I was woken up by a strange dream this morning. I dreamed I was in a co-worker’s home, which is strange as I have never been to any of my co-workers’ homes before. I was probably muttering in my sleep because I found myself waking up saying “I was from Canton,” and my mom asking me what I was saying.

That was just before 5:30 AM.

Mom had been drifting in and out of sleep all night. I know because I had, too, and I checked the time on my Fitbit each time I woke. It was probably the consequence of going to bed early (like 9 PM).

Being at a lower latitude, the sun wakes and sleeps at earlier hours than back home in Utah. At this time of the year, the sun wakes just prior to 5 AM and sleeps just before 6 PM. As we didn’t get to see Mt. Fuji in its full and mighty glory the previous day, mom and I decided to take a stroll at 5:30 in the morning.

After being in Japan for a week, I’ve discovered that even in a big city like Tokyo, you can always hear some sort of wildlife everywhere you go. On our final day in Tokyo, as we meandered through the quiet backstreets on Sunday morning, I heard crickets and crows cooing and cawing loudly as if they’re demanding attention. This morning, I heard the loudest crickets strolling in the neighborhood streets of the tiny resort town of Fujikawaguchiko. I should’ve recorded the sound because I found it strangely comforting.

We finally saw Mt. Fuji today, all the way to the peak.

How did I feel? What did I think of it?

I feel weirdly anti-climactic because Mt. Fuji, in my mind, is this great and mighty mountain with a picture-perfect snowy top but in reality, it’s just like any other mountain I’ve ever seen. Well, maybe except that it looks like a mountain that I used to draw a child – an equilateral triangle without the hypotenuse. I think I just came at the wrong time. I should come back when there’s a snowy top, perhaps when I’m fit enough to ascent the great mountain.

I’m writing this post aboard the Shinkansen – Japanese Bullet Train. My mom, her friend, and I are all sitting apart and for once, I am feeling like I’ve gain a slice of calm back from this craziness. We are heading to Kyoto, which will be our home base for the next 4 days before moving to Osaka – our final destination.

This is my second time being on a bullet train. The last time I was on a bullet train, I was in China, heading from Guangzhou to Changsha in the Hunan Province. I’m not even going to try to take pictures this time as all I got were blurry messes the last time I tried.

An update on pain:

My back pain has subsided a little after a couple doses of ibuprofen and adequate sitting and stretching but I highly doubt it’s better. My knee pain are the same. It appears I may need to start physical therapy again when I get home. Mom seems to think my joint pain might be aggravated by humidity since I live in a place where the maximum humidity is around 20%.