Hiroshima/Miyajima Update
Finally! A post about my Hiroshima/Miyajima trip with andrewdeluxe. Be warned, this is a pretty shitty type up. Quite the quick and dirty version of a great vacation! ^_^; But hey, there are a few pics up, so without further ado…
Met up with andrewdeluxe (henceforth known as Andrew) at Hiroshima station and decided to find our ryokan (Japanese inn) first before we set out for sightseeing. Umm...after going the WRONG WAY thanks to someone's suggestion (his name starts with "A"), we decided to cut our losses short and hailed a taxi. (And it should also be said that I was "The Navigator" for the rest of the weekend! And for good reason..) Unfortunately, the taxi, too, got himself lost so our taxi fare was only 800 yen! Sweet!
Found the ryokan, which smelled a lot like my grandma's house, briefly unpacked, and then set out for Hiroshima castle. Got a little turned around a few times, but we eventually found it. Umm...took many pretty pictures.
Stopped by a local Shinto Shrine within the castle grounds to find out that they were holding the 7-5-3 Children's ceremony. Basically, when a child turns 7,5,or 3, parents usually dress them in a pretty kimono, parade them around town so people can say how cute they are, and attend a shinto ceremony. While we saw a lot of cute kids, we also so a priest purifying/blessing a.... car! Riiiiiight…
Walked down the street a bit and came across the atomic dome and many other atomic bomb memorials. Not quite as depressing as I imagined it would be, or maybe that was because Andrew and I were cracking jokes most of the time. Wow, we're terrible human beings, aren't we? >.< But don't worry, the depressing shit comes Sunday...
Afterwards, we stopped by Okonomimura, which is like a 3 storied restaurant pavilion serving only Hiroshima Okonomiyaki. We settled for a frog themed restaurant, sat ourselves down and stuffed ourselves silly. And I'd like to just take this moment to say that I finished *ALL* of my okonomiyaki while Andrew only finished about 3/4 of his. HAH! >:P Since the night was still young, we set out for Sam's 13 cafe, a bar that served beer from all over the world! :O I had a New Castle and a Czech beer (Gotta give some lovin' to my home country) which were both excellent! Oh, and the co-owner of the bar spoke English with us and gave us free beer as we left! Surprisingly, Hiroshima is pretty dead at night cause we were the only foreigners there (and the place only had like 3-4 small groups there anyway). Also, as we were walking back to our ryokan around midnight, we were like the ONLY people out on the main street. Kinda weird...
Woke up kinda late, got ready, and set out for Miyajima around 10 or so. After taking the ferry across to the island, we were immediately greeted by cute (yet nasty) deer! And yes, these deer are free to roam around the entire island and are even known to relentlessly pursue humans for any food they might give them. I felt sorry for all the little Japanese kids who were screaming their heads off because a deer decided to stick its snout in their face for some food! ^_^;
Walked over to the Itsukushina shrine, which lays claim to the infamous torii gate that is personified in many Japanese tour books. For those of you who’ve been to Epcot, the torii gate in the lake is obviously modeled after this one. Apparently we had come on an excellent day because the high tide was in at around 11 o’clock while the low tide was in by the time we left.
Visited the Daisho-in temple, took more pictures, and then decided to take the ropeway tram up to the top of the island. Upon our arrival to the top, we were greeted not by deer, but by monkeys! Man, these creatures were nastier than the deer! But I think Andrew got a kick out of them and thus made his journey complete as far as he was concerned. By the time we got back down, the low tide had arrived and we were able to walk out to the actual torii gate and touch it! Definitely cool! Bought some obligatory momiji souvenirs for our schools and decided to head back in town.
Since Andrew is technically a hillbilly that lives out in the sticks of Japan and rarely has the chance to eat $30 Pizza Hut pizzas, we decided to order in that night. Unfortunately ordering on the phone was a little tough for the both of us, but luckily the obaa-chan who looked after the ryokan decided to help us out…only to eventually order a pizza for herself too! That was quite amusing. :P
Again, stuffed ourselves silly while playing cards. Best game of black jack EVER!
Since we had basically done all that we had intended to do in Hiroshima as far as tourist spots were concerned, we decided to hit a few remaining points of interest in the A-bomb park. After checking out from our ryokan, finding a place for our suitcases at the train station, and eating a rather disgusting b-fast at Starbucks (there should be no excuses for dry nasty-ass muffins!), we were on our way to feeling like shitty Americans at the A-bomb Memorial Museum. For the most part, it really isn’t that bad. Most of it is rather tasteful, yet gives you a good scope of how traumatic the atomic bomb was. However, at the very end of the walking tour, you’re shown a very….graphic video with pictures of mutated and dying Japanese people during the aftermath of the bomb. That, and you get to hear some of the writings from victims about how their family died, etc. UGH!!! I can’t speak for Andrew, but I know *I* certainly felt disgusted the rest of the day. >.<
Afterwards, since we had a few hours to kill, we decided to walk down the shopping street again and settled on Subway for lunch. Yay Subway! Walked back towards the station and hung around until it was time for our trains to depart.
Overall, I think Miyajima has taken Nagano’s spot as “Kim’s Favorite Place In Japan.” I mean, everything was just perfect that day: the weather, the tide, the leaves, etc. No wonder Miyajima is known as one of the 3 ‘must-see’ spots in Japan! For those of you who ever decide to come out and visit, you should definitely not miss this place!
Met up with andrewdeluxe (henceforth known as Andrew) at Hiroshima station and decided to find our ryokan (Japanese inn) first before we set out for sightseeing. Umm...after going the WRONG WAY thanks to someone's suggestion (his name starts with "A"), we decided to cut our losses short and hailed a taxi. (And it should also be said that I was "The Navigator" for the rest of the weekend! And for good reason..) Unfortunately, the taxi, too, got himself lost so our taxi fare was only 800 yen! Sweet!
Found the ryokan, which smelled a lot like my grandma's house, briefly unpacked, and then set out for Hiroshima castle. Got a little turned around a few times, but we eventually found it. Umm...took many pretty pictures.
Stopped by a local Shinto Shrine within the castle grounds to find out that they were holding the 7-5-3 Children's ceremony. Basically, when a child turns 7,5,or 3, parents usually dress them in a pretty kimono, parade them around town so people can say how cute they are, and attend a shinto ceremony. While we saw a lot of cute kids, we also so a priest purifying/blessing a.... car! Riiiiiight…
Walked down the street a bit and came across the atomic dome and many other atomic bomb memorials. Not quite as depressing as I imagined it would be, or maybe that was because Andrew and I were cracking jokes most of the time. Wow, we're terrible human beings, aren't we? >.< But don't worry, the depressing shit comes Sunday...
Afterwards, we stopped by Okonomimura, which is like a 3 storied restaurant pavilion serving only Hiroshima Okonomiyaki. We settled for a frog themed restaurant, sat ourselves down and stuffed ourselves silly. And I'd like to just take this moment to say that I finished *ALL* of my okonomiyaki while Andrew only finished about 3/4 of his. HAH! >:P Since the night was still young, we set out for Sam's 13 cafe, a bar that served beer from all over the world! :O I had a New Castle and a Czech beer (Gotta give some lovin' to my home country) which were both excellent! Oh, and the co-owner of the bar spoke English with us and gave us free beer as we left! Surprisingly, Hiroshima is pretty dead at night cause we were the only foreigners there (and the place only had like 3-4 small groups there anyway). Also, as we were walking back to our ryokan around midnight, we were like the ONLY people out on the main street. Kinda weird...
Woke up kinda late, got ready, and set out for Miyajima around 10 or so. After taking the ferry across to the island, we were immediately greeted by cute (yet nasty) deer! And yes, these deer are free to roam around the entire island and are even known to relentlessly pursue humans for any food they might give them. I felt sorry for all the little Japanese kids who were screaming their heads off because a deer decided to stick its snout in their face for some food! ^_^;
Walked over to the Itsukushina shrine, which lays claim to the infamous torii gate that is personified in many Japanese tour books. For those of you who’ve been to Epcot, the torii gate in the lake is obviously modeled after this one. Apparently we had come on an excellent day because the high tide was in at around 11 o’clock while the low tide was in by the time we left.
Visited the Daisho-in temple, took more pictures, and then decided to take the ropeway tram up to the top of the island. Upon our arrival to the top, we were greeted not by deer, but by monkeys! Man, these creatures were nastier than the deer! But I think Andrew got a kick out of them and thus made his journey complete as far as he was concerned. By the time we got back down, the low tide had arrived and we were able to walk out to the actual torii gate and touch it! Definitely cool! Bought some obligatory momiji souvenirs for our schools and decided to head back in town.
Since Andrew is technically a hillbilly that lives out in the sticks of Japan and rarely has the chance to eat $30 Pizza Hut pizzas, we decided to order in that night. Unfortunately ordering on the phone was a little tough for the both of us, but luckily the obaa-chan who looked after the ryokan decided to help us out…only to eventually order a pizza for herself too! That was quite amusing. :P
Again, stuffed ourselves silly while playing cards. Best game of black jack EVER!
Since we had basically done all that we had intended to do in Hiroshima as far as tourist spots were concerned, we decided to hit a few remaining points of interest in the A-bomb park. After checking out from our ryokan, finding a place for our suitcases at the train station, and eating a rather disgusting b-fast at Starbucks (there should be no excuses for dry nasty-ass muffins!), we were on our way to feeling like shitty Americans at the A-bomb Memorial Museum. For the most part, it really isn’t that bad. Most of it is rather tasteful, yet gives you a good scope of how traumatic the atomic bomb was. However, at the very end of the walking tour, you’re shown a very….graphic video with pictures of mutated and dying Japanese people during the aftermath of the bomb. That, and you get to hear some of the writings from victims about how their family died, etc. UGH!!! I can’t speak for Andrew, but I know *I* certainly felt disgusted the rest of the day. >.<
Afterwards, since we had a few hours to kill, we decided to walk down the shopping street again and settled on Subway for lunch. Yay Subway! Walked back towards the station and hung around until it was time for our trains to depart.
Overall, I think Miyajima has taken Nagano’s spot as “Kim’s Favorite Place In Japan.” I mean, everything was just perfect that day: the weather, the tide, the leaves, etc. No wonder Miyajima is known as one of the 3 ‘must-see’ spots in Japan! For those of you who ever decide to come out and visit, you should definitely not miss this place!