Archive for August, 2009
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Oh for Cute! 2
There’s just too much cuteness in this country!
These three-foot-tall ice cream cones are everywhere in Japan, sort of like meat stick signs in China.
Cute samurai dude at Matsuyama castle:
Me and Totoro in Matsuyama:
A cat sleeping in a wok at a Takamatsu restaurant supply store that was overrun with kitties:
A restaurant awning in Kotohira:
My bug spray:
Takamatsu [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Japan by Caitlin
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Osaka in a nutshell
We arrived in Osaka in the early afternoon without plans to do much touring. Osaka is mostly a shopping city, so we decided to just relax. We were in a particularly big shopping area, where there were just miles of covered pedestrian shopping arcades with beautiful and funky clothing. We didn’t really buy anything, but [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Mount Koya
After our ecstatic dance party, we embarked on our longest travel day yet, destination: Mount Koya. Mount Koya is one of the holiest mountains in Japanese Buddhism, at one point housing over 4,000 temples.
Our first mode of transport was a large ferry that seemed to be more of a cargo ship. It didn’t have much [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Culture!, Japan, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Dance Party!
After Takamatsu, we went to Tokushima. Tokushima is known for its traditional puppet plays and its yearly dance festival. We missed seeing a play, but boy did we ever have a good time at the dance festival! During the day we went to a town history museum and gardens. The town used to have [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Culture!, Japan by Caitlin
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Takamatsu
After leaving Kotohira, we caught a one-hour local train to Takamatsu. The main attraction there is a large Japanese garden, considered to be one of the best gardens in Japan. So, we spent some time at the garden and relaxed, happy to have a light day of activities.
Our elevensies was sweet mochi with fresh strawberry [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Japan, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Kotohira
After leaving Matsuyama, we took a train to Kotohira, a small town famed for its temples. We got in in the morning, dropped our bags and headed out for sightseeing.
The first thing on our list was the oldest surviving Kabuki playhouse in Japan. The theater was built in 1835, and the entire backstage, trapdoors and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Creatures, Eccentricity, Japan, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Sitting in Narita
I’m going to interrupt the chronology of posts here since I’m pretty backlogged on posting. I’m currently sitting in the Tokyo Narita airport waiting for an open flight. Jeff and I are flying standby and we’ve been here since yesterday, but we’d expected this, so it’s ok.
There’s an airport TV that plays a loop of [...]
Comments Off - Posted in Disorganization, Japan, Uncategorized by Caitlin
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Maddening Matsuyama
Getting out of Miyajima and going to our next destination proved to be quite the hassle. Since it was the Obon holiday season, a huge travel time in Japan, Jeff and I got up early and got to the dock at about 8 a.m. to buy tickets. But, of course the ticket office and information [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Disorganization, FAIL, Japan, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Miyajima
Miyajima, a small island just off the coast of Hiroshima is a tourist hot spot, and with good reason. Imagine the gorgeous jungle scenery of Jurassic Park, combined with deer, monkeys, ancient temples and cute stores, and you have Miyajima pinned down.
The deer on Miyajima were a little less tame and a little more aggressive [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Creatures, Japan, Tourist Noobs by Caitlin
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Hiroshima A-bomb memorial
On our way to our next town, we stopped off in Hiroshima to see the A-bomb peace memorials and museums. While it isn’t the happiest place on Earth, I strongly encourage all to go see them. As the first city in the world to be hit by an atomic bomb, Hiroshima has become an activist [...]
