We took a half hour cruise along the coastline...the air was hot and sticky, so being out over the ocean felt nice (still hot and sticky, though). We passed by several rocks that were island-ed in the ocean, but with fishermen on them! Fully clothed, with gear. We figured that either they could walk out at low tide, or someone had dropped them off. But it was still funny to see them sitting on a rocky island with no means of getting off.
 |  |
We passed by a larger rocky island that was inhabited by monkeys!! People who had bought monkey food before departing threw the snacks out to the monkeys, who scurried around to reach it. Most of the people throwing the snacks were terrible at it - ridiculously so. And not just the kids - several adults threw snacks into rock crevices or didn't even make it to the island (which was 10 feet away). But it was neat to see the monkeys.
When we got back from the cruise, we did a little perusing of the small shops. Most of the shops were inhabited by Obasans (older women) who were delighted to see us and thrilled when we came in to look around. One lady offered us some water; Irozaki water is supposed to be especially good. Given how hot it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
While waiting for our bus, we spent some time in one last sparse little shop. The Obasan was delightful! She was wandering around, talking at people out the window, giving directions and instructions to random people, and repeatedly making sure we knew where to go for the bus. She was very friendly and Rumi and I got a picture with her. After we bussed back to Shimoda, we jumped on another bus - this time for the aquarium. But not just any aquarium, no no, a floating one!
There was a small ice cream stand outside the aquarium, and (of course) we got some ice cream! Feeling adventurous, we tried some new flavors... Alex had something random (we don't know what it was) and I had Brown Algae. Surprisingly good, not sure how to describe the taste, though.
 |  |
We watched the huge turtles in the pool outside before venturing in...we hit up the Sea Lion show right away, followed by the Dolphin performance. It was so much fun! We sat in the first row, and could see both the underwater portion and the above water portion very well. It was both cute and amazing! The Sea Lions did some fabulous tricks, including some kisses and waving, flips, spins, and dives. We also got a 'gun show'....he lifted his flippers and gave them a little kiss, just to how how proud he was of all his muscle and abilities... The dolphin show was equally amazing! I couln't get over how beautiful the dophins were. A couple times they slowly sailed across the glass right in front of us, and I couldn't tear my eyes away. More impressive (super high!) jumps and tricks later, they waved goodbye and the shows were done.
 |  |
 |  |
We explored the rest of the aquarium, saw some penguins and sea anemone and a GIANT crab; small sharks and more dolphins. Then we had lunch in the restaurant. Guess what we had? Seafood! I'm not sure if it was a strange or appropriate thing to eat in an aquarium, but it was delicious! Soo yummy.
When we got back to Shimoda, we did a little more shopping and then jumped on the train for Atami...it was already almost 8 o'clock. Rumiko and I were planning on hitting up Moonlight Beach before we started our night adventure back home. We said goodbye the the guys, and decided to check the schedule.
Enter Ridiculous Adventure #2. Yes, there were two in one weekend. You wouldn't think a 2 day trip would have so many adventures and blog posts, would you? Neither did we.
2 comments:
How do you have time to do all of this?
I guess other women have given them "permission". It is our job, to re-educate...as if I had time for this. It's like taking on a child with special needs.
At my age, it should not be necessary.
How do you like your job? What exactely do you do?
Post a Comment