Author: wabisabisole Page 47 of 54

I invited my friend, Laila, to go for a hike with me today. I had originally planned to go on a bit of a road trip for this hike. Upon further inspection of Google Map, (while waiting for her to come down to my car) I realized where I wanted to go required a ferry ride across the bay. Hmmmm… not sure I was ready for that adventure. Plus, it was close to ¥10,000 or $100. Free hikes for me, please. Instead we opted for Plan B. Mt. Ogusu. It was about a 25 minute drive from the base and a beautiful hike! *warning – lots of pictures!*

Surprisingly, we easily found parking and were on our way. As with most hikes, it is not uncommon to pass a shrine. 

We started along a small stream known as “The Promenade.”  It was lovely. The rocks served as stepping stones. Absolutely, adorable! 

Once we exited The Promenade, we started and upward climb. With lots and lots of steps. 

Once we finally made it to the top, we were able to go up a lookout tower. Unfortunately, it was cloudy so of course we couldn’t see Mt. Fuji. 

Selfie at the top – me squatting, Laila on her tip toes! Haha

The hike was about two hours. The steps were nice for the climb up. By the time we came down, we both had shaky legs! 

Mondays are kind of slower with respect to Dave’s work because the rest of the Navy is still enjoying Sunday. It is a great opportunity for him to get a head start in the week and enjoy lunch with me! I had a pretty serious craving for a chicken Caesar salad and so, I met him on base and we went to the CPO club. The salad hit the spot. While at lunch, I told him my plans of hiking around Zushi to find the monkeys. Seriously. The monkeys. He thought I was being silly (we have a running joke of the loud noises we hear in the forest by our house being howler monkeys) and told me I had a better chance of seeing a snake. From there we discussed the Japanese Viper. One was recently seen in the campground near our house. I looked it up online, it is a brown venomous snake with diamond markings. He also asked me if I knew what to dial for an emergency on and off base. Yes, love. Off base – 119. On base – 911. 

We finished our lunch and I headed back home. I parked the car by the train station and rode the train one stop to Zushi. From there, I walked about 1.5 miles to the unmarked trail head. A neighbor told me about the trail and I was following her verbal guidance. Turn right after the shrine / temple and keep going up. Once you get to Hiroyama Park, you will see the monkeys & Mt. Fuji, on a clear day. 

 

From here it was one flight of stairs after another. 

Once I made it to the top, I was treated to a nice view of Zushi Beach. 

By this point, I was a little warm and ready for a beverage. No worries. In Japan a vending machine (or four) is always close by! 

Walking around Hiroyama Park, I found peacocks, bunnies, guinea pigs, ducks and chickens. 

After a quick shot of the view, I saw the monkeys. 

Honestly, the monkeys were a little weird. Kind of made me a little sad. They seemed so lethargic. They had a large area in which they were contained. Although, it had no vegetation. 

I walked down to enjoy the view from a different angle and when I came back to the monkeys, they were running around and playing. That made me feel a little better. 

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I also climbed the observation tower. 

This map helped a lot. The clouds prevented me from getting a good Mt. Fuji sighting. However, if you look beyond the island with the tower, you can kind of make out a mountain, maybe? 

I found this map, showing me the way to Ōsaki Park – 15 minute walk. I mean I’m here, might as well. 

The Gardens walking there were lovely. Just as impressive was the beautifully manicured neighborhood with gigantic houses! 

Ōsaki Park didn’t disappoint. Here I think I actually could see Mt. Fuji. 

I’m not really sure what I’m looking at in this picture. I see the little peak sticking out above the island tower. However, I also see a peak floating half way up the picture. Is that Mt. Fuji? Just because I have climbed it, doesn’t mean I know what it looks like!! More research is required, on a clear day. 

In the park was also a rabbit shrine and cool walkway. 

The view from the other direction highlighted Zushi Beach. 

The road on the left of this picture is where we run. The buildings along the beach are where we had dinner Sunday night! 

My return trip took me back through the fancy neighborhood, past a shrine and down all the stairs. This time I also saw a small waterfall. 

My favorite part of the hike was finding / taking this picture. The sunlight shining through the clouds lighting the peace sign was beautiful. 

This move has been challenging at times and I find myself struggling with peace. Finding this huge peace sign at the top of the overlook really spoke to me. It served as a reminder to find peace in this journey and always. Peace, friends! 

Dave and I went out to celebrate the Cubs victory in Zushi. A quick one-stop train ride and we were downtown Zushi. First stop was for a beer and cheese plate with my favorite Cubs fan. 

After our appetizer, we walked around a bit and went down to the Zushi beach front. We decided to have dinner at the Cantina. An Italian restaurant overlooking Zushi Beach. 

Beautiful view from our table. If only it was more clear, we would be able to see Mt. Fuji. 

For appetizers, we shared a half carafe of wine, an olive plate and octopus salad. 

This was followed by our main course of my pizza and Dave’s seafood spaghetti. 

The pizza was pretty good. 

The seafood spaghetti- meh. 

Overall, dinner was pretty good. The octopus salad, wine and pizza were worth ordering again. The olives and spaghetti, not so much. I would definitely come again for the view on a clear evening. 

Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) hosted a pumpkin run here in Ikego. I signed Dave and I up at the beginning of the month. Unfortunately, he had to work this morning. Instead, I asked Dina to run with me. I promised her a tshirt and a pumpkin! 

The course was almost a 5k. The route took us through the woods to the Ikego campground where they had set up a pumpkin patch. 

We were each able to pick a pumpkin of our choice. The only trick, we had to carry  it to the end of the run and then carry it home!! 

We both picked pretty large pumpkins to carry. In the sage words of my friend, Sara, “go big or go home.” In this case, go big and carry it home! 

MWR also set up obstacles on the return route. We decided to skip them… 

It was a fun run aka walk. I’m happy to report, I didn’t fall and both of our pumpkins made it home in one piece! 

???‍♀️❤️?

My friend, Dina, arranged for us to go to Japanese cooking lesson. The lesson was given by, Miki, a lady who is part of our Ikebana group. She provided us with a brief bio and directions to her house. This was my first experience going to a Japanese house. It was an amazing experience. 

We decided on a menu of:

Dashi and Miso Soup

Takikomi Gohan (Japanese chicken, rice and vegetables) 

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura 

Let’s start with the Soup. The soup is made using fish flakes (katsuo-bushi) and dried kelp (konbu). Restaurants will use a fish and grate it to achieve the flakes used to season the soup. Miki showed us the fish and grater. She also showed us the easier way. 

Instead of the traditional method, we used the easier liquid version. 

The liquid is mixed with water and season packet and brought to a boil. 

We then added the tofu and Miso paste. 

Next up, Takikomi Gohan. I’ll be honest. This dish made me so excited. It basically uses the rice cooker as a crockpot. The ingredient list:

Rice

Shiitake mushrooms 

Shimeji mushrooms 

Carrot

Chicken thigh

Burdock root

Bamboo shoot

Water

Soy sauce

Dashi sauce

The final item was tempura. Not sure I will be able to recreate this one… 

Miki walks us through the steps to dip into tempura paste and the drop in oil. I definitely need to invest in LARGE chopsticks. 

While Dina and I managed the tempura, Miki set the table! 

Part of the cuteness of the table was the mismatched plates. Yet, they all coordinated. Absolutely, adorable. My collection search begins. 

And now the meal! 

And now us! 

My favorite photo was of Dina in the “living room”. Notice there is a tatami (mat) with a (heated) blanket on top. No couch or chair! Not to mention, she doesn’t quite fit (she has me by 3 inches!). And then – there is Miki’s tiny dog!! 

Today was so fun. Dina and I decided tempura is a special occasion meal. It was fun, just a lot of work. We are going to schedule another lesson to make sushi once my hands heal. No one wants me touching raw stuff with my raw hand right now… 

PS. If you come visit, I’ll make you tempura! 

The American members of Ikebana hosted the monthly the meeting at the OClub on base. The theme of the meeting was Halloween. The Japanese LOVE being exposed American culture, especially Halloween. The event included arts & crafts, a photo booth and a buffet lunch.

 

On the invitations, we were encouraged to wear costumes. My girlfriends and I went as witches! 

One of the arts and crafts was popcorn hands with candy corn fingers. 

The other station was decorating a trick or treat bag. 

The buffet was a big hit with the Japanese. Honestly, I thought the bento box at the last meeting was much more delicious and fun. 

The Japanese did not wear costumes. They did however have a very enjoyable time dressing up at the photo booth. 

It was a fun event and sharing the Halloween holiday with the Japanese was very memorable. I truly enjoy the sharing of cultures and look forward to our next meeting. We will have a flower arranging demonstration and a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at a local temple! 

One of my new friends, Laila, asked me to go with her to a yarn shop in Yokosuka to purchase knitting supplies. We met this morning and went for a walk to find the shop. She read on their website they offer classes at the store and on base spoken in English. She thought it would be fun for us to go and take a class or two…

Perhaps you are thinking, I didn’t know you knitted. I don’t. I’ve been taught at least twice. Once by my mom and once by a neighbor. I usually make it about three rows before I make a mistake and then I give up because I don’t know how to fix it. When she mentioned knitting class, I cringed inside. Then I thought, well, maybe learning in Japan will be the trick. Plus, you know what they say, “third time is a charm.” Here are a few pictures of the shop. 

Besides yarn, they also had buttons. A whole wall of buttons. 

From the upstairs, you have an excellent view of how the Japanese use every inch or centimeter. 

It was fun to look at the different yarns and the pricing. I have no idea what it means because I don’t knit and it’s in Japanese. But, it’s cute!! 

I love the pineapple hat! 

Laila purchased a few knitting needles for a project she is working on. While checking out, she asked the cashier about knitting classes. (By this point, they were using Google translate to communicate.) all of the sudden, out of no where, a man appears who speaks excellent English and Japanese. He proceeds to translate. He explains the classes are offered in the shop on Tuesdays. The teacher only speaks Japanese. What about classes on base? No. Not enough interest. Saved by the language barrier. I did however feel badly for being secretly relieved when Laila was so disappointed. Perhaps next time I see her I will suggest we have a “knitting club” that drinks wine. 

One of my neighbors organized a group of five ladies to go exploring the Ofuna Botanical Gardens. The Gardens were a 32 minute train ride from our house. We caught the train at the station near our house and then transferred at ShinZushi to the JR line. Here was our Google map route. 

One area I feel as though I have progressed is, being able to navigate my way between the train stations in Zushi. This may not seem like a huge feat, but after several visits, I feel like a local switching stations. (I used to walk around looking at my phone like a tourist…)

Entrance to the garden was ¥640. Not too expensive. It was a lovely day for pictures and walking around the area. Interestingly, the main flowers in bloom were the roses. There were so many colors. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. This is one time I was truly promised a rose garden! 

The Gardens were not very crowded and we observed several Japanese school groups. Talk about adorable! This group wanted to talk with us. So cute with their “hello” and “how are you?”

All school aged children wear uniforms. These younger children are dressed in their “gym” uniform and hats! Different classes have different colored hats. 

The Gardens of course had Bonsai trees. 

The shrubs were meticulously maintained and I was able to capture a gardener grooming a shrub. 

Although we came to see the rose Gardens, I really enjoyed the greenhouses. 

And the Cosmos. 

My winning iPhone picture of the day. 

It was a lovely day and I will look forward to returning in different seasons to capture more local foliage. 

Today, the Mikoshi Parade in Yokosuka celebrated its 40th year. What exactly is the Mikoshi Parade? Well, it’s many things. It’s an excuse to wear a “Happi coat” or the summer style yukata (think short bathrobe) with no pants!?! Yep. 

The mikoshi is a portable temple or shrine carried by dozens of people who practice the Shinto religion. To them, the shrine actually contains a God who will bring happiness, good fortune or wealth to those near by. The average mikoshi weighs over a ton. Stressing the need for unity and teamwork to carry it through the length of the parade. 

The parade is a celebration and the atmosphere was so much fun. I took so many pictures and videos. I hope it captures the celebration. 

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Watching the parade was so entertaining. It was nothing like anything we had ever observed. The celebration was apparent and so was the humor. 

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More pictures to capture the event. 

Going back to the no pants – this guy was hilarious. 

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I could post for days about the parade. Instead, I’ll share a couple more videos and photos. I apologize if you hear me giggling in the videos… 

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The parade was a highlight after an eventful morning. I fell, again, on our run this morning. 1 mile into a 9 mile run. Not cool. My hands & knee were a bloody mess. Dave was the hero and walked me home. We wrapped my bloody hand in my tank top on the way home because it was gory. I’m sure I offended several locals during my wardrobe change. Grrr. I was so frustrated. Fortunately, no ER visit this time. I’ll lace up my Brooks tomorrow and burn up… the treadmill. Just let a girl run already!! 

Our first stop on Friday night date night was at a little restaurant behind the train station where Dave and I usually meet in Yokosuka. It is a tapas style restaurant with little portions of everything except the beer! 

We ordered a couple tapas to kick off our night and help us finish our beers. 

After our appetizers, we wandered around Yokosuka a bit more. I was ready for one of my new favorites. Coconut chicken curry and naan. So, amazing. 

Check out the size of this naan! To the credit of our waiter, I asked for BIG naan and small curry. The guy Dave relieved, Ed,  took us to this Indian restaurant, Delicious. We have tried a couple others. Delicious remains my favorite. 

The waiter makes it extra fun with his “thank you, thank you very much!” With each customer. With everything so little in Japan, it is fun to find an oversized beer, naan and appreciation! “Thank you, thank you very much” for reading and exploring along with us!