Tsukuba marathon 2014

The time was last Sunday, 9:40am. I had just left the dormitory and was on my way to church. As I neared the crossing, this sight met my eyes.

Then I realised, this must be the Tsukuba marathon that was being advertised all over the city for the past two weeks!

As you can see from the photo, there were heaps of people. Doing a bit of research, I learned that there were apparently 13,763 participants this year. And they just so happen to run almost full circle around the block upon which my dorm is situated. At the time when church was about to begin, on the day I just so happened to be running late. I took these pictures while standing there at the crossing, waiting 5 minutes for an opening to cross. I must say, it was a sight to behold. Maybe I'll join in as a participant one year. 

Down, but not out.

My dad and I made a meal together for a change. I made the pork and cabbage dish, my dad grilled the mackerel and made the soup. We make a great team. Also, I'm loving Japan. 

I am so sorry for failing to update my blog >.< I genuinely mean it when I say that contrary to what the deadness of my space appears to indicate, each time I did something or went somewhere, I always thought "I just have to share this!" It just so happens to be that somewhere in between that thought coming to mind and getting myself to actually put my thought into action, that link is broken. Well, I have decided, that will happen no more. Gesta non verba. Walk the walk. Faith in practice. I realised that no matter where I went, the message remained the same. What has changed during  is my perception.

One catalyst for the change has been from my dad. I have always sought to build a quality blog. That has been a major obstacle to me beginning the writing process, because needles to say, perfection takes time. So I couldn't bring myself to start. But my dad pointed out that having something is better than nothing. So I was persuaded. I'll start with quantity, and then move towards quality. Diamonds weren't made in a day, and books (usually) aren't composed overnight.

From now on, less talk, more walk! You'll hear from me again soon. 

Trip to Nikko

Road trip to Nikko, Tochigi. My dad and I have been to Nikko before, but there were a few places we didn't get around to visit. Also, my mum went for the first time. Our primary purpose for visiting this time, was to enjoy the natural surrounds of Nikko.

Day 1

Took the Iroha zaka to get there. This stretch of road featured in Tokyo Drift. Having said that, we were a bit more careful with the rentacar.

On the way, we came across a fleet of Ferarris.

A quick stopover for some mushroom soup, made from mushrooms sourced locally.

On the other side of Iroha zaka, we were greeted with this beautiful scene...

And beautiful dishes like this. I ordered roast rainbow trout, caught in the lake featured above (which so happens to be right next to the restaurant where we ate lunch at)

After lunch, some hiking around the highlands. Arguably, the landscape looks better in spring or summer.

"Dragon falls". Can you spot the dragon?

Next stop, Yudaki Falls. Vehicle entry cost 500 yen, motorbike entry cost 100 yen, bicycle and pedestrian entry was free. For the way they kept and managed the site, the contribution paid was almost too little.

There was a 40-minute hiking course around the surrounds of Yudaki falls. Apparently there are deer and bears in the area. They say if you come across a bear, don't make any sudden movements. And definitely don't approach a baby bear, or else be prepared to fight for your life with an overprotective mother bear who is bound to be nearby. Fortunately we didn't come across any bears. Unfortunately, we didn't come across any deer either.

It actually started lightly snowing while we were hiking. After coming back, we indulged in some more of the regions specialty, mushroom soup.

At night, we stayed over at the Sachinoko Hotel. I loved it. It was right next to the lake, and although at night we couldn't see anything, the view that greeted us in the morning was excellent. And the early morning lakeside stroll before departing was refreshing.

What topped it all off was the dinner time menu.

Nikko is famous for its "Yuba" - simply put, tofu skin. In the dinner menu, there was Yuba in virtually every possible cooking form included - deep fried yuba, yuba sashimi, yuba in miso soup, yuba and crab meat roll, stewed yuba, you name it. There was even a rainbow trout thrown in for kicks. They didn't hold anything back. And we didn't order it specially either - this is what they offer to all their guests apparently. Which got me wondering - if you played all your cards in the dinner on the first night, what do you do about successive nights? I actually asked them that question, cause I wanted to find out. The person serving us sheepishly replied that they just make do by changing the variety somehow. Something along the lines of using the same ingredients to make different dishes. Having said that though, most of their guests tend to be one nighters anyway so it's not that big of an issue. We also only stayed for one night. And I would be happy to come back and stay here again.

Day 2

This was a part of the view that greeted us from out the window when we woke up the next day. Red leaves right next to the lake. The lake was behind me in this photo.

After leaving the hotel, our first stop was Kegon falls. It's famous for its size. Apparently a hundred metres long.

There is a free viewing deck where you can look at it from a distance from the top down, but in order to view it close up, you can purchase a ticket to ride the lift that takes you to the bsae of the waterfall. I don't think they offer a walking trail to get down there. To build the lift, they actually drilled 100m down into solid bedrock. There must have been a reason to bother with so much effort.

We didn't know till we arrived, but apparently if you go around 8-9am, you can see a rainbow formed by the angle of the sun coming in and the spray from the waterfall. We were glad we visited early in the morning. The rainbow was already beginning to dip, but we caught it just in time. It was amazing.

After that, we went to another waterfall, Kirifuri falls.

For some reason, this is the closest vantage point you're allowed to reach. The view was spectacular, though. And also, entry was free :)

On our way back we stopped over at this amazing site. It's the Grand Kinugawa tateiwa suspension bridge. It actually connects to several other popular sightseeing spots within walking distance, but due to recent avalanche activity, the road was blocked off.

Picture taken from the bridge. Can you see the face formed by the rock feature?

While looking around for places that appear good to visit, we came across a place called Edo Wonderland. Just the name itself sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it? We decided to check it out, and see what exactly makes it a Wonderland.

We arrived at the entrance, and this sight greeted us.

Still doesn't give away much about what it is, does it. We found out that in fact, this place was more like a theme park. Think Disneyland or Universal Studios. The theme for this theme park, was Edo Japan.

We would have gone in, except the entry ticket was priced comparable to (although considerably cheaper than) Disneyland. Even with a price like that, during the 15 minutes or so we wandered around, a lot of people purchased tickets and entered. I guess there's value for money. After a bit of research, I discovered that you can do dress ups and become a ninja, common townsfolk, samurai, rounin, geisha (women), daughter of a warrior class family (women), and many more. There are performances, DIYs, and various attractions. It appears that this is a place where you come to not so much for rides and an adrenaline rush, as much as to experience traditional Japan. By the looks of the visitors, it's popular with Japanese and foreigners alike.

Outside the theme park was a place selling various merchandise. I got a photo with the shopkeeper who was dressed like a townsfolk from the Japanese olden days.

A little tip for those driving to Edo Wonderland. The parking fee the site charges is 870 yen. It's not unreasonable, but there's a cheaper option just down the road. Look for the Palladium giant maze. From memory, parking there was 300 yen. It's literally just down the road from Edo Wonderland. I don't know how Japanese people work out their economics. To a foreigner, from a competition point of view, the price difference in parking fees is just nonsense. There's no obligation to go visit the maze if you park there, by the way. Although by social etiquette, it makes sense to drop by if you use their car park. The entry for the maze is 800 yen for adults. I would much prefer paying 800 yen for participating in a maze than for using a car park. They have a challenge where if you can complete it within 20 minutes, you get a prize. The next time I go by car, I'll park at the Maze site, complete the maze in 20 minutes, then go to Edo Wonderland.

So that's a rundown of our trip to Nikko. Aside from the places we went to this time, Nikko is famous for its three World Cultural Heritage Listed sites. We've been there before, just that I never posted about it.. Hope to gather the photos together from the previous visit some time.

(ad)mission: complete

It's been a while since I published my last vlog. To be precise, the last time was when I moved into my new accommodation. And so was the time before that.

So in continuing that tradition, here is my fourth vlog, about… you guessed it. I'll let it do the rest of the explaining.

Happy Japanese New Year!

Before I know it, it's been one year since setting foot in Japan as Australia represent, as a foreign student. If I'd remained in Australia, I would have been currently two-thirds of the way to becoming a high school teacher at UNSW, still involved in CBS and at my church back at ALLC. I probably would have still learned and grown much, but the things God has taught me this year in a foreign country, separated from all my friends and Christian brothers and sisters, has been beyond comparison, and acquiring a new language is only the tip of the iceberg. I've been able to spend more time with my parents, my dad in particular, than ever before (in my conscious memory), learn and teach the gospel in Japanese, make friends with excellent people from all over the world (34 countries in my program alone), and been challenged in my walk with God separated from my Christian brothers and sisters who have been such a crucial element of my growth in my faith. It's been an unforgettable year, and it fills me with anticipation for just what God has in store from here.

With the beginning of April comes the beginning of a new year in Japan. The calendar year here begins on January 1st like anywhere else, but in Japan, April is when the academic year and the workplace year is regarded to begin. And as a side note, this year the consumer tax also rose (three per cent, from 5 to 8) beginning April 1. The lines at the shops on March 31st were unbelievable, everywhere I went.

Anyway, the reason why April is the unofficial first month of the year, is because that's when the cherry blossom trees bloom. Traditionally, cherry blossoms have been an iconic symbol of Japan. The flowers of the cherry blossom tree are famous for blooming before the leaves appear, and then falling off a mere few days after bloom. The beautiful but short life of the blossoms have been traditionally associated with mortality, a concept closely tied with Buddhism and with traditional Japanese philosophies. More lately though, it's more wrapped up in pop culture, with pink coloured goods appearing ubiquitously in the spring time under the pretense of a cherry blossom theme, all the way from rice cakes and red bean buns, to McDonalds burgers and Starbucks.

Photo of a cherry blossom themed burger from Maccas - photo taken from http://wonderfulrife.blogspot.jp/2014/03/mcdonalds-sakura-teritama-burger.html

My mum and I took a stroll down our nearby Ebigawa River, known for having the most cherry blossom trees in the entire Chiba Prefecture (500 trees along the riverbank).

Cherry blossom trees blooming, on land and in the water. There were large numbers of large sized koi swimming around too.

Cherry blossom trees in Chiba Prefecture still havent quite reached full bloom, but they were beautiful nevertheless.

Curious noses meeting for the first time!

The local turtles have also come out to greet the new year.

Happy Japanese New Year!

Polyphasic sleep cycle 2.0 - Day 10

Progress at-a-glance

End of day 10*

• Mental alertness: 9.5
• Physical energy level: 9.5
• Quality of sleep: 10

*On this scale, 10 represents my original state prior to beginning this experiment.

Detailed comments

One up on my first attempt at this polyphasic sleep cycle experiment, I've stuck it out till the tenth day. The last ten days, as well as the six days of experimenting on my first attempt, have been a real learning experience for me in terms of sleep patterns. What all of you are probably most interesting in knowing is whether I'm going to continue or not, so I'll get the most important question out of the way first. Based on the insights I've gained into adopting the Uberman sleep cycle into your lifestyle, I don't think it's the one for me. So now that my experimental period has finished, I'm not going to be continuing this 30 minute nap per 4 hours stint any longer.

Having said that, I can't rule out the possibility that I won't be utilising the Uberman sleep cycle ever again. I can only say that the sacrifices made to social interaction and my food choices are not worth the extra time gained through more hours awake. I caused much inconvenience to others during my experimental period, first to my family while I stayed with them for the entirety of my first attempt, and secondly to friends during our time spent away from the dorm on my second attempt. I had to find a place to sleep every four hours, and being out with friends for more than four hours at a time is not uncommon. So that often meant I had to find the waiting room in a department store, or rent out a room at karaoke, and sometimes even going to a restaurant and sleeping in the restaurant for 30 minutes before I ate, during which they would have been restricted in how animated their conversation would be, and by the time I started eating, they had long finished and was waiting for me. On top of that, I had to time when I would eat carefully, because if I ate too close to my next nap time, or too much in one sitting, I would either not be able to fall asleep, or not be able to wake up. Eating carefully often meant choosing a dish with little or no meat when I would have usually ordered a meat dish, and having restricted my meat intake over the past fifteen days or so, I sorely miss eating a good old steak, or hot dogs.

I also wanted to clarify the factors that do not contribute to my decision to stop my polyphasic sleep cycle. What did not deter me was my alertness levels. During the initial transition period of maybe 5 days, I was indeed in a haze. But after I'd gotten used to it, and definitely for the last five days, I've been feeling and operating quite normal. I've been keeping up with everyone else during class time, interacting normally after class and when going out, and physically work out at the gym. My mental state has also stabilised, with a healthy appetite (and healthy meals), regular bowel movements, standard ability to think as mentioned during class time and in social interaction previously, and not to mention quality of sleep being better than ever before, because I'd enter REM sleep so quickly. Not being able to eat meat definitely made me begin to miss it, but I would not dare say cutting meat out of your diet is a bad thing - healthwise, I in fact fully endorse it (assuming you make up for it with other foods).

There are still a lot of things I wanted to find out before I stopped this experiment, but my sudden termination at this point in time is due to a sudden change in circumstances. Aikido wasn't scheduled to begin until next week, but we were notified that the sensei was available to come in on Thursday this week so an impromptu practice session was held, and everyone was strongly recommended to attend. It's impolite to excuse yourself from practice before the sensei, and all the more strange to explain to everyone that my reason is "I need to go sleep now". As I stated was a major disadvantage of this polyphasic sleep cycle was the impact it had on social relationships. I've had enough of that for now so rather than having to explain to everyone at Aikido what my sleeping program is about all over again, I've decided to wrap up my sleep experiment the night before Aikido starts up again. However, as a result, I haven't been able to find out what effect this sleep cycle might have on muscle repair after physical training, as well as how much flexibility I have in delaying my nap times. I also would have liked to have had more time trying to accommodate my sleep cycle into the semester, since I've only had three days so far.

Taking it all into consideration, maybe the college student phase of life isn't the best time to implement such a routine. After all, how many people don't value their social interaction? Generally speaking, one off (and annual) events, Aikido training sessions, and amusement park rides don't work around your schedule, you have to make time for them. Add to that exam period, interviews, part time jobs and such, and aiming to get 30 minutes of sleep every four hours becomes slightly unrealistic. It is arguable that student life is freedom compared to work life, but I've underestimated the number of things that take place during this time which are not flexible, and I suspect many other people do too. Of course, one option is to leave parties early, never attend lunch with people from Aikido, make friends with people who don't mind waiting while you take 30 minute naps during day trips/overnight trips, and restrict yourself to working part time jobs that don't exceed three hours at a time. But that to me, isn't worth the extra time gained. I wanted to gain the extra time to be able to spend it with people, not inconvenience them. On the other hand, I think salesmen and businessmen could pull off such a stint quite well. Actually, anyone who is actually truly free to dictate what fills up their time. If you work from home, like my inspiration for starting this sleep experiment Steve Pavlina does, it's easy to accommodate a 30 minute nap every four hours, and exponentially increase productivity (or to make more time to invest in your social life).  Maybe as a missionary, this polyphasic sleep cycle might also work out really well, since they seem to have almost complete freedom over how their time is used. But my conclusion for the time being, is that college life is not flexible enough to make the Uberman sleep cycle rewarding. In a society where people don't sleep polyphasically, either make everyone make the transition (good luck), or stop sleeping polyphasically yourself.

But just because I've abandoned the Uberman sleep cycle doesn't mean I'll settle for going back to exactly the same seven hour monophasic sleep routine I was on before. Through this experimental period, I've learned to take 30 minute naps, which I've never done in my life previously. I've discovered they work quite effectively, and they fit quite easily into your routine if you plan it out well enough. Every four hours is a little unrealistic, but one nap during lunchtime or even after class to 'top up' energy stores sounds like a great idea, so I'm going to experiment with either biphasic or triphasic for a little while. Though I call it an experiment, I won't be officially documenting it on my blog this time. Biphasic and triphasic sleep cycles aren't anywhere near as ridiculous as polyphasic sleep cycles, and also not anywhere near as rare to find. Its realistic nature is precisely why I'm choosing it, actually. This way, I can theoretically sleep only 4.5 to 5 hours each day where I initially required 7 to feel well rested, and still function normally. The idea is instead of sleeping one 7 hour block in a 24 hour period, to sleep a 4 hour core block, then add one or two 30 minute naps during the day when I feel I need it and when my schedule allows. That, I think, is much more realistic.

So my apologies to all my readers who have been following my progress avidly, and it's been gradually brought to my attention just how many people are actually interested in reading about my silly antics. I didn't really expect it, but thanks to you all for your support. Though our sleep patterns are all different, I hope my brief stint as a guinea pig has given you some insight into what it might be like to sleep polyphasically, without actually having to subject yourself to it. If you ever become a businessman or a missionary however, feel free to extend my experiment, though do so at your own risk.

For now, it's goodbye, but not forever. Looking forward to how my five hour sleep days work out :)

Polyphasic sleep cycle 2.0 - Day 9

Progress at-a-glance

End of day 9*

• Mental alertness: 10
• Physical energy level: 9.5
• Quality of sleep: 10

*On this scale, 10 represents my original state prior to beginning this experiment.

Detailed comments

Second day of the winter semester is now over, and one day to go before my designated experiment evaluation date. I felt excellent today, both physically and mentally. Since the university gym opened at the beginning of the new semester yesterday, I've even been doing around half an hour of strength training each night, and I've been able to train without any adverse sensations. I'm feeling slightly sore right now from my training session yesterday night, but that's because I did next to no exercise over the Christmas and new year's break. Let's see how long it takes for my muscle soreness to go away, with only three hours sleep spread over half hour segments every four hours each day. I might add that I'm planning on continuing my 30 minute physical training routine every day. So onto my usual daily breakdown of progress.

Between my 12am nap and my 4am nap today, I was feeling extremely sleepy. The whole time was spent writing a single blog post that you saw posted this morning. During its writing, I nodded off numerous times, sometimes for over 20 minutes (my computer is set to automatically go to sleep after 20 minutes). Other times, I'd wake up to find my screen literally looking like thiseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrenerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrru73333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Needless to say, I wasn't exactly top of the world at that time. I probably should have taken an additional nap during that time, but it appears I was too tired to think of doing such a thing.

Between my 4am and my 8am naps, I took a shower, ate a big bowl of salad (cherry tomatoes, seaweed and cucumber with self-made salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, chilli sauce based dressing), cleaned my room a bit, and did some kanji homework.

From 8:30am till 11:40am, we had class as usual. I was supposed to, like yesterday, duck back to my room during the hour long lunch break and take a nap then eat some food, but since we had a free period after lunch today, and since normal university students at TUFS don’t begin classes until Friday of this week which meant that Aikido today (and Thursday this week) was moved to 10:30-12pm, I went with a fellow foreign student also doing Aikido with me to drop by their practice session and say hello. Unexpectedly (though on hindsight I should have expected it), we were invited to go have lunch together, particuarly since they were on holidays and we didn't have third period which meant we were free till 2:20pm. I didn't quite know how to refuse without having to give them a long explanation of my back story, which I wasn't convinced they needed to know, so I figured I'd just have a small bit to eat with them and sleep afterward. For lunch, I had a small Chinese style dish with rice (中華丼　chuukadon) and some pineapple from the university cafeteria where we gathered to eat.

I ended up not getting into bed for my nap till 1:55pm (and waking up at 2:25pm and rocking up late to fourth period but that was ok), but mentally (and physically) I felt fine, with no particular need or urge to sleep or anything. And after waking up, my thinking was clear and my attention span was excellent. We had politicoeconomics in fourth period, where I (and everyone else, really) usually fall asleep, I didn't nod off a single time today. Not that I learned particularly any more than if I'd slept through the class, but oh well. Experiment-wise, positive results.

Since I didn't sleep till 2pm, I decided to skip my 4pm nap since I didn't have the slightest inclination that I needed to sleep. Instead, I had natto with half a cup of rice before filling up the rest of my time cleaning my room, hanging out with friends, and going to the gym.

At 8pm after my gym session for the day, I took my scheduled half hour nap, and woke up feeling good as new. I cooked myself a stir fry with carrots, bamboo shoot, something resembling a bok choi, mushrooms, and spring onion, before settling down and writing this blog post while facebooking on the side. It's about time I took my next nap.

One more day to go, before making the final call on the future of my polyphasic sleep cycle.