Driving around the coast

We had another day out during Golden Week, this time a drive to Numazu, a city by the coast. We passed Fuji city on the way, and although the view of Mt Fuji is incredible, Fuji city has a LOT of factories which create horrible smell around the city. The beach at Numazu is not as nice as Australian beaches (I shouldn't compare!) but it was a beautiful day, and we had a great lunch on the beach watching the kite-surfer showing off!

Just behind the beach was a park of pine trees, which are common on the coast of Japan. In one isolated corner of the park we found a pine-cone circle with intricate patterns drawn in the sand around it... innocent child's play, or an attempt to summon a pine demon?!

Later that afternoon we went to an entertainment centre for "purikura" and coffee, but I was amazed at how packed the car park was on such a beautiful day. Inside this massive building (the photo shows less than half of it) there are entire floors full of pachinko gambling machines. It's the Japanese equivalent of Australian "pokies", which are just as bad. We didn't stay for long, as we were going to dinner at an Izakaya recently opened by a friend of Kaori's (the friend we were driving around with).

The Izakaya was at a place near the coast and it had an atmosphere a lot like the Gold Coast. Most of the people were wearing casual surf clothes, and were very friendly (and a little drunk!) The food was delicious, and the owner was very generous, giving us a huge discount! We gave him a cake to thank him, but then he then gave us a bag of frozen jellies in return!