Pearls are a girl's best friend

With Joey and Trisha's 3 week trip back to Malaysia looming, we decided that it would be nice to take a mini-trip somewhere close to Nagoya. So, we decided to take a drive down south to the Ise Peninsula. This little jutting piece of land on the south west side of Nagoya is well-known for several things, chief among them the cultivation of high-quality pearls.

Since we didn't make any advanced hotel reservations and it turned out to be impossible to get a room at a decent rate, we took a chance and booked a room at an unknown Japanese-style inn (ryokan). Thanks Val for the travel books! Anyway, this ryokan is located in a little sleepy fishing village called Daio. And believe me you, it was a quiet little town. Quite amazing since everywhere we've been in Japan is jam-packed with people. We were walking around at 6:30 pm and the streets were virtually deserted. Felt like we were in some kinda of zombie movie where everyone had been devoured.

We had lunch at inconspicous restaurant and they had the best fried fish I've tasted in a long time. Incrediblely fresh stuff. Joey went to town on a seafood bento box (most of you know that I'm allergic to shellfish and so she doesn't get to eat seafood often). After that we drove to Ago Bay and took a boat ride in a Spanish-type galleon. The view is awesome and it was interesting to see all the pearl cultivation as well.

The next day we drove up to Mikimoto Pearl Island. It is a tiny little piece of land that had been transformed into a tourist trap, showing off Mikimoto's finest pearls and assorted jeweleries. We also got to watch a demostration of the "ama"s (women divers) diving for oysters. It also has a nice museum that has everything you ever wanted to know about oysters and pearls.

It was a great trip...the weather was gentler than it was when we were in Kyoto. And I took Monday off to spend more time with the family at home.