One week in Chiba (revisited).

The final installment of my adventures with my dear mum (one month later! sorry) in a photo summary. (Almost all of the photos I've used were her photos, so that's why they've got time stamps on them...and the camera was set to San Francisco time.) But hopefully this offers a little more insight into all the different stuff we got to do.

Part 1: Dinner at Syu's Garden Deli (Chiba City)

The appetizer plate...for one person. At least 4 other full plates of food (again per person!)

Super intense BBQ plate of meat, fish, and fresh veggies!

Oh man. This place is just...epic. I have so much praise for this place I donno where to start. We had the "Garden BBQ" course menu - initially, I thought it was a bit pricey at (I think?) 3000 yen/person, but I knew my mom would appreciate the healthy-ish (ish beacause of the sheer amount of food), veggie-centered menu.

Considering that it was all-you-can-drink (including alcoholic drinks) and an eye-popping amount of amazing food, the price was totally worth it! The restaurant staff was also incredibly nice (very accommodating to our rowdy (but in a friendly way?!) group. I'd love to go back again if I get the chance. It's about a 5 minute walk from Parco in Chiba.

Syu's Garden Deli website: http://www.syuplanning.com/

Part 2: Mitsui Outlet Park (MOP) Kisarazu 

Being silly with the random statue/objects placed around the outlet.

My previous post about MOP Kisarazu: http://ikosa.blogspot.jp/2012/04/grand-opening-of-mop-kisarazu.html.

We went on a weekday afternoon after I got off from work - if you're not a big fan of crowds, this is definitely the perfect time to hit up these outlets. There aren't many other shoppers so you can look around as you please.

Part 3: Sea Festa 2013 in Kamogawa

Rain cleared up just as we arrived in Kamogawa...absolutely gorgeous!

The last day of my mom's visit was the only day we didn't have any reservations or appointments...so I gave my mom the choice between Tokyo and Kamogawa (the two places we hadn't been able to fit into the trip). To my surprise and pleasure, she chose Kamogawa of her own free will, because it was noce and relaxing, and she wanted to see people she'd met during her previous visit.

To male things even better, my mom was visiting just in time for Sea Festa, one of my annual traditions! It's a huge, city-wide event, so I knew we had an incredibly high chance of running into everyone we wanted to.

...and we pretty much did exactly that.

This lovely lady took good care of me when I was in Kamogawa!
She's a part of the women's group within the local Chamber of Commerce...they were selling all sorts of fun Kamogawa t-shirts (and of course, I am a proud owner of a number of them!)

Kamogawa Coffee! This coffee here is seriously epic. I don't actually know where they normally do business...their truck just appears at various local events!

Kamogawa grins all over!

We ran into a ton of people and got tons of delicious food and drink!!! My only regret was that I was duped by the cool weather (and morning clouds!) - found myself pretty well roasted and burnt the next day. I suppose it is a smaller price to pay for a rejuvenating day with friends on the beach though!

Also, found these lovelies at Ichihara Service Area on our way back to Chiba City:

Chiba pride!

To the left - peanut flavored cafe au lait. The peanut flavor was really light - rather, it was the intense smell of...peanut shells? That really caught me off guard. Other than that, I suppose the drink was pretty normal. The packaging was really cute!

To the right - the service area carried a huge variety of I love...Chiba-related place names, so I picked up one for Kamogawa and another for Chiba in general, in honor of my two employers. These'll go on that new suitcase I am overdue to purchase for my trip home. Anyway, the stick come in rectangular and circular shapes, there's one for pretty much every city/town in Chiba...in addition to general "Chiba" ones in hiragana, katakana, romaji...and perhaps others?!

Grand Opening of MOP Kisarazu!

Mitsui Outlet Park = MOP. For some reason I just think that's super adorable!!

Curious about all the hype, yesterday I went to check out the grand opening of the shiny new outlets in Kisarazu, right near the Chiba-side entrance of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about this place. I love shopping, and I love shopping even more so in Japan....but I feel like it's always really hard to find clothes for prices that I'd ever actually call a bargain. I am happy to say that I was quite wrong!!

Things that I really love about MOP Kisarazu so far:

Look out for the bright orange balloons (with banners hanging from them that say "三井アウトレットパーク木更津") when you get off the highway!

The first thing I love about MOP Kisarazu: it is so close! I was coming from Chiba City, and my friends came from the southern outer edges of Chiba Prefecture...but it totally only took us about 40 minutes! It also only takes about 40 minutes to an hour (depending on where you're coming from) by highway buses departing from Shinjuku, Yokohama, Kawasaki.

It also looks like they've expanded and cleaned up the local roads and they had a TON of parking, so we didn't have to wait long at all to get into the outlets!

Another thing I love about MOP Kisarazu: Shop selection!!! They had a lovely balance of Japanese brands and non-Japanese stuff! For example: ok they have the Nike outlet store here. Okay, they have it at Makuhari too - and for that matter, I can get stuff for much cheaper from the Nike outlet back home in the  US. On the other hand, what I *can't* get in the US:

Store hopping for Japanese fashion brands!!

I have always loved the designs at these three brands: Apuweiser-riche, E hyphen world gallery, and earth music & ecology...so I was really really excited to see them here! They also had Design Tshirts graniph and tsumori chisato, some other stores I really love. Since the prices here were actually reasonable, I don't think I can ever shop at regular retail price again!

This guy looked SO confused when he popped out of the store just in time to stare into my photo.

Another long time love...Vivienne Westwood! This is just another thing I definitely cannot buy back home in the US.

Wappa Chaya at the food court.

After a good shopping spree, it was time to refuel at the Food Court! They had a fantastic variety of popular restaurants from all over Japan, as well as local specialties from the southern Chiba area!

Seafood fresh from the Boso!

As we were getting ready in the morning to head out to the outlets, they showed this on the news...how could we NOT get it! The sashimi was so fresh it just seemed to melt away in my mouth. I really do miss the fresh seafood I could get for cheap when I lived near the coast...

We also made some new friends at the food court:

Also located in the food court is the Chiba Tourist Information Center, aka the チーバくんプラザ!

...where we met the always adorable CHI-BA+KUN!

Nokotta-kun, from Kisarazu!

He is holding beach combing stuff, which is a really popular activity in Kisarazu from now until the end of the summer. Hopefully we will get to go this year!

Perhaps our greatest discovery of the day: P-man!!!

This super cute and creepy mascot is P-man (Pマン)! He is supposed to be a delicious peanut born and raised in Chiba - that goes great as a snack or a side dish for beer! Apparently he pops up from time to time here at this souvenir shop selling Chiba-made foods, etc. here in the food court too....perhaps you'll meet him too!

@ the Mother Farm Cafe

After our meal, we decided to brave the long line at the Mother Farm Cafe. Although I have yet to go, Mother Farm is a tourist attraction where you can go play with cows, sheep, etc., have barbecues, go strawberry or blueberry picking...they've extended their business to run these cafes! I only know of two now...the one here, at MOP Kisarazu, and the other one at the Lalaport Tokyo Bay shopping mall, but their soft serve is absolutely amazing. Since I am a sucker for limited edition things, I couldn't resist getting this "Boso Strawberry" parfait soft serve. It had vanilla soft serve topped with a mass of strawberries, with yogurt and chocolate crispies underneath, all in a giant waffle cone - and it was perfection. Apparently this is only available here at MOP Kisarazu, so come and get it!

MOP Kisarazu at night.

With our stomachs full and hands full of shopping bags, it was finally time to call it a night! I think we spent a good 5-6 hours at the outlets. It was interesting to see how much the crowds had cleared out in the evening...perhaps because most of the people we saw there that day were families with younger children? So if you are trying to avoid the crowds, it might be a good idea to avoid coming here during the day and try coming in the evenings instead.

MOP Kisarazu...I hope to be seeing you again sometime soon!

Mitsui Outlet Park Kisarazu website:
http://www.31op.com/kisarazu/index.html

Adventure at the Aqualine.

Umihotaru PA! (PA="Parking Area." There are SAs (Service Areas) as well, and they are pretty much the same as Michi-no-Eki...very similar to a nicer, larger version of rest areas in the U.S.

A few days ago I tagged along with my coworkers on a trip to the Tokyo Bay Aqualine. I got to wander around freely, and it was a gorgeous day - which resulted in a ton of random photos. Tokyo Bay Aqualine is basically a bridge + underwater tunnel that stretches across Tokyo Bay to connect Kisarazu City in Chiba Prefecture with Yokohama and Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Anyway...I'll let the photos do the talking!

Random photo #1. If you look really closely, you can see Tokyo Sky Tree around the center of the photo.

The Chiba Prefecture side of Tokyo Bay Aqualine!

Giant monument thing. If I remember correctly, this is a part of the drill they used to dig the tunnel.

Making our way up into Umihotaru. It's got 5 floors of fun!!!

I love random things - so it was really fun when I stumbled on these random statue things on the highest floor of Umihotaru!

I reaaaaaally wanted to sit here and take strange photos, but I was alone...perhaps next time!

After a decent amount of wandering, I started to get hungry...

Snacktime!!!

I had an asariman, or clam bun (usually these things are meat/pork buns). I'd never seen anything like this, I was really excited to try it!!

Someone else wants a bite too?

It was a pretty decent, big size AND stuffed with tons of clam! I totally recommend this if you are at Umihotaru and looking for a good snack <3

Can't go home without souvenirs! Chiba rakkasei peanuts (in different flavors, like sugar, sesame, blueberry, and matcha!) and Umihotaru honey cheesecake.

Towards the end of the day, I was awarded with some gorgeous views~.

Sun setting over Tokyo Bay.

Whee Mount Fuji!!! It was a bit humid that day, so you can't see it very clearly...but the Aqualine has amazing views of Mount Fuji in the winter and other clear, dry dies.

Cars headed to/from Kisarazu.

So that's the end of my random/simple tour of the Tokyo Aqualine. Tomorrow I'm off to Kamogawa for the festival and other fun, so please look forward to those updates in the near future!