Blogs from Izu, Shizuoka, Japan, Asia

As I promised, here is part 2 of my Japan adventure. This entry will finish off the photos from the Izu peninsula and then I will talk about Kyoto in the 3rd part. More mountains, flowers, clouds, sea and food to see! I also have included the crazy maze of a journey that we had at our first (Hotel) that has 14 different pictures to capture the journey from our personal room to the front door (exit). In between each picture I took several steps. It really was a very long (exciting) walk. Along with all of that there are extensive Waterfall pictures! I need to get the pictures from my parents of me swimming in the waterfall!!!! :) SOOOO cool! OOH! and a sprial bridge!!! 3 times!!! heehee! It all ends with a mountain top ... read more

On the weekend Mario and I went to our favourite place, the Izu Peninsula, for his birthday and our last trip away before we leave Japan. In Kawazu, there is a different type of cherry blossom that flowers much earlier than the others, so we made a stop there catching our last glimpse of the beautiful flowers before we leave Japan. We stayed near Shirahama beach, at a very nice Japanese ryokan, the owner was super nice, the place too! The next day was Mario's birthday, we had cake after breakfast, went for a walk along the beach then had lunch at a Japanese lobster restaurant! It was delicious, but I preferred the lobster cooked so put the pieces in my hot miso soup! :) On our drive home, we really didn't want the trip to ... read more

Summer time has definitely begun in Japan, I am pretty sure I am going to melt this summer. A friend and I decided to escape the heat and head for the coast yesterday. We made our way out to the Izu Peninsula an area just west of Shizuoka that is famous for ohnsen and beautiful coast lines. It is also famous for a small town called Shimoda which is where a US consulate was set up in 1856 when Japan first opened its ports to Commodore Perry and Westerners. Leslie is another Nova teacher I met back in March at a kids training session. She lives in Numazu, a city about one hour north of Shizuoka by local train and on the way to the Izu Peninsula. We met in Numazu and took the train ... read more

Despite the rain, we decided to leave Hakone early in order to be able to explore our next destination, Shimoda! Instead of taking the bus through the winding mountain road which will take about an hour plus to reach Odawara, we chose the more comfortable train ride. Back to Gora where we bought more souvenirs and local specialties and caught a train to Odawara. Initial plan was to explore the vibrant Odawara town center but we decided against it when we found out that the next train will be 2hrs later! As we were expecting a long train ride, we rushed to buy our bento sets before boarding the train bound for Izu Peninsula. Japanese bento sets aren’t just attractive in their packaging, but very delicious too. Dear chose a bento with pork slices marinated ... read more

For my last long weekend in Japan and for Rebekahs birthday we took a trip to Izu, the peninsula opposite to Shizuoka, and part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. So here it is.... Counting Fun in Izu!!!! 1 Unexplored peninsula, home of onsens, WHITE sand beaches and rugged coastline. And begonias, apparently. 2 Tentative, shy and very naked bodies in a steaming hot onsen with a bathload of Japanese women in Shuzenji. 3 Bitter, twisted and very single girls trekking to Koibito Misaki (Sweet Lovers Point) the week before Varentines Day. At least the view of Fuji was good. 4 Hire car wheels screeching up a very steep drive to Marty Mouse Youth Hostel in Shiruhama (which nearly resulted in 4 hire care wheels reversing into a wall at the bottom of teh very steep drive ... read more