Milk Tea Oreo Bars

I almost missed these Oreo bars in 7-11 today. They have similar packaging to the other flavors. This one, however is milk tea. I'm not interested in trying them, but I'll have someone in my house test them and see how they compare to the Royal Milk Tea Kit Kats.

Pepsi Baobab

So this is the newest Pepsi released here. It's apparently named after an African tree. I gave it to someone else to try and they said they prefer it to regular Pepsi. It's not as sweet tasting.

'twas a foggy morning

I took a friend to see beautiful Saikai Park. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much of anything... but it was pretty cool! I took the picture above of the resort that you can see from the drop slide and the picture below from the walkway below the bridge. It reminded me of the Swiss castles that are photographed in a perpetual fog.

The other... other side of Osaki Park

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a brochure for an Onsen near Osaki Park. One of the pictures of the park itself featured a Cycling Monorail course, so we went looking for it.

When we got to the park, the part of the map where the cycling monorail was supposed to be was covered over with tape. We hiked up the hill to where it used to be and there was nothing there! I didn't even see remnants of the old track. There is a gorgeous view and places to have a picnic, but don't go for the monorail.

I think that water fountain is on the field where the monorail was.

If you are looking for the field where it used to be... park in the first lot inside the park on your right and hike up the hill. If you want to see the peacocks, don't turn off the road, just follow it to the end.

The other side of Osaki Park (You know, the park with the peacocks.)

If you go to peacock park, but turn left at the giant cement peacock, you'll enter the campground. Park in the campground parking lot and follow the bike path around toward the water. You'll come across this nifty little cave where you can hang out and wait for the rain to pass. It is rainy season after all.

The path continues beyond the cave and onto a train. It's fun little hike!

Those ruins out there are from torpedo tests by the Japanese Navy years ago.

I'm told that those caves at the water's edge there were created by the torpedo testing as well.
This guy is up by the peacocks.

Lunch at the Brick

There is a little restaurant near Huis ten Bosch that has a fantastic lunch for 500-yen! You pick your main meal... such as the egg salad sandwich above or a slice of pizza below and then they just pile on the rest of the food. Yummy!

They serve this lunch from 11:30 t0 2:30 most days, but they're closed on Mondays... along with the rest of Japan.

The Hills Park of Koshidake Health

It's quite overgrown, but the map promises great things if you can find it.

I followed the signs for Pinocchio Park and this is where it took me. This is only a tiny part here... again that is according to the sign. I couldn't see any other parts from the road and the trails were quite overgrown so I wasn't sure where else to go.

Here is the aforementioned map. I don't know how to get back to this park becuase I wasn't impressed enough to pay attention to how I got there.

The bus stops here!

I need to start paying closer attention to bus stops here. Some of them are quite innovative. I took the picture above in Ureshino. The ones below I took on the island of Sakito.

What's so special about this tree?

It's 3,000 years old!!!

Behold Kawago's Great Camphor Tree. This tree in the Saga Prefecture is said to be 3,000 years old. It is so big that there is a shrine inside it.

You can read an article about it here.

Miyuki Park in Ureshino

This park is pretty awesome as far as parks go, though the playground is not anything to write home about.

Next to the playground is an obstacle course. It needs some repair work, but it's still fun.

Next to the track there are a series of workout stations for adults.

That's for adults!

Wisteria creates a nice shade for watching races on the track and soccer fields.

Todoroki Waterfall(s)

Thunder Falls in Ureshino City.

I had seen photos of this area and there were many, many people enjoying the falls on what must have been a hot day.

It was hot the day we were there too, but we had the falls all to ourselves. The photo above is the river above the falls.

This photo is right above the falls. On the other side (to the right of this photo) was a very tempting cliff above the water. If I knew the depth of the water, I just may have jumped.

There were two unimpressive playgrounds here.

Oh the things you'll see...

Jesus body at a drugstore. It's a supplement.

Strongurt... tastes like Lassi, mmmmm.

Your very own barf bags!

My addiction

I'm told the first step is to admit your addiction. I have a problem!

World's best chicken... on a stick!

On our trip to the Yamaguchi Prefecture south of Hiroshima, we were invited to dinner at a place called Sanzoku, or "The Chicken Shack" by English speakers. Wow! It was good!!!

From what I read before going, the owners would like to be known for their beef, but who orders beef at a place called the "Chicken Shack"?

It tasted like it was braised with a sake, soy sauce, and something else sauce. They then grill it over hot coals. So good!

They also serve a huge Onigiri. It is so big it has four different filling while the ones that you buy in stores typically have only one.

That's the outside of the restaurant... there are three there. Sanzoku is the small building on the right side of this photo.

Despite the small shack appearance from the front, there is plenty of seating inside and out.

The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays, but they open quite early every other day of the week.

Mix Juice Kit Kats

You can definitely taste the banana in the newest offering from Kit Kat, but they smelled like Bubble Gum.

Hiroshima Miyoshi Winery

Near the entrance to the expressway in Miyoshi is the Hiroshima Miyoshi Winery.

There is a tasting room on the main floor and a wine cellar in the basement.

I took a tour of a winery near Tokyo last year and I was told that Japanese wines don't have a long shelf life due to the heavy rainfalls we get. Apparently, the grapes have a higher water content and this limits the shelf life to.... I think they said 10 years. I can't remember the exact shelf time.

You can view the wooden barrels through windows on the basement level.

Flowers in the winery's parking lot.