Expeditions!

Spring Break has begun!

With the super cheap train tickets that Kristy and I bought, we have been making trips around Japan :D For 8,000 yen, we could make 5 day-trips anywhere in Japan via the JR Train. that is a steal! We are spendly $16 CDN on one trip that would usually cost about $70 CDN for a round-trip.

Our expedition started early in the morning on Wednesday. Oh my...we woke up at 5:30am to get ready since we had to leave the house by 6:30am. Our first destination was Himeji (where I was born!). That ride was loooooong--4 hours! We stood for 3 of the 4 hours because the train was so jammed pack. Yah, it was a national holiday and with the kiddies out of school, many families were travelling. We visited the famous Himeji Castle! Yup, also known as one of Japan's National Treasures since it was not re-constructed like other castles in Japan. The interior of the castle itself wasn't THAT stunning but the exterior and its surrounding were spectactular. You would have to be there to experience it in order to fully appreciate the setting and atmosphere. Don't be fooled by the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) tree...there was only one. Ha..but pretty nonetheless! After eating some amazing soft ice cream (black sesame--sounds interesting but insanely delicious) and visiting some souvenir shops, we had to catch our train to Osaka.
[Himeji Castle]

[looking out from the castle]



Osaka, Osaka, Osaka...oh my. What a lively place! Known for its Okonomiyaki (pancake-like food with cabbage and meat) and Takoyaki (fried dough with octopus in the centre)--both drizzled with a kind of sauce and mayo--we, of course, had to try them! And so we did (obviously)! Mmmm-mmmmmmmm! Lots to look at but no time! We went to Dotonbori and it was packed with people (mostly young people)! Very different from what we saw in Himeji which was more quiet and peaceful. As much as we didn't want to leave, we had to...trains stop running around midnight so we had to leave enough time so we wouldn't get stranded! Thus we got back to our apartment at 11:30pm. And naturally, we were pooped the next day.

[Okonomiyaki]

[Dotonbori]



On Friday, we made another journey...this time, to KYOTO! OH man...what a day. We trained for about 3 hours to get there but there was still not enough time to walk around! First, we went to Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple). Yes, the temple was made of gold! It was pretty..and the surrounding was aboslutely serene. Tried some Japanese sweets (of course!) and we had to make our way out so we could visit some souvenir shops and complete the rest of our itinerary!
[Golden Temple]

We visited Nijo-jo, which is a castle that has squeaking floors. Why? Well, the squeaking floors work as a security measure so when people snuck in then they would not go unnoticed. Picked up some souvenirs and left!

Thereafter, we went to Kiyomizu-dera via Gion. Ha..we walked around Gion and there were shops all around up till our destination! It was soooo neat! Imagine a street and having all these unique shops on both sides which only take like 5 steps to cross over. Again, very lively as it is a famous tourist attraction. We had a really good time there just looking around and shopping :D I even got to try tofu ice cream! Haha...it was...tofu'sh. I mixed it with another kind of flavoured tea ice cream which was quite sugoi! But the shops all closed at 6pm!!!! *sigh* So we had to make our way back to the main station. But because it was so jammed packed, 3 of our buses passed by us because it was so full that the 3 of us (me, Kristy, and one of my students) couldn't get on. Let me tell you...hunger and fatigue do not work well together. We finished the night with a nice bowl of ramen and dessert :D Mmm-mmmm... yup, and we got back home at 11pm. Again, needless to say, we were super pooped by the next day.

[a great satisfying dinner after a day of walking]

[Geisha? No, apparently someone told us that they are only people who paid to dress up as geishas. What's funny is that this lady stopped them to take a picture. So I decided to take a picture of her taking a picture of them..hah..tourists!]

A great blessing to be able to travel around and to see so much. More trips to come... tune in in April for more updates :D Great memories, indeed. Not to mention that I took 400 pictures in just 2 days..haha. GOOD TIMES!