This post was written in 2005. Some information may be out of date.
I checked out the cycling road, about 20 km long, that connects to the seaside park. As anyone who knows Japan is aware,
bicycles are widely used as everyday transport here, and Chiba even has a dedicated bike path.
It’s about 20 km long, which is just the right distance. A leisurely round trip takes 3-4 hours.
Since it links up with the seaside park, you can actually spend the whole day riding..
This is the path from the seaside park onto the cycling road. The river that flows straight into the sea there
is the Hanamigawa, and the bike path runs along its bank. So the scenery is lovely. ^_^;;
A shot at the entrance to the path
Pentax seems to love the colour red. A gas pipe I snapped in passing.
About halfway along, the path turns into an unpaved track like this.
The river just keeps going.
Another gas pipe. The path is long, so you spot facilities like that here and there along the way.
Spring flowers. Chiba being the countryside -_-;; there seem to be lots of people who are really into gardening.
Walking along, every house had pretty flowers I’d never seen before planted out front..
At the end of the cycling road..
Taken as a souvenir on the way back. I didn’t realise the path had ended and kept going,
and ended up in the middle of some farmland..
Red cherry blossoms.. maybe? The colour was so pretty. Pentax really does suit red, it comes out so vivid..
A tree I shot in passing.. the sun is starting to go down.
A tree I shot in passing, part 2, taken from the bridge.
The bridge. Was it Hanamigawa Bridge? Anyway, this is the turnaround point of the cycling road.
The view from the bridge..
Scenery on the way back, shot with the 77..
I tried to get those birds with the 77, but it wasn’t quite enough.. They looked like some kind of protected species..
The view from a bridge along the way
By the time I got back to the seaside park, the sun was setting.
Like this.. the sunset was beautiful. (Go, 31!)
Heading to Makuhari. I’m going to upload today’s photos from my work computer ^_^;
Makuhari at dusk
Maybe it’s partly because it’s Japan, but Makuhari seems like a really nice place to live. When I’m around 40 or 50
and feel the need for a settled life, I’d love to live comfortably here. When I went to Kobe before,
I was so taken with its clean, tidy streets that I thought I’d like to live there, but purely for living,
Chiba looks a bit better. Maybe because land is cheap, the roads and facilities are all big and roomy, so compared with compact, charming
Kobe it looks more liveable. That said, Chiba can feel a little stifling when you’re young..
The big-city nightlife of places like Shibuya or Roppongi probably suits young people better… After all,
I’m not at the age for chasing stability yet..