wander-bike to makuhari

Last Friday I left work as usual, but for some reason I was feeling kind of restless and didn't want to go home, or around downtown Chiba, or anywhere that I was familiar with, and before I knew it, I was just biking along the highway without any particular destination in mind.

My route home according to Google Maps

I'd biked a certain distance along the highway (which is right by where I live) before for the sake of knowing the area before, but until now I've only gone so far before turning around (since if I kept following it forever I think I'd end up somewhere in Tokyo). This time though, I kept going, passing restaurants and shops and convenience stores along the way, until the sidewalk stopped and a sign told me that I couldn't keep going (where it turned into real highway, I guess), 

So I turned left and kept wandering, down a tiny little tree-lined path, across a bridge and then back over, past some relaxing-looking parks, around some little shopping areas, and then found myself on a road parallel to the railroad tracks, on some wide paved roads that were lovely for bicycling on, and then realized I was in Makuhari, which is a (relatively) new urban area a few train stations away from my apartment.

I've been there before, but only around the same places near the station, so it was pretty cool to see some totally new areas. One thing that impressed me was how even though Makuhari is a super modern urban area with lots of new fancy buildings and big businesses, there are also lots of pretty park and nature areas, like the path near some water (river? ocean? I don't know) I was biking on that also seemed to be pretty popular for runners and dog-walkers.

So I kept biking, with just a vague idea of getting back toward the train tracks to eventually follow them back home, and then realized that somehow I had made my way near Makuhari Messe (the huge convention facility that hosts lots of big events) and also QVC Marine Field (home of the Lotte Marines baseball team), which surprised me because I definitely hadn't thought I was near them (no sense of direction).

And then I kept going and ended up on the other big road parallel to the railroad tracks, but also by the sea. The light was just barely starting to change before sunset, which made a really gorgeous view of the sea. The sidewalk I was biking on was also lined with trees on both sides, which for some reason made me feel like Alice in Wonderland (I don't know either, but that's what it was).

Besides the amazing seaside view, it was pretty cool to see places like Inage Seaside Park, the Sanyo Media Flower Museum, the Chiba Chuo Marketplace, and Aqua Rink Chiba up close, which I'd only ever passed by via car before. I still haven't been to all of them, but hopefully I'll fix that sometime soon!

Eventually the road forced me to turn left, but it turns out this was a good thing because as I followed it, I spied a cute little restaurant on the other side of the road and decided to stop for dinner. It was called Perrito, and I think I'll definitely be going back there sometime. The owners were super friendly and told me that they're also willing to make things that aren't on the menu, as long as they have the right ingredients, which I thought was pretty cool. And dinner was delicious, of course!

And it turned out that I was only about five minutes away from my apartment, which means that I successfully managed to bike to Makuhari and back without consulting a map or getting lost on the way, which I think is a pretty impressive feat for me. Wander-biking without a destination and just enjoying the sights and the feeling of exploring was pretty amazing, so I decided against taking any pictures along the way, for fear of ruining the moment. But I will leave you with a map of the route I ended up taking home, instead of my usual one up there. Chiba City is pretty enormous and I've still only been to a tiny part of it, so who knows, it may happen again. :)

The actual route I ended up taking home (including a stop for dinner!)