Biei 2

Breakfast was almost European. We got scrambled eggs, cocktail sausages, salad, potato, bread roll, quarter of a grapefruit, orange juice and coffee. For spreads we had butter and honey, probably local. There was additional toast. A nice change from rice and pickles in the mornings.  But the Japanese have a strange habit of putting mayonaise on things, in this case the potato.

Yuke was heading out to Obihiro and we said goodbye. I took a short walk in the vicinity of the hostel. 

Then I rented a bike from the hostel for 4 hours, taking the scenic route recommended by the hostel last night starting from the northeast. Some of the spots are recognisable from TV commercials and Japanese seek them out to take pictures at. They have names like Parents and Child Trees, Ken and Mary Tree, and so forth.

The bicycle chain slipped off due to my inexpert handling of the gears and I got my fingers greasy fixing it. I tired easily because I had not cycled for a long time.  It didn't help that I had a mama bike, meant for grocery shopping in the city. 

I went through the centre of Biei and headed out southwest to more scenic spots. But I got attracted by a bike path along the river and forgot about the scenic spots. The gradient is sure to be gentle next to a river or canal.  I had a great time freewheeling downhill. Whee!  It reminded me of days of cycling after work in Amsterdam.

I had a bowl of udon at an outdoor stall near the station, with lots of scallions. Lunch was finished off with a chocolate soft icecream.  Unfortunately the last stretch was uphill and I was exhausted when I handed the bike in.

Femke arrived with another hosteller from Asahidake, Koichi, who had lived outside of Japan since 15. Later that evening, he expounded his theory of the Parents and Child Trees photo spot phenomenon. Japanese workers' lives are so regimented and the real world is filtered through TV so it is their fantasy to visit where the commercial was filmed to escape their working lives. Thus for the sake of the collective psyche, it is very important that those trees exist.