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Published: June 15th 2014
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My return to the land of the rising sun!
My first morning in Japan I woke up to bright sunshine. The curtains were drawn but light leaked into the room through the fabric. ‘It’s so bright, I’d better get up, it must be around 9.’ I thought to myself andchecked my watch.
5:00 AM.
Seriously. I went to check the window and it was borad daylight. At 5 AM.
Y U do dis to me Japan? u.u
So, pretty much everyday I woke up before 6.
My early starts to the day allowed me to get up to quite a bit in 5 weeks. Again, pictures will be better than words for the most part, but here is a little summary of what I got up to.
Aquariums: I visited aquariums in Tokyo and in Osaka. Both were enjoyable but, the Osaka aquarium that I had been so impressed by in 2009, unfortunately, failed to live up to my nostalgia-goggles version of how cool I remembered it to be. Also, the main event, the whale shark, was visiting another facility that week. Still, I got some nice photos and good memories to
go with.
Odaiba: I got to see the life-sized Gundam. A bit smaller than I was expecting, actually, but still really cool. Also I went up on the world’s second highest (?) ferris wheel at night. Really nice view, but a little scary.
Skytree: Went to visit but didn’t want to wait the 2+ hours it would have taken for the line. I’ve been up the CN Tower anyway. While I was there I saw a miniblocks expo. Miniblocks are like tiny Lego. They’re hugely popular in Japan at the moment.
Building the Playset: I got to work on another playset in Ishinomaki. Got a little sunburned and I had work-glove tan lines for a while but everything worked itself out. The opening was very successful with lots of children and parents enjoying the BBQ.
Himeji Castle & Toy Museum: Himeji Castle is currently undergoing restoration work. You can’t enter the main keep and (as you’ll see in the photos) there is still scaffolding covering th castle. Still, I got to wander around in the west side and I’m sure when the work is done it will look beautiful.
The Himeji Toy Museum is a
family-run affair with toys from all over Japan and the world on display. Mostly, they’re older toys (my parents and grandparents eras), but there was one set of wooden trains that I remembered playing with as a child. There were several places you could play with the toys (I may have pushed the wooden trains around for a bit and played with the marbles) and 5 different buildings to see.
Miyajima: One of the most fammous shrines in Japan, with it’s picturesque ‘floating’ torii gate. I walked around the shrine and the island surrounded by several dozen school groups and other tourists. Despite this, the island was quite peaceful and the deer that live there don’t mind you walking close to them. In that way it reminded me of Nara.
Kintaikyo bridge: A friend advised me to come here and I’m glad that I did. This is a very unique wooden bridge as you'll see from the photos. After crossing the bridge there's a lovely park and an albino snake preserve! Also, I had the best kiwi ice cream there. Seriously, the shop had 100 flavours and I'd go back for the ice cream alone.
Hiroshima: I
arrived in Hiroshima fairly late in the day (having been at Miyajima and Kintaikyo bridge earlier in the day) and, since most things close at 5-6pm, I didn’t get to see everyhing I wanted. But, I did get to the Peace Park and saw the A-Bomb dome, the cenotaph, and the museum. The museum was very informative, and quite a sobering experience, especially this one hallway that was meant as a recreation of what Hiroshima would have looked like. I didn’t take any pictures in the museum as I didn’t feel it was appropriate. If you have the chance, you should definitely go.
Baseball game: I went to watch another baseball game, this one was the Seibu Lions vs the Yokohama BayStars. The game was really enjoyable and fans on both sides were really into it. Very good seats too! Didn't catch any baseballs though.
Food: I had so much food it’s a wonder I’m not 600lbs. 6 kinds of ramen, lots of different kinds of Kit Kats, delicious ice cream, yakiniku, tsukiyaki, sushi, parfaits, burgers, pizza, conbini food, cake, Totaro (yes, I ate the Miyazaki character). My favourite ramen was from Osaka and ice cream was definitely
the kiwi ice cream from Kintaikyo bridge. Totaro was delicious BTW.
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