Kamakura Part2

After Hokokuji, we took the bus back to the central area and grabbed lunch at a place that we can enter quickly without much queue. 

Also, it would have to be a place that serves cooked food too for the kids.

We went to this place ran by Chinese owners which serves ramen and these shirasu kaisen don. It was great that they have big tables that catered to groups too.

After that, we walked to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.

We walked all the way up again this time.

Found and area with some torii that seemed like a really nice photo spot.

From Kamakura, we took a drive to Enoshima for some beach view and cakes.

Look at this happy little boy who got his ice crream.

There were quite a few variety in this little cafe called Cafe Maru (カフェーマル).

Each of these were 600 JPY alone and with an extra JPY, you can make it a set with drinks.

 

End of 2020 Enoshima trip

Before the end of 2020, we went on a road trip to Enoshima.

We stopped by this place called Watatsumi for lunch. 

I ordered the sashimi don which came with instructions on how to enjoy the seafood.

J had the steak rice.

The road trip gang.

After that, we took a nice long walk to the island.

With the naked eye, you could see Fujisan, but in this picture, it has blended with the sky.

While there were still many people there, it was not as busy as it used to be pre-pandemic.

We walked all the way up for some nice views.

While tiring, it was always nice to walk around.

After Enoshima, we went to meet up with LZ at Costco. This sunset pic here was taken from the rooftop of Costco.

 

Enoshima light up

At night, we went to Enoshima for the winter illumination.

Along the way there, we got a nice view of the sunset albeit slightly late.

As it was winter and the air was dry, we got a nice view of Mount Fuji in the background.

On that day, the moon was also super big. There were many people taking pictures of the moon too. We too tried to take pictures to show how big it was, but it was hard to capture such a view with our smart phones.

This illumination is called the Shonan no Hoseki illumination.

Website: http://travelenoshima.jp/festival/illumi.html

This is at the Samuel Cocking Garden in Enoshima and you do have to pay to enter.

The place is really nice. While there are many people there, you can take some nice pictures without anyone in the background because the area is big.

We had to queue for about an hour to get up this tower for a view of the garden from the top.

The view from above was nice but the queue itself was torturing as it was super cold due to the strong wind.

While you had to queue in line to get on an elevator to go up, you can opt to walk down using the stairs.

On the opposite side, we can see the bridge that we had crossed to get to the island.

You can see the sea from the top.

There was also an area with lots of tulips.

There is also an area which has Chinese influences.

As we were super hungry, we bought some fried chicken from the little stall there to ease our hunger.

I really like this area with this cute little lamps.

There were not as many people in this area and it looks enchanted. Reminds me of a Disney Princess Animation.

As it got nearer to the closing time, there were lesser people there.

It made it easier to snap pictures with a tripod as there aren't as many people passing by between you and the camera.

When I said tripod, I was actually using a small table tripod LOL

Lastly, our failed attempt at a selfie with the super moon, which looked super tiny in this picture.

Enoshima

After Kamakura, we arrived at Enoshima.and immediately started hunting for food.

First stop, tako senbei~ First time trying the fresh one and it was good~!! While you need to wait a while for it to be cooked, it's really good warm.

Next stop was this chips shop next door which has some really interesting sauce names.

We had the crisscut fries and even though we ordered only 1 item, they offered the inside seats to the 3 of us.

After that, we decided to find a shop that serves shirasu because I feel that it's like a specialty of Enoshima. I really wanted YL to try it too~

As it was near lunch time, most restaurants already have a queue outside. We picked one with food that we wanted to try and joined the queue with about 10-15 pax before us.

The restaurant is big and have both floor and table seating. We were given the floor seating area.

YL ordered the don which was topped with ikura,boiled shirasu and fish. Meanwhile, J and I ordered the teishoku set which came with sashimi, boiled shirasu, tempura and braised fish which I'm guessing is medai (blue nose).

This is definitely the star of the set as it was flavourful and goes really well with rice.

Next, we slowly made our way to the island. It was the first time I visited the island.

As it was lowtide, there were some people bbq-ing by the beach and there were also some ppl fishing.

Once at the island, it's an upward walk all the way. There are many shops along the way. After walking up many flight of stairs, we finally arrived the cave area.

We paid to enter the cave and it was freaking cold as it was super windy too that day. To be honest, the cave wasn't really my thing as there were bug and water leaking down the top. It was also dark and cold inside.

  

You need to walk a lot to reach the cave too. But fret not, as along the way, you can always quench your thirst with some ice cream.

I probably will not revisit the cave but I might revisit the island for other attractions.