Weekend 2: November 13-14, 2021
Biking around Rumoi City
After a busy work week, I sure will not waste my weekend. For today's activity, I will bike around Rumoi City before the snow blankets the city. Please read on and find out how I spent my second weekend here in my new home - Rumoi City in Hokkaido Prefecture.
Day 12: November 13, 2021
Saturday - Biking around Rumoi 1
Yay! I already completed two full weeks here in Rumoi City. Well, it's getting colder and colder by the day. Like a bear, my sleep is getting longer and longer as well. Not to mention my food intake in the past few days.
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| My report for my MBA 303 Class |
However, before I hit the road I first had to report on Chapter 5: The Political Economy of International Trade for my MBA 303 International Business class. It went from 9AM - 12NN.
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| Let's go Basky! |
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| The road to Senboudai |
Originally, I planned to bike to Senbodai which is a prominent hill overlooking Rumoi City. However, the cold weather and, as mentioned, my current bear-like characteristics made me turn back halfway through the uphill route. I changed plans and decided to go to some spots that I marked in my Google Maps instead.
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| Rumoishi Bunka Center |
I first visited the Rumoishi Bunka Center which is along the way going to Senbodai. I have already visited this place last weekend - November 7 (Sunday) during the Rumoi High School Wind Orchestra Regular Concert. However, it was raining then plus I was riding with Kutsumi sensei hence I failed to take pictures of its facade.
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| Somewhere along the way to Rumoi Station |
From Rumoishi Bunka Center, I biked to revisit Rumoi Station. This time, I wanted to try out the new app that I downloaded - The Relive phone app. It records activities like biking and hiking and then creates videos of the said activity. So from Rumoi Station, I biked back home just to see how it works, and to be honest, it's one of the best apps that I have downloaded this year.
When I got home, I called my wife to see how they have been and also to share how my day was so far. I then did some research about the Relive app and found some interesting things that I failed to do during my earlier ride like adding pictures and captions. With that, I decided to head out one more time before the sunset.
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| Rumoi River |
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| Rumoi Traffic Safety Lighthouse |
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| Rumoigawa Riverside Ryokushi Park |
From my place, I biked on Highway 233. I did some stops to document the ride so that I can feature it in the Relive video. Here are some stopover points that I briefly visited:
- Rumoi River
- Rumoi Traffic Safety Lighthouse
- Rumoigawa Riverside Ryokushi Park
I managed to bike outside of city limits but I didn't want to go too far so I chose Owada Station as my final stop for the day.
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| JR Owada Station |
I was actually expecting that there was an eki stamp there but was saddened to see that the station was an unmanned retrofitted shipping container and of course, there were no eki stamps available there too. Regardless, I rested a bit and took photos before biking back home.
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| Time to bike back home |
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| Safely home. See you, tomorrow guys! |
It was already dark when I reached home. Thankfully, I still had the energy to prepare dinner. What's for dinner? Well, the usual lettuce salad with 2 hard-boiled eggs. After dinner, I took a dip in the hot tub to relax my leg muscles and also condition my body for a perfect night's sleep.
Day 13: November 14, 2021
Sunday - Biking Around Rumoi 2
The weather today is nice, albeit cold. I didn't want to miss this opportunity to bike again as it may snow anytime soon and also to use the Relive app again. So Basky (my bike was named by my daughter) and I went around town one more time. Our first destination was Rumoi Shrine.
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| Out on another bike ride |
This hilltop shrine is located in the part of the city called Miyazonacho. Its history dates back to the 1930s. I included it in my itinerary in hopes that I could get a goshuin for my collection. Sadly, the shrine's priest or monk was not around when I visited.
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| Next stop Rumoi Catholic Church |
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| Rumoi Catholic Church |
I continued on to my next destination which is Rumoi's famed Golden Beach but before I reach it, I accidentally stumbled upon Rumoi Catholic Church along the way. I decided to enter to see if there was an ongoing mass since it is a Sunday but the priest was also out when I visited.
From there, I proceeded to Rumoi's Golden Beach which was about 1.6 kilometers away. Upon arrival, I watched some surfers enjoy the waves. There was also a promenade that reaches out to the sea. It presents another vantage point of the beautiful beach.
After taking dozens of photos and video clips from the promenade, I biked from the northern tip to the southern tip of the beach. I wanted to wait for the sunset but decided to do it in summer when the weather is more tolerable and I already mastered the road going home as my phone's battery was almost drained and I need Google Maps for my trip back home.
I got home at around almost 5PM which was dark already. Overall, the trip was a bit tiring as Rumoi's terrain was hilly in some parts. Regardless, visiting the beach was an amazing experience and also a perfect way to end my 2nd week here in Hokkaido.
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