We continue with our nostalgia tour with a walk around Senri Chuo Park. Japan has some beautiful green parks, especially in the suburbs. We spent a lot of time in Senri Chuo Park when we lived here from 2014-2019. I loved watching birds in the pond and running/cycling the trails in and around the park. The kids loved the giant slide and playgrounds. We also used to take the students from OIS for an annual picnic in the last week of school here. Many good memories.
We forgot how beautiful the northern Osaka suburbs are. There are breathtaking views of the surrounding Minoh Hills and the manicured parks and cycling trails. We also visited one of the neighborhood parks, Matsuide. We remember our first day in our house in August of 2014 with all of us sweating and going over to the park. Lots of good times in the park after getting over the culture shock and jet lag…
Yesterday Nadia and I went for a 20-kilometer bike ride. I took her on some of my old cycle routes around Expo Park and back to Onohara-Nishi. The rental house comes with two electric bikes that are quite popular in Japan. Japan is ideal for cycling because of its courteous and safe drivers, excellent roads with many bike lanes, good weather for most of the year, and a lot of people do it so drivers and pedestrians are used to cyclists. I am against electric bikes because it is “cheating” but it is nice on the hills and when you are doing errands and are tired after a day’s work.
One of my favorite aspects of Japan is the food. Japanese eat seasonally and each season comes with a different set of seafood. I ordered the Winter 5 set at our neighborhood sushi restaurant, which featured the famous Tiger Blowfish and scallops. Eating sushi in Japan spoiled me and all other sushi I eat in other countries pales in comparison.
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