Finale to a fabulous 5.

Kind of unintentionally - but this post will be the final entry of this blog. As I write this, I've completed an incredible, unforgettable 5 years working and living in Chiba Prefecture - and I've returned to my home country of the U.S.

I just wanted to share shots from my hectic last few weeks in Chiba (and Japan) - but the little joys within them that make me want to go visit again as soon as I can.

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes.

Yep. This is my car trunk (with the rear seats folded down) loaded up with stuff to ship back home. Thankfully, the people at the post office in Chibaminato were incredibly helpful - not to mention it's one of only three post offices in the prefecture were you can send out books, etc. for a slightly discounted rate! (The other two locations are in Narashino and Narita Airport.)

I wound up spending over $700 on shipping...yikes, moving really is no joke.

Love these handwritten messages at Starbucks! So sweet.

Towards the end of my time in Japan, busyness escalated so much that between moving, work, and catching up with friends - the only free "times" I had was early morning. This photo is from when I met up with a friend at 6:30am because that was the only time our schedules were open (she was moving back to the US too, and running a schedule probably even worse than mine).

More early morning pick-ups.

For the last 2 months, I was probably averaging 2-3 hours of sleep per night. Towards the end, I was terrified I might get into a car accident or something - like this morning, when I had to leave Kamogawa at 6am to get back to Chiba City for more appointments. This taco meat sandwich was absolutely epic...and the 10 minutes of shut-eye I got really helped!

Dinner in Kamogawa - one of my all-time favorites: kinmedai no nitsuke (golden eye snapper boiled in Japanese seasonings)

When will I see you again...? Kamogawa's lovely Maebara Beach.

In between all the running around too though, I got to spend some quality time with friends - and even managed to actually do a lot of those plans we'd talked about but never gotten around to doing.

Seriously one of the coolest hotels ever...and for such a steal!

One such instance was going to Tokyo Disney Sea with a bunch of friends from work...and then staying at the Brighton Hotel in Shinurayasu, just one station away from Maihama (where the Tokyo Disney Resort is located).

There were 5 of us - so we stayed in the loft room - gorgeous, with a fantastic view, right next to the station...and super spacious! Ugh I wish I could live there.

Best of all, it was only 5,000 yen per person for the night...including breakfast! This is unthinkable considering the class of the hotel. You'll pay a minimum 7,000 yen per night for a cramped room in a business hotel around this area - and perhaps more if you try to add breakfast. On a final note - their breakfast had a huge variety of food and drink to choose from - we definitely got a great deal on this one.

I will definitely want to stay at the Brighton again.

Happy 30th anniversary!

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort! So just two days after I went to Disney Sea, I also went to Disney Land...the day ended in crazy rain, but we had a fantastic time nonethelss :)

But perhaps no place is better than a place you can call "home."

But I must say...one of the most touching experiences was a friend allowing me to stay with her for my last week in Japan. Not only have I never done a proper homestay lasting for more than 1 night - it was so kind of her to let me into her home and stay with her family. Pictured above is from our temaki (hand-wrapped sushi) party on my last night...unbelievable to many, but my first time doing such a thing! (Just realized I took the photo before the main fillings and seaweed actually were added to the table though, whoops.) I'd love to try it over here in the States.

I know this is a super jumbled post - but my 5 years in Chiba were such a hodgepodge of experiences, I don't think I can possibly present it in an organized way while giving it due justice.

So to try to sum things up...

...thank you for an incredible five years!!

Volunteering in Fukushima.

This blog is dedicated specifically to my experiences in Chiba Prefecture - but for just one post, I want to talk about outside of Chiba.

"Fukushima Organic Cotton Field"

One of the absolute musts on my list of things to do before leaving Japan was to volunteer up in Tohoku, the region devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

I was in Japan - in my little town of Kamogawa - when the earthquake struck. It was a terrible experience, and I'd like to hope that no one ever has to go through such a tragedy again.


And yet - I am embarrassed to say that it took me over 2 years to actually get to Tohoku. I'm so glad I got to go though - it was encouraging and inspiring to meet the locals and other volunteers.

My lovely kohai who joined me for the trip up!

As you might guess from the caption of the first photo, our mission was a part of a project to grow cotton in abandoned fields, located along the coast of the lovely Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture.

This particular volunteer event happened 2-3 times a month, for abotu 4 months throughout the year, from planting the seeds to harvesting them.

Half of the fields we were working in (the other half was right across the street).

Since it was a day trip, we only really got to help out for 3-4 hours. But it was great to be up there, and the local residents seemed quite happy to have us as well (thank you!).

We also helped weed.

We went at the beginning of July - with the end of rainy season, the humidity had hit and the sun was beating mercilessly on our backs. Despite the short amount of time we were actually there, we worked up a grimy sweat.

The placard all the way says "Welcome to the Iwaki Organic Cotton Project Group"

In between our work in the fields, we had a lunch break a nearby hotel, which also served as our location for the baths afterwards.

(left) Pamphlet describing the Fukushima Organic Project, and (right) our bentos (lunch boxes)

Lunch was neat because after everyone was done eating, we had a couple of speakers - the local volunteers. They described the earthquake and tsunami, the aftermath, and how it continues to affect their lives even now.

They are striving to rebuild their lives - and simply hope that others won't forget about them.

Our loyal steed, which took us from Tokyo Station to Fukushima and back!

So that concluded Part 1 of our day. Part 2 was taking a brief tour of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake/tsunami (from within the bus), a short stop at the tourism/local product center to pick up any souvenirs, and then back to Tokyo.

A couple shots from the bus tour of coastal areas devastated by the tsunami:

On one side, you could see this gorgeous beach - which used to be filled with tourists around this time of the year

Just opposite was this scenery - houses totally demolished, wiped away by the tsunami.

Again, another local resident came on board to describe her own experiences and those of friends during the time of the earthquake. She appeared totally calm as she described it all to us, but...woah. It was so intense to be there.

Apparently one of the major local products is fishcakes.

Ending the day on a semi(?) bright note though, we finished up some shopping to support the area! We only had about 30 minutes - I thought it was longer, but time flew by in a moment. I wasn't able to buy as much as I had intended to.

I got some fried fishcakes for dinner though, as well as my must for traveling to any new places: ice cream!

Red bean ice cream! Not so original, but a no-fail-go-to flavor.

Ray of hope.

Re-energized by fishcakes, ice cream, and more than anything else - the courage of the people of Iwaki - back to Tokyo we went! I look forward to going to Fukushima (and the rest of Tohoku)...hopefully for a longer period next time!

Best you ever ate.

This sign does not lie.

I write this from the land of hamburgers - yes, none other than the lovely U.S. of A.

And yet I still can't forget this place. Why?

Witness it in all its juicy, foodful glory.

I don't think I have to add much more to that.

This beauty here - is the Baked Apple Hamburger. This tag team is so divine, I can't even describe how epic it was. You'll just have to taste it yourself. They've got a fair selection of different burgers (weekly special!! I'm a sucker for limited time edition stuff) as well as a decent range of non-Japanese beers, for those interested.

You can even check out their Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/pantrycoyote

Pantry Coyote - I can't wait to see you again.

Lotus flowers in the park.

Which way to go?

At some point during the midst of rainy season in Japan, I ventured to the nearby park to finally catch the lotus flowers in bloom.

I had previously seen the flowers in season for two summers in a row - passing by them everyday during my commute on the Chiba Urban Monorail (a morning treat, as the flowers blossom in the morning!), and yet I failed to actually go see them up close. So I decided that before leaving Chiba, I absolutely needed to take a trip to the park.

Rise and shine crowd of photographers.

Finally, I managed to get up and out early enough to take a brief stroll through the park with friends before heading to work! I wish I did it earlier and more often - because of quirky weather during the days preceding my visit, the flowers were on their last leg :(

Bottom right photo records the number of flowers bloomed since the end of May.

As you can see, there was a dramatic drop in the number of flowers from the day before (200!!)...but by the looks of it, I'd missed peak by a good 10 days. Still, it was fantastic to see the flowers up close and personal.

And here's a random piece of trivia - these lotus flowers are the base for Chiba City's mascot character, Chihana-chan.

Guest appearance by the Chiba Urban Monorail's newest addition, the Urban Flyer, in the distance!

The Chiba Urban Monorail drops off right in front of the park at the station of the same name ("Chiba Koen" Station) - which is how I got there that day, since it was directly on my way to work. It's also a short 10-15 minute walk from Chiba Station.

Makuhari Dokidoki Flea Market

I can't remember how it started, but during this year's Golden Week, one of my best buddies and I decided that we wanted check out the annual Makuhari Dokidoki Flea Market.

We drove as we had our usual obligatory trip to Costco afterwards - so we gave ourselves an extra time to get there at opening time, in case we ran into the epic traffic jams that apparently form around around Makuhari Messe because of this event.

Tickets available at the door for 600 yen!

In fact, there was no traffic whatsoever. We arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so we stopped by one of the ticket booths located right at the escalators leading from the parking lot to the Messe and purchased tickets for ourselves and our lovely kohai who would be joining us later on.

...but then, we got absorbed into the human traffic jam waiting at the walkway leading into the Messe.

Sea of people waiting to get into the flea market.

They didn't let us in until exactly 10am...but then it was shopping showdown time!!

For the record, there were two more halls of the same size...so much flea market to be had! (taken around 10am)

I hadn't been to a flea market in ages, but I don't think any of us were prepared for how hard core this flea market was.

After a bit of scouting, we decided to fill our stomachs before really tackling the shopping:

International food corner! There were also rows of booths with foods from different areas of Japan.

Toppogi from the Korean place!

The flea market in full swing.

A couple hours later, the crowd had really gathered (no worries - we'd done a fair share of shopping too!). This photo is of the same area pictured 3 photos above...crazy!

The flea market was split up into different areas - for example, an area dedicated to luxury brands, and another dedicated to vendors selling out of the back of their car. My favorite area was by far the "artist's alley" of the flea market.

"This pug sticker is cute...but so is this one! う〜ん迷う"

Matcha green tea and rich chocolate gelatos!

Finally, we were shopped out - so we concluded on a sweet note with some delicious gelatos! Mmm.

And my personal haul from the flea market:

"What a haul, what a haul!" - does anyone know what anime that's from?

(front left) 3 postcards from an artist - 200 yen apiece (I think?)
(front right) 2 mini stickers from an artist - 150 yen apiece (and I got one for free!)
(bottom) Bright red kimono under robe - 1000 yen
(top) Sculptures (owl in a tree, and person? holding an onigiri) 800 yen apiece

ALICE.

By far my greatest discovery of the day - this gigantic stuff Alice doll! I'd seen a bunch of merchandise from this series a couple years ago - all sorts of Disney characters were considerably "simplified" (and I have a thing for characters with dot eyes).

I was so excited when I found Alice that I immediately ran over to the sellers and asked them how much - they looked at me like I was crazy (I guess they weren't expecting to sell it?) and said "er...100 yen?"

SCORE. :)