Since we only had the one day here in the Chugoku region, we made the most out of it. We started out at around 7:20 so that we can hit the gardens (Korakuen) and Okayama castle. Korakuen is known to be one of the top three landscapes in Japan, according to Japan-guide. The other two being Kanazawa's Kenrokuen, which we saw two years ago, and Mito's Kairakuen, which is on my to-see list. I'm sad that Ritsurin Koen in Takamatsu isn't considered to be a top three, despite it being my favorite Japanese garden to date. Korakuen is quite picturesque, and it was nice to see it first thing in the morning where there were very little tourists.
After the gardens, we went to the castle. Perhaps, since we entered it when it just opened for the day, it was early but there was practically no one in the castle. It was nice to explore at our own pace and without the pressure of moving onward because there's people behind you waiting to take a look.
After the castle, we headed to Onomichi, near Hiroshima city. It's a nice seaside port, though we didn't have time to do the Shimaumi Kaido bike path. We did however scoped out a sushi restaurant that was rated highly by Lonely Planet. It's called Hana Akari and the atmosphere was just as friendly as you can imagine it to be. The servers were beyond considerate and the patrons there were friendly to us foreigners as well. I even managed to have somewhat of a conversation with the older couple beside us via my broken Japanese and his pretty decent English. I learned about his family and he gave us recommendations of places to visit. Very friendly people indeed.
After walking around a bit more, it was off to Kurashiki to see the canals at thee Bikan Historical quarters. It was a nice quaint part of Kurashiki that was reminiscent of Kanazawa. There's a touch of history, while located within a more modernized part of Japan. Okayama is known for their peaches, so I tried a few of their peach snacks. The peach sorbet I had was quite delightful. Also... I think I must have had three different peach flavoured drinks throughout the day...
We returned to Okayama and rested for a bit before exploring Aeon Mall, a mall brand that is popular everywhere in Japan. We ventured to their restaurant floor and located an okonomiyaki restaurant. The okonomiyaki was pretty decent. The chefs cooked up the "pancakes" and placed it onto your flat iron grill in front of you to keep it hot. After shopping a bit at Tokyu Hands, it was off to shop at the mall’s supermarket for breakfast.
Off to Tokyo tomorrow.
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