A Break From the City

Man my camera doesn't do to good here. Maxine's grown!

It was Nozomi's birthday! Who, you say?
 Well Nozomi's Ken's step-sister. You might've seen her on the blog a few times. Here, and here and here, notably.
 We got festive and drove down to Chiba prefecture, where Erika has moved to in order to settle down with her boyfriend (who happens to be the father of her child, but this is now old news!) An hour's drive from Tokyo, Chiba is a neighboring region a little removed from the city lights. It's spacious. People in Chiba have space. Something I haven't seen in a while.

Erika and Maxine getting ready to dip their feet.

The ladies! Nozomi, Erika, and Zara, Ken's girlfriend.

After some extensive grocery shopping in a super-duper market with lanes four-Seans-wide, we brought the car down a little deeper into the prefecture and settled by the river for a barbecue. It was all kinds of lovely to be able to take it easy with friends in somewhat of a secluded area, away from all the noise. I admit I got a little engrossed in catching tadpoles and frogs and shrimp and fish and whatnot, but it was bit of an escape I needed, and I sure was glad to be there. I hadn't swam since my brother was here last. Maybe I'll forget how.
It was also nice to see Maxine again, who I haven't visited for the past six months or so. She can talk now, so I had to struggle to keep my swearing in check. I hope I did alright.
On a side note, Chiba prefecture kind of strikes me as scenic and nice, as opposed to Tokyo's other neighbor Saitama, which in comparison kind of seems bland and lacking in identity (sorry Saitama people! I know some of you read!) Rent being several times cheaper, a lot of people choose to commute from neighboring prefectures on a daily basis to get to work. I guess it's a considerable trade-off seeing as in you can actually get a house. With a yard.
 All in all, it was a good time, and definitely good to catch up with some friends.