*Fun in February*

After Osaka, February continued to bring all sorts of fun!

The first weekend of February was really special :) As if the past weekend wasn't! I went down to Yokosuka to hang out with Josh and his friends. On Saturday, we had free time so I suggested we take a very small trip to Zushi which is 11 minutes by train from Yokosuka :) There are beautiful beaches there and one delicious Italian restaurant. We arrived in Zushi and took a taxi to the water :) We enjoyed lunch looking out over the turqoise water with the mountains in the distance. I am very envious that Josh has a beach with such clear water near his place. We watched the wind surfers as they made attempts to catch some waves. It was a really beautiful site! We sat and enjoyed salad, pizza, and pasta! After lunch we took a walk on the beach :) We wrote sayings in the sand and ran around on the beach. We wanted coffee and cake after lunch but decided to play on the beach first. We couldn't really find anywhere else to get a nice coffee so we went back to the Italian restaurant! hee hee! We enjoyed coffee and chocolate cake! After our lovely afternoon we headed back to Yokosuka. We met up with a few of Josh's friends and went to play billards! Sunday brought a wonderful brunch at the Officers club followed by lots of talking and relaxation!

The second weekend of February, Josh and I celebrated Valentine's day in Tokyo! I had a long weekend and started the weekend by traveling down to see Josh in Yokosuka. On Thursday February 12th, Josh was working so I had made an appointment in Tokyo to get my hair cut. It was nice to see my old hair dressers as I hadn't seen them since last August! Yikes! So with my healthy hair, I went and enjoyed lunch at the organic cafe that is down stairs and up the street from the hair salon. I didn't stay in Tokyo the rest of the afternoon but went back to Yokosuka to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with Josh :) On Friday February 13th, Josh and I met for lunch! We went to chili's and were able to enjoy a long lunch before he had to go back to work. I decided I wanted my nails done and therefore did! It was by far the most expensive manicure and pedicure I've ever had! It is not worth having a mani and a pedi in Japan! I met Josh after work and then we headed up to Tokyo together!!

We stayed at the ANA Intercontinental hotel in Roppongi :) We enjoyed dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and had a very relaxing evening at one of the lounges in the Hotel! There was live music and we enjoyed a drink and even split a cigar! That was a fun first experience for me :) We enjoyed talking and spending the evening together. Saturday brought eating and shopping around in Roppongi. We had lunch with John (Amari) at Rigalletto's in Roppongi Hills. We sat for a long time until we both decided we could use a nap! We got ready for the evening and went to the most delicious spot of a restaurant. We went to the California style restaurant cafe called California Yoshi Grill. We enjoyed a 6 or 7 course meal (I can't remember, ha ha) and wine. It was a very relaxing and lovely Valentine's Day! After we went to Ferria, a lounge/club in Roppongi. It clearly wasn't "happening" yet but we stayed for a bit before heading back to the ANA for another evening of live entertainment at a different lounge called the Manhattan lounge. It was time well spent and we really enjoyed our weekend together :)

The third weekend of Feb, Josh came up to Itako and we went to Erin's Koto concert. Koto is a traditional Japanese instrument. It kind of looks like a guitar/harp but on the ground. Josh, myself, and one other girl Michelle were the only ones invited into the concert. It is a very beautiful sounding instrument, very haunting. I had a go at it after the concert! It was pretty much a private concert by their class for us! It was a great experience! After, we went out to lunch. The restaurant appeared to be in a Japanese garden. It was beautiful. We sat on the ground and enjoyed sushi, chowamushi (custard soup), and a desert. Josh and I relaxed the rest of the weekend in Itako :)

The last weekend of Febuary brought a small trip to a pretty neat location called Odawara, never heard of it - neither had we! I typed in Plum Blossoms in Kanagawa Prefecture and was given this location. Josh, Natalie (another officer of the USN), and I took on this adventure Saturday morning. It was a cloudy morning but it didn't stop us from going on our adventure. We traveled about an hour and half before we arrived in Odawara. This town is near Mt. Fuji. However, it was cloudy so we could not see Fuji :( The plum trees were beautiful. Plum trees look very similar to cherry blossoms however, they are about a month earlier. We saw on the map that there was a gelato factory which immediately drew in ALL of us! So we headed that way to enjoy two scoops of gelato each! We needed lunch but decided to go there first. As time went on, we did not find a restaurant. We were walking along the road to find a supposedly famous/popular temple which wasn't much of anything when we arrived. I asked a man where there were restaurants and he said not much was around but if we held on he would take us...

...We were laughing at this thought but I told the two of them that this happens a lot, we can trust Japanese people for the most part...so we waited for him to go get his car. Let me paint you a picture: work clothing, country side, barns, shacks (if you will), COUNTRY SIDE, small, narrow roads...We were all expecting this man to drive out of his garage with a truck that would barely fit all of us but instead were greeted with a SILVER MERCEDES BENDZ! I laughed and said, "yep, yakuza (Japanese mafia)". He offered to take us to his friends ramen place. I asked was there anything near the train station. He said there were a few options but the first place he took us to was closed. They he said lets go to the ramen place. I asked how far and he said 20 minutes away! I said no thank you and he pointed us to another hole in the wall! It was literally a restaurant with 2 tables and a small seating place in the back! Natalie and I split a ramen and Josh had a rice bowl with meat and egg on top! We also drank sake and had a blast talking with these 4 old, chain smoking, country bumpkin Japanese people! IT was amazing!

After lunch, we wandered back into the plum orchard :) We bought a bottle of umeshu (plum wine) and opened one bottle to take pictures in the orchard fields :) After meandering for about an hour and a half we headed back to Yokosuka! It was a really fun day spent with Natalie and Josh!

To see all the pictures from my February adventures look here!
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