Hiroshima part 1

Last weekend, Vi, Eevee and I decided to make a trip to Hiroshima! There are no direct flights from Kagoshima, so we took the Shinkansen(bullet train) instead. As always, domestic travel is expensive... return tickets on the Shink cost us 30000 yen each! I was really turned off by the Shinkansen prices, but I figured I don't go on enough trips with fellow ALTs and Hiroshima is an iconic place... so off we went!

Overly ripe bananas, anyone?

We got on the Shink right after work and it took a little over 4 hours to get to Hiroshima. (The Kyushu Shinkansen line is still unfinished, so we took the express train from Kumamoto to Fukuoka .) We got there after nine and after checking in, wandered into a Tenmonkan-looking area. (I think it's so funny how most cities have an AMU plaza, a tenmonkan area and trams... so uniform!)

Our first meal in Hiroshima... okonomiyaki! Hiroshima styled okonomiyaki is unique in that the batter is only used to make a thin "pancake". The okonomiyaki is layered instead of mixed as a batter... here you can see it goes pancake, soba, meat and squid, lettuce and finally egg from top to bottom. It was delicious, but very very filling. The best part of the meal was probably watching them make it!

The next morning we were off to Miyajima for the iconic Torii! Look at these cute ticket carts they have! The Hiroshima trams usually have three compartments, so with these at the exits, people can get off the trams much faster.

I like big butts and I cannot lie.



Miyajima... full of shops selling maple-flavoured Japanese sweets...
and overrun with deer.

The floating Torii! We were so lucky that it was such a beautiful day, perfect for visiting Miyajima! (It rained in Kagoshima that whole weekend...) I was actually feeling pretty uninspired when it came to taking photos of the Torii... there are just so many amazing ones on the internet! Itsukushima is considered one of the "Three Views of Japan 日本三景", Japan's most famous sites! The other two are in Kyoto and Miyagi.

This is what happens when you ask a random person to take a photo for you.



And... a much better one taken by Vi.

Here we are at Itsukushima Shrine... a beautiful bride was getting her photo taken in front of the Torii! The shrine had a 300 yen entrance fee, well worth it! It felt so serene walking around and the view was absolutely beautiful. The pictures speak for themselves. :)

Vi and I both bought key-chains from the shrine that were titled "Finding Your Life Partner". So here's to finding our "LPs" and not having any more MOs! Darn those pesky MOs! ;)

I leave you with a baby deer defending his alleyway.