My First Bus Tour In Japan: Off To Ibaraki

I lack sleep last night! Actually I slept at almost 2:30 AM and my alarm should go off at 4:45 AM. Did I wake up? Oh yes I did…. but I went to sleep after.

And that’s when my first mistake happened. Or maybe it’s the 2nd already?

Because I chose to sleep again after the alarm went off, I woke up at almost 6 AM!

Now, why do I highlight the times so much? What’s wrong with waking up at almost 6? Nothing, but today’s something! The bus will leave at 7 and we had to be there at the meeting place at 6:45 AM!

If I didn’t wake up from a bad dream, I would miss the bus. With no time to waste, I rushed to do my thing - prepare myself, brush teeth etc etc, and while doing all that, I booked for an Uber ride. Thank goodness I still had coupons left or else I’d already be spending a lot so early morning.

The Uber arrived while I was changing and before I knew it, I was already at the meeting place past 6:30 AM. How did I do all that? I really didn’t know too. The packing the night before helped, and glad we had cold little bottles of green tea in the fridge. I grabbed everything that I could and rushed.

But I forgot my other phone. My another mistake. Oh well, that meant I should focus on what’s the event for today and not on the virtual world on my phone.

I was just glad I was able to make it in time for the meeting time. Luckily I lived near Shinjuku where the meeting place was.

7 AM and now we’re off to Ibaraki prefecture - our venue for today’s tour!

It was my first time joining a bus tour in Japan. I was surprised we were only 13, mostly middled aged Japanese couples. We were the only foreigners in that bus I think. We were lucky to be able to sit at the front too.

Besides the planned places this tour had, our day consisted of shopping, sleeping, stopovers and snacking. SSSS 😅

Our first stopover was a familiar service area in Ibaraki. I’ve been here before with friends when we came to Ibaraki by car. This time, ir was still so early that only the bakery and a convenience store were opened. I got bread and a chicken nugget while my friends went to Starbucks outside to get their daily dose of caffeine.

During the bus ride, of course I ate my “breakfast”.

But then our first destination was another shopping and food area. Oh my, what a mistake. I shouldn’t have made myself full from those 2 breads. 😅

We’re on the road again. Time to sleep. At this point, I couldn’t bear my headache anymore so I took some medicine. Good thing I put it in my bag the night before. Inhaling the minty Vicks wouldn’t suffice anymore.

From a distance, Mount Tsukuba was seen covered with clouds at the top. Ibaraki prefecture’s famous twin peaks. Or maybe that’s the only mountain I know of Ibaraki so it’s “famous” for me. 😂

At 10+ AM, the heat was unbearable but we had to walk from the bus to our destination. Oh my, I should’ve brought my hat with me. Another mistake.

There was a part though that was cooler. ここだけ涼しかった！ Surrounded by large trees, this area was like a natural fridge. The walk was approximately 10 minutes and maybe this place, 3 minutes. Well, at least it helped.

Lunch was at this local 食堂 (cafeteria) at the 2nd floor of a souvenir shop. I’d never thought this place could cater lunch for big groups! We’re only a small group so we had the entire 2nd floor to ourselves. Just look at this lunch set in a basket! So full of Japanese dishes!

The sashimi was my favorite among all these. I think I will always love sashimi! What’s there not to love! Raw fresh seafood prepared meticulously? Of course I love it!

Ibaraki is famous for its natto. And omg, it’s here on my lunch basket. I don’t really like natto. I’ve tried before and not my thing. I don’t like the smell. My partner always eat it at home though and everytime he finishes and I had to clean up, I’d always complain of the smell. But omg, now I have to eat it. 😂

To my surprise, it was so delicious! I still don’t like the slimy texture but the smell - it’s not rotten smell! It’s like coffee! Ibaraki’s natto made me change my image of it.

Our next stop involved craft beer and nihonshuu - Japanese sake. I’ll share this some other time but let me tell you we had the limited edition apple wine inside the bus. They were kind to give us a cup each with ice so we could drink at the bus. 😂

The first sip was so sour! If you could just see my face! 😵‍💫 Later on, I got the hang of it and well, it’s not something I would be drinking everyday but I could drink it. まあまあかな

Our last destination was in Oarai Town, a seaside town in Ibaraki where we saw the sea. I would love to go back there someday with my partner! Why? To eat sashimi, sushi, oysters and all other kinds of seafood! I’m sure my partner will love it although I told him enthusiastically about it and he didn’t react the way I expected. 😂 They even have a mentai park there! Mentai is pollock roe in english.

On the way to Tokyo was another stopover where this cute shrine was.

I don’t think it’s the deity of this shrine though but it sure is guarding the place so peacefully.

And because it was a stopover, I went shopping again! I bought natto and sushi for my partner. He ate the natto already while the sushi was left in the fridge. Maybe he’ll eat it tomorrow when he comes back from work.

I wanted to go home right away when we arrived at Tokyo but seems like my friends still wanted to have dinner together so I had dinner with them. Not a mistake because my partner ate dinner at home and none left for me. LOL

No photo of the dinner time - everyone was hungry! We had all you can eat yakiniku at Shinjuku if you’re curious what we had.

Overall my day was full of mistakes but also full of lucky surprises. It’s not a bad day. Not a bad life either. My first bus tour was great! Maybe not the last.. hopefully. Who knows. 🙏

Ibaraki was great! Wish I could come back by car and visit more places and spend more money time there!

Okay, good night! Off to dreamland to make up for my lack of the sleep last night. 💤

じゃあ、またね！
See you around!

_{All photos are taken using my phone unless otherwise stated.}

This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Shopping, Walking