From the mountain to the sea and the ASUKA II Cruise ship / 山から海まで、そして豪華客船の飛鳥 II

After having soba at Kogintei, my wife wanted to go out for dessert. She wanted to have some ice cream at a small shop called Michinoku. They also serve shakes as well. As it was on the right side of the road heading towards Asamushi and has no parking lot to speak of, we decided to go to Asamushi first and check out the sea.

ランチを食べたあと、妻がアイスを食べたいと言い出して、浅虫方面にある「みちのく」があすすめらしく、そこを目指した。妻がアイス以外にシェイクもあるよと教えてくれました。「みちのく」には駐車場がありませんのでそのまま浅虫まで行って海を見ることにした。

View of Yuno Island / 湯ノ島

Many years ago when my wife and I were still dating and she was still living in Aomori while I was living in Tokyo, I came to visit her and along with her mother and nephew, we stayed at the hotel pictured on the right in the picture. I was a little sad to discover that the hotel has been closed for a few years now.

昔現在の妻と付き合った頃、遠距離だったので、僕が青森に来て、現在の妻と妻の母と妻の甥っ子と４人で上記の写真の右側に写ってるホテルに泊まったことがある。残念ながら現在そのホテルが閉鎖になってしまった。

On our way back into the city, we stopped at [Michinoku]. My wife was going to have an ice cream but then she showed me the menu for shakes. OMG! There were over 100 different flavors of shakes on that menu. Of course they had standard flavors such as vanilla and chocolate. Their most popular being fresh strawberries. But I was looking through the menu and saw mango, cheese, rare cheese, maccha, kuromitsu (molasses), kinako (soybean flour), and kuromitsu kinako mix. As it was my first time here, I decided to try the kuromitsu kinako shake. Oh, they are so delicious. My wife ordered a fresh banana shake. We're definitely coming back here again!

青森市に戻る途中、アイスの店の「みちのく」に止まりました。妻が僕にシェイクのメニューを見せたら僕は超びっくり！なんとシェイクの種類は１００以上もあった。もちろん定番のバニラやチョコもあったが、その他の味も結構変わったものもあった。マンゴ、チーズ、レアチーズ、くろみつ、きなこ、くろみつきなこ等。初めてだったんですがやっぱりくろみつきなこ好きの僕はその味のシェイクも注文しました。妻がアイスを食べるはずだったが、気分が変わり生バナナシェイクをチョイスしました。とっても濃厚で美味しい！またくることは間違いない！

My mother-in-law also told me that today, the cruise ship ASUKA II would be at the Aomori Port. I suggested to my wife that we should go see it. Many years ago my parents had invited us to join them on a cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico but we didn't have the time or the funds to join them. My sister and her husband did so I figured since we didn't get to go on a cruise, at least we check out a cruise ship up close.

豪華客船の飛鳥 IIが青森港に入港してるのを義理の母が教えてくれたので、妻に青森港まで行ってみようとお願いした。何年か前に僕の両親が私たちに一緒にクルーズに行かないかという誘いがあったが、当時私たちは時間もなく、その費用もございませんでした。自分の妹夫妻は両親と一緒に行きまして、とっても楽しい思い出を作ったみたい。彼らはロスからメキシコのクルーズに行った。クルーズに行けなかったが、せっかく青森に入港してる豪華客船があるから見に行くことにした。

The ASUKA II cruise ship.

豪華客船のASKA II。

Are you still having a hard picturing how large this ship is?

まだこの舟の大きさが伝わってない？

Maybe this picture will give you some idea.

この写真で伝わるかな。

I also had a great view of the ASPAM building and the Aomori Bay Bridge in the distance.

こちらからの眺めも良かった。アスパムと青森ベイブリッジが良く見える。

I was walking out on the pier to get a picture of the other side of the ASUKA II along with the ASPAM building (the triangular building you can't miss).

埠頭のほうに歩いて飛鳥 IIとアスパムの写真が良く取れた。

Also in the distance, near the Aomori Bay Bridge, you can see the Hakkoda Maru. The memorial ship where my mother-in-law works.

青森ベイブリッジの近くにあるのが八甲田丸という舟。僕の義理の母がこの舟に働いてます。

I walked to end of the pier where this small lighthouse is located. This is the Aomoriko Bohatei Nishi Lighthouse.

埠頭の一番先まで歩いて、この小さな灯台がありました。これは青森港防波堤西灯台。

It was first lighted in November, 1961.

初点は昭和３６年、１１月。

And walking back to our car ending our weekend adventure of seeing the mountain and the ocean.

車に戻って、本日の山と海の冒険が終了しました。

Soba shop [Kogintei] / そば処 「小巾亭」

On our way back from the Hakkodasan Snow Corridor, we decided to have lunch at this soba shop called [Kogintei]. My wife highly recommends it. This branch is near the east bypass. There is another closer to our house but after lunch we plan on having desert at a small ice cream shop located near Asamushi.

八甲田雪の回廊から街に戻ったら丁度昼食の時間でした。妻のおすすめのそば処に行きました。店の名前は「小巾亭」。この店は東バイパスの近くにある。西バイパス店は家に近いですが、デザートは浅虫方面にあるソフトの店行く予定なので、ここで一旦休憩。

My wife and I ordered the same dish. Ten-zaru soba. This is soba with tempura. Very delicious and quite filling.

僕と妻は同じものを注文しました。天ざる。ここの蕎麦は最高に良いですよ。天ぷらもザクッとの食感がなんとも言えない。

My wife says its the best soba shop in Aomori City.

青森市ならここ一番美味しいと僕の妻が言う。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Driving along the Hakkoda Snow Corridor / 八甲田山雪の回廊のドライブ

The day before we went to Kuroishi, my wife and I went for a drive along the Hakkoda-san Snow Corridor. The road had just opened on the 1st of April. My wife wanted to show me the large snow banks while they are still clean and white. She told me if you go later in the season, the snow banks become very dirty and not as picturesque. I had never been there so I didn't know what to expect.

黒石市観光の前の日妻と二人で八甲田山雪の回廊までドライブに出かけた。道路が４月１日に開通。妻がどうしても僕に見せたかった。今行く理由は雪の壁がまだ高くて、白い。綺麗な景色を見せたかった。もっとあとに行けば、雪の壁が結構汚れて魅力がなくなりそう。自分は行ったことないのでちょっとどういうものか想像も出来なかった。

On our way to the Hakkoda-san Snow Corridor. You can see Mount Hakkoda today.

八甲田山雪の回廊を目指してます。本日八甲田山も綺麗に見える。

And here we are driving through the Snow Corridor right after passing a well-known hot spring called Sukayu.

有名な温泉すか有温泉酸ヶ湯を過ぎたら雪の回廊に入ります。

There was a couple of area where you could stop the car and climb to the top of the snow banks.

二箇所くらい車が止めるところがあて、雪の壁の上に登ることが可能。

So how high is the snow wall compared to me?

雪の壁の高さはどのくらい？

I would say more about three times as tall as me!

自分より３倍くらい高いですね！

Yes, that's a road sign peaking out from the snow.

はい、道の表示が雪から出てる感じ。

A few pictures I took from the top of the snow wall.

下記の写真は雪の壁の上から撮ったものです。

The bus gives you another perspective on how high the wall is.

雪の壁がバスより高いも不思議。

We also went to the Jogakura Bridge but as the snow hasn't completed melted we could not walk along it.

酸ヶ湯の近くにじょがくら橋もありまして、行ってみましたが、まだ雪が完全に溶けてないため、橋の上に歩くのはま無理でした。

I don't think we will be going in that building anytime soon.

そのビルに入るのはまだ無理ですね。

Nope, not open for business yet!

いや、まだ営業するのはちょっと早いかな。

I tried to upload the short video clip of driving through the Snow Corridor, unfortunately the blog could not handle the size of the video.

雪の回廊ドライブの動画もアップしようとしましたが、このブログには重すぎたため残念なことにアップが出来ませんでした。

Time to head back to the city from the mountains.

これから青森の街に戻ります。