Beware: ENTIRE weekend edition ahead!

Oh no, so much to tell, so little energy!

So Friday, I left boring Nagoya and headed onwards to Hiroshima. On the way, I made a stop in Himeji to see the infamous castle there—the largest and most splendid to survive the centuries in Japan. All you hear about it is true. At the admissions desk, I was encouraged to ask for an English Guide (“Ask please for English Guide”) so I did. Amongst many nods and gestures there suddenly appeared a petite Japanese lady, just as bundled up as myself but only half my size, and she promptly introduced herself to me as my guide, Yoshiko.

Yoshiko had been volunteering at the castle for 23 years, researching the available history on her own and practicing her English by giving these tours. The effort had paid off. In concise terms, I learned about both the history of the castle and about her own. I got to learn all of the “devices” built into the castle’s design, the detailing of the tiniest ornaments, the dates of shogunate occupations, and even about the origins of the building materials.

Had I tried to make it through the castle on my own, not only would I have gotten lost, but I would have missed so much that the English pamphlet didn’t include. Details such as the 2 hidden floors, the flexible structure of the castle (which is how it withstood the earthquakes over the years), the best photo opportunities, the purposeful ornamentations, the dual layered doors, even the kitchen sink that was one of the first of its kind built right into the castle.

She knew everything there was to know about Himeji castle and I was grateful. At the end, she gave me her business card and asked me to keep in touch. Though I usually tend to be over-promising on such requests, with her I absolutely will. Thanks, Yoshiko.


One of the bonus experiences I got out of stopping in Himeji was my lunch. Hungry for food, I booked my train ticket and wandered around the station to look for a place to grab some grub. Down what could almost be qualified as an alleyway (except for the fact that there are SO many of these places in Japan) I stumbled upon a lacquered display of ramen noodles which I had been CRAVING for since the first week of my trip. Determined to satisfy said craving, I ducked through the door coverings and found myself faced with a cook behind the counter, a girl making wontons at the end of the counter, and about 6 chairs in the whole place.

Turns out I ended up having to have the girl follow me outside again to the displays so that I could point out what I wanted, but once it arrived, MAN was it worth it. Simple ramen noodles with meat and vegetables, but were they ever FRESH. The BEST 400 yen that I had spent in a while. I left that place full, happy, and oh so satisfied.

Hiroshima didn’t seem very exciting when I first arrived. Within a city block radius of the station, things were fairly drab and run-down, and then major department stores were of the Holt Renfrew type so they weren’t my scene. I managed to bide my time in a 100 yen store (figures that on the other side of the globe I get my kicks by buying crap in the dollar store) and later in a coffee shop with a caramel latte I again ordered with almost solely the use of my pointing finger.

When Squiggly finally arrived after work, things started to brighten up. We went on a hunt for midnight food (because my eating schedule is TOTALLY off) and actually discovered that Hiroshima wasn’t as dilapidated as I first thought. By fluke we ended up in the centre of town where all the bars and other shopping were. When my stomach finally drove us to a place to eat, we found ourselves in a neat restaurant that served everything from stone-oven pizza to beef sashimi. YUM.

The next morning we met up with Tiger Number6 and she took Squiggly and I out to Miyajima. What/where’s Miyajima? Well, you know when you see slideshows of Japan and its sights, and you that big red doorway sort of thing on the water? It’s that. Oh, fine, I’ll just show you:


So we went to see that (it’s called a Torii, by the way) and to do so, we took a trip on the ferry across to Miyajima Island— a ferry which by far outdoes the Toronto Islands ferry in both organization and frequency. Getting there, the first thing I let myself get roped into doing was feeding the docile deer.

Man, what an experience.

As soon as I had the deer crackers in hand, they swarmed me (as well as the Japanese ladies that were too scared to feed them themselves, but wanted the picture opp.)! It was like being swarmed by a hoarded of hyper schoolchildren who all wanted your attention at once. While one head-butt me in one leg, another nibbled my other leg, and one more kept jumping up on its hind-legs in an attempt to be noticed above the others. They weren’t necessarily aggressive, and actually, they took the food from me quite gently but they were definitely a boisterous bunch amongst themselves. What was really neat was that they knew the precise instant that I was out of food and left, immediately moving onto the next tourist who bought into the food idea.

Of course right afterwards I found the following sign.


The Torii itself was quite impressive. In the water, it was apparently self-supported, meaning that other than having the posts dug into the underlying sand, mud and earth, it didn’t have anything else holding it in place. And yet over the centuries it had stood, tide after tide, season after season. Very serene to just take in.

The major shrine on the island, Itsukushima, was another thing we had planned to see that day, but it was especially busy. We joined the throng and found that there was a traditional Japanese wedding taking place there.
The wedding party became the main attraction and there were crowds of people watching the performance of a traditional dance for the married couple, snapping pictures like the paparazzi.

After it was over, we stole some more pictures of the Torii before wandering off to discover other sights like the un-crossable bridge, the floating Noh theatre, the Pagoda where we created the Tiger#6 universal standard of measure, the countless appearances of the Lucky Rice Paddle, and all the FOOD we could try!






Fortunately we covered most of the island before unfortunately it began to rain on us. We took the tram back to the city in order to be able to snag the time for a quick nap on the way. Back in the city, we had to stall until the restaurant that we wanted to try would open, so to pass the time, we headed to the exercise and massage chair floor of the nearby electronics store.

Oh man.

First, it was the new line of exercise machines. There was one to try (which we did) which looked like a horse saddle. What it turned out to be was just that. The idea was that the user would try his best to keep his upper-body still while his lower was rocked around by the saddle. This was supposed to work abs, butt, thighs, and who knows what else. I think my abs got most of their workout from the fits of giggles I suffered from both trying it and watching Squiggly and Tiger#6 give them a go.

Next, came the machine from back in time—the gigglometer! Actually, I don’t know what it was really called, but remember back in the day when there was an “exercise” machine that strapped a belt around you and giggled the fat away? It was basically the same idea. Standing on a small platform, the machine would vibrate the platform at speeds of “fast,” “faster,” and “uber-fast” in the attempt to loosen your fat stores and get them to drain away faster. Well, that’s what I got from the video anyway.

Finally, the massage chairs. While Squiggly passed, T#6 and I settled in for the 15 minute trial and allowed ourselves to be transformed into massaged blobs of goo. These chairs were AMAZING. They hugged every curve of your body and massaged any tiny little knot you could have. When it was over, I was tempted to give the chair a hug and a kiss goodbye, but I was too shy.

By the time we were done at the electronics store, it was time for our early dinner and our opportunity to try Hiroshima’s famed Okonomiyaki (umm...just look at the picture for a description). It was lucky that we decided to get there right at opening for a seat because the tiny little place was PACKED after just 20 minutes. Food was AWESOME. Cooked right in your face and then eaten right off of the stovetop, this stuff was fresh. AND, the eggs that they used to cook always came out with 2 yolks in one egg. Well, at least of the 25+ eggs we watched them crack, only 1 had a single yolk. How they did that, we don’t know, but what we did notice was that the eggs were gimongous.

We emerged from the Okonomiyaki place stuffed and smelling of the meal we just consumed. After a brief picture-showing stop at our hotel, it was off to Tiger#6’s 9-man volleyball practice which I got to participate in. WOOOOOOOO!

First of all, her team was really good. Second of all, they treated me like a foreign superstar because, well, I WAS foreign, and probably because I towered over all the other girls on the team. Also, my first duty was to hit the ball at the girls while they practiced their defence—hit at them on a net that was 6 inches lower than the ones that I’m used to at home. MAN was that awesome! The whole experience was, well, awesome. And it was quite something to try a new style of volleyball, played out in an entirely different language and country. It’s volleyball, duh.

I think the last part of the night was the most memorable. It wasn’t even the part where we went out and drank and ate (horse meat) till the early hours of the morning. It was the part where Tiger#6 took us for our first (and probably only) stay in a capsule hotel!

Called...I think “New Japan Sauna & Hotel,” we were admitted and then divided by gender. There was a locker floor where we kept our stuff, an onsen floor to do the bath stuff on, and the sleeping floor where each person passed the night.

In the lockers we found pyjamas and towels in a convenient little shower bag for us to use. While I never made it to the onsen floor, there you could take a communal shower before soaking in one of the three spas (cold, warm, and hot), and finishing up by finding yourself in a sauna to steam out your toxins. The sleeping floor began with the “dream room” where there was a field of big comfy recliner chairs, each equipped with a personal TV that had speakers piped into your headrest. You could watch TV until your eyes got heavy, or you could sleep out your night right there in that chair. I tried one of them out before bed and almost didn’t make it to bed!

Passing through the dream room was where you found a few sinks and then toilets, and then the capsules. I’ll be honest. As excited as I was to try staying in one of them, once I got there and Tiger#6 had left for the onsen floor, it took me a few moments to get over how much the capsules reminded me of...well, the CSI morgue layout. But once I was over it, the novelty once again took over. Staying there was actually a lot of fun-—the hotel took care of EVERY thing for you. From your room to your commodities, sleepwear to your toiletries. At first I was confused when I couldn’t find the toothpaste, but get this—it was already on each individually wrapped toothbrush!!! Just add water! I of course took a couple as souvenirs.

After checking out (of both hotels) Squiggly and I trekked over to the A-bomb Dome and the Hiroshima Peace Park and had quite the sobering afternoon. The sites were beautiful in some ways, awe inspiring in others, but above all, they conveyed Hiroshima’s resolution to promote and one day achieve world peace using its history as a reminder of the consequences of war. Words could never be enough to describe what we saw there.

Our last experience in Hiroshima was once more with Tiger#6 and this time her crew as well. We went to “G&O: Gumbo & Oysters” for yet another early dinner. OMG. YUM. There were two different set meals to choose from; the decision made was based on our favourite adage, “go big or go home.” We weren’t going home, that was for sure. So, 3 raw oysters, 4 cooked ones, a salad, soup, an oyster shot and pasta dish later, we were STUFFED. Big was good.

The company was great. Tiger#6 brought out her bf and 2 of their JET friends and they were GREAT. GO FUN. :) You had to be there. By the time dinner was over (a little rushed due to the Shinkansen schedule for Squiggly and I), I was actually sorry to have to go—they would have been so much fun to hang out with for another weekend of touring, eating, drinking and capsule hotelling.

And so, the shinkansen home. Squig fell asleep, I blogged till Jenny’s battery died. Now back in the room, everyone’s battery’s charging and I’m happily posting after so long an absence. Kyoto tomorrow, Kyoto again the day after, and then who knows where the wind will take me?
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Update
It is now 10 to 11 on Kyoto day, and here I am blogging in my jammies. I'm going, I'm going! It's a lot of work travelling this hard!