Beach Party!...but, where's the beach?

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I traveled with ALT friends Dana and Uli (my fellow islanders) to Okayama prefecture on Friday. We were invited by a group of Toronto JETs to join them at a beach party....so we braved the heavy Friday night traffic and headed to Kurashiki, Okayama. The trip there was a disaster...but eventually we made it. After picking up the crew in Kurashiki, we ended up in Tomano, Okayama. It was a party at a girl's apartment....we just sat around having drinks. Around midnight there was an announcement that we were going to the ferry....which we were excited about! (to the beach, right? nope) We rode a ferry to Shikoku (one of the four main islands in Japan). It was a beautiful ride. We got to Shikoku, and stopped at the Family Mart convenience store for directions. It ended up being an hour of waiting around in the parking lot...so at 2:30, Dana, Uli and I decided that there was going to be no beach, and took the ferry back. We travelled quite the distance to hang out at the Family Mart! What a random night!

On Saturday we took a driving break in Kurashiki. I checked out the historical district of the city. Kurshiki has about 450 000 people. There is a small area of old black-tiled shops and museums along a canal....very picturesque. I read that these used to be warehouses that were used to store rice. It was a nice break from the car....
That night we hit up the infamous "Coin Bar" in Onomichi....the owner is quite a collector. The place is filled with random junk and trinkets...cool bar.

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Photos

On the ferry...
Uli, me, Sarah, Christopher, Ashley and Lee

Sarah and Christopher
fellow Torontonians

Keisuke
ummm....

the canal
Kurashiki, Okayama

nice, relaxing Saturday morning
Kurashiki, Okayama

Coin Bar
Onomichi, Hiroshima

Coin Bar
Dana, Kate and Tanya

Comments

[Roothie]

???
Could you buy any of the trinkets/junk?

[heatherinjapan]

no....it was just for show

[neil]

tamano
hey, really interesting. I am looking for Ashley's new blog, and came across this. I am actually Ashley's neighbor in Tamano and heard about this huge trip to Takamatsu (I was supposed to be around for the weekend, but for some reason was elsewhere, can't remember why). Those are the first pictures I've seen from that weekend! Fantastic. If you're curious, check out the recent news on www.pallaver.blogspot.com Next time your in Okayama, lemme know. Actually, where in Japan are you stationed? I'm sure I can find it out actually, and will attempt to do so. Ciao, pallaver