Numazu movie times

I have recently received a number of searches to this blog regarding Numazu movie times. Numazu cinema times depend on the cinema you choose. On the north side there is the recently opened Cinema Sunshine in the Bivi complex. You can access the Cinema Sunshine times here http://www.cinemasunshine.co.jp/numazu/maeuri.html. On the south side the Joyland group had two cinema locations. You can access the Joyland movie times here http://www.joyland.jp/cinema/index.html. On one occasion I have found the Joyland cinema times not corresponding with the actual showing. However, this is probably once out of a total of about 10 visits.

Both websites are in Japanese and you will need to translate them. I recommend either to copy and past the url (web address) into a search engine like google and once the site comes up click the [translate page] link. Alternatively you can use a free translation program like AltaVista’s Babel Fish. You can copy and paste the url in there, select Japanese to English and then click “Translate”.

At different times both Joyland and Cinema Sunshine have both Japanese dubbed and English with subtitle editions of movies. So far there is no English subtitles for Japanese movies, but what do you expect eh?

When looking for an English speaking movie once you have translated page look for “subtitle super edition”. The humorously translated “Japanese blowing substitution edition” is the Japanese dubbed version. This is easy to see in the Cinema Sunshine edition but you may have to do a bit of copy-translate for the Joyland page.

Happy viewing

Scott Garbie

Mameya – Numazu

As I write I can still smell the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans that has permeated my hair and clothes. The smokey smell draws rich memories of short a jaunt to Mameya in south Numazu.

This little shop is essential for the coffee connoisseur, in Numazu. Over 15 varieties of green beans rest in their hessian bags just waiting to be roasted on site. The owners of Mameya have sourced top quality beans from around the world.

All coffees are written in katakana and if you can’t read katakana then you can ask the friendly staff to read them out for you and point to the map above the beans for locations.

It is a novelty to just sit in Mameya and watch you coffee beans being roasted and then tray thrown to cool and clean the beans before being dropped in a bag ready for you to take home. The great thing is that you are provided with a cup of coffee while you wait.

If you can manage to take your eyes off the roasting process and shake off the intoxicating aroma, the yellow wood barn decor and original variety of coffee knick-knacks on sale (the knick-knack’s not the bench on sale *rolls eyes*) will keep you occupied and threaten to lighten you wallet a little more.

Mameya provided an excellent opportunity for you to experience the freshest coffee while developing a closer appreciation for this fine beverage.

Cheers

Scott Garbie.

Location: Mameya is on the south side of Numazu Station. With your back to the station turn right, west, and follow the road around. Cross the road at the underpass and continue up the street about 50m. Mameya will be on your right.

English Menu: No but the staff can read out the coffee types or point to their location on the map. Don’t forget to tell them if you want a full (kanzen na yaku), medium (chukan na yaku) or light roast (karui na yaku).(please pardon my sloppyJapanese, this gets me by but if there is a better way to request this in Japanese send me a comment and I will change it with your thanks)

Contact: ph: 055-962-7500, website: http://mameya.boo.jp/

Hours: 10:30~19:00

aiai – Numazu Central

Being a foodie is great but sometimes you go through a spell when everything is starting to taste the same. For me this is a little depressing. I begin to wonder; ‘Is this it for food? Will I not be surprised again?’ Sure it is great to get a originally presented meal but sometimes, the combinations of flavor, texture, temperature and aroma all blend in to being much of the ’same old same old’.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do love re-experiencing some new flavors (aka the Chocolate cake at B-House) but I am always on the lookout for something new and heartfelt in my dining.

Just as my wife and I were sharing these thoughts our appetizers arrived and everything changed…

On a whim, we had decided to dine at aiai.

The restaurant aiai, in the heart of Numazu city is so very rare place where the chef is not afraid to experiment with new combinations of flavors and food. You can really taste the love here.

Our smoked bacon, pickled vegetable and salad proved to be a great combination of colours and flavours. In one direction the appetizer evolved from salad softness to crunchy pickled vegetables to crackly bacon. While at another direction the progressive salty flavors sort to create another degree of unity.

For our mains I chose the ‘Herb Chicken with Tomato Sauce”. This meal was a treat. The skin on the chicken was cooked crisp while the subtle herbs cause surprisingly enhanced the flavor of the chicken rather that hiding it. However my wife’s choice was the best, Sea Bass with Japanese Caramel Sauce. This was the bomb diggity. The mild creamy sauce with what tasted to be a hint of anchovey pasted was the perfect mix for this fresh tasting fish. The little surprise what the half dozen or so baby beach muscles (we call em pippies in Queensland Australia) and button mushrooms resting in the sauce. Scrumptious.

Having chosen the appetizer, main and dessert set. I was then greeted with a dessert platter of Blanc Mange, fruit, cream and two selections of cake.

Their selection of shandy mixes caught my wife’s eye and she chose a cassis and beer mix that tasted quite nice.

We certainly swallowed out words that night.

Location: aiai is directly south of Numazu Station is will be about 100meters down on the left hand side. For a map of the location click here:

Style: Fusion restaurant

English Menu: Yes they have an English Set menu but the menu does not have its full selection nor does it provide an English Wine list.

Picture Menu: No

Gaijin Friendly: Yes

Prices: For an appertiser and main set 1500yen and for an appertiser, main, dessert and coffee 2000yen

Hours: 11:00-14:30, 17:00-22:00

Contact: 055-962-1549

B-House Cake and Cafe

The food in Japan is amazing. Actually the food in Japan was amazing enough for me to feel the urge to start writing about it. But there are still times when you really need something that reminds you of home. In this case it’s adultery and on the odd occasion a hearty ménage à trois.

Yes yes, I know what some of you are think; Scott you haven’t looked hard enough in Numazu, mate. But I don’t like to share myself or my wife with just anyone special. I am very particular and B- House is the only place that I have found that has been able to arrange my needs; rich, brown, moist and delicious…

…chocolate mud cake. I’m getting all worked up just thinking about it.

Ladies and gentlemen, good chocolate mud cake should be a sexual experience. A peak of hedonist delights and something you should only indulge in with your most intimate partner. You should saver every mouthful, memorizing every flavor. Reveling in the way it succumbs to your mouth and unfolds under your tongue. Its cocoa aroma drawing out previous memories of such sins and allows those memories to mingle with the present enhancing every bite. Sexual.

Or you could just enjoy it for what it is, bloody good cake.

B-House is the only place I have found that does ‘real’ chocolate mud cake. This cake has a heart and a soul, unlike the dry flaky imitation chocolate mud cake that I have tried in every other cake shop, cafe and restaurant in Japan.

Numazu’s B-House Cafe’s chocolate mud cake is an ideal indulgence.

My rather sad culinary fetish aside, B-House is a quality place. The combination of the young staff and mumbling acid jazz, adds to its smooth vibe. Their large range of cakes, salads, quiche and other foods are of themselves a reason to visit. Their coffee, tea and wine are well chosen and certainly provide a solid compliment for their dishes.

If you see me languidly reclining on a chair, eyes closed and the odd muffled groan reaching your ears over the smooth beats emanating from the speakers,you know what I’m doing. Do Not Disturb.

Cheers
Scott Garbie

Location:North side of Numazu station. Heading towards Bivi there Should be a street to your left running North South. Head north up this street and it will be on your right just before Espot.

Style: Cafe

English menu: some

Picture menu: no

Gaijin Friendly: yes

Prices: cake and drink set 850yen, Lunch set 950. as of this date prices may change in the future.

Hours: 11:00 to 0:00hrs less on Monday’s

Phone: 055 921 9428

Beer and Water Bancho aka Sakura

Beer and Water Bancho or Sakura is a new addition to the Numazu Bar scene. This small bar seating about 14 caught my attention with it displays of Harley Davidson motorcycles in and outside the bar.

This bars specialty is imported beer and, oddly, boutique water. As strange as the mix is, the bottle strewn bar featuring about 50 different varieties of beer from all over the world is not a bad place for a drink. Especially if you are missing an ale from home.

The staff are friendly and the big screen TV in the back usually playing American action on silent while some good tunes are playing adds some motion art to the place.

A note of warning however, the small bowl of nibblies you get with you first bear will be charged to you at 200yen and tax isn’t included in the menu prices. This came as a bit of a surprise to us at the end when we had to pay. The nibblies were not worth the cost.

Apart from that not a bad place to have a beer and you will usually find foreigner there to chat with too if you are inclined.

Location: South exit of the under pass running under railway lines. This is the first underpass west of Numazu Station.

Style: Beer bar

English menu: yes

Picture menu: yes

Gaijin friendly: very

Hours: 5pm til late

Hummingbird

The meat pie in Australia is a national icon. Scrappy minced bits of, what only could loosely be described as, meat in gravy and all nicely wrapped in a pasty. Don’t forget the tomato sauce. We love em. So when we can find a place that even comes close to making a typical Aussie meat pie we are on it.

Hummingbird’s signature is their pies. Unlike their Aussie cousin these pies are a cooked in a ceramic dish, brown curry is poured in the contents and a puff pastry is put over the top. Although different than the ones we get at home these pies were nevertheless delicious.

My wife and I ordered the lunch set for 1250yen which consisted of orange juice (or a drink of your choice), salad, bread or rice, our pie and a cake of our choice from their dessert bar (quite a large selection of cakes). We both selected the seafood pie. After getting through our salads it was time for the pie.

Cracking the crusty golden top off the pie, I explored its contents swimming in the rich steaming curry. The most interesting was the two muscles half shelled in side. Hunks of melted cheese, calamari, fish, spinach, baby carrot and one whole mini potato completed the contents of the dish. It was like a standard meat and veg in a pie, not only unique but tasty.

While not the pies of home, Hummingbird’s pies were an experience worth trying one I will remember.

Cheers

Scott

Directions: Hummingbird is about 2km to the west of Numazu station in the suburb of Katahama. You can also catch a bus there of take the Todai line to Katahama and head east. For more clear directions check out my map page.

Style: Pies

English Menu: No but fairly straight forward and little Kanji.

Picture Menu: A few pictures to help you out.

Gaijin Friendly: Yes

Hours: 11:30 – 22:00

Cost: lunch set 900-1250yen; dinner set 1500-1900yen

Coeur

Sometimes you find a place that you want to jealously hide from the rest of the world because you know that if you let the word out you will never get a seat there again. After an internal struggle matching my selfishness against the combined underdogs of sharing, honor and the desire to get more good information on this blog so some of you buggers will read it, I decided to let the cat out of the bag. Coeur is fantastic.

My 6th occasion to Coeur was on invitation from a friend to join a cooking class. I was wrapped. We were to prepare 5 dishes, eat said dishes and wash it down with a couple of glasses of good white. This was my kind of lazy Sunday afternoon.

After arriving and catching up with friends, we all moved over to the cafe side of Coeur. The staff had set the tables up and removed the chairs. In typical Japanese fashion we were allocated our tables, making groups of 3 or 4.

The first meal to be prepared was to be the Carpaccio of fish with chopped tomato sause (in the above picture center bottom). In less typical Japanese style we were quick to decide who would set us off in our cooking journey (no not me, I managed restraint this time) and we were head first into the fore taking turns preparing our dishes.

Second on our list to prepare, was the Roast Chicken with Lemon (first picture below). This dish was a demonstration item, requiring an oven. Out host described the dish and prepared it in front of us before taking it away to be baked while we finished the rest of the dishes. This was prepared with olive oil, chicken stock, black olives, butter, sliced lemons, black pepper and salt. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded a little riesling in the mix, but a very good combination none the less.

Next was the Picked oil sardine and dry tomato horsedouvres (below). We all dug into a chance to make these little blighter’s. My desire for some playful competition and good preparation was starting to take hold here.

Fourth of the list was the Smoked salmon and cream cheese appetizer (top food picture right side. ). These were simple but good fun to make. While most of us seemed to have a flair for food preparation, there was one or two of us who were…erh…doing their very best to amuse us by perform great feats of bad preparation. This gave us all something to have fun with as we encouraged these guys to new heights of culinary design.

Last on the list was the green salad with parmesan cheese (below). This simple dish was a combination of lettuce varieties, olive oil, salt and pepper, 9 year old balsamic vinegar and topped with parmesan cheese. It must be noted that out poor food artist excelled himself while fascinated with running the olive oil around of the bowl.

While none of these dishes were exceptionally challenging nor did we cook or prepare them a great deal, the whole experience was a blast. The light atmosphere, friendly hosts and the knowledge that we were about to eat our creations over some wine were enough reward.

Coeur is a wine cellar and cafe that also feature a small deli selection of prosciutto and other smoked meats, a small variety of quality cheese and other assortments of deli foods. The wine cellar features the best selection of wines that I have found in Numazu. Quality French wines mingle with Australian, New Zealand, German, Spanish, Italian and American wines. Prices for wine start at around 1200yen and finish at around one 1/4 of my monthly pay cheques. The cafe has much of the foods mentioned above with the addition of some anti pesto’s, deli platters and some hot dishes.

Coeur’s friendly staff and excellent variety make it a place I don’t want to share with many people. Let’s keep it a secret so I can still have a seat there .

Cheers

Scott

Location: North side of Numazu station. Heading towards Bivi there Should be a street to your left running North South. Head north up this street past E-Spot Shops and just past Curves gym. On your right hand side you should find Coeur. It is about five to six hundred meters up the road. For a map of Numazu with Coeur’s location click this -
Style: Wine shop, cafe and some time cooking class host.

English Menu: Yes, because my wife said so

Picture Menu: No

Gaijin Friendly: Yes

Ph: 055 929 6810 website: www.a-coeur.com

Map Builder for Numazu Sights and Utilities

I have just added some more locations to my MapBuilder Numazu Sights sight. They include locations of:

• the Nakamise (mall)
• Train Station
• City Hall
• Kano River
• Book Shop with a small but much needed collection of English Books and ESL material
• Library
• Community Gym
• Fish Markets
• Central police office and post office
• Imperial Villa
• Fish Markets
• Mishima and Ooka Station

I will add some more progressively. Worpress does not allow the code for me to embed the map in the blog but hopefully the links under the locations I mention will be handy.

If you have any suggestions for additions or would prefer me to separate the ’sights’, ‘utilities’ and ’shopping’ into separate maps, please let me know.

The link to the map is here;

Numazu Alps

 Location:For a map of the start of the alps click here

About mid April06 I went hiking in the Numazu Alps, a small range of 6 mountains varying in size from about 230meters to 390 meters. In the hiking guide for this trip the estimated time to climb these mountains one way was 6hrs30min. In my usual rush to damage the old body I managed the course, including the return trip in about 8 hrs. This was a glorious 21km hike through some diverse forests that I have never seen before. It really was amazing. There were cherry trees blossoming alongside great pines, gnarly weathered trees clinging to thin ridge lines and gorgeous views of Suguru Bay. I also found the most beautiful wild flowers including a black flower (sort of bug trap plant) that had a strange black trail to it. Apparently, the flower is a symbol of a mythical fisherman’s line and basket.

Between the two highest peaks I had to follow a ridgeline with steep slopes. The trees that followed this ridge were gnarled and windswept. Walking through this part of the track really made me feel like I was in a fantasy world. The most interesting part of this ridge was a fallen tree, its dried roots forming a wall over two meters high.

I must admit that the climbs were tiring and the first time I saw the ropes and chains used to help you safely get up the hill elicited a childish “cool” out of me. After climbing the first hill close to Numazu City you have to walk down onto the road and follow it back up to the saddle until you find the path on the right. This is not very well marked, so after about half an hour of wondering around in someone’s veggie patch I decided to go through the bush until I met up with the track. I though going bush was fun but I wouldn’t recommend it to most people particularly if you have little climbing/hiking experience.
All in all, the Numazu Alps was well worth the walk and I will be up there again sometime soon.

Gold Rush, Numazu

Gold Rush, Numazu

Location: South side. Follow the main street south that travels under the rail tracks (this is the main street to the west of the station.) and keep going until you reach the red sails. check here for a map http://www.mapbuilder.net/users/burpwind/42289
Style: Hip Hop night club.
Menu: mostly club spirit mixes and some beers. Average cost around 500yen
Gaijin Friendly: Appears to, though we were in a large group 7/10, for now.
Rating: 6/10
Cost: The night we went Ladies go in free and the Guy paid 1000yen entry that included a free drink. Not bad.

Now it took me about 4 months to realize why there were so many snack bars in this country and none of the buggers were serving fish and chips. For those of you not in the know, the snack bar is for the working man or woman who would like to have a little taste of something on the side while still going home to the three course meal of family life. But I digress. From initial appearances Gold Rush looked like another of Numazu’s many snack bars but it wasn’t long before I was informed by a friend that the place was indeed a night club. The occasional drunken stumble home from town past the club also reveal the heavy beats emanating from the ground floor. Over the ensuing months I was confident to have a good look at the notice board out the front without appearing like a dirty young (though my wife informs me, “old”) man. The club appeared to have quite a diverse line up featuring traveling DJ’s and some locals. I just needed an excuse.

The excuse came a few weeks ago when we were celebrating a friends birthday party. There was a group of about 7 or 8 of us and the birthday girl wanted to have a dance. My wife mentioned Gold Rush and we were off.

We made our way up the stairs and into a sort of a lounge bar. We all got a lot of stares on our arrival but this is not too uncommon in Japan. The patronage was made up predominately of girls with the odd splattering of guys uncomfortably trying to look cool. Now even on the main street of Nakamise women dress in some racy gear. Now, if you can imagine the raciness magnified three or four time then you will get a pretty good image of what the girls were wearing at the club (fhew! Difficult passage to write if I wanted to sleep in bed and not on the couch), As for the fellas, the standard pair of oversized baggy pants that hang just that little too far below the buttock as to look uncool, by Australian hip hop culture standards anyway. But, ladies there appeared to be some handsome guys out there for you.

So we lined up to get our drinks as the patrons returned to their conversations, makeup administration and vacant stares. As we were getting our drinks we were discussing the fact that there did not appear to be a dance floor. However, the birthday girl did notice a set of thin stairs near the bar and went to investigate. With birthday girl luck she managed to find that spiral staircase down to the nightclub area.

Once we all got our drinks we were off down stairs. The spiral staircase was an interesting touch to the club. I was the only entry point to the dance floor and the stairs were quite difficult to negotiate in the relative dark. I can imagine it would be a great test of sobriety for those poor inebriated sods who were destined to be trapped on the dance floor until they developed coordination enough to climb the their way back up and out.

Everything down here on the dance floor was black. Taking up one wall was the dj box and on the other were the majority of dancers standing there looking at the DJ’s or in some cases going out on a limb and moving side to side to the music. However, the birthday party ignored the status quo and jumped straight into dancing. I was surprised at how terrible a dancer I have become and wished to return to my early 20’s for some rhythm lessons. I certainly didn’t fit into the dancing scene anymore but I was determined to give it a crack and make the most out of the night. Just as I was getting into the music I began to feel the beginning of the ill fated monster of excessive pit sweat and my self confidence began to crumble. I made the decision to ditch the shirt and stick with the singlet I had on underneath. I new I was gonna cop some serious teasing after but it would be far better than swimming in a shirt drenched from the pits down. (Okay I know this is a gross segway but this night pushed me to find a solution to the problem and an internet search and subsequent purchase later I was all set.). Okay enough of the gross.

The night went on and the girls in our party began to drag some of the local boys out on the dance floor. This was mostly against their will but gaijin women are strong. I think they managed to get one or two guys to dance while the others acted like little teenagers running away at the first approach. It really was pathetic. I thought I was having confidence problems.

Admittedly, the music was really quite good for the club. They didn’t abuse the gangsta rap stuff too much like they do have a tendency to do in Australia and most of the rhythms and mixes were good to dance to.

I was time to head somewhere else so we wound our way back upstairs with a few glimpses at the refinance of the dance floor. Which now consisted of two big guys standing in the center bopping ever so slightly while staring at the dj’s.

Numazu’s Gold Rush is worth a visit. While there is quality music there was little dancing happening in the club that night. However, we did see some young dancers practicing their choreographed moves outside the club on our way out. When it comes to people watching it’s not a bad place there is some interesting fashion and equally amusing mate seeking behaviour. While I think it would be quite safe to go their alone I can guarantee you will not get a dance. Although these guys and gals all have the images of hip clubbers they still retain their Japanese shyness for good or ill.

cheers
Scott