For our Kamogawa trip, Marvin and I decided to stay at the Kamogawa Grand Hotel, one of the better and more expensive hotels in the area. It proved to be worth it, since the night we spent there was a memorable experience in itself.
We checked in at 5 PM and immediately went to our room to check out if the description on their website was accurate or not. And it was! The view of the ocean was splendid and you can even hear the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The room was also as the website described it – everything was just perfect!
We had dinner at the hotel’s western style restaurant – The Gunjo Restaurant. It was designed to look like a beach cottage (come to think of it, technically it is haha!), but instead of it being open air, the walls were of crystal clear glass – too clear that if not for the reflections from the lights, you wouldn’t think there was anything between you and the beach at all. The fixtures and furniture were a deep dark brown, which helped set the mood. It was elegant in the way you would want a classy restaurant to be, but comfy and cozy enough that you wouldn’t feel too self conscious while enjoying your meal.
Since it was sort of a formal setting, there was the usual array of spoons, forks, and knives, and Marvin and I could barely contain our laughter as we tried to remember which utensil was for which food. Fortunately, we remembered to “work our way in” and since the waiters didn’t seem shocked when they took our plates after every dish, we assumed we were doing fine.
To start off, we were served some kind of avocado-mushroom flan, seafood appetizers, and mushroom soup. The seafood appetizers and soup were delicious, but I didn’t like the avocado-mushroom flan. Maybe it was a bit too elegant for my taste, haha.
After that, we were served 3 kinds of fish, each with a different sauce. It was different from the usual way the Japanese served fish – either uncooked as sushi, or fried and served with radish. It was delicious of course, and I even managed to finish way before Marvin did (a rare feat).
Just when I thought that that was the main dish, the waiter came up to us and asked how we would like our steak. He spoke to us in English so we were caught by surprise and it took us a few seconds to realize he was speaking in English and not in some Japanese we haven’t heard before. After he came back with our steaks, he tried to start a conversation by asking us how our dinner was so far. We of course politely responded that it was delicious – I guess everybody says that regardless of how they really feel. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the waiter’s next question though – “Where are you from? India?” And at the word India, he turned as if directing the question to Marvin. Bwahaha, sabi na nga ba mapapagkamalan na naman ‘to eh! Joke lang Daddy! Mwah!
After dinner, we went back to the lobby to sample the ice cream made from Kamogawa’s famous fresh milk. I picked strawberry milk and Marvin had the peanut-flavored one, upon the waiter’s suggestion that Chiba is also famous for its peanuts. As expected, it was delicious but a bit too sweet.
Before getting ready for bed, Marvin made me laugh with funny poses while wearing the hotel-issue yukata (literally, bathing clothes). After taking some pictures of goofy Marvin, we finally got ready to end our exhausting but exciting day. Marvin fell asleep immediately after lying down – a chance I took to move to the other bed haha! It was closer to the balcony and to the sound of the ocean after all! In his exhaustion, I don’t think Marvin realized I was gone until he woke up and said “sniffy, hindi ako tinabihan…” in his "tampo ako pero hindi galit kaya makyutan ka sakin" voice. That made my day. (o^_^o)
I was a bit disappointed though that I missed both the sunset and sunrise. Sayang ang view! But the disappointment only lingered for a moment, immediately overtaken by the wonderful feeling of waking up to a view and the sound of the ocean.
We headed home right after breakfast, since there wasn’t really much to do anymore and as predicted, the weather was pretty bad. As I sat on the train bound for Tokyo, I realized how much I enjoyed the trip and how much I would treasure the experience. With that, I also realized how much more the wonder and excitement was magnified just because Marvin was there by my side. It was a perfect anniversary, a perfect 2 days, a perfect trip. Thank you Daddy Flippy for this wonderful anniversary trip. Love you ng maraming maraming marami! (o^_^o)
(More pics of our stay at the Kamogawa Grand here.)
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