Our First Kiss

…with killer whales, that is!

(Part 2 of an account of our trip to Kamogawa City, Chiba)

We arrived in Awa-Kamogawa station at about 11AM, right on schedule. We immediately took a cab to the Kamogawa Grand Hotel to leave our bags and get our Sea World tickets. From there, it was a 10-minute walk to Kamogawa Sea World. In my excitement, I kept on prodding Marvin to walk faster, as if getting there a few minutes earlier would make much difference. Good thing Marvin’s already used to my many childish antics that he was amused instead of annoyed. But if he was, he did a good job of hiding it! Haha!

It was a clear sunny day, perfect for walking along the beach and certainly perfect for watching dolphins and killer whales! Marvin’s decision to go that day instead of Saturday proved to be a good decision. And my constant prodding for us to walk faster proved to be not just a mere annoyance since the tickets for whale kisses and pictures were almost sold out when we got there. We bought tickets to have our picture taken with a sea lion, a killer whale, and of course while being kissed by a killer whale.

The photo session was not until 1:30 and 3:30 PM and the next show was scheduled at 12:30, so we decided to have some lunch first at the Ocean Stadium restaurant. It was built around the killer whale tank, so we were able to watch them swimming while enjoying our all-you-can-eat lunch. I was so excited that I wasn’t able to eat much though; I haven't felt that giddy in a long while.

After a satisfying lunch, we proceeded to the Surf Stadium to watch the 12:30 dolphin show. The dolphins were very lively and they seem to be well trained. They completed a lot of nice high jumps and some hoop and ball tricks but the overall performance wasn’t that creative. I also felt a little sorry for the dolphins since the tank was no wider than a gym pool and there were at least 8 dolphins there. As for taking pictures, it was a bit difficult since the narrator wasn’t that good and unless you’ve watched the show a couple of times before, you wouldn’t know what the dolphins would be doing next or from where they would be jumping out of the water.

We watched the killer whale performance next in the Ocean Stadium. Same as with the dolphins, the 3 killer whales were kept in a tank no wider than a gym pool. Also, the 2 young killer whales are still in training, it seems, and they weren’t able to execute the tricks and even the simple jumps well. As for the 3rd older whale, he seemed to be too tired and old to perform and wasn’t able to execute the tricks that well either. Overall, it was a fairly lousy performance, just enough to draw the viewer’s attention but not enough to hold it. It was also difficult to take photos since again, the narrator wasn’t very good and combined with the lousy performance, there weren’t many chances to take good photos.


After the 2 shows, we lined up in Rocky Stadium to get our photos taken with a sea lion. Since I’ve seen sea lions up close so many times, I didn’t think I would get excited over this one, but surprisingly, I still did.


While we waited for our photo session with the killer whales, we walked around a bit and looked at some of the other aquariums. The aquariums weren’t that much different with those we have in Tokyo. I guess the aquariums were not one of the park’s main selling points.

By that time my excitement was slowly turning into impatience, so we hurried to the Ocean Stadium and spent the last 20 minutes of our wait watching the whales’ somewhat lackluster performance again. After the show, we were asked to line up beside the tank and wait for our turn. It was a bit scary standing that near the edge of the tank and images of what might happen should I fall in kept me busy while waiting for my turn.

Finally, it’s time for the kisses! I was a bit disappointed that I got assigned to the younger, still in training whale, since he wasn’t able to jump out of the water that long and that high for Marvin to get a decent photo. I still felt the kiss however, and aside from a disappointing photo, it was a very thrilling and exciting experience!




After the photos have been taken, we bought some squid balls and hotdogs to eat while we enjoy the view of the ocean. After we finished our snacks and took some pictures, we headed to the Marine Theater to see the beluga whales’ last performance for the day. The tricks were interesting – from the whales singing to distinguishing between metal and plastic. There was an explanation after most of the tricks which helped the viewers understand how the beluga whales could be capable of such tricks. Among the three performances we saw that day, this was the best.

Finally, it was time to go home. I was a bit surprised that we managed to do all that we wanted to in just half a day. The weather was perfect, we as a couple were perfect, and aside from some minor disappointments, it was a wonderful, one of a kind experience. I didn’t think that at 28 27 (oops, hehe) years old, I’d feel the way I felt that day – the excitement compares to a kid’s first Christmas Eve, the thrill, to a first roller coaster ride.