Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

The trip to the vet went ok last night. At least, Wasabi tested negative for FIV and feline leukemia, yea! She didn't like being jabbed in the leg for her bloodwork or again for her vaccine, and I'm told that she REALLY didn't like having her temperature taken rectally. Poor girl!
Also, the vet told Yuki that Wasabi has gone from 720 grams last Tuesday to 840 grams as of last night (Monday). Whoops. Image a graph of her weight proceeding along in a nice linear fashion, and then suddenly it starts to move exponentially. What can I say, the little porker likes to eat, and I'm not one to deny her!
In all seriousness though, we really don't want an overweight kitten or a fat cat, so we've cut out the extra spoons of canned food that we've been mixing in with her formula and dry food. I was hoping that she wouldn't notice the difference, but Miss Piggy has already gone through 2 bowls of her new 'diet' mix and has been nosing at the bowl for more! So much for a free feeder!!
In other news, since I'm realizing that this is becoming more a kitten blog than anything else, we're getting excited about our upcoming Mt. Fuji climb. Or, at least, I'm getting excited. I'm trying to convince Yuki to wear a Japanese flag banana and an akafun (a red fundoshi...type in 'fundoshi' under google images if you want a good laugh) but so far he doesn't seem terribly keen on the idea, wonder why not! =)
Whatever the case, we'll be starting the climb on August 13th, resting for a few hours in a lodge near the top, and then finishing the hike in time to see the sunrise on the 14th. That is, assuming: 1. we make it to the top---possible low oxygen (and incredibly long lines due to tour groups composed of slow-shuffling senior citizens) being potentially troublesome factors and 2. that it's not raining or cloudy that morning.
Being a gainjin (foreigner), I myself have absolutely no compunctions about cutting out of 'line' if needs be and going up the mountain off-trail in order to make the top before sunrise, but I don't want to embarrass my fellow hikers by doing so, either. We'll just have to wait and see what happens when the time comes! Oh, and if you want a postcard mailed from the top, let me know now, since I plan on pre-addressing and stamping them instead of waiting in yet another horrendous line at the post office up there!