Monday 30 June 2014

Golden Week in Hiroshima!


One of the top places I have wanted to visit in Japan was Hiroshima. The name is infamous, but I wanted to go and experience the A-bomb museum and site myself. I have been to Auschwitz before, so I know how powerful it can be to see history that close.

We travelled down by shinkansen (bullet train) for Golden Week. We had a five day weekend, so lots of time to enjoy what Hiroshima has to offer. We stayed a Japanese hostel chain called K’s house. It was awesome! Fairly low price, convenient location and the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in by a long shot. I woke up early one morning and the owner was fixing up the hang out room by organizing the games, pillows and DVDs. He really cared about the space, which was really cool to see.



We started our travels with a day trip to Miyajima. You take a little ferry over to the island and you can see the famous Tori shrine in the water. It was pretty cool, but even better when the tide is out. Deer are domesticated here so if you fancy getting up close and personal with some wildlife then you will enjoy that too. We took the cable cars up to see some shrines and the view was striking from the top.

 Hiroshima is famous for its okonomiyaki, however not the traditional kind, This okonomiyaki has noodles as a base, and it is so good. Honestly, best okonomiyaki I have had so far, and I managed to try both the original and the Hiroshima style

On our second full day we went to the A-bomb dome site and the museum. It was a somber experience, but interesting for me because it was so international. Tourists from all over were there to understand more about the tragic events that happened. It is cool to see people from all different countries and with all different world views connect about something as significant as peace.  

The last day was a bit rainy, but I enjoyed walking along the river, drinking coffee and sitting outside Hiroshima castle. Oh and of course since I was in a big city I caught a movie, the new Spiderman. Best 
memory was taking a cab to the movie theater, a cricket was in the cab too and in the darkness really scared us when it started jumping!! Of course I screamed and this made the driver, who was about 99 years old, freak out. It was hilarious. Would I go back? Probably not, it’s too far and it wasn’t my absolute favorite place, but it is a must see if you have the time.




Wednesday 25 June 2014

Hokkaido


I recently went back to Hokkaido for the second time. I have experienced it during the full force of winter, at the beginning of February, and now I have seen it as it is just beginning to warm up and thaw out, at the beginning of May. Two completely different experiences.


In February I went to the さっぽろ雪まつり, the Sapporo snow festival! There were snow carvings from around the world, light shows projected on walls of carved ice and snow and tons of other snowy goodness. The weather was absolutely frigid, but it was a really fun experience. Over a million tourists from Japan and around the world travel to Sapporo for this festival, so it was a really fun festival to join. One of the best parts of Sapporo is definitely the famous soup curry. It is so delicious! It is a curry broth with meat and fresh, local, vegetables. One awesome thing about Japan is that each prefecture will have its own character, a special food, etc. etc. Every prefecture is ‘famous’ for something, and スプカレイ the specialty in Hokkaido. 


I also enjoyed some German sausage and beer at a cool pub in Otaru, a city near to Sapporo. The two best parts of the trip didn’t happen directly at the festival though, the first was seeing the famous penguin walk at the Asahiyama Zoo. The zoo itself is a frozen tundra at this time of year with less than ideal conditions for the animals (such is the case for most zoos in Japan), however the penguins seemed perfectly OK in the snow and every few hours they do a march around part of the zoo. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen!! It is a ways out from festival, but well worth it! 
The other highlight of the trip was going on a drive to a smaller snow festival, and stopping at the lake to see this stunning volcano. It was a relaxing and breathtaking way to end the weekend. 


When I decided to come back in May to visit my boyfriend I wasn’t expecting too much. The last time I was in Hokkaido it was freezing cold and 99% snow covered so I couldn’t really imagine the lush green and blooming flowers that greeted me! The weather was even fairly warm (as warm as it’s gonna get up north) We didn’t plan to do too much, but we did go to a really cool park. We also wandered around Sapporo and enjoyed the local Yosakoi festival, which is basically large ish groups of dancers in elaborate costumes dancing all over the city. It was pretty cool! 


Japan is so good at festivals! Spring/Summer is definitely a good time to visit! Oh and  I also saw the new X-men there and fulfilled my desire to drink a caramel macchiato from Starbs. Tottori is so inaka that I sometimes forget that almost every other prefecture has Starbucks and movie theaters with English films! 




Sunday 22 June 2014

Tigers Game!

I have almost lived here for a full year, that in and of itself is crazy. I have experienced so many things, from my ever changing understanding of this foreign culture to walking on fire. (for real!)
However as time passes my exciting and crazy stories are quickly replaced by new ones, and I feel like I am forgetting some of the more special moments that have happened to me.
So I think it is time for me to make a vested effort in this blog, to serve as a memory of what I have experienced  It is so easy to forget the little moments that make this job, and really this whole cross cultural experience, so worthwhile. 

So to start I will talk about this past weekend. Traveled down to Osaka after work on Friday night and stayed at a cute little guest house kind of outside the main hub(OK, really, really outside the main hub). The main purpose of the trip was to take in a Hanshin Tigers game, but of course the other main purpose in Osaka is the shopping!! Spent too much money, ate incredible Mexican food, drank delicious plum wine and enjoyed catching up with my Aunt, who lives in a town near Osaka city. 
This was my third or fourth time to Osaka and I always enjoy it. It doesn't have the same beauty or tradition as Kyoto, but it ranks up there for being a modern and fun city to crush out a weekend.