Posts Tagged 沼津
January 25, 2005 – Exploring Numazu
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka, The Penpal on January 25, 2015
A bridge over the Kano river
I have been living in Numazu for almost 3 months. It seemed like a good time to get out of the house and explore the city on my bicycle. My first stop was city hall to finally update my address with the government. City Hall is not terribly easy to navigate for someone who can’t read Japanese well. I spent a few minutes walking aimlessly checking out my options at different windows and offices, and generally looking confused. Eventually an English speaking civil servant approached me and directed me to the right place.
Senbon is a rocky beach
After a successfully completing my mission at City Hall, I took a long, meandering bike ride around the city. I went by the busy port area and then along Senbonhama beach, named after the thousands of trees along the shore. The beach itself is windy and full of rocks, so it’s not a “beach party” kind of place. It is very popular with windsurfers and kiteboarders.
Temple in Numazu, Japan
Numazu itself covers a huge area that used to be a number of smaller towns. However, the main city part of Numazu is fairly compact, and it’s easy for me to get almost anywhere by bicycle. After a nice long ride, I ended up returning home and getting ready for an evening with The Penpal.
The Penpal and I went out for dinner (now our usual activity), and I showed her a few episodes of South Park. She laughed hard at the anime stylings of “Good Times with Weapons” and the catchy theme song for “Sexual Harassment Panda”. But seriously, who doesn’t think Sexual Harassment Panda is funny?
February 15, 2004 – Train Simulator
Posted by Barniferous in Shizuoka, The Penpal on February 15, 2014
Mt. Fuji from Izu Mito Sea Paradise
Today I went to Numazu and hung out with The Penpal and Williams. I really love the change in scenery when leaving the greater Tokyo area and getting into Shizuoka. Mt. Fuji was snow covered and looked spectacular.
The first stop of the day was Izu Mito Sea Paradise, a marine park just south of Numazu along the coast. Sea Paradise has tanks with a great selection of fish and other underwater life. They also have a dolphin show, which is much like a dolphin show just about anywhere else in the world.
After Sea Paradise, we went to a beach along the coastline where people were practicing various water sports. For the first time ever I saw someone kiteboarding. Imagine someone on a small surfboard holding on to two handles connected to a large parachute like kite. Unfortunately for the man, he wiped out and his kite started blowing away. None of the onlookers at the beach stopped to help.
Following the beach, we went 10 pin bowling and then spent some time in a game center. I specifically mention that the bowling was 10 pin because bowling in Canada is typically 5 pin. I prefer 10 pin, except for the time it takes to find a ball the right weight with proper holes.
In the game centre I played a Dance Dance Revolution clone (badly) and tried a very strange train simulator game. You can’t drive off the tracks, but you lose points for being late to the next station or for giving the passengers a rough ride. I was very fast but I actually had a passenger fall out when I opened the doors at top speed.
It’s always good to get away from the Greater Tokyo area for a while, and I had a fun day with The Penpal and Williams. Fortunately the train driver on the way home was much better than I had been on the train simulator.
(partial rewrite of original post for detail)
Drinking in Japan 
Recent Comments