Hello Hiroshima

March 18-20, 2016

So before I start my new job training, I wanted to take a few days to myself and go somewhere I have yet to visit, Hiroshima. I actually had attempted TWICE to go here but the first attempt, mother nature said no and a typhoon caused my bus to cancel and the second time I was more broke than I thought, so had to cancel. But this weekend, I went! I kind of always have in the back of my mind, "Oh I'm not going to live in Japan forever so I should do/see as much as possible now while I'm here." With that thought, I took the last few paid holidays I had with Interac and gave myself a little longer than usual weekend. With that, I booked a bus to Hiroshima as well as a bed in a hostel for two nights. I didn't bother finding anyone to travel with because I find it's really hard to find someone with the time, money and want to travel to the same places you do. So because all that, I just went alone (and that's totally ok)!

So Friday morning rolled around and I was up early to catch my  bus from Umeda. I usually take bus as way of transport because it's the cheapest. It's just me so I don't really mind the time. In this case, saving that money was more important. So the bus left Osaka at around 7am and arrived at Hiroshima Station at about 1 pm. It's not that bad when you are sleeping most of the way. Willer Bus also has these convenient seats that have these head hood things you can pull over to get better, undisturbed sleep. I really think all long distance busses should get them. Also they hide your face if you have an embarrassing sleeping face!

I usually am a super plan oriented person. Down the the hour I usually have what I want to see/do and where I want to be. I'm not sure if it's just me being here and growing in some sort of way, but I've been able to let go of some of that anal retentive behaviors (thankfully). So with Hiroshima, I had a rough idea of the things I wanted to see but not really planned down to a T as to when I was going to do them. On the day I arrived there, the weather was actually pretty crap. It was a light rain all day and I definitely did not wear the right shoes for the weather. So when I arrived at the station, I located my hostel and went to unload first. It had been a while since I had traveled alone so was kind of adjusting to not having someone to talk to freely. I booked a bed at K's Hostel in Hiroshima  City (high recommend them) for two nights and just hoped to maybe run into a friendly traveler there. The first half day, not sure if it was my mood or if I have just grown to prefer being alone, I sought out the Museum of Contemporary Arts as my first destination. Along with my bus pass to get there, I also bought an unlimited one day bus pass for the popular tourist spots. This museum was on there but honestly when looking at the walking time to get there being 16 minutes, I figured I would just walk, even in the rain. Sure enough, the museum wasn't hard to find and the rain not too terrible.

So the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Arts (MOCA) was a pretty cool spot. I first stopped to have lunch in the cafe since I was pretty starved from the bus ride and then made my way to the exhibit. They had different works from large photographs of flowers to a motorcycle made out of cardboard boxes. I though the things they had on display were interesting and it was nice to be in a museum space again.  I used to frequent them back in Houston and had missed them since being in Japan. Sure Japan has many museums too but for some reason they just aren't a casual thing I get to do here much. Anyways, after the MOCA I decided to walk to Okonomi-mura to try the famous Hiroshima Okonomiyaki. If you have followed up on earlier posts, you would of seen I've had the Osaka Okonomiyaki plenty of times in Osaka. But anyone hearing I was going to Hiroshima, suggested I try Hiroshima's version. Well at Okonomi-mura, there were many different food places to try just that. I didn't know which to choose so I just went up to the second floor, saw a bunch of elderly Japanese people at one stall and decided to try it there. There were actually a few difference I could notice right off the bat like the use of noodles (soba or udon) and the way the egg was incorporated. After snapping a few photos and saying grace, I enjoyed my Hiroshima Okonomiyaki fully. I love Osaka but I actually like the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima better! Shhh don't tell Osaka that! It was delicious and I didn't even feel disgusting full after! After dinner I decided to head back to the hostel. My phone was dying and it was still pouring out so I figured getting back early and having a shower and just relaxing would be a good idea. After cleaning up at the hostel, I went to the common room to read and write a bit. There I got the chance to talk to a few different guys from all over the place, Australia, America, England and Venezuela. That's really the great thing about staying at a hostel, you always meet such an international group! Also it's great just to listen to people's conversation or observe how people talk/argue/discuss things. So the night was chill but interesting none the less.

On my second day, I wanted to visit the beautiful Miyajima. Miyajima is an island not too far off of Hiroshima's coast. It takes about thirty minutes by JR train and then a short ten minute ferry to get there. In December 1996, the World Heritage Committee officialy made Itsukushima Shinto Shrine as a World Cultural Heritage. So with that title, you can guess the place is really popular amongst tourists and Japanese alike. I didn't know much about it before receving an information phamplet honestly. All I really knew was it was the place of the floating tori gate and that at different times of the day you can walk underneath it when the water was at low tide. I just wanted to see it because it was deemed so beautiful and there was a hike! I never used to be a nature person before, but with so many great places to hike in Japan and with the realization that nature is beneficial to us as humans, I wanted to get out there and get some clean air in. I contemplated asking someone at the hostel to accompany me, but in the end, I decided time with nature alone was probably best. I actually woke up earlier than expected. A down fall of hostels, you can hear everything because you are basically sharing a room with five other strangers! But that was ok cause then I got to the island before the massive crowd.

When I first arrived, it was high tide and I could snap a few photos of the gate just in the water with the serene morning fog. The Otorii is about 16 meters tall and the circumference of each main pillar is about 10 meters. It's actually one of the biggest wooden torii gates in Japan. After walking around the shrine, I headed to the furthest hiking route on the map and made my way up. On the guide it said it would take about two hours to reach the top. So I checked my watch and was on my way. I started the hike with my hair down but about twenty minutes into it, with the stairs and humidity, I was dying for a hair tie. Luckily for me, I had a pencil in my bag so pinned my hair up that way. The route I took was literally stone steps all the way up. There was barely any signs of man made things, aside from the stones that were perfectly placed like steps. I had to stop and take many breaks but it gave me a chance to just listen to nature and touch the mossy rocks. On one of my longer breaks, I found this great big rock to sit on that over looked an edge. It was really eerie but cool to watch the fog come in and drape itself over the mountain, me in it.

When I got to the top and made it to the Mount Misen Observation deck (535m above sea level) it was too misty to see anything below!!! Literally it was just a sea of white! I really didn't even bother with the view though I was just trying to seek shelter from the rain that had just begun! Anyways, I was proud of myself for getting myself up there, even if I was a mess and my top was soaked in sweat. There were two other routes I could of taken down. One of them was a ropeway. Honestly, when hiking up, I really contemplated taking the rope way down because I was so tired. But after getting some rest and pep talking myself into not being a wuss and taking the easy way down, I decided to hike down the path that went past the Daishoin Temple. Sure you think going down is easy right? Well it was aside from the fact it had rained the the stone steps were wet and very slippery! I had already slipped once and I was not keen to slip again. So the whole way down I was taking the most careful steps. I must of looked so silly. But the path was nice because the rain cleared up and the path rain along side a small waterfall. The Daishoin Temple was not that bad either. By the time I reached the bottom, I took a look at my FitBit and it had said I walked 22,000 steps as well as 199 flights of stairs! Wowza! What a record in a day! Needless to say, I felt like I got my work out in for the day.

Once I got to the bottom, the tide had receeded and you were then able to actually walk underneath the gate. There were tons of people though and I couldn't be bothered to join the crowd. So I sat back and watched for a bit but then I decided to have a walk around the shops to find something for lunch. There were so many places to choose and while walking around I could see that oysters were a big thing there. With that in mind, I thought that I must choose a place I can have oysters with my meal. I ended up choosing this restaurant that was pretty quiet and serene. I ordered myself an oyster soba along with a small ride bowl with eel (aparrently oyster and eel are like a big thing here). It was alot of food but with the hike I just did I was starved! The meal was delicious and it was nice to have oyster again. My family is big on seafood so I really enjoy it when I get the chance to eat it. After finishing my meal, I thought it would be a perfect time to have some dessert! I definitely was in vacation mode when I was on my dessert hunt though. I ended up having THREE desserts!!! First I had like a flaky, crossaint type dessert with red bean paste inside in the shape of a leaf. Then after I inhaled that, I had a fried momiji manju (also really popular here) that was stuffed with custard. That was also delicious. After two desserts you would think I would be happy right? Wrong. Walking a few more feet I came across an ice cream stand that had sweet potato soft serve. I mean sweet potato! I had to try it! So I got myself a serving of that too. Ok now I was stuffed! But to be honest, I seriously contemplated getting the grilled oysters on skewers...but that might of put me over the edge. So I walked my big belly to the pier and sat around the water's edge for some sun and reading time as my food settled. It was almost 5pm, so I shut my book and had one more snack before leaving the island. Yes, one more. I had an oyster paste snack that was shaped in a momiji leaf. That was pretty good too! After all that, I got myself on the ferry and headed back to Hiroshima Station.

I ended up getting back to the hostel around 6:30 pm and ran into a new friend, Luke from the night before. Luke has been traveling Japan for a few weeks and is originally from the UK. We chatted about our day (we both went to Miyajima but separately) and ended up getting dinner and a drink together that night. It was cool to meet someone new with different stories and upbringing. Luke is half Indian and Half Chinese but grew up in the UK. I had never met anyone like him before so it was cool to chat. That evening I had no problem falling asleep as my body was pretty wiped out.

On my last day in Hiroshima, I only had about six hours before I had to catch the bus back to Osaka. So that morning, I got up early, packed my things and rented a bike from the hostel front desk. I figured with everything being so close, I could just bike everywhere instead of wasting time figuring out the buses and times. I started my day at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. If you know anything about Hiroshima, you know its where the nuclear bomb was dropped in the 40s. Just seeing, reading, and hearing these accounts was really  heavy on my heart. It's hard for me (and most people) to know of so much human suffering and suffering we inflict on each other. After going through this museum, I really think much more highly of the Japanese culture and how they are able to over come something of this magnitude. I mean, could you imagine if something like this happened in the States? I can really understand now why Japan wants to be such a peaceful nation, not wanting to get involved with wars, an army, weapons...those sorts of things. I mean when something like this happens to your nation and your people, I can understand their passion and want for true peace. I thought the museum was really informative and important for all types of people to see. Leaving the museum, you definitely have a heart of mixed emotions, especially also being American. After the museum, I walked the grounds which included the children's memorial a well as the Atomic Bomb Dome. I liked the design of the park as well as the monuments. They were simple but held alot of meaning and importance.

After the Peace Park and surrounding areas, I wanted to bike to a few more art museums. So I set out to the Hiroshima Museum of Art that was a short bike ride away. The weather was beautiful this day so I was really thankful for that. This museum had an exhibition of Impressionist artists, specifically Paris from the 1900-20s. I honestly did't care for these art pieces that much, but they were nice to see anyways. Once I was done there, I biked to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. This museum was bigger and had more interesting things, in my opinion. I got to enjoy some brightly colored things and also Shukkeien park that was next door to it. But being cautious of my time, I quickly zipped through the park and biked back to Okonomi-mura for one more Hiroshima Okonomiyaki! Unfortunately, the same old ladies' stall which I ate the night before had all their seats reserved! So I had to settle for another stall that wasn't as good. Actually it wasn't good at all and the man made me feel pretty uncomfortable for wanting to eat with chopsticks instead of his way, with the metal spatula. So that last experience was a bust.

There was one more thing I wanted to do before heading back to the hostel to collect my things. That was to go back to the MOCA and see the Dinh Q. Le Memory for Tomorrow exhibit. I had seen the posters for it the first time I went to MOCA but it had yet to begin yet ( I was a day too early). So with an hour to spare, I quickly biked back to the MOCA to check it out. This artist is Vietnamese but grew up in the States. His exhibit had a range of topics all relating to Vietnam. I think I wanted to see it so badly because I am always interested in my Vietnamese heritage. I also hoped that it would have something over the Vietnam War. War time is always a sad thing to look back on but it is something my parents had to experience first hand. I'm blessed as to not have to know such a past but understanding it or getting different perspectives on it helps me to better understand my parents and their struggle which helps me be more appreciative of them. So anyways, the exhibit was interesting and helped me to learn about things I had no idea about before. But like the Peace Museum, it also weighed heavy on my heart.

With little time to spare, I biked back to the hostel and returned the bike while grabbing my things. The bus would depart at 4pm so I retraced my steps back to where the bus had dropped us off tow days prior and waited for it to arrive.

Even though my Hiroshima trip was only a few days, it was nice to be in a new city, meeting new people, and just being alone. I have to constantly push myself in new environments and new situations to keep myself on my toes and not become too comfortable in a routine. So, thank you Jesus for protecting me, getting me there safe, feeding me and giving me company when needed. I'm glad I planned and went through with this trip. Definitely, in any spare time I get, I'll be slowly checking off new cities of Japan that I have yet to see. Thanks for coming along!!


xx
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