Let me see, I left off at making umeshu. It remains untouched, I have no clue as to whether my sugarless version will work. After making umeshu, I took a day off of work and hopped on a train to Ito city. I stayed in a lovely ryokan (a Japanese traditional inn, this one came complete with hot spring). The inn was great but it was quite far from my intended destination. On the Friday I hopped on a very expensive train to go to Shimoda. In Shimoda I found a surf shop that would rent me a board and a wetsuit. The owner is a Japanese pro-surfer. He was super friendly.
Surfing Day 1:
I rented a board at Real Surf Shop and they gave me a ride to the beach. Once we were there Suzuki-San, the owner/surfer told me about the beach we were at. When you go to a beach for the first time you have to get your bearings, look at the geography, the slope of the beach and also note the crowds. Since this was before peak season and a week day, the beach was pretty empty. Suzuki-san showed me where beginners should go and there I went. The weather was really cloudy and it threatened rain at any point. At this point I hadn't been surfing in over a year. I was pretty rusty. I caught a few waves. At Irita beach, when the tide comes in, the waves get mushier and mushier. So as the day went on, I wasn't doing so well in the surfing department. To be fair, no one else was either. Eventually I caught a really nice wave and to my surprise, people watching from a beach house began to applaud. How embarrassing. Later some of them came out and introduced themselves. Eventually it started raining and I turned in, not wanting my bag and clothes to get wet.
I called Real Surf Shop and they picked up the board, the wetsuit and me from the beach and even dropped me off at the train station!! So nice!
I took the long (and expensive) train back to Ito and as fast as humanly possible derobed, showered and got into the in house Onsen back at the ryokan. It was sooo nice. Perfect after a day of surfing. After that I went to find some food and I found myself at a family restaurant, eating and reading my book (the hunger games! So addictive!). After that it was raining so I returned to the ryokan and went to bed.
Surfing Day 2:
My second day of surfing was a gorgeous sunny/cloudy day. I went to Real Surf and rented a wetsuit again but this time I didn't need the board. One of the guys I met the previous day brought an extra board and he let me use it. He was there with his wife and some body boarding friends. He and his wife apparently spend every weekend in Shimoda during the summer. They sleep in their vehicle next to the beach. I would totally camp on the beach except that it is illegal :(
So the second day was spent surfing, my new friend gave me lots of advice and tips. Now all I have to do is practice practice practice. I surfed for about 6 hours and ended up with a nasty sunburn on my arms. Japanese sunscreen is really bad.
After we called it a day, I once again returned to my room in Ito and promptly jumped into the Onsen. I think it really helped me from having too much surf pain. Haha.
After the hot spring I searched out some food and had a simple dinner and then I walked around a little bit. Ito is a beautiful city too, not as good as Shimoda though.
The next day I set off for home. The train journey is stupid long, approximately 3 hours... But totally worth it.
This was the first trip I've done by myself and I loved it. I was a little nervous at first, not having anyone to help me out or depend on, but I was fine. I will definitely do solo trips in the future, it's just so easy.
The trip was great and it left me with strong cravings for irita beach and surfing. My next big purchase will have to be a surfboard.
