Bike Photo Tour - Minamikawachi

There are a bunch of small bike-only paths around Minamikawachi. Today I explored two of them, hoping to shave some time off my commute.

I left the house around nine. Outside my apartment is a scenic construction yard, complete with grinding machinery and steam vents:

Good morning, steam vent!

There are several Leo Palace buildings, all of which seem to be around some dubious industrial landmark. I guess that's why it's so cheap? Regardless I'm still fond of it, even if it obviously isn't a palace:

After leaving the palace I headed north. This street is pretty typical for the area - a narrow road with no sidewalk or shoulder, farms on either side:

A ways down the road is a graveyard. You can find your way there by the smell of incense.



I really want to poke around - but I don't want to be disrespectful to the people paying their respects. It's so beautiful, though.



Down a bit further is the first trail I wanted to check out. I didn't think anyone used these until a few days ago when I saw a tiny, uniformed middle schooler rattling down the trail.



Making my way down the trail would have been a lot faster if it were better maintained (maintained at all?) - regardless, at the end, I was surprised to find...



A mini peninsula of sorts! There were benches there next to a proper cement path that looped back towards the river.



On the way was a baseball field. All around the river Minamikawach...i...ans(?) were biking, having picnics, and generally enjoying life. It was fun to see.



Further along the path connected with the river bike trail proper. Look closely and you'll see a tiny man walking towards the bridge. He was very, very drunk.



Came out here. Ah! I'd seen this entrance a bunch of times before and had always wondered where it went. I continued towards Meji Mart. Chow time.



I wish I'd had a video camera - that man by the tree was practicing some sort of karate. It looked like he was fighting invisible ninjas! I got so caught up watching him I almost got hit by a car. Worth it.



I passed more farms, mountains in the distance. I wonder if any of those are good for hiking? I stopped at Hana Hana, a local patisserie.




People around here seem to have a fashion sense so honed it makes them impervious to heat. They'll walk around in the seventy five degree sun with leather jackets and sweatshirts on. I wore a light jacket in a vain attempt to fit in - though honestly it's not like I'm going to fool anyone.

I was getting crazy overheated, so I bought this "ICE KUCHEN" from a Hana Hana. I'm still not sure what it was, but it tasted kind of like green tea? I also bought an amazingly adorable little piece of strawberry cake which seemed to be the store specialty. I then scooted the bike over to Meji mart across the street...



Every store here has bike parking since most people either bike or ride scooters. I don't even bother locking my bike anymore - partially because it's a piece of crap but mostly because there's so little theft here.



Meji mart is a compact, fully featured supermarket. It has a surprisingly large produce selection as well as an awesome ready-to-eat section. For the moment I'm living off of the latter - got a bento full of fried things and some chopsticks for lunch and scooted my bad self on home.


Yes.


YES.



Headed back out after lunch to explore another small path. Those of you with common sense might note that eating a meal full of cake and fried things after three hours of biking then biking immediately after is a terrible idea. Didn't occur to me at the time.



This path took me through some awesome farms that all seemed to be teetering on the edge of decay. Accross the water you can see families picnicking. I eventually found my way to another, larger baseball field!



Mr. Hisano tells us that baseball is huge in Osaka - the Hanshin Tigers have some of the most spirited fans in the world. I hope I've got to get to a game. I dig that they still use parasoals here.

This path eventually curved back towards OUA. Before heading home I stopped at Family Mart:



Family Mart is a convenience store very similar to 7-11. This one is always filled with cool looking college dudes and dude-ettes.



Ah, that's what I wanted - sweet Pocari Sweat. "With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body."

It tastes kind of like melon and can be quite refreshing if you can get past the consistency which is... well... "close to that of human body fluid."

Gross. Delicious.

Refueled I made my way back to Leo Palace. I'm glad I took some more time to explore, even if none of the paths turned out to be secret shortcuts. Once classes start I probably won't have much time for leisurely bike rides.

Tomorrow we're going to finish up some logistical things, then Tuesday we register for classes. Exciting!