滝 (taki or waterfall) 3 Aug

Taki (滝）　or waterfall day on Sunday. We decided to drive to Izu (伊豆）in Shizuoka （静岡）prefecture to catch the sight of some waterfalls and to cool off in the cool streams on a hot summer Sunday. We took the Tomei Expressway and headed towards Numazu Interchange.

First stop was for lunch was at a shrimp restaurant in Numazu called 鬼が島　(onigashima or Devil Island) It specializes in shrimp dishes, so we ordered shrimp set lunch. The portions were huge...

Mine came with some sashimi, which included Aji (Horse Mackerel), Maguro (Tuna), Hotate (Scallops), Sake (Salmon) and Ebi (prawns).

We discovered from the staff that the shrimps were imported from Myanmar. After lunch, it was then off to look for the waterfall, first one is Juren.

The first taki we went to was Jurennodaki (浄蓮の滝) waterfall in Shuzenji．　It is 25m high and 7m wide. It is located in the upper stream of Kano River.　The lower part is trout fishing area and around the stream therei　s plenty of wasabi cultivation　using the cleana nd clear water from the fall.

Here's some visitors fishing for trout in the rock enclosed area. Bamboo rods are rented for about $30 per day. You can actually see the trouts swimming in the water, the tricky bit is to get them to bite.

Below are pics of wasabi (わさび）patches next to the water. There is a shop selling wasabi at the falls and their wasabi are harvested from the few patches here.

Here's a closer look at a wasabi plant. They don't come cheap, good ones costing $14 each. Kinda remind me of pineapples, perhaps post radiation contamination

Wasabi Ice Cream galore in this area! I actually tried some later and they tasted like err...Wasabi: Spicy!

Another view of the waterfall, with long exposure on trusty old Slik tripod.

We could not play in the stream at this waterfall as its been "protected" by the trout shop that allows you in only if you rent a rod.

So we decided to drive to a more "publicly accessible" and non-commercialized waterfall. In the guidebook, we found a seven waterfall area called 川津の七滝（kawazunonanadaro or Kawazu's Seven Waterfalls).

On the way we used this interesting interchange, it cricles twice to get you up/down....

Chloe is now able to smile as she could play in the water!

This is a long exposure shot of fall number 4.

A close up of the fall.

On the way home, we stopped by 熱海　(Atami), a well know spa resort area, and stumbled upon a Sapporo Beer Festival.

There was live music by a trio consisting of 2 guitarists and a bongo drummer, playing jazzie tunes of folk and sentimental songs. The atmosphere was great with the cool sea breeze keeping the heat under control..

Everyone there seemed to have a good time. Everything was going for ￥５００, including the beer.

Just across the street where the festival was held, I spotted this ソープランド shop....