So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here. I didn’t really think anything was worth blogging about aside from our little day at the beach, which was almost a month ago now. Work has been insanely stressful lately—more stressful than usual—and by the time my days off roll around, updating my blog feels more like a chore than something I actually want to do. Most of the time, I just want to relax and sleep the whole day away. So, being motivated enough to actually sit down and write again feels like a small miracle.

Anyway, back to the beach. We were determined to make it out there at least once this year, and with summer already coming to an end, we decided that typhoon or no typhoon—we were going to have our beach day.

We had originally planned to spend all four of our consecutive days off collecting some of the Fukui Poké Lids closer to Tsuruga, while keeping one day open for Suishohama if the weather cooperated. Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time checking the weather app and waiting to see what it had in store for us.

For the first day, the app was predicting 100% rain for the entire week, so our hopes of spending a full day at the beach quickly turned into, “Okay, maybe we can at least get half a day?” If we were lucky enough to get even a few hours of sunshine.

The day went by pretty quickly. We spent most of it driving around and filming clips of the road with our new action camera. We stopped for a little lunch break at a convenience store right next to Lake Biwa, where we took even more footage of ourselves just sitting in the car, eating steamed buns and chatting.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a small seaside park in Tsuruga, near our hotel, where one of the Poké Lids is located just outside the Red Brick Warehouse. All in all, it was a very pleasant afternoon—just strolling around the area with my husband before ending the day with some yakiniku for dinner.

The next day was dedicated to collecting five Poké Lids scattered across Mihama, Kaminaka, Obama, Oi, and Takahama. And the weather? Somehow, it was even worse than the day before—strong gale-force winds and rain that just wouldn’t let up.

We were a bit worried about the road conditions and our safety, but since we were traveling through a more rural area, we knew that driving would be the better option if we wanted to save time rather than relying on public transportation.

All in all, it turned out to be a safe drive despite the weather conditions. The gusts were strong, but nothing our little kei car couldn’t handle. We managed to collect all five Lids without any trouble and even got to experience some of the local road stations and seaside parks along the way. So, despite the less-than-ideal weather, the day turned out to be a pretty successful Poké Lid adventure.

We actually had a lot of fun exploring parts of Japan that we don’t often see online or on TV, trying delicious local specialties, picking up souvenirs, and learning about the customs and traditions of the places we visited. In a way, playing Pokémon GO has helped us discover and appreciate more of Japan than any book or travel video ever could.

That said, we still had one last destination in mind. We pulled out our phones and checked the weather forecast for the next day, and wouldn’t you know it—a WHOLE DAY OF SUNSHINE!

We never could have imagined that such a beautiful, sunny day would follow the stormy weather from the day before, especially since the app had consistently predicted rain for the entire week. It really felt like a miracle, even just for one day during our trip that we would finally be able to have our beach day.

The next morning, we set off for Suishohama, but made a quick stop at the Family Mart closest to the beach to grab some snacks and drinks for later that day. We also wanted to buy some goggles, but since swimming season was over, we had no luck finding any.

Nevertheless, our excitement hadn’t changed, and when we pulled into the parking lot overlooking the beach, we were absolutely blown away by the scenery before us. Beautiful shades of blue, cyan, and teal stretched as far as we could see. The waves formed perfect curls as they rolled toward the shore, while the blue sky, warm sunshine, and gentle breeze made the whole place feel almost tropical. For a moment, it honestly didn’t feel like we were in Japan at all.

I don’t exactly know how to describe the rest of the day other than to say that we had the absolute best time ever. We climbed rocks, body-surfed in the waves (I picked up a ridiculous amount of sand in my swimsuit doing this), explored tide pools, ate snacks in our pop-up tent, and just generally let go and had fun.

Sometime in the afternoon, after drying off, we crawled into our tent and took a little nap—and honestly, it was probably the best sleep we’d had in a while. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore made the perfect white noise, and as I drifted off, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in the Philippines again: a little girl, tired after a whole day of wading in the sea, lying in a tiny wooden cottage.

For a little while, I wasn’t just enjoying a day at the beach. I was that little girl in Caranoche again, but in a much safer headspace, and honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our summer of 2026.