While I don't mind hanging out at home, I do like to explore. To some degree, I've enjoyed all this time at home with my boys since February. But, I also need little escapes. I love traveling and seeing new places.
Beyond letting my husband know my desire to leave town, I left the details up to him. He decided to rent a car and go to his family’s timeshare in Izu. We went there a couple years ago. The area is very quiet, with not much around the hotel. But it does have a view of the Pacific Ocean lapping upon big boulders, making the most relaxing sound of ocean waves.
Knowing the drive would take us at least 3 hours, we left right after the car rental shop opened at 7 am. It was raining and dreary, but our spirits were high. We were going on an adventure. My husband had scheduled lots of fun activities for us to do.
Our first stop was at a kamaboko factory/museum/shop. Kamaboko (fish pulverized into a paste then steamed, baked or fried) is a very popular addition to udon soup, bento boxes, and more in Japanese cuisine. It is also consumed as a side dish. This huge shop offers classes for people to make the fishcake themselves or participate in a simpler version of mixing the paste with vegetables, forming it into a shape, and frying it. We decided to take the easier class purely based on time (the first class is two hours, while ours was only 30 minutes).
Our class was a fun activity, letting us play with our food a bit. Afterwards, we walked away with freshly fried kamaboko, which everyone in our family enjoys immensely. We peeked through the museum a bit, watched the professionals form the traditional half-moon for sale, and picked up several items in the huge gift shop to enjoy later.
Almost an hour down the road, we found our second destination - a soba making class. My son and I have made soba before, but we didn’t do it with my husband. Plus, this was a make and eat class! We ground the buckwheat using a neat stone mill that was surprisingly easy to use. Then we mixed the dough before rolling it out and cutting it into thin noodles. Each family in the class put their noodles into a labeled box for it to be taken back to the kitchen and boiled. While it was being cooked, we moved to the restaurant, where they brought our prepared noodles out for us to enjoy. As the staff brought out dishes, they were careful to ensure each table was served the noodles they had made.
Two doors down from the soba restaurant was an art studio. Inside the studio, there were people throwing pots on pottery wheels, painting already made plates, and more. My husband had made reservations for us to do etching. The staff took us upstairs where we picked out dishes to etch and sticker stencils. We applied the stickers to the little cups we had selected and wrapped the rest of the cup in packing tape.
The etching machine reminded me of a science lab. There was a door on the side which you use to put the cup into the machine. Next, we donned gloves and arm covers. Sticking our arms through holes on the front of the machine allowed us to grab the sand blaster in one hand and the cup in the other. Using our foot to press the “gas petal”, we etched our cups. It took a while to remove all the glaze, but everyone really enjoyed the calm process of revealing the pottery underneath. Once it was properly etched, we could remove the cup from the machine and rip off all the tape. It was so neat to see our completed projects. Everyone agreed this was a super fun activity.
We had a bit of time to kill before starting our relaxed evening at the time share, so we decided to check out the teddy bear museum in town, which happened to have a Totoro exhibit. I don’t know what it is, but these places usually creep me out. A teddy bear is meant to be cuddled, not sit behind glass, staring into oblivion. It was definitely an unusual activity for us, but the exhibit was amazing. I’m so glad we checked it out and got to see the recreations of the Totoro story in various art forms, mostly as stuffed characters.
By the time we checked into the timeshare, we were ready for the onsen (bath), dinner, and bed. Our brains were overwhelmed with all the activities we had done during the day. As I lay in my futon, after our son fell asleep, I simply listened to the ocean sounds and felt a calmness inside that I haven’t experienced in some time. There was a mixture of normalcy, exhilaration, and serenity coursing through me. It was the best kind of birthday gift.
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