The Museum, et. al.

Wow, so couple of weeks since my last post and I'm still only talking about Hiroshima!  I am so far behind.  I guess that is because I am out doing things and really not spending much time online.  That's what happens when the weather changes.  I will try my best to get caught up soon, but May has been a busy month.  All my friends are leaving at the end of this month, so we have been going out pretty much every weekend.  This weekend is Universal Studios Japan!  Yay!  I've not been to a theme park in ages.

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First Night

Well anyway, here is the rest of my trip to Hiroshima.  After the the Miyajima trip we came home and decided to have something to eat.  Hiroshima is known for it's okonomiyaki, which is different from Osaka's (which is also known for okonomiyaki).  What is this strange food of which I speak?  It is a wonderful cabbage omelettey-crepey thing.  But Hiroshima style has noodles.  I got udon with mine.  The food was delicious, still the best okonomiyaki I've had.  I was the only one of our group of 3 to finish mine.  That was a lot of food!

 We then went for a drink at this little cafe called the Fish Lab.  You drink your coffee/tea/hot chocolate/beer/sake or whatever it is you chose, surrounded by tanks of tropical fish!  Like floor to ceilling, tanks of fish.  And of course you could buy the fish if you so desire.  So it's like a late night Fish Store that serves drinks and snacks.  The best thing about this shop is the owner.  She is super cute and so lovely.  She came over to speak with us, even though she doesn't really speak English.  She was just so darn friendly and cute!  She also called some guy and told him to come by to speak to us.  I guess he is learning English and she thought this would be a good opportunity to practice.  His English was pretty good and so was his friend's.  They had to learn it for work.  I really loved this little cafe and wanted to come back.  As we were leaving I wanted to show off one of the Japanese phrases that I learned so I bade every one a fond "matte ashita."  Which is "see you tomorrow."  I was proud of myself until the kufuffle broke out.  You see, one of the guys mentioned that there was going to be a birthday party at the cafe tomorrow, so it was "closed."  I forgot and was just so excited to use my little Japanese and this simple "good-bye" inspired a lot of chatting and potential phone calls and some heated discussion.  All of which amounted to them saying we should come by and join the birthday party!  I've learned since that "matte ashita" is only to be used when you are actually going to see the person tomorrow.  If you are going to see them later then it's "matte ne."  I felt really bad, cause I really had no intention of inviting myself and my friends to a birthday party, I just wanted to say goodbye in Japanese.  To answer your question, we didn't go.  And sadly, we didn't go back again before we left.

The Museum

The next morning we headed off to the museum. I'm just going to show you some pictures of that day.  It was pretty emotional and I started crying in the museum.  It was really well put together and I do recommend it if you are in Hiroshima.  But be warned, it's sad.  I didn't take many pictures, but some key ones I thought would help get the sense across.
 

Frozen in time.  Watch stopped at the moment of bomb drop.

A scale replica of the A-Dome, inside the museum.

Sadako memorial on museum grounds.

Close up of some of the millions of cranes at the Sadako memorial.

Walking up to the A-Dome.

A-Dome the explosion was just above this building.

Second Night

 The day was long and draining.  We were planning to go out after, but we felt pretty wiped.  However, we didn't want to end the day with the heaviness we all felt in our hearts, so we took a nap and got ready to go out dancing.  Jill and I decided to swap styles for the night.  She normally goes out dressed up as the pretty girl that she is, and I my friends am a bit of a rocker to the core.  But, Jill rocked the faux-hawk that night (most of the night) and I was done up as the pretty girl.  Jill did both our make-up and I did her hair.  I think she looks bad-ass.  And there was a surprisingly large amount of make-up on my face, but I think she did an amazing job.  I tried to play the part of the sweet, pretty girl, but as the night wore on the gig was up. :P

The Next Day

 We had a bit of a lie in,but didn't want to waste what was effectively our last day in Hiroshima.  We went back to the park and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.  On our way to look for food, we saw a welcome sight.  FREE HUGS!!!  We were swept up with how perfect the day seemed to be, nursing mild hangovers, sitting in the sun, and now free hugs!  Really, it couldn't get much better than this.  I was super stoked and went skipping over to the lovely men for my free hug!  The rest of the day was pretty much just hanging out.  That night Jill and I did give pachinko a go, which is Japanese style gambling.  I can sort of see the appeal for the first, I don't know, minute or two, but people spend hours at these places!  And waste soooo much money!  Plus the parlours are loud and bright and chaotic. 

No prize for Jill. :(

Going Home

So, that's pretty much my trip to Hiroshima.  I highly recommend it if you make your way to Japan.  The whole city has a very different feel than other places I've been.  We met some awesome people, had a humbling education, and a fun night out.  Oh, and delicious food.  You have to have Hiroshima okonomiyaki, seriously.  Also, check out the MOGMOG doughnut shop.  On my walk back to the station to catch my bus, I stopped for a snack along the river and made a feathered friend.  Something about me an crows...  Oh and I stopped for a picture with an old friend. :P

He hung out for a bit, while I ate a snack.

OMG!  R2, you're naked!!!

Miyajima

So, I arrived in Hiroshima and the lovely ladies I am meeting up with are out Adventuring on a little island off the coast called Miyajima. We haven't checked into our hostel yet, but I don't feel like trekking out on my own to find it.  So, I stash my bag in a locker and head out in search of the island and my friends. 

I feel pretty confident about navigating the train system, after all I do it all the time in Osaka when covering at other schools.  However, when I have to cover a school I always have a map with me, that has written directions on it.  And the destination written in Kanji.  For the first time, I am on my own.  Left to my wits and street wise know-how to figure out a way to get where I want to go.  Oh, dear!  Panic starts to well up from the depths of my soul.  I don't know what I'm doing.  And I only sort of know how to ask how "where is ..." 

A few deep breaths and a relaxed demenour will get you far in life.  I casually stare at the fare board and hope against hope that they have Miyajima written in English somewhere.  Blessed be, they do!  I take a quick mental picture of the Kanji and set off to find my platform.  A good tip here is to look for the train station stops map, which you will often find on the platform, and count how many stops from your origin point to your destination.  Even though they announce every station, sometimes it can be difficult to understand what they are staying.  Japanese pronunciation and English pronunciation of Japanese words to not sound like the same word!  Even if you are pronouncing your vowels correctly for Japanese!  I arrive at my destination without further ado.

A quick transfer to the ferry and I'm on my way.  This island is quite famous for it's red gate.  It's huge and build off shore so that when the tide is in it looks like it is floating on the water.  There are a lot of temples and shrines and pagodas and deer.  What follows are some pictures from the island.  Enjoy!

A ferry, but not the one I was on. :P

Red Gate as seen from the ferry.

Wild deer roaming around eating all your paper!

And going into shops!

Fancy a rickshaw ride, from a cute Japanese boy?

Smaller stone gate, heading toward the big Red Gate.

Here we are as the tide is in.

People playing in the tide.

Wedding at Itsukushima shrine.  I didn't want to pay to go in and interrupt the wedding.

5 Storied Pagoda at the top of a hill.

One of many shrines and praying places.  I think this one is Daiganji Temple.

Tahoto pagoda at the top of another hill.  Near a nature walk.

Daishoin Temple.  A real temple with monks working.

Daishoin Temple.

At the entrance to Daishoin Temple.  Which is the way I left, because I came in through the back.

Prayer tubes at Daishoin Temple.

Daishoin Temple, minature statues.

There were a lot of these lining a path to...?

A close up of a particularly creepy little statue.

Donation box at the entrance.

Plum Blossoms and a purification area.  You are meant to wash your hands before you enter to pray.

The tide has gone out and the friends have come up.

Deep fried goodness.  Mine was red bean, Jill and Merran had cheese, I think.

We all love Ken Wantanabe, so Jill decided to give him a kiss!

 So that was Miyajima.  Next post will be arrival night and day at the museum.  I may include some pictures for our night out if I get some from Merran.  I am off to Kobe tomorrow then 3 days in Kyoto.  I'm going to spend my Golden Week close to home.  I think I'll hit Toyko and Fuji later.