Hiking & Belly Dancing

Last year a few teachers and myself tried to conquer Mt. Hyono sen, the biggest mountain in the Hyogo prefecture. However due to the typhoons and landslides, we could only make it halfway.

So this year we decided to try again and I found myself up at 6am on a freezing Saturday morning getting ready for round 2. We were foiled again with the forecast of rain in that area. Hyono sen - 1. Us - 0. So instead we drove to Arima (famous for Arima Onsen) and hiked all the way up Mt. Rokko. It was so steep, so terribly cold and I was so knackered. Only the thought of exercise being good for me and keeping warm kept me going.

Mushrooms - just like in Mario!

We took a break for lunch - onigiri (I actually got organised and made my own, Chinese red wine, hot instant noodles and camenbert with fruit & nut bread - then trekked it up to the very top (931 metres). The view was really nice, you could see all of Ashiya and Rokko Island..or was it Port Island? After we made our way down a carpet of crunchy, burnt orange leaves, we walked around Arima and went to some-place-I-forgot-the-name-of and had zenzai (hot, sweet red bean soup with mochi) and green tea sitting under the brilliant red, Autumn leaves.

I was so tired after the drive home all I could think of was "hot shower, eat, sleep." But then I got a message from Hana and met up her, Sam, Leigh, Miwako and Farah later that evening for dinner in Sanners. We went to a restaurant called Istanbul (ahhh greasy hot chips and kebabs in Northbridge) and had a delicious dinner of bread, various dips, Turkish red wine and LAMB!!! The lamb was so good. The place is nice and cosy, the owner/chef is really friendly and the food was great. They also have fruit flavoured 'Mizu Tabako' - hookah/shisha. Just remember to make a reservation because the place was quite small so we had to sit along the counter.

Also it just so happened that some belly dancing action was going to happen after 8pm. The lights go dim, the music starts and this chick comes out and performs, then gets customers up to give it a go. Never one to refuse a dance off invitation, Sammy B was up there doing it like a pro. We even think he showed the girl a few new moves. There's always entertainment to be had when Sam hits the dancefloor! After some Turkish coffee and apple tea (it was so good I bought a tin of it from the guy) we headed home.


I had such a fun night. Good food (oh lamb!), great company, delcious apple tea - Thanks for dropping me a line, Hana!