Showa no Mori Park

Today, Shingo and I went to "Showa no Mori" park which is about half an hour from here by car. First we did some jogging and an athletic obstacle course. Then we walked around and looked at the scenery. The plum blossoms were in bloom. here is me with a plum tree. Unfortunately it was very cold and windy so a lot of the blooms have already fallen. The pictures in this entry are all of trees with Des hidden somewhere. Let's find Des...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you find her? Let's try another one.......This one is tricky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that's me up a cherry blossom tree. The cherry blossoms won't bloom for about another month. We will probably go back and have a picnic at this park in Cherry Blossom season. This park has a botanical garden. The flowers had all been killed by frost but the tree gallery (?) was fantastic.

 

Choshi

We went to Choshi yesterday. It is a fishing port on the tip of Chiba prefecture. It was soooo cold and windy. After looking at the sights (a lighthouse), we went to the Keisei hotel for a day of indulgence. We had Hot Stone Therapy. You are taken to a darkened room and you lie on a bed of hot pebbles for half an hour. Very relaxing. Then we had a rotenburo which is an outdoor onsen (hot spring). This one was artificial but we overlooked the ocean sitting in a steaming hot bath with the sea breeze in our faces. Lovely. Then we put on our Yukata (Japanese light dressing gown - like a cotton kimono) and had a delicious set meal. After this we had a nap for an hour or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had squid/tuna/snapper sashimi, sesame sauteed sardines (famous in Choshi), sardine nigiri-zushi, soy marinated cod, prawn and vege tempura, deep-fried chestnuts and boiled turban shells with seaweed. So yummy. Here is a scenic picture of Choshi.

Year in Japan
Mood:  flirty

I know this is not really a blog entry but I want to use my newly learned computer skills and nothing happens in my life from day-to-day to write about. So I will let everyone know what I have been doing in Japan. It is almost a year since I came back and it has gone so fast. There have been some sad events such as Shingo's grandma's passing and some happy ones such as my marriage. My job has not been busy, but my study has. Here is a photo of me (with the pink Obi!) doing the Chiba `Bon-odori` (Bon dance) a few months ago at the Oyumi summer festival. I love the dances at these festivals and I danced at the Shirahata festival with Mr. Tsuruoka, the mayor of Chiba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was Valentine's Day. In Japan, women give chocolates to men on February 14th and then on March 14th (White Day), the men reciprocate. I sucked up at work and gave choccies to all the men. They better remember come March 14th! I went to Sushi-Ro (sushi train restaurant) tonight, but not for a romantic Valentine's dinner.

 

Kasamori Kannon Temple

Shingo and I went to Kasamori Kannon Temple which is in the middle of Chiba's Boso Peninsula. The temple was built in 1028 A.D. Kannon is a female Buddhist deity, the Goddess of Mercy and has 11 heads! There is a tree with a hole in it at the temple site and if a woman climbs through it, it is supposed to help her get pregnant......I made Shingo go near it, no way was I going to!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These steps were so steep. Shingo took a photo of me climbing down them. It was extremely dangerous as I fall down steps easily and these ones were so steep AND I was looking backwards at the camera.