A month in Japan

•    Morning
o    As usual, it was an early morning.  I woke up around 7:30, exercised, showered… and had a nice breakfast of a piece of bread, a banana, and some vegetables delicious and simple.  Ena’s dad arrived at around 9:00 and we all headed out to see a beautiful garden that was about an hour away.
•    Gardens
o    Apparently, the gardens that we saw used to belong to the shogun.  Thus, they were designed beautifully and were huge.  There were multiple ponds with koi, many nicely arranged flowers and plants, some rock gardens, and a castle even.  We walked around for a bit and had some fresh green tea (tea ceremony style) with mochi.  Following our tour of the gardens, we trekked over to the castle.  The weather was so hot that even this 10 minute walk felt like an hour.  The castle was restored in 1966, so the outside still looked original, but it was clear from the inside that this wasn’t the original castle.  Yet, it was still fun to explore and there were some interesting bits of knowledge to be found inside and some old scrolls, maps, and swords to be seen.
•    Kurasiko
o    Kuraskio (which I have no doubt spelled wrong) was the second part of the day.  We went there to see the small shops, and for lunch.  We went to a small place that served udon.  The udon was delicious as most meals in japan have been… no complaints.  After having lunch, which felt great from the morning walk, we decided to browse all the shops.  I managed to find some great presents for my family, but I really hope I can get them safely home.  I also managed to find a necklace for myself… necklaces in Tokyo are rather expensive and not especially in my taste… so… hell yeah for cheap and tasteful jewelry.  We followed up shopping with a stop at a small coffee place to get some milk shaved ice… never had it before, but it was wonderful…creamy, tasty, not overfilling…perfect.
•    View of the ocean
o    After heading to the car and a brief drive, we arrived at an overlook which gave all of us a beautiful view of the sea and a huge bridge that spanned from somewhere to Okayama.  You could see all these huge ships coming in and out and the ocean glimmering… breathtaking.  The sun shining down though made it a bit hard to look out… thank goodness for sunglasses…wooo!
•    Next
o    Ena and I headed to her friend’s house for a bit of a break after our busy day.  We had a little snack and played video games for a bit.  After this, Ena’s dad picked us up and we headed for dinner… I didn’t know we had dinner reservations but I was truly in for a treat.
•    Dinner
o    Ena, her father, and I went to this Japanese style restaurant for dinner… this turned out to be the best dinner I’ve had in japan I think.  To start out, we got our own room which had a tatami floor and cushions for seats.  Ena’s dad ordered plum sake for Ena and I, while he had a mango soda because he was driving.  I didn’t order anything, but just watched as courses arrived.  The first course was some appetizers… one was a little chicken with some sauce and vegetables, another was pork, another was shrimp… all of them were nice and small and not overfilling in the least.
o    Course two consisted of many small pieces of sushi beautifully arranged on a small plate.  I had no idea what most of them were, but this was real sushi, not rolls or rice… just raw fish… authentic.  Course 3 was a bit of pork with green tea salts… some chicken…and one other meat… all small, but delicious.  Course 4 was a little soupish dish with egg and meat which was great.  Course 5 was some very tender beef and a small salad.  Finally, the last course (6) was kansai style sushi.  This is different than regular sushi because the rice is pressed into the sushi (hard to explain)… but it was great.
o    We had a dessert following the meal that consisted of a mango like pudding with a piece of watermelon in it and a small dose of whipped cream.  What amazed me about this whole meal is the fact that Ena’s dad treated me… which was so kind… and the fact that after eating all that, I didn’t feel overfull.  The portion sizes were perfect.  I’m rather tired now… sleep calls.

•    Morning
o    I woke up this morning as my alarm went off at 7:30 and at the same time Ena walked up the stairs… perfect timing, easy to get up.  I took a nice shower, which felt wonderful, had a brief breakfast and by 8:20 we were off to the train station.  We took the shinkansen to Hiroshima and the day began.
•    Hiroshima
o    If someone asked me to look at Hiroshima and describe what aspects of it showed that it had been hit by an atomic bomb… I probably would have no idea what to say.  Hiroshima looks pristine, untouched, perfect.. it looks as though it never saw the atomic bomb.  The only hints that the atrocity happened are the many statues ( and the museum) devoted to the bombing.  When Ena and I entered Hiroshima, we walked around a bit and looked at the statues devoted to those killed by the war… we saw the war memorial… we saw the one building that was never rebuilt… and then we saw the museum.
o    The emotions that being inside the museum evoked in me were rather surprising.  I assumed I would be horrified by what I would see, but not that I would cry.  I really didn’t see it coming.  This wasn’t tears pouring down crying, but a few tears escaping the prison of my eye… really had no idea it was coming.  The one though that kept on coursing through my mind was the need to stop nuclear proliferation… clearly the museum serves its purpose.
o    Following the museum, we decided to head back to Hiroshima station to grab some lunch… it was a rather hot day, and we both were exhausted from walking and from the museum.  We decided to eat okonomiyaki… which turned out to be a wonderful idea.  I’d never had okonomiyaki before, but I was dying to try.  It consists of two crepes… which are sandwhiched around udon, kimichi, pork, egg, vegetables… and then covered with sauce… and eaten.  Words cannot describe how delicious it was.
•    Shrines
o    We followed up lunch with a trip to some shrines near Hiroshima.  There was one shrine in particular that Ena wanted me to see… we took a ferry to an island… and on the island the shrine lay… right before the sea.  The way things worked, at high tide, the water covered the whole beach below the shrine, so that as you walked along the shrine’s walkways water sparkled beneath your feet.  It was beautiful, but required a good four hours wait to see as we arrived at low tide.  We spent those four hours exploring the island, getting a little snack, and just walking around.  Yet, it was completely worth it.
•    Back to the house
o    After the shrine, we headed back to Fukuyama where we had a nice dinner at Ena’s grandmother’s house.  Amusing fact… her mom didn’t manage to prepare rice for dinner, so she gave us a bag of donuts instead hehe.  The fact that she makes dinner every night is so nice… that I would never consider saying a thing against the substitution of donuts vs rice.  Also, the donut that I ate was delicious.

•    Morning
o    I woke up this morning with plans of packing and somehow managed to do it… I think waking up way to early helped.  I did a few exercies, pushups, situps, the usual and then fell into the shower… and followed that with a general packing up of my room.  I decided to go the grocery store for breakfast right when it opened because they make fresh bento boxes every day.  I snagged a bento box with rice, and stuff, a fruity yoguritsh thing, and decided to add on a drink and then paid at the register.  By the time I walked back to the hotel, which was 30 seconds I was sweating.  It’s rather hot in the mornings.  Breakfast was delicious though and well worth the trip.
•    Fukuyama
o    I followed up breakfast with a trek to the train station where I caught one train… transferred to another… transferred to a 4 hour shinkansen… and then 15 minutes later I was in Fukuyama.  I arrived at the train station rather bewildered as to where I was supposed to meet Ena, but luckily enough, right as I pulled out my cellphone she gave me a call and we managed to find each other.  We tossed my bags in the car and decided to trek up to Fukuyama castle with Ena’s mom, which turned out to be a great idea.  Fukuyama castle is not as large as Osaka castle but it makes up for this by having fewer stairs to climb.  Also, Fukuyama castle just has a better view.
o    After Osaka castle we headed to Ena’s grandmother’s house where we were going to stay.  Her grandmother owns a liquor store.  Let that sink in a bit.  Ok… every drink I have ever wanted to taste is free… and one floor down… and presented to me at every opportunity.  I walk in… and I’m asked if I want a beer.  I walk down again and I’m asked if I want sake…it’s hilarious and wonderful.
o    After Ena and I have somehow managed to deposit my suitcase upstairs, we sit down in front of the tv and relax for a bit.  I drink my screwdriver (in a can) and she her beer (which is a mini beer hehe) and we watch a few japanese children’s shows… at 7 minutes each.  Even with my limited Japanese I can tell they make little to no sense, but it’s fun and relaxing.  A little later, Ena’s sister comes in and we all play on the wii for a bit and then have some dinner… it’s my first home made dinner since coming to japan and it’s wonderful.  A simple dinner of rice, curry, some salad, and a bit of sushi from the grocery store.  I’m full and a bit tired at this point.  We even have a little dessert afterwards, which consists of these mini cakes, which are delicious.  We each sink our forks into one.  We decided to go to Hiroshima tomorrow and possibly find a place that has Fugu.. because Fugu is hard to find in the US and gives a hint of danger, and is apparently delicious.  Off to Hiroshima I go.  Oyasumi (good night).