A Mari Usque ad Mare!

The above title is the motto of Canada and means "From Sea to Sea"

Last Tuesday, I had an afternoon off so I drove a whole five minutes from one of my schools to the Pacific Ocean in Arahama, Watari. Here is a handful of photos and a video as proof.

I also filmed a little video. Here we go.

 

The other sea I visited in the last week was the Sea of Japan in Niigata. While there, my friend and I gawked at several fishies and sea creatures at the Marinepia Nihonkai. For example...

Ray Charles is smiling at us.

A whole bunch of piscine creatures that shall remain nameless (because I don't have time to research them.)

Pinnipeds!

Le Grand Castor!

I didn't snap any pics of the dolphin show, though I did take a video. Funky music...

Uncharacteristically, the dolphins weren't jerks.

I'll end with some humbled Humboldt Penguins.

Just so I can prove I was at the Sea, I snapped a few pics before our 4 hour trek home.

Finally, I bought a pair of Jellyfish socks and wore them to school today.

Unfortunately, we're heading into another relatively strict lockdown, so I won't be venturing anywhere anytime soon. Oh well.

Botan-ical Garden.

Yay, I finally did something instead of just sitting in my apartment or going to school. Yesterday, I traveled to Sukagawa in Fukushima to see my old pals at the Eiji Tsuburaya museum and library. 

These are the dudes on the street, inside were a few more.

(Click that link above for more details on the museum and library.) 

There wasn't anything going on that day yet there were a dozen old ladies listening to an Ocarina player tooting out a Vocaloid tune. And I bought a Godzilla Clear File.

Since we were in Sukugawa anyway, we thought we'd check out the sights/sites. We discovered that there is a large Peony Garden so I suggested we check it out since I needed some fresh air. According to the website of the Sukagawa Botan-en Peony Garden, it "is the only such garden in Japan to be designated as a Spot of Natural Beauty by the Japanese government. "

It was free, so what the hey, we wandered through. Not too many 牡丹 (Botan = tree peony) in bloom yet and even the cherry blossoms had begun to dissipate. Still, here are some pics. First a honking big statue.

Flowery stuff, bush peonies (?), tulips and daffodils.

The obligatory Sakura of course...

Actual tree peonies (I think).

Some purple plants.

A shrine gauntlet.

Some fishies.

And me being silly.

Hey, at the gift shop, they had an Ultraman Clear File and apple juice. (I didn't buy the sake.)

There was a Kokeshi book for sale from which I photographed the cover because it has the "enfant terrible", ET.

We went from there to a widely touted WATERFALL! While overlooking a river cascade, I asked a passerby if this was the waterfall and she confirmed it was. The disappointment I felt was palpable.

The decorations at the neighbouring parkette were cute though.

After this blast of nature, we went shopping at Mandai in Koriyama where I bought a couple of masks. That is a story for another day.