Earth Tree Cafe.

It's been almost four months since my last post, and I only have six months left here in Chiba - only time will tell where I'll end up next. But before my time's up, I need to make the most of my remaining time here. Or so went a recent conversation with a close friend.

Earthy, natural, and gorgeous.

It took place here, at the magical Earth Tree Cafe.

A couple weeks back, I took a day trip to the lovely Kamogawa, my previous home of 3 years, to join a seminar. Before I went back to home, my friend and I played catch up at this fabulous cafe, which opened up along the road last summer, right between Kamogawa Sea World and Kamogawa Grand Hotel.

With my handsome friend~.

I failed at properly taking photos of the interior, which has a very natural feel to it and was extremely charming. It's hard to tell, but there's a little loft on the second floor - there was a table up there, so I think guests can eat up there too.

Other photos of the cafe can be found here (which I found randomly through Google search):
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/d_toshizou_b/29778419.html

Also, while this might be really awkward to say - their restroom was particularly gorgeous. You can tell a lot of thought was put into the interior detailing. For one, apparently the flooring is made up of beach glass that the owners' daughter collected: http://halekaira.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2012/04/post-ebef.html

They have a stock of books and magazines, as well as... FREE WI-FI! Yes, you read that correctly. It's a freaking miracle, considering that the concept of free wi-fi is practically nonexistent in Japan, even in the middle of Tokyo. To encounter it in the inaka...woah.

If I still lived in Kamogawa, I'd be here everyday, warming up with my iPad and eating delicious foods (apparently that's what my friend does).  Speaking of delicious foods....

Here we go again with my fetish for signs (especially chalkboard ones)

Full of natural, organic goodness!

Most unfortunately, they ran out of the daily special zakkoku (grain) plate meal - or rather, they ran out of rice, which knocked out any items with rice. Sad face.

Nomnoms.

So instead, I opted for the grilled veggie burger, which comes with a side of salad and curry...as well as some kind of tea I can't recall - all super yummy! We also had chai tea, a mutual favorite.


The cafe is open from 11:00-20:00, Wednesday to Sunday. If you're ever in Kamogawa and looking for a nice place to chill - look no further!

Earth tree cafe, I'll be back!

Chasing autumn at Naritasan Park.

Hands down favorite shot of the day.

In my line of work, I've gone through a fair share of tourism information for Narita - particularly Naritasan Park. Oddly enough, I've been to the temple tons of times (like here, here, and here), but never to the park itself. Even though they're right next to each other. But finally, I was able to head over to the park with some good company - right on time for some gorgeous fall scenery.

Perhaps we got through half of park? (Kinda ran out of daylight towards the end of our visit.) There was lots of prettiness to be seen - I took a ton of photos, which I smooshed together in this collage. I'm not good with collages - but I think it gets the point across well enough....I love the fall.

Map of the park.

Okay, so this sign isn't that special but it just caught my eye. Particularly, I just kinda thought the message written on the lefthand side was nice. It says something along the lines of "Peace to those coming in(to the park), and happiness to those leaving." Whee! I certainly felt very happy and relaxed after my visit. Hopefully I can come again in the spring to see the plum blossoms (also something I missed out on last year grr).

She lives!

Okay, probably totally unnecessary, but it's good to have photos of people (with people in them??) just to spice things up a bit, right? Or perhaps I just wanted to stick in this photo somewhere because my hair looks like it's a crazy color (I think it might've been on the setting specifically for fall leaves.

Anyway, the way the weather is going, the foliage in Narita will probably only last until around the end of the week...if you get the chance though, go go go! For me, I think next up is Lake Kameyama in Kimitsu and the winter illumination in German Village at the beginning of next month.

2012 CHI-BA+KUN Ambassadors in Makuhari.

Modern Makuhari peeks out from behind the views of Mihama-en (美浜園) park.

Let's take a time trip back to September. The blue and green tones make it look nice and cool, but it was actually still incredibly hot on this day. Still, that didn't stop me and the CHI-BA+KUN Ambassadors from enjoying the lovely Mihama-en (美浜園), a Japanese garden tucked away in the heart of Makuhari.

The park is around a 15 minute walk from JR Kaihin-Makuhari Station on the Keiyo Line. I go to Makuhari all the time and I had no idea this park even existed prior to this trip...in a good way! Now that I know it's here, it'll be a nice break away from big city hustle next time I go to Makuhari for shopping at the nearby outlets or to see a show at Makuhari Messe.

Makuhari's APA Hotel & Resort standing tall in the distance! And duckies.

So quaint but so gorgeous! I really do love how vivid the green tones turned out in the photos (but that's how brilliant the colors really were).

I wonder what the park looks like during other times of the year - might be a good time to visit the park again now, in the fall...hmm...

Empty exhibition hall.

After the park, we also got an insider tour of Makuhari Messe! Unfortunately none of my photos here turned out so this is all I've got...But anyway, the hall might seem tiny enough here, but if you've ever been to the Messe during an event, you'll realize just how gigantic the place is! Check out the Makuhari Messe website for upcoming events information: http://www.m-messe.co.jp/en/index.html.

Nomnomnom.

I won't delve too much into lunch...but it was at a favorite haunt of mine, Nanoha! It's an all you can eat place that specializes in mostly Japanese/organic/natural foods. (I've got other pictures from this place from when I took my parents here last year when they visited.)

Orientation about MIS.

Next stop: Makuhari International School! It's a sparkly new-ish (opened in April 2009) international school located in...well none other than Makuhari. Apparently it's the first international school in Japan to be accredited by the government, so one of the big "sales point" of this place is that students should have a much easier time transitioning into the Japanese education system. The school teaches grades P-6.

We had to be careful not to take any photos of the children (although we ran into the preschoolers during their recess and they were ADORABLE), but here's a random photo tour of inside the school!

One of the 6th grade classrooms (I think).

Roald Dahl corner in the library! Jealousness.

I happened to chance upon this and I thought it was super cute.

This reminded me of elementary school!

The kindergarten area! I think?

Anyway, it was really lovely touring MIS. Random thought - I feel like the interior is something that IKEA would come up with if they ever got to build/design their own school.

And it felt really weird/interesting - it was like being back in the US or some other English-speaking world - I guess that is obvious since it's an international school. Just seeing the children, some Japanese, and many from other ethnic backgrounds, interact with each other normally is not something you really get to see in Japan everyday. So this served as a nice trip to a separate little world!

Hop on the new Urban Flyer! Loving the spaceship feel and sleek colors.

Finally, it was time to head back to the Chiba Station area via the Chiba Urban Monorail, when we were pleasantly surprised to meet the new Urban Flyer model of the monorail, which they just started operating in July! It's waaaay more modern than the "standard" monorail cars (more spacious and classy interior, has a digital display showing the next station, and makes all sorts of exciting "woosh" sounds when it takes off).

Everyone was excited to ride the new monorail car :D

I commute on the monorail everyday, so I've found that I get to ride on the Urban Flyer at least 1-2 times a week. But since it's still fairly new, it's entertaining to watch other people on the platform and see how excited they get when this new car pulls in. I suppose I still react like that too.

My favorite part of the new monorail...!

Best thing about the new monorail car is that the conductor/operator's area has glass panels on the floor...so if you get to ride the Urban Flyer during the daytime, try to grab a spot right by the conductor's area! Also unlike the standard monorail cars, the Urban Flyer has a full glass door separating the conductor and passengers' areas, instead of just a tiny window - so you can observe how the monorail is operated while "walking on air." :D

Anyway, the next CHI-BA+KUN Ambassador next outing is coming up at the beginning of next month! Hopefully I will be a bit more punctual about updating from here on out!!

Light art.

光のアート展 ("Light Art" exhibition) at the Chiba Prefectural Art Museum

The second I read the title of the exhibition, I just knew that I had to go. I love light and reflections, so as I read the poster ad explaining that it was all interactive artworks involving light, I couldn't wait for my next free weekend so I could go!

At the corner of the museum, with Chiba Port Tower in the distance.

After a very short drive from my home to the Chiba Minato Station area, I made it to the museum with no problems...and free parking! I felt a little lost wandering in - but the receptionist was very nice and quickly pointed me towards the entrance to my long-awaited exhibit.

Also, if you are wondering...photography is okay as long as you don't use your flash, so make sure you change your camera settings before going in (and certainly bring your camera along)!

Lanterns?

As I walked in, a man was huddled under the center of one of these and seemingly punching it (judging by the loud punching bag sound).

「光であそぶ ("Play with Light")」by Atelier OMOYA

With the encouragement of one of the staff nearby, I ducked under and found this!!

Yes....these are cloth lantern? things with tons of marbles inside! They gather at the center, but if you poke/punch it in just the right place with just the right amount of strength, the marbles will spread nicely like this :D

Marbles in motion.

Am I weird for thinking that I would really really like one of those to hang over my bed? It's the perfect amount of light, and lots of fun to boot.

「青の軌跡 ("Blue Miracle")」by Taro Suzuki

I didn't do a very good job of capturing this work, but basically if you lean over it, light tracks will rush toward you while going through all sorts of patterns. It looks like something is swimming back and forth underneath.

「Sound Round」by Ayano Soga

It may look like a lone table, but don't let it fool you! Somehow, if you place your hands on the table, a piano will sound. It has different chords and everything!

「Lake Awareness」by Hiroyuki Moriwaki

I'll admit, I made this photo black-and-white because I failed so badly at capturing this work too. It glows a really pale blue. But the cool thing is that each of the dots (actually they look like triangles if you look at them really closely) have sensors built into them! If you get near it, the lights will shine brighter! You can kiiiiinda tell that's what's happening in this photo.

Note the counter....

This work was tied with one other as my favorites of the exhibit. Can you tell what it is?

Everyone desperately tossing up huge handfuls of paper strips.

Yes...it's a garden! Basically, it is filled with scraps of paper (aka soil?), which you have to constantly toss into the air in order to make the flowers grow. If you stop for too long, the garden will go back to zero, so this means that you wind up with paper all over yourself! It's awesome though because you watch the garden grow in stages...meanwhile the museum staff has to desperately rake the garden as everything becomes a huge mess :3

「Garden」by Kohei Asano

The finished product!

「Kage's Nest」by plaplax

Kids loved the "Garden," but I think they loved this one even more.

「Air's song」by Kosei Komatsu

I couldn't capture this one correctly at all, but it's the same work pictured on the ticket (which you can see below). There are single, lovely feathers in each tube, and they go up and down in all sorts of patterns. It's a little strange, but I kinda like how this photo turned out...

Love the photo they chose for the tickets...

Okay, this post was supposed to happen last week...whoops!
The exhibit only has about one week left, so if you're interested, I hope you can make it! The 800 yen admission fee may or may not seem a bit pricey, but if you like interactive fun, I promise this exhibit will not disappoint you.

For your viewing pleasure, a set of photos taken by professionals:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.457651634258754.107739.247068255317094&type=1
(You can also check out my other favorite work of the exhibit in those photos...photos #10-13. Basically, it is a train with an extremely bright light attached to it. It runs around a literally pitch black room, with random objects from our daily lives (trash cans, colored pencils, clothesline pins, etc.) all over the place. The images the light and shadow reflect on the walls are amazing!

Link to the Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art website:
http://www.chiba-muse.or.jp/ART/english/index.html

If you are coming by car, it's a really easy drive - maybe just 5 minutes or so from Chiba Station, and like I mentioned before - free parking! If you are coming by train, it's an easy 10 minute walk from Chiba Minato Station (either the JR Keiyo Line or Chiba Urban Monorail). Enjoy!!

Hideaway cafe.

A little light hidden in the darkness of the Chiba Minato warehouse district.

It began on a lazy Sunday night...my dear friend and I were looking for a place to eat. We wanted to eat at a nice cafe, but the only place open so late was here....the elusive Mother Moon Cafe!

I say elusive because it is literally hidden in an unlit alley of the warehouse district in between Inage Kaigan and Chiba Minato Stations on the JR Keiyo Line. We drove by the street it was on 2-3? times before saying, screw it! I think it's this street!! ...and that's where it was hiding.

Perfect for relaxing with friends and loved ones.

Take a step inside, and you'll find a comfy cafe restaurant. The seating is a strategically placed to create little intimate pockets and let you forget everyone else around you.

Also, the food was amazing. Sadly, I don't remember the names of what we ate anymore, but I do remember that they were mind-blowingly delicious :) So I'll let the photos do the talking.

Prosciutto ham with cheese? on bread, with olive oil and honey. Mmmm it just melted away in our mouths!

Oven-baked chicken steak with lots of pepper and some sort of vinegar sauce I think? And tons of yummy veggies!

It looks kind of gross here, but it was a very very amazing berry tart!

Might I randomly mention that I think all of their cakes/tarts come with a scoop of drool-worthy almond ice cream. Soooo good. So good that we wound up coming back for dessert at some point during the week after.

Outdoor seating, perfect for t

Simply amazing. Chiba might seem like it doesn't have any exciting/fancy places, but it does!!! They are just in hiding. If you're looking for a nice place to chill, and perhaps slightly prepared to get lost along the way....definitely try out the Mother Moon Cafe!

Here's the cafe website:
http://www.mothermoon.co.jp/mihama/index.html