Sauntering Sunflower

Our trip to Himeji yesterday was damp. We awoke to brilliant sunshine and heat and weather forecasts of clear skies. We intended to rent bikes in Himeji, tour the castle and park, then hike up Mt Hiromine to visit the Hiromine shrine.

We arrived early, began our tour of the castle grounds under cloudy sky, and by the time we entered the castle it was raining. It is somewhat pleasing to know that the Japanese are as poor at forecasting weather as the English.

The rain was rather light, so we continued the tour of the KoKoen traditional gardens. Very beautiful spot to tour. If I had two acres and a full time staff of twenty gardeners, this is precisely what I’d do in my back yard. Three foot long, eighty year old Koi and all.

As we left the garden, the rain stepped up its tempo from ‘light, refreshing and warm’ to ‘Welcome back to Vancouver’. Within seconds I was soaked head to toe. This seemed an opportune time to visit the covered shopping arcade. After dabbing myself dry with a 4″ x 4″ handkerchief, we watched the water cascade down from the heavens for a while.

We decided two things: that our three hour hike to Hiromine would not be very pleasant in this weather, and; it did not appear likely the rain was going to stop. We got Chinese take out instead.

And so we bid farewell to Osaka. At the end of our journey, we will try to sneak back to a few places and visit some shrines and sites we didn’t get opportunity to see. But for now, we’re beginning the Kyoto leg of our journey.

Probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of Japan has been sampling different foods. Almost every night I am able, I will stroll into a convenience store and purchase several foods and beverages. Selection is made on the basis of the packaging’s appeal.

With the exception of the takoyaki, the food here has been fantastic. If the Japanese do anything well, it’s making convenient and tasty snack foods. On the beverage side of things…

See, with the food, you have a rough idea of what to expect. Most packages have an appealing image of the actual food item contained inside. Or the packing is clear and you can see the food item. The actual flavour or texture may catch you off guard at times. Generally speaking, you can do alright.

Beverages, on the other hand, could be anything. Most come in cans. The images emblazoned on the side could be anything. Even if you are fortunate enough to see the liquid through a clear container…it is a liquid! The best you can surmise is the colour!

You should note that this is not actually daunting in the slightlest! On the contrary, it adds an element of suspense and surprise into re-hydration that is quite refreshing.

Today Lance and I headed out to Nara. It`s a place known for its park, deer, and giant Buddha statue. We had a fabulous time there!

It was a bit unclear at first exactly which train to take to go to Nara. We hopped on one headed for Takara/Nara (I think?) thinking we could just take it the whole way out. Luckily, we could understand the announcements a little bit and got the idea that the train was actually splitting at one of the stations and then part of it was going to Takara (?) and the other part going to Nara. With the help of a few fellow passengers and a train conductor, we managed to switch to the correct part of the train and continue on to Nara.

Once we arrived we started walking down with the other crowd of tourists towards the large park with the many shrines and temples inside it. Once we got to the fringe of the park, we weren`t exactly sure where to go from there (the map wasn`t too clear on the relative distances). Luckily, we`ve found that when you are visiting a tourist spot in Japan and aren`t sure of your bearing, following any of the large groups of Japanese school children is a pretty safe bet. It`s very easy to spot them since they are almost always in uniform. If there are any outgoing kids in the group, you might have the added entertainment of exchanging a hello and sending them into a fit of giggles.

The deer here were a bit larger than at Miyajima and generally better behaved. I think that the people who run the deer cracker carts have probably had a hand in disciplining brazen and unruly deer. They didn`t really bother you unless you had purchased deer crackers with which to feed them. Lance and I decided to forgo this option and instead had a bit of a chuckle at the children who bought the deer crackers and proceeded to screech and panic and run away from the deer that they were trying to feed.

Once we arrived at the building that houses the giant Buddha statue it was a truly magnificent site. It is the largest wooden building in the world and is quite a bit smaller than the original structure was (destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times). Inside was quite crowded with tourists and it was a bit hard to catch any kind of Buddhist serenity.

After a bit more walking around in the park we stopped for lunch at the famous Mos Burger chain. The food was very good and it was a bit of an interesting twist on a `fast food` joint. The line-up at the counter is pretty similar, but then you go find a table and they bring your food to you. The food was very tasty though much smaller portions than north america.

After lunch we decided to wander around the town. We found all sorts of interesting and beautiful sites as we passed through. My favourites were the two cemetaries we walked through. I could really feel the spirits there as we walked through the tightly packed memorial stones with breezes rustling through the small bamboo groves.

After wandering to a point in the town where we once again knew roughly where we were, we realized we should probably head back to the train station as we were both pretty tired from all the walking at this point (and we had a fair bit more walking to get us back to the station). I think we both nearly fell asleep on the train back to Osaka.

From there we were hungry again and stopped at a place close to this internet cafe for dinner. It had really great food and lots of stuff we recognized. So, now we`re all caught up again and probably ready for some dessert. If the real selection of parfaits in this town taste half as good as their plastic display models make them look, I`ll be pretty happy.

Since I think it’s about Sunday back home…Happy Mother’s Day, momma! I promise not to get hurt by the deer in Nara.

P.S. – I did fantastic on my Stats final!

Since the weather was mostly drizzle in the morning, Jennifer and I decided we would spend more time in Osaka today. We hopped on the subway and headed to the Osaka Aquarium. It was awesome.

The Osaka aquarium is a multi-story complex built around several large tanks. Each floor spirals around the tanks on several levels, allowing you to view the interaction of marine life from various vantage points. The theme of the aquarium is the Ring of Fire, the volcanic ring of the Pacific Ocean. Each tank presents a cut away of a particular eco-system and the life indigenous to that region.

The show has the usual culprits: fish galore, seals, otters, octopusses (octopai?), sharks and rays. Some more unusual specimens included flamingos and spider monkeys, ducks, and penguins. The star of the show is an enormous whale shark that lazily swims circles in the enormous central tank. Smaller schools of fish billow like clouds around this leviathan. I managed to get some excellent video footage of the scene.

Altogether, Jennifer and I probably shot over 600 photos at the aquarium and took at least four or five videos. I look forward to posting the pictures once we return to Canada.

For lunch we went to an Australian restaurant. I am entirely unsure what was Australian about it, but it made certain we were aware of its affiliation with the outback. I ate beef schnitzel;
a fine Australian delicacy.

After the aquarium, we toured the nearby shopping complex. Bizarrity abounds! There was a secret ninja tour, an authentic samurai armour store (9,000,000 yen! That`s a steal at only $90,000 CDN) a petting zoo (with beagles and cats!), an adventure playground, the magic show, the mystery tunnel (it was a mystery!), and an underground labyrinth food court.

There was also a Studio Ghibli store. It was full of awesome Studio Ghibli merchandise, such as lighters and playing cards and wall hangings. By far my favorite item was little statuary of the wood spirits from Princess Mononoke. I suspect they may even glow in the dark. Unfortunately, they are small and breakable and poor traveling companions. But we shall stop here again before we return home.

In the evening, we set out for the HEP 5 entertainment plaza. It is an 8 story mall with a ferris wheel on the roof. It is almost entirely filled with clothing stores, except the upper two levels are an arcade and the second basement is a gambling parlour.

Oh yeah, takoyaki.

I admit I could be slightly biased because the damn thing nearly immolated my esophagus. The soft outer-dough shell was rather cool, so I figured it safe to pop one in my mouth. As I began to chew, the EXTREMELY HOT filling began to scorch my tongue.

As I desperately tried to salivate, I considered my options. I could spit it out. Good, except the only place to spit it was back onto the tray with the remaining takoyaki. Not helpful, since that was lunch. I still held onto the hope that I could enjoy eating the remaining takoyaki. I decided to wait and let it cool enough to chew. Instead, it seemed to grow more unbearable. It was probably about this point that I decided that swallowing something that was too hot for my tongue was a good idea. It wasn’t.

Bitterly wounded, but still hungry, I tried to eat the second takoyaki more carefully. I would let this one cool before I ate it. I bit the pastry-casing to expose the inner contents to the air; a tentacle waved thanks at me, grateful to be freed from its doughy prison.

And that was the last I will eat of takoyaki.

On the train ride from Kurashiki to Takarazuka, via Osaka, I finally found the time to drink my whiskey in a can. Jennifer scoffed that it was too early for alcohol until I reminded her that it was probably about 10 o’clock at night, back home. It was a perfect time to drink Whiskey. Besides which, I burned my throat eating takoyaki and needed something soothing.

The whiskey was actually whiskey and water. I’m not a big fan of watered down whiskey, but it was surprisingly decent stuff. It reminded me a little of Chivas Regal with the slightly dilluted flavour. I would drink it again.

Consider this particular adventure a success!

We rolled back into Osaka last night. It is raining outside, a vesper drizzle that would not really qualify as rain except everybody is carrying an umbrella. Though, now that I think about it, everyone was carrying an umbrella when it was sunny. Maybe they do not use umbrellas the way that we use umbrellas. This bears investigation.

On Friday morning we left Hiroshima to visit Iwakuni. Since arriving in Japan, I was excited to see the Kintai-kyo bridge and it did not disappoint. It is fashioned entirely from wood and undulates across the wide river like a serpent.

The city on the other side of the river was quaint. The entire city was still rather rural and managed to display the characteristic old town charm we’ve been hoping to see. We explored the cemetary and gardens, visited historical samurai residences under reconstruction, and hunted for the infamous white snakes of Iwakuni. Sadly, the only snakes we discovered were the ones behind glass, kept on display for the benefit of curious tourists.

We arrived early in the morning, so we had much of the grounds to ourselves. The only other visitors were about a hundred school kids in orange prison jumpers visiting on assignment, and a cohort of American soldiers. The former were much more adorable than the latter.

We took the ropeway up to the castle and explored the park atop the hill. It afforded beautiful views of the surrounding city. Inside was an impressive collection of historical artifacts from various periods of Japan history. This was probably our favorite place to visit so far.

Following Iwakuni, we navigated our way to Kurashiki. It has an old business district, immaculately prserved for sightseerers. We stayed in a traditional ryokan (the Tsurugata ryokan) and explored the canals that evening.

Yesterday morning we woke to rain. We explored the canals some more (damply, this time) and then headed off to Takarakuza, to visit Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum. In other words, we went to see Astro Boy.

The museum was awesome. Couldn’t understand a darn thing that was written, but I could see all the pictures. The frosted glass elevator doors with Astro Boy and Kimba and others were a glorious touch. We got our pictures taken with Astro Boy and the professor and stuck on a sticker. It was like being a little kid again.

Jennifer and I seem to have ended up on different sleep schedules. After a long day of trekking under a hot sun, I am ready to retire by 9 o`clock. Particularly because in this heat it is difficult to muster any hunger. It is all I can do to stay awake until my head hits the pillow. Jennifer, on the other hand, seems indefatigable.

…unless I try to wake her at 4am when I wake up. So I decided I would use a bit of this early morning time to catch up on some thoughts.

Despite everyone’s assurance that there would be culture shock, there hasn’t been. Perhaps because Vancouver has such a sizeable ethnic demographic itself. Or perhaps because we took the time to familiarize ourselves with much of what we might see.

There are differences, if you look for them, but most are more a difference of convention or aesthetic. The eavestroughs, for example: instead of aluminum tubing to channel rain water from the roof, many buildings have small inverted bells, daisy-chained to allow the water to cascade gently. I cannot imagine such a device would work in Vancouver, due to our incessant rains, but it is certainly an attractive solution to an omni-present event.

The trains are distinctly familar. We rode the local train yesteday to Miyajima. Most residents use the local trains, due to the comparatively high cost of the shinkansen. At every stop, the canny, experienced riders would innundate themselves through the crowd of human obstacles and find an open seat with casual alacrity; in their wake, dark glances from those whose supposed seats had been usurped. We could have been riding the skytrain or bus back home.

We have tried a variety of local cuisine. Much of it was seafood, naturally. Some I would not eat again, but most has been rather pleasant. In particular, I am fond of Japanese pastry – the pastry here is not so sugary or sweet as back home. It is probably no more healthy for me, however.

Today was a whirlwind of tourist spots. We checked out Hiroshima castle, the Peace Memorial, the survivor cenotaph, and Miyajima island. And, due to navigational challenges, many of the surrounding areas.

Hiroshima castle was faux-feudal, Miyajima island was kitsch, and Peace park was poignant. We walked until our feet hurt, took pictures galore, and walked some more. I am happy I purchased such fine walking shoes.

Tomorrow we depart for Iwakuni to view the Kintai bridge and White Snake Park, then onwards to Kurashiki for a brief rest at the onsen.

I am also pleased to report that I found my whiskey in a can. I had to look no further than the vending machine in the hotel lobby. No word yet on how it tastes.