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| credit: http://tokyodesu.com/ |
I visited a friend last week. She lives in Chiba, less than an hour away from Tokyo.
There are lots of things to see in Chiba. Disneyland and Disney Sea are there. (The name Tokyo Disneyland is wrong technically.)
There's Chiba Tower, Lighthouse and the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line.
If we wanted to see more shrines and temples, Nihon-ji Hokekyo-ji, Tanjo-ji, Manman-ji, Awa Shrine and Chiba-dera are just all around Chiba.
Had we felt really genki (genki means active), we could have hiked Mt. Tomi, Mt. Atago or Mt. Nokogiri.
If we wanted a leisurely cultural day, we could have visited Kawamura Museum of Art, Nambo Paradise Botanical Garden, Museum of Science and Industry or Suigo Sawara Aquatic Botanical Garden.
There are really a lot of possible places to visit in Chiba. But, my friend and I didn't go to any of those places. Instead, we went to a very foreign place- COSTCO!
Why we opted to Costco over other possible places in Chiba?
First, we're craving for pizza and hotdogs and Costco sell them cheap. I got a hotdog for 180 Yen while my friend got a pizza for 350 Yen. I also bought a long churros for 100 Yen. No other place in Japan can boast of cheap pizza and hotdogs.
Second, we need cheese! I've been wanting to make a cheesecake but it's a challenge to find cheese. For those who haven't lived in Japan, let me tell you that the cheese in Japanese local stores doesn't taste like cheese. The texture is like plastic and the cheesy taste of cheese is almost non-existent. The real cheese in local stores are way too expensive to make a cheesecake. But in Costco ... oooohhhhh .... they have real cheese.
Third, there's no Costco in Hamamatsu. The nearest one is in Nagoya which is a 2-hour train ride from my place. There are only 20 Costco stores in Japan located in major cities in each region. Costco's not really an everyday thing to me while I can see shrines, temples and mountains anywhere in Japan.
Lastly, the Costco in Chiba is also beside the biggest AEON Mall in Japan. My friend and I didn't go shopping but it was just nice to stroll inside the mall especially that the weather was quite chilly. This big AEON Mall is literally surrounding COSTCO cause it has 4 buildings. There's a building for sports goods, for family stuff (which means couples with baby), for pets and for various goods. It was only built last year. So now, I can boast that I've visited the largest AEON MALL in Japan.
When one of my friends learned what I did in Chiba, he told me I should have stayed for one more day and visit other places. When I think about it now, I'm not really regretful that I missed those other places. Sometimes, I just need to get away from Japan and just be, well, in Costco. I sometimes need to eat cheap hotdogs and buy real cheese.
Check if there's a nearby Costco in your area here.
For accessing Costco in Chiba, check here
