Weekend in Shimoda

It’s three-quarters of the year gone by and I’m amazed at the number of places I’ve been so far. Someone once read my palm and my destiny was that I would travel a lot before I hit 30. But I hope I will continue to travel in this vein for much longer.

Shimoda was a last minute decision. There I was at the hash, quietly sipping my white wine and anticipating the pasta to come, one of the girls, Sanae, asked me to join a bunch of them for some R&R during that long weekend that just passed. I had no appointments whatsoever so I said yes.

It’s quite a hike up to Shimoda by train, especially after 6pm, because none of the super-fast bullet trains go up there. I trundled along on a local which was supposed to take three hours in all but I missed the stop to change my train so I had to travel an extra hour. By 11pm, after setting off from Tokyo at 630pm, I arrived at the Kikuya Minshyuku (budget Japanese inn). In true hash tradition, they egged me on to catch up on the beer, shouchu and wine.

Needless to say I woke up with a friggin hangover. But the sights of Shimoda, three cups of coffee, lots of water and a chilly dip in the sea set me right as rain.

A minshyuku is really an inn that looks like someone’s house in the country. It was so cosy and I shared a room with two other girls. I loved the girly chit chat — of course we shared beauty products and secrets.

Check out the adorable post box!

This is a sento, a water bath, as opposed to a hot spring bath, an onsen. An onsen is made of mineral water pushed up to the surface by way of a hot spring but a sento is just hot water in a tub. But, what I learned from a visit to Nakamura’s home, you have to take a bath before bedtime, so I was urged by midnight to have a shower.

Ahh…Wide open space…

Umi (Sea)! Is what we all cried when we arrived at the beach. The water was a tranquil blue-green but chilly to the touch. It was a surf beach so I put my surf lessons from the kangaroo to good use.

Japaense gals don’t like the sun much so they sent one of the guys to get a big “parasol” to shield us all from the scorching heat. They don’t call ‘em beach umbrellas but parasols.

The best lobster ramen in the world….Oishiiiiikatta ne…

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