Little Green Bug

A walk on the beach...in February

2012-02-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

I didn't know Nagato had a beach, and it was so much bigger than the Hagi Beach. It was a bit dirty, actually, quite dirty, but in the summer they clean it all up. It is really lovely, and considering it was February, it was so nice to be there, especially when the sun was so beautiful. I haven't been to the beach here in a long time, but it does make me want to be at the beach, where I can smell the sea air, hear the seagulls and just have a lovely sit starting at the waves and the sun glistening off the water.

Jamie and a Buddha

2012-02-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

Considering Nagato is a little city, with a little harbour, but up on the mountain top, it feels very Zen...nice and calm and relaxing. There was a little Buddha statue which was too cute not to take a photograph, and Jamie tried his hardest to look like a Ninja....at least, I think thats what he was trying to be...

Pretty sun over Nagato

2012-02-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

We made it to the top of the bridge, and up along the road, there is a little observation area that you can sit and overlook the harbour, and the city of Nagato. It was such a lovely place, and it was quite easy to sit there for a long time and contemplate life!

A view of the harbour

2012-02-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

We kept walking along the sea, and then you get to a pretty big bridge which leads up a mountain. It wasn't a very strenuous climb, I got to stop and take lots of pictures, but it was a great time of day to be taking pictures out of the sea. I love how the light hits everything. Nagato is above everything, a fishing port, and it is pretty beautiful.

A view of the sea and a whale

2012-02-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

I spent the night at Jamie's lovely apartement, and the next day, after an awesome lunch of Burritos made by Amariah and Yukiko, Jamie and I headed out to Senzaki. I didn't know much about Nagato, but I never knew it was this pretty! This is Omijima square, and they have a pretty cool whale statue!

Down by the onsen

2012-02-12T18:08:00.000-08:00

The concert was in a really pretty area of Nagato that I hadn't been to before. They have these really expensive onsens, but also a cute foot bath, and we took a walk along the river to see it all lit up at night. It looked remarkably like Kyoto in my opinion!

Out with the Boys

2012-02-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Yukiko and Amariah were signing at this outdoor Valentine's Day concert. I met Jamie in the afternoon, and after some cake, we headed out to the concert with Tom. It is February, after all, and was unbelievably freezing, but some coffee and singing warmed us up a little!

Playing in the snow!

2012-02-09T02:26:00.000-08:00

I love snow, there is no two ways about it. It makes me happy, whether its sunny and sparkly, or weather its a cold, crispy winter's morning. It just makes me happy. And in Otaru, they got 5 feet of snow. 5 feet. And most of it is still there. In Sapporo, you really cant see that much snow, people trample on it. In Otaru, it's just left, and so I climbed into the (not a drift!) snow, and took some pictures. It made me feel like I was 5, but boy, was I happy.

Down the little streets in Otaru

2012-02-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

We stopped in a cute, tiny, adorable little tempura bar, which was in this little part of Otaru, which looked like it was right out of a Harry Potter Movie. It was simply beautiful. Little tiny streets, little shops, lanterns, and beautiful roofs covered in feet and feet of snow. It was simply beautiful.

Otaru Canal

2012-02-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

In all the posters advertising the snow festival in Otaru, they show the canal. And I really, really wanted to see it at night, so we headed down there, before we all caught the train home. It was so lovely, and filled with people taking the same photo!

Otaru 2

2012-02-09T01:57:00.000-08:00

I took so many pictures that night in Otaru, I just couldn't help myself. And the good news was, everyone else was too. I love that about Japan!Everyone is always taking photos. The snow sculptures kept going, with an Ice bar along the way, as well as lots of igloos, and cute little snowmen, and little city scapes.

Soon, these cool circular lanterns started appearing, and they had beautiful leaves pressed into them, and were put on lovely wooden stands. They gave a nice glow to everything too, and put light in higher places. There were also people giving out hot potatoes and mochi right off the BBQ, for free, so you could nibble as you walked. And there was a slide too!

Otaru Snow Festival

2012-02-09T01:41:00.000-08:00

We got off the train in Otaru, and yes, I expected it to be pretty. But I didn't expect it to be so...breathtaking and amazing. All along the streets, they had little lanterns, some were made of glass, some were made of ice, some out of snow, with little candles inside them. Then, you turn into the park, and its just wall to wall snow sculptures with candles in them. And it was simply beautiful. They were all different.Only a few were coloured, and the rest were just snowy and orange with the glow from the candle. There were cute hearts and stars, and owls too! It was all pretty magical, and immediately went to the top of my list of things I have seen in Japan. I couldn't get over all the cool statues, a massive snow cross, some igloos, and all the lanterns!

Russians in Otaru

2012-02-09T01:15:00.000-08:00

Between Sapporo and Mikaly's town is Otaru. It's really Mikaly's nearest big place, and he spends a lot of time there. I had heard it was really beautiful, and thought I wanted to get there in the daytime, we didn't arrive till it was after dark. Being so far north, you can actually take ships to some of the Russian Islands that are pretty close, so Mikaly took me to show me this cool Russian/Japanese/English sign, which he could read too!

Out to the tubing site

2012-02-09T01:09:00.000-08:00

The next morning was pretty slow, with a nice lie in, another Starbucks breakfast, and a wander around the snow sculptures, yet again! We had intentions of getting out to the other Yuki Matsuri site, the one with all the tubing slides, but figured we would get there eventually. Needless to say, after a underground ride, and a bus, it was closed. We couldn't ride the slides, but they did have some nice sculptures, and we got to see the slides being built, as well as a cool play area they had built for the kids! They also were going to have a snow sculpting competition which was timed, which would have been quite fun to see. I got some pictures of the cool tubes, and even sat in one, I just wish we would have been allowed down the slides!

Wine bar...an interesting night

2012-02-09T01:05:00.000-08:00

So, even thought the Mummys were tired, they wanted to try a wine bar, and after finding one on the 9th floor, headed up. It was VERY swanky, and it quickly cleared out. It was kind of a strange experience - because we were the only people there, we got a lot of attention....the drinks were nice, but we also got given some sake...which noone could drink, and sneakily we all put it into my water glass so noones feelings would be hurt! It was an interesting night, with lots of Japanese (by Mikaly), strange whisky talks, and akward hugs!

Up Sapporo Tower

2012-02-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Sapporo Tower....well..it was calling my name! I wanted to go at night, because it's always best then, but it was really snowing, and so you couldn't see much. I still enjoyed trying to take photos and looking at the cute character, who....remarkably, looked just like the tower!

A quick coffee break

2012-02-09T00:58:00.000-08:00

After the snow sculptures, it started to snow pretty hard. It wasn't looking plesant, so we headed indoors to a third story coffee shop, which gave us a beautiful view of the city. I love that in Sapporo, they have baskets for your stuff (because the floor is always wet from snow) and little blankets for your lap. It really is considerate things like that that I love about Japan!

Yuki Matsuri: Snow Sculptures

2012-02-09T00:43:00.001-08:00

The snow sculptures weren't even close to being finished when we first arrived, so I was quite relieved to see that they were finally finished by the time we were ready to leave. Some of the smaller ones were done by ameatures, but the HUGE ONES WERE AMAZING! Like, as tall as a skyscraper, and huge, thick blocks of snow! They were so impressive too, and had a lot of detail! The range of them was impressive, basic little animals, and a version of the Sapporo tower, to houses made of snow, to cute little girls with icicle hair, all the way up to the Taj Mahal, the castle, a giant Mickey Mouse, and a sea scene! It was just so amazing, and something I never will see anywhere else!

Cheesy Fondue

2012-02-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

We got pretty cold on the mountain, so we went for lunch....at a all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant. Mikaly had said that it was quite like Pizza Hut, but it actually had cheese fondue too! I love fondue, and I've missed cheese so much, so it was a no brainer!

At the top!

2012-02-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

The snow at the top of the observatory was really deep, and we went out and played in it for a while (and I fell down!). We got there just at the right time, as a massive snowstorm was blowing in!

A new friend

2012-02-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

Cute characters are everywhere in Japan, and this guy was the mountain representative. I'm not sure if he was a bunny, or what, but he was darn cute! Mikaly and I posed with him a lot, and a bunch of people took our photo! He was so adorable!

The ropeway to the Observatory

2012-02-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

My time in Japan has really made me appreciate towers and ropeways, and some of my favourite trips have been up random mountains in cities. After getting off the bus, we walked in a bunch of snow to get to the ropeway! There were two ropeways, and the first one was longer, and gave us a great view of the pagota below!

On the tram

2012-02-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

The next morning, after a nice lengthy breakfast of Starbucks coffee and snacks, we headed off on the tram. It was part of a "Romantic Sapporo Pass", which got us an all day trip on the tram, and a trip on the ropeway. The tram ride was really nice, and as we were waiting I got chatting to a Japanese lady! It was my first proper long conversation in Japanese! The tram was more similar to the Hiroshima ones than I thought, but much prettier on the outside! I didn't get to see them at night, but apparently they have lights all over them and are like miniature Christmas trees at night!

Sapporo's version of Times Square

2012-02-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

Susukino is the big entertainment district in Sapporo, and it's actually the second biggest entertainment outside of Tokyo! It's filled with wine bars, karaoke clubs, and cute little stores. It's got bright lights all over, and I love how they make the whole streets glow!

Late Night Mr. Donut

2012-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

We have Mr. Donut in Hagi. And truth be told, I've never been there. I think I have been once in Iwakuni before, but that's about it. I'm much more a Krispy Kreme kinda girl. But in Sapporo, Mr. Donut is open till 5am. 5AM!!!! I couldn't believe it, and so, when we were walking back to the hotel, we were all a little hungry, and stopped in and got one. It's Valentine's Day soon, so I got a cute heart shaped churro, with icing, sprinkles and smarties on it! When we next went back, there was only one churro left, and sadly, someone got to it before me, so it was my only churro on the trip. But I am sorely tempted to go down the road and get another one!

A quick stop at a Bowling Alley

2012-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

The ferris wheel ride was very short, but enough to get some good photos and have a enjoyable ride. On the way out, you go down all ten flights of escalators to get out. On one of the floors was a bowling alley. And it wasn't just any bowling alley, it was a food themed one! Giant hamburgers all over, and cool sundaes held all the bowling balls! They also had pretty snazzy walls, bright colours, as well as very funky toilet signs, which I, much to his embarrassement, made Mikaly pose next to so I could take his photo! He is very good at posing for things, all the time, no matter where we are!

Ferris Wheel Fun

2012-02-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

I had seen the ferris wheel in town, which sits on the top of a 10 floor skycraper! It looked amazing, so we decided to give it a go. It wasn't heated, but it wasn't a super long ride. It was so nice to see the city from above, especially the bright lights of the skyscrapers, where they have all the big billboards!

Miso Ramen in Ramen Alley

2012-02-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

Mummy and Sally are adventurous eaters, and Mummy really wanted to try some Ramen from Ramen Alley. I had tried the Miso Ramen, which is famous from Hokkaido, but hadn't loved it. I do love Ramen though, and after finding it, settled on one restaurant which looked busy, but not too busy. I got an awesome butter and sweetcorn ramen, which was pretty mild, but still yummy. I don't think it will ever replace my favourite though, Hakata Ramen all the way!

Waiting in Sapporo Station

2012-02-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

Sapporo station is pretty big, and getting lost in it is pretty easy. After failing a couple times, we finally met Mikaly at these big red S's. I think that's what they are at least. It was so nice to get a photo with Mikaly after all this time!

Clock Tower

2012-02-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

On our walk, we came across Sapporo Clock Tower. It is an old school white washed building, which would look more at home in mid-west America. It was once home to the first University in Japan, and I think it's so nice that they've kept it as it was, as well as lit it up at night!

Sapporo Tower at night

2012-02-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Mummy and Sally had been exploring during the day, while I had been teaching Mikaly's awesome kids. We knew we had to meet Mikaly at the station for dinner, but we figured we needed a walk first. Usually, you can walk all the way to the station underground, in one of the massive underground walkways and shopping malls. Instead, we walked overground, and I got my first great view of the city. Most importantly, the amazing Sapporo Tower! It's not super huge, but it was so nice, and reminded me a lot of the Eiffel Tower!

Sapporo Station

2012-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I always thought Kyoto station was huge untill I went to Fukuoka and saw Hakata Station. However, Sapporo station is something else. Since they have such bad weather, they have all these underground shopping malls, which converge on the amazing shopping that is Sapporo station.

Downtown Sapporo

2012-02-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Sapporo is really a lovely city. It is very new, a bit like Fukuoka, but with easy, American style roads. The shopping is great, the place is pretty, and the lights are simply amazing!

Yuki Matsuri: Ice Sculptures

2012-02-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

After that, while waiting for Mikaly to finish with work, we checked out the progress on the Susukino Ice Festival, which was right by our hotel. Its going on at the same time as the snow festival too. They werent quite ready Thursday, but they did a lot of work on them over the weekend, and we got to see them finished before our trip was over!

Yummy YakiNiku

2012-02-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

I met Mummy and Sally at the station, and we went for Yaki Niku. They both really liked it, and we ended up getting a pretty cool deal on it. Thing was, while we had an English menu....we didn`t quite know how to cook things....and may...have forgotten to oil it first...

The snowy coast

2012-02-08T01:44:00.000-08:00

On Thursday night, I stayed with Mikaly in Yoichi...his super cute town, with about 5 feet of snow! Friday, I went and taught with him at one of his Junior High Schools, and had the best time ever! They even made me a sign saying `Welcome to Hokkaido, Taylor. We love you!`. I was quite sad to leave, as my expereince back here is so different. I caught the train back to Sapporo, and was rewarded with a beautiful view of the coast, the moutains and beach all covered in snow. I even saw some surfers!

Pretty Desserts

2012-02-08T01:42:00.000-08:00

I love cake, and I can`t resist a pretty one either. Next to the restaurant, in Sapporo Station coincidentally, was this amazing French cake shop. IT had amazing tea, but more importantly, it had these beautiful cakes! This was my chocolate strawberry truffle cake! And yes, it tasted just as good as it looked!

Meeting Mummy and Mikalay

2012-02-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

I was so happy that my Mummy was coming to visit. When I landed in Sapporo, I only had about an hour before they arrived...and I was almost crying at the airport! Mummy and Sally were there for the same time I was, and after eating some Miso Ramen, we headed to our hotel and then to meet Mikaly. We had dinner at this pretty cool sushi restaurant, Japanese style, complete with dead, dried fish chopstick holders!

Back to Kobe Airport

2012-02-08T01:39:00.000-08:00

I knew Kobe well, after Mikaly visiting in December, so I thought it might be nice to fly out of there again. The airport is nothing special, apart from the the great observtion deck at the very top. It was pretty cold, so there weren`t many people there, but I still enjoyed getting to see some planes land!

Crazy Concepts

2012-02-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

The best thing about a Japanese auto show is all the amazing concept cars they had. There were a lot of cool hybrid cars, which looked very sleek, but lots of these bubble-type cars, which I can see taking off in a place like Japan. Their cars are definitely different here! But even this one is very cute!

Oman the Bikes!

2012-02-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

My favourite thing about the auto show were the bikes. Big, beautiful bikes. And what was even better, if that you could get on them, and try them out.I have always loved bikes, even if I don't have a big one, but usually when I go to a store, I can't support a large bike off the stand - here, they were all on upright stands so I didn't need to worry about dropping several thousands of pounds worth of bikes! There were some pretty comical bikes there, especially this funny one Larissa found! Even the other Westerners were taking photos of her!

Fukuoka Motor Show: Western

2012-01-31T23:19:00.000-08:00

Fukuoka Motor Show: Japanese

2012-01-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Larissa, Joel and I went over to Fukuoka for the Tokyo Motor Show. It was HEAVING....so many people, and the queue to get in was astronomically long! Good news is that we had Castella Cake to keep us going! There were two big venues, the Japanese and the Western Cars. The Japanese side was full of awesome square cars like I see all over Japan, as well as cool new swanky cars, that I am very unlikely to ever see in Yamaguchi!

Gluwein...in Chinatown

2012-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

We stumbled across the acrobatics show in one of the squares just south of China Town, and after, we stayed to watch some of the other acrobatics on the big TV screen they had set up there. There was a lot of food stalls there, but the best was the one selling "Hot Wine" - or Gluewein! It wasn't very Chinese, but it did remind me of the German Markets at home, perfect for a cold market day!

Candles and Dinner in China Town

2012-01-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

We all met up and went to dinner in China Town, after a massive, long wait, and we had proper, greasy Chinese food! It was such a nice restaurant, and had sooooo many floors! It was my first time to have Champon, which is a traditional Nagasaki dish - it's kind of a cross between a soup and a ramen! It was fun to meet all of Joel's friends in from Kumamoto too!After dinner,we wandered the streets, getting some street food. My favourite was the pork buns which I wish I could have every day! Then, we looked at some more lanterns, just the ones near the other bridges, and had a lovely time taking photos, untill we retired for the night, shattered after walking so much!

China Town in the daytime

2012-01-31T01:12:00.000-08:00

China Town in Nagasaki was great, and lots of fun to be in and around. By Saturday afternoon, it was getting pretty busy in China Town. We stood with all the crowds to watch the Emporer's parade, which was full of pretty dancers, and people in costume. We caught up with some of the girls after and they were more than happy to pose with Joel!
I just liked to look at all the lanterns again, I wasn't sure I would ever get enough photos! The lanterns definitely have a completely different look in the day time! Plus I got to explore some of the different areas of China Town, and buy some souveniers for Shelby!

Down at Nagasaki Harbour

2012-01-31T01:10:00.000-08:00

The next day, we wandered out to the Harbour, where it is supposed to be beautiful in the Summer....we had a nice wander around, but it was quite brown in the winter, so it wasn't the best place to visit!I think I will have to go back and go up the ropeway, so I can overlook the harbour in the summer!

Room of Reflection

2012-01-31T01:08:00.000-08:00

This was one of my favourite places we visited in our weekend. There is a large reflecting pool outside the museum, but you can actually go under it and walk around in these long tunnels, until you get to this room of reflection. Actually it took us a long time to find, and we were wandering around in the tunnels for a long time. It's an amazing place, big pillars of light, and you can sit in silence.

Cute Characters!

2012-01-31T01:07:00.000-08:00

Every place or big city or train line, or any important place in Japan has a cute character....it was so nice to see the Nagasaki one outside the Peace Memorial, and we also found the female version of the character outside the TV Museum. We weren't quite sure what their names were, but they were super cute!

Colourful cranes

2012-01-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

I love cranes, and they are so beautiful, and a great symbol of peace. It's quite common when kids come on a school trip to Nagasaki or Hiroshima, to make 1000 cranes, and then leave them as a gift at the Peace Memorial. It was so beautiful in Nagasaki, they have a large area set aside for all the cranes, and I had to go and spend some time taking pictures!

Nagasaki Peace Park

2012-01-31T00:54:00.000-08:00

I assumed Nagasaki Peace Park would be similar to Hiroshima. But, they don't have a large, building still standing, in order to show the destruction. Instead, they have a smaller park, and lots of fountains. At the centre of the park is this large coppery blue guy, who represents peace, and
they also have lots of sculptures from around the world depicting peace. It was really nice to see the different interpretations of peace from around the world. It was nice and quiet, and good to sit and think.It was just so very different from Hiroshima, and yet the same thing happened in both places. The museum was very upsetting too, but in a different way. I can't quite explain it.

More Lanterns

2012-01-31T00:52:00.000-08:00

There were two main areas, where all the big lanterns were, and when we finally reached them, they were so impressive! They were hanging from this large red and white tent, where you could sit and watch the dragon dance or some other related shows!

Animal Lanterns

2012-01-31T00:43:00.000-08:00

The Chinese Zodiac has 12 animals which represent the years, and each of them was represented at least once in a really cool lantern. They were made up of thin coloured paper, and lit up from the inside, it was such an impressive sight!

At the Spectacles Bridge

2012-01-31T00:36:00.000-08:00

For the weekends trip, we had planned to go to Nagasaki for Chinese New Year. It started on the...Tuesday I think, but Chinese New Year lasts a long time, so we went down for the Lantern Festival, which was being held on the Saturday. I met Joel, Larrissa and Keri there, and after checking into the hostel, we explored the city some. It was pretty cold, so Joel gave us all some whiskey to warm our tummies before we set off! The Spectacles bridge is a really famous place in the city, on a calm day, the reflection in the water looks like glasses. But with all the lanterns put up, it was exceptionally pretty!Joel wandered into the middle, where there are these cool stepping stones, and I did too, eventually...it was a little daunting carrying my camera over a river, but I made it! The other side was really good too, they even had beautiful lanterns lit up in the water!

At least 12 inches of snow!

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

I went out to Tokusa, which is one of my high schools way up in the mountains. I kinda fell asleep in the car, and when I woke up, there was snow everywhere! It kind of looks like Narnia! It snowed all day, we got up to 17 inches in places. It was great to go out and wander around the streets, taking photos, but I was very grateful for the warm bus after!

Feeding the deer

2012-01-24T02:34:00.001-08:00

The deer in Miyajima, love food, and sometimes you see a tourist feeding one, but generally it's a no no. But they are fed grain once a day, so I was lucky enough to get some, and convince them to come eat out of my hand! It was a little scary, they would easily knock into each other and me, but it was super cute too!

It's Momijimanju time!

2012-01-24T02:33:00.001-08:00

I love Momijimanju, they are basically cakes filled with some filling in the shape of a maple leaf. But I discovered that there are chocolate covered ones, normal ones, and deep fried ones! I must have eaten 3 of these in the day, because they are so darn good! They even have a cute mascot outside where you can put your trash when you are done! Kawaii ne?

Back at Itsukushima

2012-01-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

The red torii in the water, is actually the gate to Itsukushima shrine, but people often forget this. I have never actually paid to go into the shrine, because near the exit you can stand and take some nice photos of the red walkways and pretty lanterns. It's quite a popular photo to take, and I really like it!

A black and white collection

2012-01-24T02:23:00.000-08:00

I messed around with the settings on my camera a bit and found the black and white one. The red gate is always THE RED ONE so I thought it might be interesting to take some detailed black and white photos of the gate. How, people rest rocks on the braces for good fortune, or leave money in the gaps for the Gods. It was really interesting to see how the wood had been affected by the water, day after day. And boy was it beautiful!

Down at the gate

2012-01-24T02:18:00.000-08:00

I love the big red gate, and I had said that I wanted to stay until sunset, because it usually is very beautiful here. However, the tide was out, so we decided to walk through the sand to go up to the gate. When the tide goes out for a few hours, you can walk right up to it! You can see from the pictures that there really aren't very many people there in winter, so I thought it was a great time to visit! It is so impressive and so tall..and quite...magical? Mystical maybe? But either way, it was nice to go down and get an entirely different perspective than normal..and it turns out that the tide came back in after we left...so we timed it perfectly!

Out at the water...

2012-01-24T00:32:00.000-08:00

Because we got to Miyajima so late in the afternoon, maybe about 3 o clock, the light was really pretty, and it was very empty actually. I had expected, for a weekday, to it to be very busy...but I guess not many people want to go out traipsing around in freezing January!I thought these lanterns were really pretty in the afternoon light, as well as looking back across the water to Hiroshima!

The world's largest rice paddle

2012-01-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

On my first trip to Miyajima, little did I know that the island was home to the world's largest rice paddle. When we came last time, Sarah was obsessed with finding it, so much that we ended up losing her! But this time, I had my picture taken with it, because, honestly, what else was I supposed to do?

Eating Oysters

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

So, I didnt know this, but apparently, it is Oyster season, and even thought I don't eat oysters, we found place where Gavin could get some. There were restaurants, but what was even better were the street vendors...they had them roasting over the coals, and then they pried them open, stuck some lemon on them, and you were good to go!

Kawaii Deer!

2012-01-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

We finally caught the ferry to Miyajima, after a super long tram line (definitely the wrong way to go!), and Gavin was astounded to see the deer! I never knew it wasn't common knowledge that Miyajima had tons of deer! They are super cute, and there were even some adorable baby ones who were out, posing for photos!

Back at Hiroshima Castle

2012-01-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

The next morning, we got up and headed over the castle. We almost didn't go, and had only had plans for Miyajima, but Gavin quite likes Samaurai, and he could get dressed up there, so we went. He took a million photos, but a few of me, which is great, because I have started using this one as my new profile picture! The castle is really great, especially when the sun comes out! It may have been a rebuilt castle, but this is still one of my favourite ones that I have been to, even though I haven't been to tons...but I love the fact it is so old in the middle of so much newness!

The Peace Park at night

2012-01-23T23:45:00.000-08:00

We wanted to see the Castle at night, but couldn't actually figure out where it was, so we went to the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb dome. I had no clue that it was under construction, so I felt quite sad that I had come out to take photos and it was under construction! Either way, it was completely deserted, and very eerie, but strangely moving.

The Taiko Game

2012-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I headed over to Hiroshima, and met Gavin, who was visiting, and since he was so close, I figured he shouldn't have to visit alone! We hung around in the city, played this awesome taiko game, and did some purikura, and went to Molly Mulligan's, the Irish pub for a proper British breakfast!

Korean in Yamaguchi

2012-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:00

Jorge and Jessica took us to this really nice Korean restaurant, which was in the centre of town! It was nice to see everyone and just relax and chat! We even met the lovely lady who owns the restaurant, and our visit even made it into her blog! She was super sweet, and so excited that we had all come from so far away! I especially like the silly photos I took of everyone!

The boys in their shades

2012-01-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to see Jorge, who arrived with us, but technically doesn't work with us! We hadn't seen him since August! Sarah came and had lunch with us from Hagi, Emily from Waki, Keri from Suo Oshima, Darlo from Shimonoseki and Amariah from Nagato! It was such a nice get together, and the boys even put on their aviators for me! Swoon!

Jessica's concert

2012-01-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

Our plans for the weekend got a little shuffled, so we spend the Friday night at Sarah's in Hofu, having a girly night and making Nabe, which was the first time for me! It's like a hot pot of veggies, and spicy sauce and soup and some meat too! It was lovely! And I got to sleep on Sarah's heated blanket! The Saturday we headed to Yamaguchi to see Jessica play in her concert, and it was beautiful! She did such a good job, and we even got to see Jorge!

A very large nose...

2012-01-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

The next morning, we headed off on a bus again to the mud baths. Basically the hot springs empty into this mud, which is hot. It was actually a mixed bathing thing too, which was quite funny, as well as some Onsens and some steam rooms! It was good fun, but we still smell like Sulphur! After that we headed over to an Indian restaurant, which was just closing, but let us in anyway. On our way, we discovered this very random nose. Well, statue of a head with a nose. We had no clue why it was there, other than it was a great last photo oppourtunity of the group of us! The lady who took it was a bit of a hit and run kinda lady, snapping the photo in such little time, so I am so happy it turned out to be such a nice photo of all of us!

Shabu Shabu...to the theme of Heavy Rotation

2012-01-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

We stumbled across this Shabu Shabu restaurant in the middle of the red light district after we went and had Sand Baths, which were amazing. They cover you from head to toe in hot sand! We worked up an appetite, which was good, because they had all you could eat and drink! Always good when you are going to follow it by all you can drink Karaoke!

4 men in a Karaoke Bar

2012-01-18T14:04:00.000-08:00

The main bar in the Tower also doubles as a Karaoke bar at night, so the boys, after some pressuring from some very drunk Japanese girls, decided to give it a go. It was...interesting, but tons of people took photos of the 4 Western guys singing the Beetles! And later, Ben got out his lighter to wave around, old school style!

From the top of Beppu

2012-01-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

I would't consider Beppu a big city, and so I wasn't expecting to see many lights at the top. We did get one good view, and also got to watch some fireworks which were being set off in neigbouring Oita city. Also, they had this very strange little mascot man....laying on the ground...

Beppu Tower

2012-01-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

I love Towers, and as soon as Joel saw it he told me about it. Needless to say, I had been waiting all weekend to go up it. It's only about 100m tall, but still. I love Towers. It even had a snazzy elevator, and I was able to buy the stamp rally book for all the big Towers in the country. There is a stamp from every place possible in Japan...every single place you might ever visit!

Hell #6 Oniishibozu and the Onsen

2012-01-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

This hell was these full of small ponds of light grey bubbles. This hell was also really pretty. But more importantly, after we wandered around, we went to the Onsen...which was completely amazing, and very spa like! It was a bit strange at first, but there were three onsens, even one up on the roof! I was really worried at first about being naked in a random hot spring, but it was so nice, you could even look over out to the mountains which surround Beppu! I think I am most definitely an onsen convert!

Hell #5 Umi

2012-01-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

When we went searching for Hell #7, we never got to it because it was so far away, so I was very happy that when we got to Umi, there was a second, smaller part of it, which was red and steamy, and very very similar to the photos I had seen of Hell #7. I think it looks great, and scary, and like something out of a Jurrasic Park movie!

Let's boil some eggs...

2012-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

I think this is part of the Umi hell. They had this massive steaming pond, which was bright blue, due to the natural chemicals in the ground, but also full of steam. They were actually boiling eggs in it, it was so warm! They do this at all the hells, and the eggs are naturally boiled, so yes, technically you can boil an egg in a puddle in Beppu if you made this on a smaller scale! It was pretty cool, and others tried it, but I wasn't so keen! I think the idea of the sulphury egg smell, combined with more and more egg smell..might have just been too much!

Hell #4 Yama

2012-01-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

I don't really remember much about the Yama hot spring, more about the animals, but I do remember there was a bunch of rocks with hot steam all over them, and this cool sign, so we could get a group photo! My hands look a bit like Mickey Mouse, but it was quite cold out, even with all the nice, hot steam!

Hello Mr. Hippo

2012-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

There was also a Hippo. Usually Hippos wallow somewhere in the mud in a safari type park, so you never get to see them up close. This one however, you could feed, and look right down into it's mouth! It did look slightly uncomforatable in that position, but it was awfully cute for such a large animal with teeth!

Joel and the Llama

2012-01-18T01:44:00.000-08:00

The next hell that we went to was Yama...or the mountain hell. It's the only Kanji I can read because it is in Yamaguchi! It is a hell which also has a small animal park attached to it, there was a giant elephant, this adorable llama and some chipmunks and flamingoes too. I'm not sure why Joel is kissing the pretty Llama though!

Hell #3 Shiraike

2012-01-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

This was my favourite hell...it's the milky white one. It was surrounded by this beautiful garden, full of trees, and bamboo, and stone lanterns. It reminded me a lot of Okayama park actually! I found it so nice and serene, and there were very few people there!

Hell #2 Mr Crocodile in Oniyama

2012-01-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

The next hell, which, coincidentally, was just across the street. It was called "Crocodile hell", which I suppose it would be, if you were caught with all these crocodiles! We felt very sad to see the crocodiles all in little cages, and all piled on top of there in the concrete pools, so we didn't stay long!

Getting warmed up

2012-01-17T04:54:00.000-08:00

Silly me for wearing tights this weekend, because I couldn't participate in the hot foot baths which were everywhere, but they also had these cool heated floors where you could sit and heat up your feet! It was perfect for me, and we hogged it for quite a while untill this massive Japanese tour came and took over!

A blue bit of hell

2012-01-17T04:41:00.000-08:00

As well as the bubbles in the orange mud, there was also this big pretty blue steaming pond. It was surrounded in pretty red fences, along with this sign saying NO TRESPASSING! The boys thought it would be funny for a photo!

Hell #1 Kumado

2012-01-17T04:39:00.000-08:00

We found the first hell, which was Kumado, and it was a combination of a blue hell, this bubbly orange mud one, as well as a foot bath, and lots of steam baths! You were also able here to stand in the steam which was put like a shower, as well as drink them with these pretty ladels.

Some crazies in Hell

2012-01-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

The hells have some very funny characters, but because this is Japan, and they even want to make Hell cute, so they have these cute little devil statues everywhere.I guess some of them were much scarier than others, and many were extremely huge! I like the little blue guy who looks like a racoon we found at the first hell, they even had a photographer to take your photo! I still love that about Japan, that everywhere you go, there is some photo oppourtunity, and a masco for every place!

Steel

2012-01-17T03:35:00.000-08:00

We wandered up a hill, which turns out to be much closer to the hells than we thought we were, and we saw this hill several times over the weekend on the bus route. It had a large steel building. We weren't sure what the building frame was ever going to be, as it had obviously been abandoned long ago!

Pretty flowers in the middle of nowhere

2012-01-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

In our wandering around the hills, we came across these very pretty pink flowers, which I thought were nice to see in the middle of winter, considering that Japan can seem very "brown" in winter! Of course I had to have a photo!

Who needs a map when you have an iPhone?

2012-01-17T03:26:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, we got very lost. I really had wanted to see the red hell, and I knew it was seperate on the map from the others. What it didn't say however, was that it was a good 5 miles away from town, and that you needed a car to get there! Before we figured that out though, we wandered up through the hills of Beppu...and found these grave stones, with unopened cans of green tea on them. I'm sure there is a story there!

Wandering in Beppu

2012-01-17T03:12:00.000-08:00

I really like Kyushu in general, but Beppu is so fun. It has little hot springs all over the place, places for soaking your feet, and in the hells area, its not built up, its very traditional. We saw the famous little limes they have there, which are orange, strangely enough...and we saw lovely little shrine and had a good time wandering around! It was nice not to have any specific plans, although we were trying to find Hell #7, the red hell...which is in all the photos....but it was also fun to go around and see the little restaurants. Beppu is 99% tourists from Japan, so needless to say, we were definitely the one being looked at!

Drinking the water

2012-01-17T03:09:00.000-08:00

We weren't really sure where we were going in Beppu...turns out the maps weren't quite to scale, so we went to the visitor information centre, where you could drink some hot spring water. It smelled a bit sulphery, and was extremely hot, so I left the drinking to Joel!

On the bus to Hell

2012-01-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

Our hostel was so nice, and the next morning we got up, and set off for the famous hot springs, which are called "Hells". Each one of them is different, and we set off from the station, which is a great area! It was so good to chat with new friends and old after such a long time away from this travelling malarky!

Spiky fish in Beppu

2012-01-17T03:05:00.000-08:00

For my first weekend back in Japan, we had planned a weekend to Beppu...which is famous for it's hot springs. I caught the Shink with Ben and Kelly, and their friends Adam and Jeff who are cool people! We met Joel in Beppu, as he was coming from the other way, and went to dinner. Kelly ordered this spiky fish, just because it "looked cool!". I wish I had her confidence with Japanese food!

787 Dreamliner...what a welcome back!

2012-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

I did my massively long 30 some hour trip back to Japan, and when I finally arrived in Hiroshima, there was a 787 waiting to depart. I couldn't get my camera out quick enough and was a bit sad that I'd missed the oppourtunity. But when I woke up the next morning at the airport hotel, there was a Dreamliner parked right outside! I ran over to the observation deck and the airport, along with a ton of other people, all there to take photos. It really is super famous here, and lovely! I was so excited to see it!! It really was a great welcome back to Japan!

Christmas spots and lights

2012-01-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

We went to my cousins Davids for his birthday right before my parents left to go back to England. While I was there, and we waited for his super cool new lava lamp to heat up, I took some photos of their Christmas tree. It was pretty fat, and had lots of colourful lights on it!

Downtown Bay City

2012-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Shelby and I got our photos taken for Christmas, and Shelby for our birthday. Our photographer has her studio in Downtown Bay City. I've been saying for years how I want to get my camera out and take some photos but I never do!So finally, I took it out, and went for a wander. I went all over, down to where the boats are moored along the river. Apparently, you can go and take a tour in the summer on one! The new housing complex has really pretty gates, but some of the best bits are the alleys behind the stores.They are full of graffiti and cool old signs, like the Antiques one. The store isn't an antiques store anymore, but still keeps the sign. All the buildings are lovely and old, it feels like a proper town, even though a lot of the shops are now empty. I think I would spend a lot of time here if I lived there, they have some cool coffee shops. I liked the post office the best, because it was really out of place for some reason.But I thought the sandstone was really pretty and it made a good shot! It was so cold when I was wandering around, but I was really happy to get out with the camera, after 2 weeks away, and very few photos, it felt like something I really needed to do!

Lansing Christmas

2012-01-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

We go down to Lansing every year to see Grandma and Grandpa Moyer. This year, we saw them in January, which was a bit weird! It was nice to hang out with my cousins, Nicole and Kelsey, and Johnathan, who is a bit kid. We just hung out really, and watched the little kids be very silly, and sang some Christmas carols! It's a bit weird, but fun in it's own way!

Me and Rachel

2012-01-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

I think the thing I am saddest about going back to Japan, is that Rachel, my best friend, will be in London studying from January to April. It's so sad, because had I been studying in London, I would be there with her. And we would have had a grand old time. I love this photo because we are being dorky, and I realise that I was so happy to see my family and friends when I went home, because they really are so special to me.

Snow on New Years Day

2012-01-09T21:09:00.000-08:00

New Year's Day is all about shopping, but because we are a whole bunch of girls, sometimes it takes a while waiting for people. I took the camera out while I was waiting, and got some photos of the snow which had fallen overnight. It wasn't really that much snow, and it was quite cold, so I didn't stay out too long! I like the little leaves poking out of the snow in this photo best!