each party has been more fun than the one before it. We had the usual food and games and such but it seems like everyone is getting to know each other and it seems to be a lot more social than it was at my welcoming party. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think so.

After the party, I went home to change and then headed to Osaka to meet Greg and some of his friends who were visiting from the states. By the time I met up with them they had already been partying for a while. It was a big group too. Took a while to coordinate the move to the next place. It was a walk that should have taken 10 minutes, but with all the random delays and losing people several times, it took about 45 minutes to get everyone reassembled at our destination. I was very happy when I finally returned to everyone after venturing to round up the last of the stragglers. I was finally able to start enjoying my night again, which turned out to be quite an awesome night in the end. We capped it off perfectly with a 7am stop at one of Japan’s best ramen shops.

The next morning we were awoken by our phones ringing. Claudia had been calling Koichi and I to tell us we were late. We had plans to meet up at 1030 to head to Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan. It looked like it might rain, but we made a group decision to go anyway. In the end it was well worth the trip.

The drive there was about an hour long. As soon as we got outside of Osaka it was mostly mountains all around. I think it was the same road we took to Kanazawa a few weeks ago, but it was daylight this time so we could see everything. As we got closer to the lake, it started to become obvious that we would not make it the whole day without being rained on. We all pretended not to notice the looming storm clouds and carried on happily.

When we arrived at the lake it was extremely crowded. It took us a good while to find a parking space. We unloaded and set up our stuff sandwiched in between two other groups. The lake was really nice. It was surrounded mountains. It really reminded me a lot of a lake I visited a few times in Chile. There were a lot more people at this Japanese lake though.

We started our grill and went for a short swim. Once the grill was hot we threw on some meat. As soon as the food was almost ready, the rain started. It just all of a sudden started pouring down rain. No sort of warning sprinkle at all. It just started dropping buckets on us all of a sudden. We all just looked at each other and started laughing. Everyone else was scurrying around trying to clean up and load their cars before they got too wet. We just stayed there. We had meat on the grill and more in the cooler to be cooked. Leaving never even crossed our minds.

The rain lasted for a little less than an hour. We continued to grill our food and went for another swim. By the time the rain stopped we were literally the only people left on the beach. It was really nice. The sun never fully came out, but some of the clouds started to thin out later in the evening.

I really enjoyed the lake. We had a good time. I definitely want to go back there when it is not so cloudy and rainy and I can actually see the mountains surrounding the lake. Maybe some time this fall.

We all got back to Osaka around 1030, after driving through more torrential rain most of the way home. I chilled out at Claudia’s for a few minutes and helped unload the car, then headed home. I made it home around midnight and passed out pretty soon after.

I slept in extra late on Monday and took my time cleaning my apartment. I decided to bail out on the boxing gym for the day. I was planning to go all week since I knew I would be free and it had been a while since I have gone there. When I woke up I really just didn’t feel up to it. I had to make a trip to Nara City anyway. I wanted to get a thank you gift for the friend I am staying with in Malaysia.

I took a long walk around Nara and visited Todaiji again. Someone asked me today where my favorite place in Japan is this far. I immediately answered Todaiji. I am very happy to be living so close to such an awesome place. It amazes me every time I walk in the gates. It just has an aura about it that some how makes me feel much more relaxed. I don’t what it is, but I really love going there. Plus they have good souvenirs, so I was able to find the gifts I needed. That was an added plus.

After gift shopping, my new coworker Elizabeth and I met up for some food. She is a ramen fan as well, so we have tried a couple of the local ramen shops in Tomio, a small town one train stop away from us that has several somewhat famous ramen shops.

We had to wait in line for about 45 minutes, but to me, this place was worth it. I only regret not ordering more noodles. This place we went to had been recommended by several of my students. They told me to expect a line because it was a fairly famous shop….. And they only had 8 seats…. When we finally sat down we were asked what we wanted to order. Elizabeth is Korean, so she fits in better than me usually, but it was blatantly obvious we were from out of town when it came time to order. We had everyone in their cracking a smile, if not laughing out loud. We had no idea what we were talking about. Apparently there are a lot of choices when ordering ramen at this shop and we were not prepared to make any of them, nor did we totally understand exactly what we were being asked. We eventually made it through. I am still not entirely sure what we ordered, but it was amazing. I hope I can find a way to order that same thing next time I go there. This place we went on Monday, and the place we went to on Sunday morning, are tied for my favorite ramen so far. I do have many more “famous” ramen shops to try though. I will keep you posted.

So Monday was successful. I ate well and got the few things I needed to do finished. Today was a nice day at work. It was a bit different this morning without our good friend Aska there to greet us but we managed to make it through the day without any stress. I hope tomorrow will be similar.

I am really getting excited for my trip to Malaysia though. My flight leaves Sunday around 430pm. I have been prepping some things and making lists, but I am sure packing will all happen last minute as it usually does. I dont think I am taking much so I should be fine. It is only a week trip. It is my first solo vacation trip though. I figure I have made it to Chile and Japan alone so I should be OK. Even though those were more longer term work trips. Either way I am excited, and a bit nervous. I cant wait.

So next week this time I should be working on a blog post to send out from Malaysia. Cant wait to be off work for a week and have some relaxation time. I am planning to camp out in Bako National Park with all the monkeys and other creatures. It will be my first time using my new tent!

Overall, if you haven’t noticed, I am stoked to get through this week and get to Malaysia. I hope you all have a good week. Feel free to message me whenever, seems like a few more people have been reading what I am writing so feel free to tell me what you think. Anyway, take care…. And thanks for reading