It's been a while Sunday

Like yesterday, I woke up much later than I anticipated. After wolfing down breakfast AND lunch (which wasn't my smartest decision), I headed to Clear One to play badminton. The last time I recall playing was in April, so I was pretty rusty. It didn't help that my left heel is still cracked, making it a bit harder to play due to some slight pain/itch/possibly placebo.

After coming back from badminton, I proceeded to work on my RG Zeta. I started it yesterday by completing the right leg. Today, I managed to finish the left leg. It isn't a hard build so far. I'm also enjoying the dual whites they provide for you to build with. Since I didn't paint the whites, it makes markering a lot easier since I'm able to clean mistakes (and make smaller panel lining) with my fingers (ie: finger sweat) than with sand paper or eraser.

After building the final leg, I proceeded to work on some notes for class. Vacation time does wonders to rejuvenate a tired body and mind! =)

Second Day of Work

Two days in! It has mostly been meetings and training sessions so far, with time to get planning in for the new year! Besides catching up with colleagues, I also worked on a new website for my students and their parents. Google Sites is definitely more challenging than Weebly, though I feel like it offers more customization.

I finally posted up my pictures from my dslr that I took in Japan. From about 1000 shots, down to 66. I also took the time to label the location of each of those shots, to track where I traveled in Japan. It seems like we traveled to a wide variety of places!

Smokey

Calgary's currently being blanketed by smoke due to a forest fire in Washington. The air has certainly been hazier than normal. I guess a positive note from having my nose restuffed (after coming back from Japan), is that I cannot really smell the smoke... or I have became accustomed to the smoke...

Either way, I managed to finish painting all of my RG kits. 4 kits (Zeta, Destiny, Wing and 00). I mostly left the white alone in the kits, since they came in two tones. Despite that however, it still took me a good part of my morning and early afternoon to finish.

As for the evening, I went out for dinner and bubble tea. I believe I'm all ready to start work tomorrow! =D

Huge dragonfly! If you can't see it, focus on the... Support beam (?)/frame closest to your eyes. I haven't seen dragonflies this big in Canada. The last big one I saw were in Japan!

German Volume Training and buggy Windows 10

IEver since Japan, I have fallen back to a comfortable, dull lull in life. I wake up, get in some breakfast, and proceed throughout the day by doing whatever needs to be done for the day. That being said, I'm looking forward to going back to work in a couple of days!

For today's workout, I tried the German Volume Training for my upper body. Essentially, it's 10 sets of 10 reps.

I wasn't able to do 10 sets of 10 reps for most of the exercises today. It's quite brutal compared to what I was accustomed to... 5-6 weeks ago (before Japan). I know now the implications of not working out, even over a month, can do to one's body.

Besides that, I upgraded to Windows 10 today. It's a little bit buggy, in that every time I try and reset Windows, I have no internet connection (using an Ethernet cable). However, when I shut down my computer and start it up, it's totally fine!

Weird...

One Gundam done! SD Unicorn Knight

Wispy Wednesday

Why whispy? I'm not sure why I picked the word whispy. It's probably due to the lack of sleep (though I only took a 20 minute nap today). I'm slowly recovering from jet lag -- grateful that I didn't sleep in to 3:30 like last year when I got back!

I got up and had breakfast, followed by painting my first SD kit that I purchased from Japan. I then proceeded to calculate whether or not, the $880 JR pass (3 weeks + 1 week) was worth the value, by going through the trains we went through throughout those 4 weeks.

It turned out, and I'm probably off by about 1000 to 2000 yen (very rougly around $10-20), we spent nearly $1700 on transporation on JR lines.

Well worth the money.

Afterwards, I went out for a while and came back.

Life seems a bit dull now after Japan...

A pen I purchased in Japan where you can customize the colors you want in it!

Jet Lag

It seems like the older I get, the more pronounced the jet lag I feel when I return home. 

I got in around 2 2 hour sessions of sleep. I gave up trying to sleep at 7, so I woke up and started my day. I finished cleaning up most of my luggage, followed by going out and doing some errands. Once lunch hit, I had a quick lunch before proceeding to do some more tasks I have planned out for the day.  

It was about an hour before my workout before I felt sleepy. Thinking I would take a quick nap, I ended up sleeping for 5 hours...

I woke up groggy at 8, and ate dinner. I didn't really perk up till after taking a shower at 10... And now I'm wide awake. 

At least I was productive and managed to get an immortal reactor for my dual sword upgrade!

Day 34 - Until Next Time

I'm glad that I got my computer back, because it makes it that much easier to type out my blogs!

We got up and checked out of the hotel. It was a relatively smooth ride from our hotel to Shinjuku station. From there, we proceeded to find the line that the Narita Express (NEX) stopped at, and proceeded to wait for about 40 minutes.

The train ride was relatively smooth to the Narita Terminal 1 station. I took a nap, because I knew I wouldn't be able to nap on the plane. At the terminal, we checked in our bags and went through security. We then shopped for a few souvenirs before heading to a McDonald's for lunch. The last time I had a Japanese McDonald hamburger was in 2000. Unfortunately, I must have confused the server, because I got a Double Cheeseburger instead of a Teriyaki burger. The drink lids were interesting though, in that you could fit two straws in it!

After lunch, we headed to the gate to wait for the plane. The plane ride felt extremely short, probably because we had access to their Entertainment screen this time. I managed to watch 3 movies (Iron Man, Iron 3 and The Theory of Everything) before napping for like 15 minutes. Since I couldn't sleep, I just watched a couple of The Big Bang Theory episodes... which reminds me that I need to catch up with the series eventually...

And, unlike the turbulent landing in Japan, we arrived in Canada quite smoothly. After being picked up and going to Chapters to pick up my order, I went home to unpack a bit. I tried staying up, but I ended up napping for about 3 hours. 

And here I am now -- back to reality. It was an amazing experience, in which I'll make another reflective post in due time.

Day 33 - Harajuku and Familiar Sights

Day 33. 

Woke up, ate and proceeded to head to Ikebukuro for a couple more Pokémon cards. Before leaving the district, we stopped at Tokyo Hands to purchase some last minute stuff. 

We travelled to Harajuku next. We found the Yakuniku place that we visited last year. It was as delicious as last year's and I was pleased to see a wall of famous celebrities that ate at that location. I wasn't able to catch a glimpse of any celebrities this time around, but maybe on my next trip!

We visited a couple of stores in Harajuku before proceeding to Shinjuku for one last time. We ate at an interesting camp-themed restaurant and went to the arcades. After that was all said and done, we headed back to our hotel. 

Not an extraordinary day, but a nice relaxed day. Tomorrow will be long...

So many people!

Day 32 - Nakano, Shibuya and Asakusa Obon Toro Nagashi

Woke up earlier than the day before to eat a hurried breakfast. We travelled to A section of Tokyo known as Nakano. We ventured to their Nakano Broadway, which was like a mini Akihabara. Inside, we ventured through many stores, though most weren't open till around 12. 

After exploring and purchasing some items, we went for a pretty decent ramen lunch with Nakano. We got to see the chef make it from scratch (save the noodles). After Nakano, we travelled to Asakusa to purchase a lantern for Obon Toro Nagashi later that night. We spent some time to write wishes (you write up to 4) and had help from a volunteer to put it together. 

Once we finished with our lantern, we travelled to Shibuya where we witnessed the crossing. After going through the crosswalk ourselves, we ventured to a Muji store to look for other goods. Once that was complete, it was off to our hotel to drop out packages. 

We soon ventured back to Asakusa for the floating lanterns down the river (Toro Nagashi). We made it on time, and were greeted by thousands of people lined up against the sides. We eventually found the line where lantern holders stood, and waited for an hour for our turn. Throughout the hour though, it felt like only a few minutes have passed. This is perhaps one of the biggest things I was looking forward to during my trip to Japan this year. The atmosphere was cheerful and peaceful, surrounded by many individuals wearing Yukatas. 

It was difficult to catch a glimpse of the lanterns until we arrived at the pier. We had our lantern lit up before we proceeded to a small platform to prepare our lantern. On top of the platform was a little water slide to direct the float into the river. We had ours released with some other individuals. Afterwards, we raced along the side, trying to glimpse at where our lantern went. We were able to see it eventually and was glad that it manages to survive, what I would say was a torrid ordeal as many lanterns around ours were either exstinguished from the water or burnt to a crisp from the candle inside. 

It was an amazing experience to have participated in such an event. It really felt like we were providing a beacon of lift to help those find solace/ or a path back to the afterlife. 

Once we completed taking a whole bunch of pictures, we headed to Shinjuku to grab a Tonkatsu dinner and search for a cafe. Unfortunately, the cafe, which happened to actually be a bar, was located in the red light district. Not wanting to be heckled (though one almost it is) we quickly backed it and ventured back to our hotel to open some packages we bought from Shinjuku. 

And that sums up today! 

Day 31 - Tsukiji, Ginza, Kappabashi, Asakasa, Akihabara, Ikebukuro and Shinjuku

Busy busy day! We started off by going to Tsukiji Market, by taking a train to a station before heading to the Ginza station. From there, we proceeded by subway to Tsukiji. 

Most of the market was closed because of Obon, but we were ushered in by an elderly woman to eat at Tsukiji Sushi Sen. 

My lunch was expensive, 10 piece recommendation of the day, deluxe Chirashidon and two different pieces of the fattest tori they had. However, it was one of the best sushi i ever had. The rice was simply magnificent and the service was awesome! I was extremely stuffed at the end, but I was pleasantly pleased with my meal. 

Afterwards. We headed to Ginza to head to Itoya. It was where I picked up most of my stationary from last time. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the pens from the newly relocated Itoya store. Disappointed, we headed to our next destination.

Kappabashi, a street filled with stuff that restaurants use (fake food for advertising, pots, pans, etc) was long and would possibly look awesome... If only stores were open. Unfortunately, most of the stores were closed so we just proceeded to our next stop: Askasa. 

I want to participate in the floating-lantern Hong tomorrow, so we gathered more information from the Askasa Tourist Center. After gathering info, we headed off to Akihabara once again to look for some items. 

We spent a little over an hour purchasing left over things. Once that was done, we headed over to Ikebukuro once again towards the Pokémon Centre to look for a limited edition Pikachi doll that o saw during my last visit. Unfortunately, they were sold out and the lines was EXTRMELEY long. I would imagine it would take at least an hour to pay for 

Any goods if we were to purchase them. 

I headed to the nearby Tonyo Hands to purchase stationary, which fortunately they had. Once that was done, we headed to Shinjuku for dinner. 

We located a ramen shop that had a unique dish: tomato based soup ramen. After you eat the ramen, you're supposed to pour the soup onto a bowl of plain rice. It was an interesting experience to say, though the cheese in the soup didn't really pleased palette I have to say. 

Once that was done, we headed to arcades to look for a particular prize. It was extremely tiring, but we eventually found it. I even won my first arcade prize, though much of the credit goes to one of the staff members who reset the position of the Rilakkuma doll to make it almost impossible to not get. 

And that was pretty much it for today! I'm looking forward to participating in and seeing the festivities that will take place later today!

Moth at our station. It was pretty big. 

Day 30 - Shopping Galore! (Odaiba and Akihabara)

Woke up at around 9 and headed out to Odiba as our first stop. We ventured up to the top floor of Diver City. Last year, we were unable to enter the Gundam Museum since they were doing something on the day we went. Fortunately, they were open today! The 1:1 Strike Freedom Bust was amazing. After walking around for a bit, we had the chance to see two short clips in their dome. The clips were like a planetarium, where the entire dome was engulfed with images. It was very cool, but my neck was hurting from tilting back my head so much. 

Afterwards, we headed to the Toyota museum. Nothing was really new, save for a few new cars that I didn't recognize on the top floor. We ventured to Venus Fort afterwards for a quick sushi lunch. After leaving (which I realized that parts of Venus Fort reminded me of Caesars Palace on Vegas), we headed to Akihabara. 

This was where we went on a shopping spree. We bought a bunch of Pokemon cards, protective sleeves (hard and soft) and other things from Yellow Submarine. We then ventured over to Don Quiote for cheap goods. And then to Tam Tam for Gundams! And finally back to Yellow Submarine for another gundam dice I was unable to find SD Unicorn Knight. 

When we were about to head back, I recalled that I needed to pick up something for my dad, so we headed to Yodabashi. After finally finished shopping for the day, we headed back to our station and ordered take out. 

It was Alan exhausting day, but a fulfilling one. All in all, I think I spent just over $100 on Gundams and Pokemon cards. Not too shabby I have to say!

Day 29 - Kamakura and Yokohama

I believe this was the very first time that I went to bed when the sun was starting to/about to rise. I didn't finish doing laundry till around 3:30ish (falling asleep at 4:35ish) since the dryer kept on going past the slotted 90 minute mark.  

After sleeping for a couple hours, we got up and went to the train station to catch the train to Kamakura. Unlike the day before, there was no delay. 

Upon arrival at Kamakura station, we noticed how busy it was with tourists flocking the place. I had some trouble with my Passmo card, but we eventually made it to the private line to reach our Hase station. From there, we walked about 10 minutes to see the great Daubatsu (giant Buddha). Unlike the temple that used to house it, it survived many disasters. 

We got the chance to enter the Buddha. It was extremely cramped and hot inside, but interesting. It was neat to see how parts of the Buddha were held together. 

After buying some souvenirs, we headed to a hiking trail. It took us a while, but we managed to find one and started to hike. However, we stopped about 2 minutes in because the trails were extremely narrow and covered with branches. Not wanting to get scratches or mysterious bug bites,we headed back down the trail and back to the train station.  

Since we had more time due to the cancellation of the hike, we headed to Yokohama (size it's on the same line). Yokohama was quite interesting. We went to the Cup Noodle Museum to see if we could make our very own cup noodle. Unfortunately, tickets were all sold out for the event. We were able to tour the museum and even the Baazar upstairs to sample various dishes that used instant noodles. I got myself a Chinese Beef Ramen, which was very delicious. 

After the museum, we headed to... Another Pokemon Centre! It was smaller than the one in Ikebukuro, though it had what we were looking for: Pokémon cards. We each bought a bunch of boosters and travelled to other shops within the mall. 

Once we were satisfied, we headed back out to find a different, more scenic path back to the train station. We had a detour at an UFO arcade, where one of us won a plushie, before heading down a path beside the river. It reminded me of Eiverfront back at home, though this path had music in the background. 

After arriving back at our station, we headed for a quick supper before heading back to our hotel to open up our Pokémon cards. To my delight, I got a Charizard card! It really brought back memories to when my mom used to buy us booster packs and when we got ourselves a Charizard card as well!

And that's it for today! The next couple of days should be interesting since its Obon!

Day 28 - Grandiose Day at Nikko and Ryogoku

Woke up later than I would like to, but went straight to a nearby cafe for breakfast. For 400 yen, it was a pretty decent buffet. 

After breakfast, we headed to Shinjuku to catch a train to our original intended destination of Kamakura. However, there was a significant delay. We decided to head to Nikko instead. 

After about two hours, we arrived at our destination. We wanted to take a bus to the shrine and temple area, but it wouldn't be there for another 40 minutes. We decided to walk the 30 minute walk instead. 

When we arrived, we walked a bit further to reach Toshogun Shrine: the mausoleum of the first shogun. It was a grand shrine that his grandson had constructed: everything was very elaborate. We walked around for a couple hours before heading out. With nothing else to do in Nikko, we headed back to Tokyo. I was sad though, that the main gate was undergoing renovations. 

Back in Tokyo, we headed to Ryogoku: the place known for its sumo culture. It was quite dark, so we just headed to a nearby restaurant to eat what a sumo would normally eat: chankonabe. 

The chankonabe was grand and delicious. At first, we thought it would cost us a lot more than what we thought, but we ended up paying a somewhat decent price. 

And that's pretty much our day for today! Still awake because I have to do laundry... =(

Day 27 - Productive Day in Kawagoe and Ikebukuro

Probably it was due to the heat, but I ended up waking up a couple times through the night. I eventually got up at 5 AM and scrolled on my phone until I fell asleep again till 6ish. 

When I awoke, my aunt made us a delicious breakfast of rice, vegetables, natto, and a variety of meat dishes. There was fruit for desert: peaches, plums and more delicious grapes. I was extremely stuffed at the end of the meal. 

After breakfast, my aunt, my brother and I went out for a brief walk with her dogs. It was about 7 AM, but the air was already humid. Throughout the neighbourhood, we met more dogs. It almost seemed like all of my aunt's acquaintances in her neighbourhood had a dog or two!

After the walk, we got ready to depart to Kawagoe. It wasn't too far of a drive and my uncle found parking close o or first destination: Kitain temple. Connected to the temple was a showcase of the third shogun's place of birth. It was an interesting experience to have visited the two places. 

Afterwards, we headed to the merchant street, which housed an old bell tower. After the tower, it led to s museum that described the many floats used within their festivals. We ventured among the exhibitions and stopped within a theatre. There, a tour guide explained to us, in English, about the various aspects of the festival and the floats used. It's hard to believe that these floats could weigh up to five tonnes!

After the museum, our relatives took us among the streets for sweets. After a walk, we headed down to an unagi restaurant: one of the best within the town. The long line ahead of us seemed to prove that point. 

The restaurant was indeed posh inside and I felt out of place in a t-shirt and shorts. Nevertheless, we were treated well and the unagi meal was pretty good. I'm not much of an unagi person, so I cannot say with certainty that this restaurant deserves its rank. I was pretty satisfied after the meal and had troubles walking afterwards for a bit. 

We went shopping for a bit afterwards before we headed to Kawagoe station to head back to our hotel. After a brief see-you-soon, my brother and I headed for our train. Like last year, we had a lot of fun, though it was a sad farewell. I'm sure though that we will meet again enventually!

After we got back to our hotel, we headed out to Ikebukuro to find a particular shop. We found the shop, but not the item we were looking for. After giving up hope, we ended up going to sunshine city: a city within a city. It had residential areas and a mall all in one building essentially. 

At Sunshine City, we found a Pokémon Centre! It was quite busy compared to what I remembered last year. We bought a couple purchases and essentially waited for our friends to find us. After week, we went downstairs to find the Pokémon Cafe. 

Like any cafes in Japan, you're mostly there for the atmosphere. It had a nice friendly atmosphere, and the food tasted a lot better than I expected. After our meal, we headed back to the Pikemon Centee to purchase more booster packs because the first three my brother bought wasn't nearly enough. 

After our purchases, we headed back to our hotel o check our cards. After gloating, cheering and sighing, we left to Seek out Square Wnix's Artnia Cafe. I wanted to purchase a Lightning XIII-3 verisimilitude, that I should have bought last year, but they didn't have it in stock anymore. With nothing interesting left to look at, we left and walked back to our hotel to look for dinner. 

And that's pretty much it for today! So many memories were formed today. Off to day trips starting tomorrow!

Day 26 - A slight family reunion

Due to sleeping late last night, it was extremely hard to get up this morning. My brother and I somehow managed to rush through everything and headed off to the train station so that we can catch a special train to Enzan. 

Upon arrival at the train station, we were greeted by my eldest aunt and uncle. It's been about 15 years since I last saw them, but they were able to recognize us, and we recognizing them. 

After a quick greeting, we headed to my grandfather's nursing home. He seemed in good spirits, and looked healthier from last year. He's still undergoing rehabilitation, though it seems like he was making improvements! 

It wasn't as long of a visit compared to last year, though it gave us time to catch up. We left, and once again I felt a tinge of sadness. After leaving the nursing home, we grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby conveyor belt sushi place. It was pretty decent and the pricing was quite fair. 

We headed to my grandma's grave afterwards. The weather was quite hot, but we were in a vehicle for the entire trip. After getting out, I realized how beautiful the view was from our family's cementary. 

After we washed the graves and lit incense sticks, we headed to my grandparents house. We were greeted by loud barks. The barks came from inside the house, which surprised me for my grandparent's dog passed away a while back. 

It turned out that the barks belonged to my aunt's two dogs. They ran outside once the door was open and straight towards us. One of them was barking his head off at me, though he quieted down after some time. I'm assuming at that point that he was comfortable with me. 

We went inside and we made our prayers to the family shrine. It was, is, and always will be a treasured place for me to visit. 

After we finished visiting our grandparent's house, it was time to head back to my aunt's place. She lived about 2.5 hours away from Enzan (we were quite grateful for them taking the time to visit us from so far away). As no stranger to long trips, I took a nap for a good portion of the trip, with one of the dogs napping by my feet. 

We finally arrived at my relative's place and were greeted by my cousin (their youngest daughter), her husband, and a pair of fraternal twins. It was my first time seeing my cousin on my eldest aunt side. After some conversation, with grapes and cucumbers (the grapes were quite juicy), my aunt's eldest daughter and her family dropped by. As my other cousin, I have never seen her before as well. It was a pleasant surprise to finally meet my other cousins after a quarter of a century has passed by in my books. 

We chatted a bit, with some hilarious moments where we were trying to figure out words in the foreign language (us In Japanese, they in English) before we all headed out for dinner. Before dinner though, we took some group pictures. It was at a nice family restaurant, though we weren't able to sit with one another since there wasn't a table big enough for all of us. 

After dinner, we headed back to my aunt's place to rest up for a bit before my cousins' families had to go home. We said our good byes and see you agains, before they left for the night. My brother and I then took showers and got ready for bed.

And that's pretty much our day for today. Like the other day, earlier in the trip, where we met our other cousin, it's always nice to see family members and reconnect with our roots. Despite never seeing each other before, an instant bond is formed. 

Till we meet again! Off to sleep since we have to get up at 5 tomorrow! 

The better behaved out of the two dogs my relatives have. 

Day 25 - Back to Tokyo

We got up and downloaded the new quests for MH4U -- White Fatalis. It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be!

After completing the quest, we packed up and got ready to take the Super Azusa train to Shinjuku. It was a 2 hr and 25 minute ride, though I was able to catch some shut eye. We passed through my dad's hometown station on the way. It brought back memories of the past-- way back to when I was in grade 4 and my grandpa was waiting at the end of the stairs. 

When we arrived at Shinjuku, we took the Yamanote line down one stop to Shin-Okube. Our hotel was off on a side street, which was nice since the Main Street is consistently busy. Upon arrival the front desk person told us that our rooms were ready (2 hrs ahead of schedule) and helped me move my luggage upstairs. I was amazed by how efficiently the desk person was able to move my luggage. It must have weighed at least 55 pounds, and she carried it up two flight of stairs!

Great service and our rooms turned out to be small and cozy. After admiring our rooms, we headed out to our destination: Akihabara. 

Akihabara is one of my favorite districts in Tokyo. There's so much tech stuff that I can probably spend a week here and not see everything! We hit up a bunch of anime stores as well, and of course, gundams. I was able to locate pretty much all the kits I wanted to buy this time around!

At around 7, we had an unagi dinner up on Yodabashi's 8th floor. It was alright, though not worth the 3100 yen we each paid. After dinner, we headed to a couple more model/anime stores. We found an arcade which had Initial D, so we spent some time there before heading back. The trains were of course, quite busy like usual in Tokyo. 

After arriving back to our hotel, I prepared my back for tomorrow. It's going to be a long, but fun day tomorrow! Off to sleep since its past 1 AM here and I need to get up early!

Day 24 - Matsumoto

Woke up and went through my usual routine before we got ready to check out. After checking out, we headed to the train station to head to our next location. 

After making a quick stop at the souvenir store to pick up some crab crackers, we caught the bullet train to Nagano. Normally, it wouldn't be too busy inside a reserved car, but that wasn't the case today. I believe Obon is starting soon?

At Nagano, we took a local line to Matsumoto. It was a long trip -- 100 minutes in total. The scenery outside though was quite amazing. As we arrived at Matsumoto, I was amazed at how crowded the station seemed to be. It's like a reminder of what's to come Amin Tokyo. 

After checking in, we proceeded to Matsumoto castle. Unlike most of the other castles we've been to, Matsumoto Castle was black. It's a nice contrast to all the other castles we've seen so far. 

After the castle, we headed back near our hotel to find supper. We found a small, but cozy atmospheric soba shop. They had English speaking jazz music in the background. We tried their raw horse meat, which is a speciality of Marsumoto, and I head their soba with wild duck broth. Both were extremely tasty. Afterwards, our waiter brought out a small pot with water used to boil the soba noodles. He told us to mix it with our soba sauce and drink it as an after drink. It was tasty from the soba, with a slightly thicker texture than water. 

After dinner, we stocked up for breakfast. That pretty much ended our day for today! Back to Tokyo tomorrow!

Day 23 - Kurobe Gorge

I had troubles sleeping, thus it was harder than normal to wake up this morning. When I did manage to wake up, we had a quick breakfast before heading to the station to catch a bullet train to Kurobe. 

At Kurobe, we took a train that led us to Unazaki station, which was the starting trail to the Kurobe Gorge! The gorge was created by water weathering and eroding the rocks in the mountains. We took a scenic train that took 80 minutes to get from Unazaki station to the other end (around 2-3 km if I'm not mistaken). At the other end, we hiked upon a trail to see if we can find a specific area. The hike took a good 45 minutes or so, and we ended up in a pleasant area. Unfortunately, I don't believe it was what we were looking for. Nevertheless, I was satisfied and we headed back to the station. 

The entire hike was pleasant since the weather/climate on the mountain was pleasantly warm; unlike the humid hot that we were accustomed to over the past 3 weeks. Back at the station, we took the scene of train back to Unazaki. 

Once we arrived back at Kanazawa, we went to the department store once again for supper. This time, we had okonomiyaki. We were extremely hungry since we practically skipped lunch for our daytime excursion today. 

And that's pretty much it! Our time in Kanazawa is over. It's such a pleasant place with a rustic feel. I'll definitely come back to visit again in the future!

Day 22 - Nagamachi, Omicho and Higashi Chaya

We started by taking the JR Bus down to a street near the samurai district called Nagamachi. My navigation skills have been extremely horrible this year, so I ended up taking our group too far from where we were supposed to go. The walk was pleasant though, with a water channel right next to us. Houses on the other side had small bridges for their cars/feet to cross. Once we arrived on the street, we started by touring a low class samurai house. 

The low class samurai house reminded me of a typical Japanese home. It had tatami mats, a bathroom, and rooms. There was also a small backyard. After visiting, we ventured down the street to more locations open to the public. That included a small garden and a richer samurai house. The garden in the richer house was amazing for such a small place. We took a break at a rest house before we headed to a sweet shop next door. 

At the sweet shop, the sales lady there spoke quite perfect English. It was the first time during the trip that I didn't have to try and communicate with my very limited Japanese. Once we bought some sweets, which were quite delicious and had a long shelf life, we proceeded to find Omicho market. We passed by a street with earthen walls. It had a really yellowish colour and... Earthen texture. 

Once we found the market, we went in a bit before deciding we should stop by the ramen restaurant outside for a bite to eat.  We all ordered the Tonkotsu ramen, and it turned out to be extremely tasty! With my stomach being satisfied, we headed down the market. 

It was a lot smaller than the other markets we visited so far. It seemed to focus on selling seafood, for there were tons of those shops and sushi restaurants there. We bought a couple types of fruits as well since the price seemed reasonable. What was interesting about this place as well was large ice blocks scattered around the market. I'm assuming it's used for people to cool down?

We returned to our hotel to drop off our Packages and rest for a bit before proceeding to Higashi Chaya: a tea house street with geishas in the past. It definitely had a old time feel as we walked down the place. My brother and I  managed to find a nice little owl figurine for our grandfather and some sale for our relatives. We left the street and proceeded back to Kenroku-en to find a souvenir shop that allowed you to blast your own glass wear!

Unfortunately, it was probably too late when we arrived. We just strolled around the shop before we left to take the bus to an arcade. After spending some time at the arcade, we went back to the station to book tickets for an upcoming trip. 

It was then off to dinner, which included hayashi omurice. Then dessert, which I haven't really purchased yet throughout my trip! These carbs are slowly killing me, but... Excuse my language... YOLO. 

And that's pretty much our day today! One more full day in around this area before we hit up Tokyo. 

Higashi Chaya District

Day 21 - Kenroku-en + Kanazawa Castle + Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Woke up relatively early to try out the breakfast buffet at our hotel. It had a wide variety of dishes, but I'm not sure if it was worth the price in the end. 

After breakfast, we headed down towards the Kenroku gardens. Along with Ritsurin, it's one of the top 3 gardens in Japan. Personally, I didn't enjoy it as much as Ritsurin because I felt that it had less of a view than the former. It could also be due to the fact that it's my second garden in such a small amount of time... Or maybe I just have a strong bias for the first garden I saw! Who knows?

After the gardens, we headed towards the nearby castle. It was like any other castle, just with a bit more English I felt. It was nice to listen to the explanations of certain parts of the castle in English. 

Final, we headed back to the station to eat sushi in the nearby mall. It was conveyor belt, and it was far more pricier than Muten Kirazushi. It wasn't as fishy tasting, though I did end up spending around 3700 for around 12-14 slices of sushi and some side dishes. =\

We checked out the mall after our late linch. At the nearby music store, my brother found a book with classical sheet music from the amazing Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso anime. Sure, I probably had some of the sheet music already, but it wa a must buy book! 

After heading down to the first floor after a few hours in the mall, we stumbled across a bakery that sold canulé! More feels for Shigatsu! It was my first cané and it had a pleasant taste. 

That made my day from being great to being excellent!

After resting for a bit at the hotel, we walked to an arcade and then wandered around the streets, finishing up with a convenience store supper and breakfast supplies. 

And that's it for today! More Kanazawa tomorrow!

Day 20 - Travelling to Kanazawa and Laundry

Not much was done today besides travelling! We started quite early, checked out at around 9:30 and headed to the train station. We had tickets booked for the 10:10 Marine Liner to Okayama, but I mistaken an earlier train for the one I was supposed to be on (that train left at around 9:45). Good thing my brother told me to get off after he realized I was gone!

That train ride was about 53 minutes. Once we arrived at Okayama, we had 29 minutes to transfer to a Hikari bullet train, bounded for Tokyo. That ride was about 90 minutes in total. Once that part was over, we had 45 minutes before catching the Thunderbird to Kanazawa. 

Our last train was 2 hours and 10 minutes. All in all, we arrived in Kanazawa at around 4. The first thing I noticed about the station was the elaborate Torii gate with a futuristic metal frame surrounding it. Our hotel was about 3 minutes away from the station, making it easy to get to with our luggage in tow. 

Upon checking in, we proceeded to find a laundromat to do our laundry. Unfortunately, the nearest one was full of students who appeared to have finished baseball practice. We tried looking for another one, but to no avail. We headed back to our hotel to drop off our laundry and head to find food. 

After circling around our area for a while, we headed to the nearest department store to check out their restaurants. Initially we wanted sushi, but there was a huge line. We settled for konkatsu, which was amazing. 

After dinner, we checked out the bookstore in the department building before heading to try the laundromat again. It was still busy with students when we arrived, but since we were running out of clothes, we pretty much had no choice but to wait for our turns. 

After about 2 hours, we finally got our laundry done! It was off to the nearest convience store before heading back for the night! 

Tomorrow should be a pretty eventful day!

Day 19 - Kochi

We woke up bright and early to catch the 8:20 (or was it 8:25) train to Kochi. Since it was quite a distance away, I was able to catch up on some sleep during the 2 hr and 20 minute ride. 

Upon arrival at Kochi, we noticed the prevalence of its hometown child: Sakamoro Ryoma. I first heard of Sakamoto in the Japanese drama JIN and from Gintama. We took a couple pictures around the station before proceeding to Kochi castle. We were fortunate enough to pass by the Sunday Market as we walked towards the castle. I was lookin for the renowned bonito flakes, but didn't find anything too pleasing in my eyes. There was a whole whack of fruit sellers and, surprisingly to me, knive sellers as well. 

Kochi castle was one of the few original castles left in Japan. It was similar, I felt, to the other castles we've been to so far. The amount of English present around the castle was nice, for we were able to understand the significance of the place. 

After visiting the castle, we went to look for the Yamauchi Samurai residence. It took us a while, but we eventually got to the place. It was located quite a distance south of the castle, near what I believe was the city's town hall. 

After visiting those two places, we headed down to their downtown area to look for their specialty dish: katsuo no tataki. There were many restaurants in the area that had the dish, so it wasn't much trouble to pick one. The fish had a very pleasant taste, even when I didn't add a whole bunch of scallions or ginger to it!

After lunch, we proceeded back to the station to head back to Tokushima to look for a particular item. It was also the first time that I experienced a significant delay on the train line. I wasn't quite sure of the cause, though I was able to understand the apologies that the conductor gave for the trouble. We were sill able to catch our connecting train though since it waited for passengers at the transfer station! =D Great service from JR!

Upon arrival at Tokushima, we were unable to find what we were looking for, so we proceeded back to Takamatsu. We had dinner at one of the restaurants at the station. I had another bowl of sanuki udon! It was definitely a lot tastier this time, probably because it was a hot bowl and I was extremely hungry at that time. 

And so marks our last day in Shikoku! We were able to hit three out of the four prefectures. Back to Honshu we go!

The top left dish is the Katsuo no Tataki

Day 18 - Naruto

I managed to wake up on time today! We had a quick breakfast and headed to the train station for Naruto. 

Naruto is located in the next prefecture, Tokushima. It was the first time I was able to stay awake on a train as we went from Takamatsu station to Ikenotani station. The Oceanside/seaside view was amazing. As we approached Naruto station, we missed our bus by 4 minutes! We had it timed so we'll make it to our destination in time to see the world renown whirlpools at its peak. 

Since the next bus wasn't for an hour, we looked for a nearby restaurant, to no avail. We stopped by a family mart and purchased food there. There were some quick nutrition bars that I never seen before. They turned out to be surprisingly pleasant in taste!

After waiting for the bus, with it being delayed for about 10 minutes, we headed to a pier to catch a ferry to the whirlpools. Unfortunately, we were stuck on the lower level, thus not being able to see the whirlpools as nicely as we could have possibly seen them. Nevertheless, we saw some while enjoying the salt water breeze. 

After returning back to the pier, we awaited the bus to take us back to Naruto station. We caught the train back and made a stop just before Takamatsu station so that we can grab conveyor belt sushi. It was a very long walk, though I guess nothing could beat that long walk ok Osaka!

After eating, we proceeded back to the station in the dark. For the first time in my life, we saw bats flying around in the dark. It's unlike the movies in which you can hear them echo locate. I swear I could have heard some kind of squeal, but it's probably my imagination. 

And that marks today! Off to Kochi tomorrow morning, bright and early as a matter of fact! Therefore it's time for bed!