Month: June 2016

The Omoshiro Tube at Hitachi Seaside Park

Did you think all there is at the Hitachi Seaside Park were rolling hills of Nemophilia flowers?

Nope, nope, nope.

This nationally operated park is fairly large and has everything from barbecue corners to cycling courses. There is also a playground of sorts in an area called Pleasure Garden. (*insert innuendo of choice here*). It’s actually a pretty popular spot, though random, with anime themed attractions, semi-roller coasters and even a bmx course.

But we were only interested in one thing…the Omoshiro Tube!!!

This orange tube of fun (which is literally what the name means) is over 400 meters long and it twists and turns around this corner of the park. It is part obstacle course, part observation deck and we had tons of fun on it, as the name indicated!

So if you’re ever at Hitachi Seaside Park to see the flowers, do so. But take some time to see other areas as well. Like the ferris wheel or the beach area by the ocean that we didn’t have time for. It’s definitely worth visiting.

On our way back to Tokyo, we stopped by a parking area on the highway that had a giant Hello Kitty vending machine. Naturally we had to take a photo of it…but just as we were snapping pictures, a man with five dogs walks by.

I’ve seen two, maybe even three, dogs but this man had FIVE.

Hello Kitty vending machine took to the back burner and we were all over the dogs, which according to the nice owner were a mom and her kids. They were so well behaved and sweet as can be, my friends and I were smitten.

You just never know who you’ll meet on the highway! x

Here are some photos:

40″

The June Link Love

Oh June, how can you almost be over?

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a little behind on my blogging schedule. Work has been insane, as in 2am emails and endless documents to go through. And yet, I am weirdly excited about all this because I’m learning so much and it’s a project we’ve been working on for a while now. I’m in an odd place where my body is yawning-so-hard-that-my-jaw-may-dislocated-exhausted but my mind is totally-ready-to-do-handsprings-down-the-hall-pumped!

Hopefully next month, body and mind will unite.

Anyways, did I mention that I was in Germany earlier this month? It was amazing. AMAZING. My first time in Europe and although it was only a long weekend, I had the best time. Can’t wait to share with you!

How are you enjoying June? Is it raining where you are? It’s pretty darn sunny here in Tokyo…is rainy season over? xx

 

——————————————————-Link Love——————————————————-

– Here comes the rain!

– Famous novels retitled like Friends episodes.

– Throwback to all this gorgeousness.

– Tokyo subway map by walking types.

– A new kind of real estate?

– Who are you at the airport?

The Flight to Dusseldorf via Dubai

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve always been team window seat.

This is mostly due to the fact that I like to sleep on airplanes, and the window seat makes it easier to snuggle. But there are times I’m forced to keep awake so I can smoothly transition to local time when I land. There’s nothing worse than jet lag the entire week, so I usually adjust my sleep schedule accordingly by watching movies, listening to podcasts or just simply stare out the window.

It may depend on weather or geography but technically the view from an airplane window is always pretty amazing. So of course I have to take photos. Sometimes I end up with just as many photos from inside the plane as during my travels!

This time around, I flew from Haneda to Dusseldorf, with a short layover in Dubai. x

Here are some photos:

 

The Long Weekend in Germany

Hallo Deutschland!!!

I had so much fun with my girls in Germany!

Oh, and did I mention this is my first time in Europe? I know, I don’t know why I waited so long. But I love that Germany ended up being my first European country, even if it was just a small corner of the country.

This weekend all came about when my friend R realized that there was a Pentatonix concert in Cologne AND our friend H lived near Dusseldorf. We’d been wanting to visit her but you know it’s hard to schedule something last minute, especially when it includes 15+ hour transit. But all three of us checked our schedules…and it somehow all worked out!

June was the perfect time to visit, in my opinion. The weather was perfect, with everyone eating outside. Apparently Germans eat outside as much as possible, especially when the weather is nice. I would think that a restaurant was full because all the outdoor seats were be taken, but then when we stepped inside the restaurant there are a whole bunch of seats that were open. I quickly learned that the outdoor seats were the most popular.

We were also there during white asparagus season, and let me tell you, Germans love their spargel. Every restaurant had a special spargel menu to celebrate this joyous season, and we definitely took advantage of it. We had so many types of spargel and they were all delicious.

We also spent a day in Cologne, exploring the city before the concert. The cathedral was massive and there was so much to see. We also walked along the Rhine river and crossed the Hohenzollern Bridge before heading to the concert venue.

As for the concert, Pentatonix blew me away. They were amazing. Also, on the way back to the station after the concert, we were trying to figure out which street to take and a random German girl spoke to us in Japanese! She had studied a year in Tokyo and understood we were trying to get the same station as her so showed us the way. What a night, we had the best time!

We spent a lazy Sunday at a lake near where my friend lives, just relaxing and playing games. The water was super cold but a lot of the locals were jumping in and swimming. I guess when summer is short, you take full advantage of warm weather.

My last day in Dusseldorf, H and I took the Rhine river cruise because I wanted to see the Gehry buildings at Dusseldorf Harbor. We also did a little shopping (souvenirs and these sandals!) and ate here and there before heading to the airport.

All in all, the long weekend in Germany was totally worth the long flight. I love it when a sudden plan comes together so well like this. Germany is such a friendly country. I can’t wait to come back to explore other cities some day!

Here are some photos: