New Year (Originally posted on 2023-Jan-2)

Last year was so not good. To be honest, it would be more accurate to say that last year was not good “either” since I have been saying that “last year was not so good” every year.

The root cause of my “not so good” feeling was that I spent whole the year idly every year, and I realized the fact when each year was over.

This is not that all years are the same. I was finally infected with COVID-19 last summer, so there were some changes in my life. Yet my life was still passive, and I have had a strong “same old” feeling. After all, COVID-19 did not change my life.

In addition, yesterday was the first day of the year, nevertheless I spent the day idly. I woke up in the afternoon and thought about picking up my New Year’s greeting cards from the mailbox, but I had never left my room. I thought about writing a blog but ended up not sitting down in front of my Mac all the day.

These accumulation of idly events from Day 1 will lead to another “not so good” year by the time of Day 365. I wonder if I can continue like this. I need to take some actions.

After some thoughts, I decided to buzz off my head. A buzz cut can be a refreshing enough to change of my mindset. It may seem trifling, but at least it gives me a sense of “having done something.”

It should be better than doing nothing at all.

Even if the “sense of having something done” turns out “sense of messing up something,” they are just a matter of good or bad, meaning that I have done something. It will lead to a break from the days of idleness, and will be a departure from “not so good”.

I will try to do something on my own initiative.

Admittedly this is something at low-level, but it is the first New Year’s resolution I have had in almost 30 years.

Memories of Kushiro (Originally posted on 2023-Feb-27)

Last year, a nationwide travel support program was implemented by Japanese government. It was a miraculous policy that the government provides subsidy for going out and having fun.

I had planned to visit to “Hozumi-tei” in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture to eat tai-meshi (sea bream rice) in last November, but I was an office worker indeed. Unfortunately, the timing of the trip was such that “being in the office itself is work” due to some visitors I was not directly interact with. It seemed absurd to me, but I had to accept reality and canceled the trip just in order to say “hi” to someone who would forget about me within a few minutes.

While I deplored my absurd misfortune, the travel support program was extended for one more month. I decided to go to Kushiro instead. I wished to see Kushiro Marsh in winter. An ambitious plan was made, in addition to Kushiro Marsh, I was going to take JR Senmo Line to Kawayu Onsen for an overnight stay, then heading further north to Abashiri and take a limited express train to Sapporo, whose cars were planned for replacement in this spring.

I have been visiting Kushiro about once in a while, partly because my favorite restaurant in Tokyo introduced me to an izakaya (Japanese style bar) in Kushiro.

On the day before my departure, a bomb cyclone was developed from the Sea of Japan to the Sea of Okhotsk, and Hokkaido Island was hit by heavy snowfall. I asked the owner of the izakaya in Kushiro for local weather, he told me that Kushiro was mixed of rain and snow. He also told me the roads in Kushiro were badly wet although not much of snow accumulated. On the other hand, according to JR Hokkaido’s website, limited express service between Abashiri and Sapporo 　 would likely be suspended due to the difficulty of snow removal work in inland mountain area.

It seemed absurd to me, but I had to accept reality and gave up on taking the limited express train from Abashiri. Instead, I would return to Kushiro, take different limited express to Sapporo as I already booked air ticket from Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Haneda. The night before departure, I made arrangements for various changes and set out for Kushiro wearing Gore-Tex sneakers as a precaution, which prevent water penetrating even if they get wet.

This was a mistake.

I had bought these shoes several years ago, it seemed that the soles of the shoes did not drain well, so they can be slippery depending on the surface. Especially wet tiles were bad, and I once slipped and fell at the entrance of my apartment building.

I had not taken this into consideration when I left my home. I should have imagined when the temperature drops, the badly wet road surface would be frozen. It was no surprise that shoes that slip on wet tiles would do the same on the ice or it could be even worse.

It was no problem in Kushiro Marsh because snow remained from the previous day, but the road surface in Kushiro town center was already frozen. Moreover, the temperature was below zero even during the daytime, so the road surface was kept slippery all the time. After having hard times walking and almost falling down several times in Kushiro, I tried to head for Kawayu Onsen. However, due to a fallen tree by heavy snow, the JR Senmo Line operation was suspended. Everything in Kushiro was absurd.

I had come all the way to Hokkaido, but staying at a budget hotel in the city for the rest of the night did not sound appealing. Besides, adding a night in Kushiro, where was no snowfall, would increase the risk of slipping on the ice surface and falling down. On the other hand, it would be foolish to advance the flight home for one day just because of the slippery shoes. All of them were absurd.

While grieving for absurdities, I managed to find an alternative onsen hotel in Akan Lake area. The gods of Kushiro saved me at the last minute.

It was too absurd to fall down because of poor drainage of the shoes, despite the fact that I had bought shoes that were made of water-resistant material. It was probably a warning from the gods of Kushiro that it was time to give up on the bad shoes.

I came to Kushiro by absurdity at work, but I could not escape from the absurdity even after arriving in Kushiro. I decided to buy a new pair of shoes after returning home and prepare for my next winter trip to Kushiro.

COLO’s Traveler Guide: Kushiro

The times are based on the timetable at the time of the visit.

Day 1

Tokyo Haneda 1135 (All Nippon Airways ANA741) >> Kushiro 1310

– Kushiro Marsh (Onnenai Visitor Center)

Overnight stay: Kushiro Prince Hotel

Dinner: Shubo Chiba

Tips for Day 1
– According to weather forecast the day before, it was predicted sunny only on this day. After much of thoughts, I requested a sightseeing (time charter) taxi from the airport to Kushiro Marshlands and then to Kushiro City. However, it turned out to be cloudy. Good Grief…

Day 2

Kushiro Station 0855 (local bus) >> Onnenai 0940

– Kushiro Marsh (Onnenai Visitor Center)

Onnenai 1218 (local bus) >> Kushiro Station 1310
Kushiro Station 1450 (local bus) >> Lake Akanko Onsen 1650

Overnight stay: La Vista Akan River

Tips for Day 2
– In the morning, I took a local bus to Kushiro Marsh. Buses are infrequent, but the schedule allowed about 2.5 hours to stay in the Marsh area. This was enough for a good walk and have a little extra time. There is a seating space inside the Onnenai Visitor Center for waiting return bus. It is quite comfortable.
– The journey from Kushiro Station to Lake Akanko was supposed to take two hours according to the timetable, but due to the snow, it took about two and a half hours. The bus was a standard route bus, and the long ride was hard on my legs and backs.

Day 3

Lake Akanko Onsen 1020 (local bus) >> Kushiro Station 1220
Kushiro 1342 (JR Limited Express Ozora 8) >> Minami Chitose 1729
Minami Chitose 1735 (JR) >> New Chitose Airport 1739
Sapporo New Chitose 2120 (All Nippon Airways ANA084) >> Haneda 2300

Tips for Day 3
– The return bus from Lake Akanko Onsen was crowded. On this morning, a sightseeing bus was assigned so that I could return to Kushiro Station easily and everyone on board got seated. The local bus company, Akan Bus, did a wonderful job.

Memories of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Just after arriving Croatia, I encountered a thunderstorm on Walls of Dubrovnik and paid the entrance fee twice just within a few hours in the afternoon. However, the tragedy on the first day was not only the entrance fee, which costed me over 11,000 yen.

Although I avoided the peak season in August, Dubrovnik was crowded. I had difficulties making restaurant reservations on weekend nights, so I had to make a reservation at a Michelin-listed restaurant on the day of arrival, which was a weekday. While I elegantly enjoyed at the most fashionable and expensive restaurant of the entire trip, I received text message on WhatsApp.

It said that due to last-minute cancellation of other guests, the one-day tour to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the following day would be cancelled. It was already after 21:00.

I had visited Bosnia and Herzegovina on an one-day tour from Dubrovnik during my last visit to this region, the mosques in Bosnia and Herzegovina were so impressive that I was looking forward to revisiting them with recently purchased wide-angle lens. There were two mosques I wished to visit. One of them was in Mostar, a famous tourist town, and could be reached by ordinary buses. However, the other one was located where I could not imagine how I can visit.

I was already feeling gloomy as I paid the entrance fee for Walls of Dubrovnik twice before the dinner, but I felt even gloomier when I heard this. Besides, I ordered the tasting menu and wine pairings, which caused the dinner was rather hectic. I was explained everything on food and wine, but I was distracted. While having the dinner, I tried to find buses but I could not find one. However, I could not give up visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina after coming to Dubrovnik, the border was just ahead.

In the end, at around 21:30, I searched for a tour and found a web site that still accepting reservations for the next day. I was skeptical but I completed the reservation. I immediately received a WhatsApp message. It was the same tour company that had cancelled my initial reservation… Good Grief!

The itinerary of the tour was not much different from the cancelled one, but instead of visiting to a Christian pilgrimage site called Medjugorje, I would be going to see waterfalls. Also, the tour itinerary has shorter stay in Mostar, but I thought it was an unavoidable compromise.

I was picked-up early in the morning at 6:30. Apparently, the waterfalls were more popular than the pilgrimage site for tourists, the tour bus was nearly full. After leaving Croatia, we first visited to Kravica Waterfall. I did not expect much, but it was quite spectacular. The weather was still bad from yesterday, but this might be a positive effect that there were no swimmers. There were buoys set up to segregate the swimming area, which eventually showed up in the pictures, but I could have Adobe Lightroom’s AI to erase them later.

After spending an hour at the waterfall, the tour headed to a village called Pocitelj. The mosque here was wonderful and I wanted to revisit.

Despite it was planned to stay there only for 20 minutes, the bus arrived just before the worship time around noon. When I visit a mosque, I always like to see it from the same perspective as the worshippers. So if possible, I try to sit on the floor and look up inside the mosque. While I sat down on the floor after I took pictures, the imam started the service. I was not asked to leave, I remained to sit in the corner for a while. It was quite secular, with an old man smiling at me and a child walking around. Although it was a short time, it was interesting visit.

Last town of the tour was Mostar. As is common in this kind of tour, guests were taken to a restaurant. I had no high expectations, but a traditional local dish like tomato risotto was delicious. The beef soup I separately ordered was gold-color and also tasted good. It was about a tenth of the price of last night’s fancy restaurant, but twice as tasty.

I finished the meal quickly and went to an old mosque. I remembered the last time I was sitting in this mosque, I talked with the imam who happened to be there, and he said he was grateful to the respects I paid among other tourists roundly talked each other.

The visit at this time was during a heavy shower. The mosque was completely deserted despite this was one of the country’s most popular tourist places. Including the time for taking pictures, I was able to quietly observe the mosque for about 30 minutes. Moreover, I was able to climb the minaret, a spire attached to the mosque, for an extra fee. It is probably rare for a mosque to show this much to non-Moslems.

When I heard of tour cancellation the night before, I had a really sinking feeling. In the end, I was able to recover and fully enjoy the short visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is important not to give up on anything. I usually do not reach such conclusion. Nevertheless, I can have such a positive attitude while traveling.