Shimoda

Just before we moved here, the boys and I spent the month of June in East Hampton. It was an idyllic time as June is a quiet month out there before the real rush of the summer. So to ease my transition here, Paddy decided to rent a summer house for us (through internet photos) from July to September at a beachside town called Shimoda. I was forewarned by Paddy that "this was not the Hamptons"....what, you mean no Tiffany on Main Street and Nick and Toni dinners?  So I really set the expectations bar low so not to be too disappointed. Our first weekend there we took the train which took about 3 hours. The boys loved the train, as did I, as you could look out the window and see the seaside towns nestled in at the foot of the mountains. We rented a car next to the train station and drove to the house, about 5km away (which funny enough was right next door to Paddy's old friends, Jane and Paddy Maloney, an Irish couple who had been living in Tokyo for 10 years).  The rest of the weekends we have driven to Shimoda and it is quite a drive of opposites taking about 4 hrs.  The first half is on a major highway called the Tomei Expressway and the second half is through the mountains and tunnels where, at times, literally only one car can fit on the narrow windy road.  At one point, there is a circular bridge which takes you down quickly into the valley.  This half of the drive I have dubbed the "underwear staining" portion and don't allow Paddy to drive that part yet.  By the way, I used to think the Midtown Tunnel was pricey, how about $37 for the Tomei (one way).

My first impression of the house was that it was, in it's hey day, a very cool Japanese pot smoking, party house. There were posters of Bob Marley everywhere, along with babyblue and beige 80s leather couches.  My second impression of the house was that it was the most child unfriendly house ever built (by pot smokers).  There is a professional grade oven that has gas valves on the front right side in bright yellow, screaming to be turned 90 degrees by a toddler. It requires a flame to light that is attached by rubber tubing on the left. (See death stove oven photo). Needless to say, we roped the kitchen area off immediately, but those monkeys keep finding their way in and make a beeline for that stove! The dining room has a low Japanese style table with a rectangular hole cut out for your feet, so perfect height for head injuries and then a hole to fall into.  Oh, and there is "stadium seating" of two levels built in all around the first floor glass windows (instant jumping jungle gym area).  Moving onto the second and third floors of the house, the toddler death trap continues. There are open air steep staircases that look down to the living room with gaps wide enough for a child (and stoned adult) to go right through. Think of the house like a Japanese ski lodge and you can get an idea of the layout. So again we had to barricade the upstairs railing but the initial open staircase is designed such that you can't really surround it.  At night, we all sleep together in one of the tatami rooms on futons because I am afraid Conor will go wandering around at night. Oh, and did I mention the deafening sound of crickets outside? I almost feel like they are going to invade and eat us.

Ok, so that's just the house and we haven't even made it to the beach.  I would call the area "rustic", like Japan meets Jamaica. The main beach, while it has a nice stretch of beautiful water, is barricaded off from the street by a 10 foot wall of concrete. A friend had said there was a little snack shack called Sunnyside right on the beach where you can eat and watch your kids so I imagined a place right on the beach, but sadly, it's on the other side of the barricade. On the beach, there are many surfers and boogie boarders and kids in tubes floating in the water, all packed into a small area where zealous lifeguards are constantly screaming into a speakerphones.  I am amazed at the size of the tents that the Japanese pitch up at the beach, one could host a small party underneath there. And lord knows what hour they start, because even when we hit the beach at 9am, it is already full of tents and umbrellas.  And while it is supposed to be cooler since we are away from Tokyo, the heat is still pretty intense and I wish I had SPF 100.

Last weekend, the boys and I and our nanny Glenda came down early on Friday and arrived at the beach at 6pm.  There were maybe 10 other people there and it was such a refreshing change from the weekend scene.  It was the first time that I actually thought it was kind of lovely.   Listen, it still isn't the Hamptons, but we'll keep coming back.  "Rustic" is growing on me.