its raining at Lake Shikotsu
its raining at Lake Shikotsu, originally uploaded by Helen K.
weather
Wet Kym
Mission Accomplished
Riding Bikes in Shanghai, originally uploaded by kdt.
A proud owner of a wool and cashmere tailored suit is writing this post! It was one of my goals of this trip to buy a tailored suit. It is quite an experience, not because of the flourish but rather the ruthless efficiency. We arrived there sweaty (long and some times lost walk from the Metro station) and within 15 minutes I had selected my fabric and been measured up. That was Sunday, they had three days to finish the suit because it need to be ready by Wednesday. So another fitting was booked in for Tuesday and with pickup on Wednesday.
I am impressed, Dave’s Custom Tailoring managed it. The two subsequent visits were also less than 15 minutes.
Our second visit involved us riding our bikes from our B&B to the shop through the centre of Shanghai. I suspect we are amongst a few select customer’s of Dave’s that have arrived by bike. Usually customers arrive in large black European cars or at worst a cab. But no matter, the kind guard at the gate looked after our bikes.
After the second fit, we rode our bikes to the Metro station to catch a train so Helen could give a thumbprint…. Hey Helen when is that story going to be posted?
The second half of the ride was in three words… wet, Wet, WET! I wish I had bought those emergency ponchos I mused about during the Kathmandu sale. Oh well. Riding in Shanghai traffic with one hand on the handlebar and one holding an umbrella is amusing. We didn’t catch a chill though because it was way too hot.
All up we rode about 21kms that day.I have embedded a google map to show our route (so you may need to visit our webpage to see it blog.hmkdt.id.au). You may need to zoom out a couple of levels to see our route.
I bikes were almost brand new and the seats were so low even Helen complained! We got plenty of stares and an occasional smile. We managed to stop an entire worksite as would stood at the side of the road trying to work out where we were. No one offered us their ponchos though.
View of Shanghai… cloudy and rain
We’ve been on holiday a week now…. and I can truthfully say it is hot. It is not just hot, it is humid too. It is the kind of weather where you are so hot the sweat is dripping down your back while you are walking.
Even when it rains, it isn’t cool and doesn’t last very long. It reminds me of someone coming along with a bucket of water and tipping it out. If you get wet (and you will because it starts so quickly you haven’t managed to get your umbrella out quick enough), your clothes are dry within 30 minutes, and you are wishing it would rain again.
However, we have seen the wild weather that is currently off the South Coast of China, and hoping that it doesn’t affect Shanghai at least until next weekend, after we’ve left. I’m being slightly selfish as if it rains my shoes, my feet will get wet.
…Well the above was written on the train a couple of days ago while it was hot, and sultry. I take it all back as it is continuing to rain, and rain, and rain. It is the kind of rain where umbrellas aren’t very effective in keeping you dry. However, the days have commenced with a good outlook, but by the afternoon the rain is firmly set in place. According to the weather reports, the rain should be decreasing tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
It started to rain in Hiroshima
….so we spent a few hours in the Peace Museum located near-by.
From listening to weather reports… the cloud is coming over Japan from China… fingers crossed for a smooth crossing on the ferry on Friday to South Korea.
On bikes again
In Himeji.
It was raining when we arrived. We spent most of the afternoon exploring the shops, underground walkways, and getting lost. Thankfully the weather the next day was a lot clearer (sky tends to clear up around 9:30ish), and we hired the free bikes from the hotel. Yeah free bikes are great.
Himeji is a grid city like Adelaide and dead easy to get around. We cycled up to the castle, and around the town before catching the afternoon train to Hiroshima.
Itinerary is printed and complete…
After a couple hours of adding details of which libraries to visit in Japan sitting in the afternoon sunshine… the itinerary is now complete and printed. Hooray!
Only time left to panic regarding clothing. The weather in Japan and South Korea varies from 10 degrees to 20. Although the links from our blog tells me that currently it feels more like 9.
At least the shops are open tomorrow if I get desperate.
