Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Summer Vacation Part 1 of 5

Time flies. Yeah, no kidding. I am now in my fourth year studying in Kyoto University. They say time flies, especially when you are having fun. And it seems that all good holiday trips are never long enough. Every summer, our laboratory goes on school trips.
Year 1 : Toba Bay and Ise-shima.
Year 2 : Nagashima Spa Land.
Year 3 : Kinosaki Marine World and Amano Hashidate.
This year we headed off to Shirahama of Wakayama Prefecture. It was not my first time to Shirahama but the itinerary was somewhat different from the previous one.
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Shirahama is a resort town on the south coast of the Wakayama Prefecture (part of the Kii Peninsula on Honshu Island), approximately 3 hours drive from Kyoto. The japanese swimming season is from mid-July through the end of August, during which the beach is crowded. Although we were scheduled to head to the beach, the plan had to be canceled because of the approaching typhoon No. 7.
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The gloomy sky did not dampen our holiday spirit. Tore Tore Ichiba was the first stop of our summer vacation. 170-7084_IMG
Like a fresh market, one can shop for fresh seafood. There are a wide variety of fishes, fresh oysters, shrimp, scallops, crabs, etc at reasonable prices (although some are really expensive).
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We were hungry. If you love fresh seafood (sashimi), you will absolutely love this place. (Left to right, Tatsuhara-san, Yazaki-san, Yamauchi-san and Uchida-san; front, Sugawara-san)
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I ordered fresh salmon and red caviar (ikura) served over rice. These eggs explode and crunch in the mouth.
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According to japanese thinking, the best way to cook a fish is not to. Therefore, raw seafood is served chilled and sliced and elegantly arranged. But if you are not a big fan of sashimi, there is a wide range of cooked food as well.
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Next, we tried scallops. Plump and juicy scallops grilled with melted butter - it was so good.
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A man is seen here cutting fish into fillets. Next to this counter, you may find the taraba gani (king crab).
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After a good meal, we headed off to the Shirahama Adventure World (Part 2/5).