I know it seems like all I do is post about traveling recently, but there’s not much else to talk about. My mom arrived safely in Japan for the holidays, so things slowed down quite a bit while trying to ease her into life here.
My daughter is in Kindergarten now, and I’ll be teaching her English in earnest from next year. Her language skills are amazing though. I feel like I’m talking to at least a 4-year-old. She’s extremely articulate, probably because of her bookworm parents, so, we will be doing intensive English study, and I guess I can journey that!
However, this post is to share an impromptu girl’s trip that I went on with my friends two months ago! One day, I casually mentioned I liked Atami, which is a seaside, onsen town in Shizuoka prefecture. I love dried fish, and my husband and I used to go regularly before our daughter.
Well, my friend happens to have a vacation home near there and invited me to stay the night. She rented a car and drove us around to different places.
It was so nice seeing the rural side of the area by car even though it was rainy. I’ll share a few places that we went that might be of interest to anyone who is going to be in the area!
Mishima Skywalk
The first place we visited was the Mishima Skywalk, which is a pedestrian suspension bridge that spans over the Kano River and connects Mount Mishima and Mount Ryuo. It was so beautiful walking across the bridge and once we got to the other side, there were some shops and adventure courses. I want to bring my daughter because there is a dinosaur forest, but I instead bought her this unique dinosaur scrunchie.
There’s an owl petting zoo, a small museum and café, and an ice cream stand with blue ice cream that’s colored with butterfly pea! It began to rain, so they also gave us free ponchos since no umbrellas were permitted on the bridge.
There’s also a big pavilion with tons of souvenir shops near the entrance and also what they call a luxury bathroom, that looks like a Victorian room.
We ended the day by eating hot, fresh croquettes in the car, which I highly recommend!
Izu Village Station
For lunch, we visited a roadside market. We ate at the small restaurant inside. Service was fast and the food was good.
The hot pot was extremely delicious and I topped off the night by getting in my friend's onsen. It was so relaxing and I might make it a goal of mine to have an onsen in my home!
Oratche Farm
Before heading back the next day, my friends and I went to a nearby farm. It has a petting zoo feel. We fed the goats, rabbits, and other small animals.
This farm also has a butter-making workshop and various other workshops. It’s small but eventful!
We ate lunch at the onsite restaurant and I went home with some of locally made honey butter, which is divine! I feel spoiled because my friend bought me another tub just recently.
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