Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Shots of Izu

The other weekend Kiyomi and I drove down to spend time with her brother at the Pension that he works at. Great little place with some fantastic food. Nice and close to the beach and a really good deal overall I thought... would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going down to Shimoda/Izu area.

It was my first trip down there, and I was really surprised with the place. Nice beaches (not like the filth in Kanagawa) and clear blue water with cliffs just dropping off into the ocean. It was great. Get down if you have't been yet!

The temperature was completely different from Canada, and you can see that it was around 20 degrees with people surfing at the beach. Not as busy as the Shonan area, but really good waves comparatively to what I had ever seen there.





Trek Madone 5.0



Well a few of you had asked to see what I am riding right now. This year I did pick up a new bike to commute on, and hopefully begin to do some longer rides in the near future. Well I guess that will not be until it gets a bit warmer now, like in the spring. Anyhow the bike is a TREK 5.0 (2007 Model). I got it this summer at my favorite bike shop... seocycle. See previous links.

The bike is:
Carbon frame (Forks and Seat post)
Ultegra Brakes, Shifters, Driver Shaft

The bike rides really nicely. A lot more conservative than my old one, but it really is quite a bit quicker than my last bike. Just more refined. Which over a longer ride is a good thing, more comfort, and better average speed. The real huge differene is when I climb. When it goes up hill it is amazing, just the feeling of it really climbing. Is totally amazing. I can"t explain it... unless you try, and I recommend that you do.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Plac Mobile

Thought I would treat you all to another pic of the little ole' plac mobile. It did a good little job over the weekend and drove us down to Shimoda... pics of that to follow.

Niagra on the Lake - Wine Tasting



After going to the falls we went around Niagra on the lake. A small little tourist village (town?) with a good bit of history. (yeah yeah Ward... not as old as Belgium). Had lunch in a little old pub that was about 200+ years old. Good food and a great local beer as well. The honey brown lagers that are made in Canada now are really good. If you are in Southern Ontario I really recommend trying one.

After the pub we wandered around the town then did a little bit of wine tasting. Here is a one of the wineries that we went to. The cabernet merlots here were very nice, although not that cheap. But were a pretty good tipple.

Niagra Falls

On my last full day in Canada for this trip we had good enough weather (until later in the day) to get out to Niagra falls and enjoy a bit of sightseeing. It had been pretty crap and unpredictable for most of the time prior to this, so this was basically the first free day that I could get out and check out the falls. Although I have been to Niagra Falls many times, it still is a pretty amazing sight to see. The volume of water, and the sound is amazing. If you are going close to Toronto you would be pretty remiss not to head out to Niagra Falls. Am I right Randy?





Basically any season is good to go to the falls, but it can be pretty cold in the dead of winter. Although going in the winter is one of the best memories that I have of the falls. They don't freeze over but you do see ice forming around them. Also you have all the buildings and street lamps around the falls covered in a couple of centimetres of ice. A pretty cool sight. But like I said, when I went in the winter it was cold... and Kiyomi and I felt like we were freezing our asses off!

Toronto Was Cold and Snowy Too!


I don't want to give you the idea that it was just Barrie that had snow... we were cold in the big T.O. as well. Infact this day walking by the lake was nice and sunny but certainly while walking into the wind you would feel how cold it would be. My winter jacket is really warm, or I thought it was, until this latest trip to canada. I guess it just goes to show you really how cold it gets in Canada and how well you have to be prepared!!

I guess this is also one of the things that you have to consider when living in a place like Toronto. The cost of winter. You have increased heating, and also increased cost of your wardrobe. All in all in Japan, we really don't need that big of a change of clothing in the Fall/Winter time frame. By the time summer rocks around folks (blessedly the ladies ;)) are wearting as little as possible. Lets face it, shorts cost a lot less than a three layer winter jacket. And even expensive sandles are cheaper than a good pair of winter boots!

But then again, there is a certain majesty and beauty to winter too.