It feels nice

Time for a new page! And someone here has some dangerous ideas hah~!

It’s been a busy week for me and the weekend wasn’t much better so, sadly, I didn’t manage to get much drawing done. So First Steps will have to wait a little longer, at least for the next weekend, until I can sketch some more episodes. Sorry if you are curious about the development, you’ll need to wait a little bit longer! Thanks for the votes on TopWebcomics too, you guys are super awesome and I’m really grateful (‘∀’●)♡
This past week is a blur for me. Somehow, even though I had four days long weekend before it, I felt more tired than ever and couldn’t sleep well. Maybe the last remnants of the jetlag were making their final push, maybe it was the weather. I don’t know, maybe this week will be a bit better overall.

I’ve been to the mountains today and had an idea to actually share an interesting place or fact about Japan (and living in Japan) every week alongside the update. Would that be interesting to you guys? Do you have any questions? I could try answering them or asking my Japanese colleagues! So for this week…:

LIFE IN JAPAN CORNER #1

Japan is very mountainous country and lots of people here like hiking. Like, honestly, lots. Even if you live in Tokyo it’s possible to reach the mountains by train in an hour or two (by regular train, it’s cheap) and enjoy a hike with a dozen of other people. You might be surprised, but lots of elderly people climb and they are both well prepared and are usually very fit. So if a 70-something looking guy runs past you on the trail don’t feel too bad about it (-ε- )

The most popular destination is mountain Takao but on the weekends it’s usually super crowded. Plus I’ve been to that mountain a dozen of times already. So for today’s hike we’ve picked a different route, one we haven’t tried yet – a trail through two peaks, Ougiyama and Momokurayama. To our surprise, even though the train was packed with hikers nobody picked the same trail as we did. We met some people on the trail itself and on the peaks but for most of the walk the path was empty. And good, because it was super narrow and steep.

The trail takes you mostly through the woods and you can admire the mountains only through the trees. Luckily, most of the leaves were already gone although some autumn beauties prevailed – we saw many Japanese maples which are enchantingly red in November. Ougiyama also has some spots on the trail from which you can see Mt. Fuji on a clear day. We were lucky and we were able to eat breakfast on a bench in the woods war watching the mountain. Here’s the photo I took:

Mt. Fuji from Ougiyama

It was a nice trip! The worst part was coming down from the Ougiyama towards the Momokurayama. The path down was very steep and covered with dry leaves, super slippery. We basically fell from one tree to another until we reached the bottom, only to climb similarly slippery path towards Momokurayama’s peak. The view was better on that one, though! So it was well worth it. Clouds covered the Fuji but we enjoyed some sun with Japanese hikers who cooked their meals on the top or just lied down on the grass, watching the mountain range spread before us. I threw some photos on the Instagram, if you are curious (I’ll probably add more later on).

 

29 comments on “It feels nice”

  1. NiWo21k Reply

    Oh Ada, and what then 🙁
    But i still think even if she isnt a people person she never would let someone down and rush for help (not for everyone *cough*Adam*cough*)

    And never doubt your readers, they will hold you at the top (ok besides Tom posts something new XD)

    I love the idea about this small “journal” – its always nice reading such bits. So yes, it would be great to see more of this 🙂

  3. Refugnic Reply

    I’m not too font of travel journals, but I don’t mind them either.
    I’ll just skip over them if you decide to post them. 😉

    Now, regarding the comic…that is an interesting idea in theory (especially for the Ada x Robert shippers) :D, though there is a number of problems that comes with it.

    The most important one: Food and other supplies.
    It’s not exactly like they can just go to the next supermarket to stock up if they run out.
    And the camp dwellers wouldn’t be very thrilled to share their supplies with ‘outsiders’ either I imagine.

    Another issue is medical support.
    Let’s assume Robert knocks Ada up (two grown ups, all alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but time on their hands…), they’d require a midwife and some additional supplies…with Ada being in no condition to perform spells or fight.

    Or even just the flu or any other illness…a dangerous idea indeed.

    Though that may just be her way of telling Rob that she actually did notice Sofia flirting with him…and that she still wants him for herself.
    You know, telling without saying it. 😛

  5. Lucario Reply

    I haven’t had the opportunity to travel much, so I liked reading your journal. I also like hiking and have gone to Philmont [Scout Ranch]. My group for that hiked the four southern peaks. (There are five major peaks on the property.)

  6. Giggli Reply

    I love this page. I had an exam today and coming home to this made my day. Keep up the good work!

  7. Rateus Camp dweller Reply

    You couldn’t Ada, your conscience wouldn’t let you.

    Thanks for the vote reward page to salve my curiosity.

    What a beautiful mountain!

  8. Crestlinger Reply

    @ vote art Poor Robert, wracked by what-ifs.
    Counterpoint to her argument? Hot showers back at base.

    • Refugnic Reply

      Hot showers, clean clothes, change of shoes, medical supplies, food…the list could be continued for quite a while longer.

      A little escape to a cabin in the woods is all nice and everything, but that’s just what it is.
      An escape.
      If it’s all you have however…the ‘escape’ becomes a ‘prison’ all too quickly.

    • antrik Reply

      Wait, *hot* showers? I have a hard time believing that. While it seems possible in theory to build a water heater using camping cookers and other supplies, I think it would require some serious skill to make it remotely reliable…

      • JW Reply

        You don’t need to make a water-heater. All you need for a shower is some container that holds water over your head and a way to release it in a “showery” way. All you need for a hot shower is to put hot water in that container.
        No particular reason they couldn’t also make that at her cabin, though.

      • antrik Reply

        Sure, you could just put large pots on a wood-fired stove or something… But from experience, warming large amounts of water that way is a ton of effort. I doubt many people would consider it worthwhile…

      • JW Reply

        I’ve seen anime where people bathed in an oildrum heated by a fire underneath. Is that an impractical way to heat a lot of water in reality? I haven’t any experience in this field; not a clue how much wood you’d need to feed the fire to get warm water. But if it’s a lot, you could probably improve the amount of work needed by using charcoal, and by isolating the sides of the oildrum in some way.

      • antrik Reply

        Well, I don’t have experience heating oil drums over a camp fire specifically 😉 However, more general experience tells me that you need a surprising amount of fire to heat water. And I don’t think you could manage a simple open fire well enough so that the majority of the heat doesn’t just go to waste… I believe you would need *hours* to reach a reasonable temperature that way.

        That’s why I suggested a stove. Depending on what materials they have available, that might not be too hard to build. Still would probably take more than an hour though, and quite a sizable heap of wood…

        I’m not saying it’s impossible to do — but who would want to spend several hours all in all working just to get a warm shower?… Unless it’s in the middle of winter maybe, I’m pretty sure most people would rather just settle for a cold shower.

        (Or more realistically, you’d just rinse with a small amount of warm water from a hand-held container — that’s what people did in winter before running hot water became ubiquitous…)

      • Speedy Reply

        You can buy a camping shower that’s pretty much just a thick, black plastic bag with a short tube and a small plastic showerhead. You fill it up and leave it in the sun until the water is warm. Then, you just hang it from a tree branch to use it.

        It shouldn’t be too hard to scale a solar water heater up enough to give everyone at least a lukewarm shower.

  9. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    I hope your trip was restorative! I did not read the journal yet, not in the mood right now, but it sure is a nice picture of Fujisan.

    Don’t worry about the First Steps or any vote incentives. They are nice and I’m always happy to see new ones, but they’re not the actual reason why I vote for Replay. Also, as many of us have said, and contrary to our constant cries for more, and even though this is your hobby and pleasure, IF you ever need a break, take a break! I’ve seen several comics on a hiatus, but most people understand, patient and happy to see their beloved artist return in better shape.

    Don’t forget that even though your life situation has greatly improved after a tough period, you are still going through huge changes. You’ve only started a couple of weeks ago (or so), acclimatising takes time. BTW, hope your Important Other is doing well.

    So that was the off topic. I’ll make an extra post for the actual comic, as usual.

  10. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    Glad to see Ada is enjoying herself again. I find her particularly cute in the first panel
    I love that she’s the messy type! So many stacks of papers sitting in boxes, taking up space patiently waiting for the day when I finally sort them.

    I’m not sure about Rob being able to stay all alone with Ada in her cabin. Of course he likes her, whatever their relationship is 😉 After all, he’s the social person of the pair.
    I guess Robert doesn’t really know either 😉 But he’s blushing anyway.

    What’s still bugging me is the thing with the barrier. For one, I understood, or maybe misunderstood, that it was transported there, not created again. And it has also been expanded, a lot… I’m not at all sure that Ada would have been able to create such a large barrier, seeing how exhausted she was with just the tent.
    Also: maintain the barrier?

    Afterthought: Ada is a bit like you, NI, she needs her walks in the nature.

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      Oh, I finally remember what I forgot yesterday: You have started numbering your pages. Nice! That will make backtracking a little easier. Especially in the future when we will want to check some early references.

    • Dragon Master Reply

      It wasn’t making the barrier that exhausted her. She was woken up in the middle of the night with a Vision and then had to start fighting demons while running around a burning camp. That alone would be stressful and tiring, but she was also stressed about what had been happening earlier that day, ad she wasn’t sure if the barrier would work. Then when it DID work and she and Robert were alive, Ada felt a rush of relief. I can tell you from experience that once that feeling wears off, you will be exhausted and asleep on your feet.

  11. Alex Reply

    Ada does remember that they have showers at the camp, right? Maybe leaving the others isn’t such a great idea afterall, unless she’s into stale pheromones.

    NI, why are you encouraging her? You don’t like drawing too many people?

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      If I remember correctly, Ada is her favourite character to draw. So just Ada and Robert at the cabin is not too far fetched.
      But I guess that would become boring after a while, 😉

      • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

        @antrik
        Well, that would depend on NI’s imagination – indubitably better than mine. But I think that it would get old pretty fast if they just wanted to stay at the cabin. Not much action apart from an occasional scanvenge hunt in town.

        On the other hand, they probably would like to go after Adam, but that’s easier if you have some support and backup.

      • antrik Reply

        There are entire stories about this sort of thing! 😉

        But yeah, I wasn’t being serious.

        (Also, “getting action” was a double entendre…)

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