Trip to Odawara

2 day trip to Odawara.

We started the day early and stopped by the Kamaboko museum as it was the only place that was open at that time because we were too early. 😂

It was nice because otherwise, we would not have time to look around the place and learn about kamaboko.

Interesting how they all have tiny holes in the but they're all different.

An interactive display that shows how food gets processed in the human body.

Also spotted an interesting cafe called Cafe 107 that was an old train compartment that has been transformed into a cafe.

As for us, we had breakfast at 鈴なり市場 (Suzunari Ichiba), which is located right next to Kazamatsuri (風祭) station.

I visited years ago with mum and Aunt J. I really enjoyed the fish cakes here and I highly recommend this place! You get to try different freshly made fish cakes that are bouncy.

There was also a nice area outside for you to sit and enjoy the fish cakes.

This is how the tiny Kazamatsuri station looks like.

After that, we took the train to Odawara station.

Even the statue is wearing a mask.

First thing we did there was to visit the Odawara Castle Tower. 

It was quite a distance from the station.

But the view along the way was beautiful. 

Lol, managed to capture the pigeon in this picture too.

Finally made it there!

It costs 610 yen for an adult to enter.

Didn't know that Osaka Castle is the tallest castle in Japan.

We got to the top to enjoy the view of Odawara City.

As you can see, the weather was lovely that day but also super hot!

We went to cool ourselves at Kinjirou Cafe (きんじろうカフェ), that is located inside Hotoku Ninomiya Shrine (報徳二宮神社). There, we had some cold gojiru, which was refreshing. It was my first time trying it. It sort of reminds of a cold tonjiru.

It seems to be pretty popular. The place is open air and there are seats available between the 2 stores there that sell soup, drinks and ice cream.

 

After this, it was time to head back to the station.

Road trip to Ibaraki

The weather was really nice that day. So happy to have a nice sunny weather to start our road trip. This was back in Aug 2020.

Went on a road trip with J's friends.

We stopped by at 川ふじ for lunch.

Their teishoku portion is big and tasty.

As there was 6 of us, we had our own private room.

I had this hamburg for lunch and it was delicious!

After that, we went to Fukuroda Falls (袋田の滝).

Website: https://www.daigo-kanko.jp/fukuroda-falls.html

The waterfall here is pretty.

There are 3 levels where we can view the waterfall from. With each level, you get a different feel of the waterfall.

It was nice to be able to be this near to a big waterfall.

After that, we went to another popular destination in Ibaraki - Ryujin Big Suspension Bridge (竜神大吊橋).

Website: https://www.ibarakiguide.jp/db-kanko/ryujin_bridge.html

From this suspension bridge, you can see the Ryujin Dam down below.

This bridge is also a bungee jump spot. Can you see it from this picture?

Apparently, bungee jumping is popular with uni graduates as they come here for bungee jump with their friends upon graduation.

As none of us dared to go bungee jumping, we shall enjoy the nice view from this bridge.

As the weather was very hot, some of us got soft cream to help cool ourselves down.

After that, we went to check in at our hotel. We managed to get rooms at this business hotel at a really good price.

After checking in, we went to a game center near the Ibaraki station and found Luna there. This naughty girl was so hard to catch. Even when I thought that we had her her strong legs held on to the bar and wouldn't let go. We did get her in the end! :D

After that, we went to an izakaya nearby for dinner.

Again, we were lucky to have our own private space in a private room, especially during this time.

I am grateful that the food was good too.

Everything that we ordered that night was delicious.

Luckily, the food didn't take too long to get served and we can easily order more with a tablet.

I guess, when you are far from Tokyo, you get the luxury of space.

Not just the meat dishes, the salad was good too.

To end the meal, I got myself a creme brulee which was huge!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel where the boys acted on their plan to prank the birthday boy. As you can see, you do not want to be the birthday boy in this picture.