Hong Kong Hill Run

I managed to squeeze in a run yesterday morning in Hong Kong.  I ran from my hotel to almost to Victoria Peak.

This was the starting point - right by my hotel in the Central District of Hong Kong.

Looking up from MacDonnell Road Station of The Peak Tram.

Running up towards the peak looks like this towards the middle.

Looking towards the city.

I took some wrong turns - I then notice that there were no short cuts.

This is the view from right by The Peak Tower.

This is the view of HK Harbour from my hotel room.

Tokushima Run

I had an overnight trip to Tokushima City this week. It is in the same prefecture as the snowy mountain I visited not even three weeks ago, but the weather was so different. The temp. was already at 16 deg. C (60 deg. F) at 5:30 am this morning. I decided to run up Mt. Bizan, a small mountain in Tokushima.

Here's the mountain seen from just outside of my hotel.

This is one of many entrances ways to the mountain.

It was like a jungle in there - very steep hills.

There was a big rock on the way to the top with some memos engraved on it.

There was a nice park at the top - this is a gazebo that was given to the city of Tokushima by its sister city in the US, Saginaw, Michigan in 1989.

A statue of Wenceslau José de Sousa de Moraes.  He was a Portugese that lived in Japan from 1899 until his death in 1913.

A beautiful cherry flowers.

A view of Tokushima City from the mountain top.

Another view from the top.

A bad thing was that I forgot to bring my running shoes.  I did the climbing and running in my work shoes.

I finished my hill workout at this Shrine - Seimicho Kannon-ji. 

Cherry Blossom Photos 2012

I did not get to post my cherry blossom photos of this year, yet, so here are my best ones (so far).

The first two are from Chidorigafuchi - a part of the Imperial Moat on April 5.

Reflections were pretty on Inokashira Park pond on April 6.

Sankaku Koen (Park) right south of Inokashira Park - April 8.

Kanda River - April 8.

Fujimigaoka - April 8.

Asukayama Park seen from my office - April 9.

Nakanoshima, Osaka - April 10.

Osaka Castle seen from the other side of the moat - April 10.

Osaka Castle closer up - April 10.

Another Osaka Castle shot from a garden - April 10.

Asukayama Park seen from 14th floor of Hokutopia building.
Tokyo Skytree on the far left - April 11.

Inokashira Park after a storm of the night before - April 12.

Ducks on Inokashira Park - April 12.

The Benten Shrine in Inokashira Park - April 12.

"Sakura Fubuki" - cherry petal blizzard on Inokashira Pond - April 12.

"Sakura Fubuki" - cherry petal blizzard on Inokashira Pond - April 12.

Tree shadows on petals covering the surface of Inokashira Pond - April 12.

These flowers were still going well at Nishi En (West Park) of Inokashira - April 12.

Cherry blossoms are almost over in Tokyo now for it rained a lot again today.

Kazura Bashi

My collegues and I had time to go for a day trip to Tokushima Prefecture yesterday.

We first drove to Kazura Bashi (Suspension Bridge Made of Vines) in Iya.  This place was a visited by many people.  Here, tourists are crossing the bridge.

We decided to keep going up on the mountain to Niju Kazura Bashi (Double Vine Suspension Bridge) in Oku Iya (Inner Iya).  At this place, only one other party was visiting.

This turned out to be a treat for as we drove up, encountered snow. The bridge area was beautifully covered with it.

We could get down to the river and look up at them.

Water was very clear and cold - obviously made of melted snow.

Looking down into the valley - it was full of suspense to walk cross them.

Here's "saru bashi" Monkey Bridge - self propelled gondola to cross a valley.  It was fun to use it.

We also drove further up to Mt. Tsurugi, the tallest mountain of Tokushima. Unfortunately, we could not go up to the top for the mountain was closed for winter.

Osaka Nanko Run

"Nanko" means South Port and it is a part of Osaka Harbor made of reclaimed land.
I had a nice morning run there this morning.

I found my first cherry tree with reasonable amount of flowers - the first of this season.

There was a nice Bird Sanctuary, but unfortunately, its gate was closed.  I could only peek in through small windows at the north end.   It was a very peaceful place.

This strange building is a part of Osaka MariTime Museum.  It is actually connected to the entrance through an underwater tunnel.

The red truss bridge is Minato Ohashi (Great Harbor Bridge) - its span is 510 m and the total length is 980 m long.

Very close from my hotel was a harbor with a sailboat and a ferry.