Japan Trip: Day 5
November 13, 2013
It was a beautiful morning. Blue skies and barely any clouds and yet our first stop is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Seriously, the weather has a twisted sense of humor. What sad was that the view from our hotel room was beautiful at night but when morning came, I’ve never seen so many cemeteries in Japan. See the concrete section on the left hill on the top photo? That’s the biggest one. There were more on other hills.
The first site we visited was the Genbaku Domu (A-Bomb Dome) that used to be the Industrial Promotion Hall. It’s the closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that is still standing. Well, partially. The structure itself was heartbreaking. If such a force was able to do this to a building and still affect the Phoenix Trees offspring at Nijo-jo castle, I can’t imagine its impact on all those who had experienced it.
Just over the river is the Children’s Peace Monument. Much to Hiroshi’s surprise, I was very familiar with this section because of the documentaries that I’ve watched on WWII. This statue was dedicated to a girl named Sadako Sasaki who survived the explosion at the age of two and died ten years later from radiation exposure. She’s well known for folding a thousand origami cranes to grant her wish by the gods. I’m not sure if she was able to fold a thousand cranes, but she became the symbol of innocent victims of war. People around the world pay their respect by folding and contributing a thousand cranes to this park hence the reason behind the freshly folded cranes.
Close to the Children’s Peace Monument, we came across the Peace Flame. The flame was lit in 1964 and will only be extinguished when all nuclear bombs are destroyed.
Behind the Peace Flame is the Memorial Cenotaph, a monument that has all the names of the people who were killed by the bomb. The arch represents the shelter for the victims. It carries an epitaph written in Japanese that translates to “Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.”
We also went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Not only did it contain the history of Hiroshima’s before and aftermath, but it also had artifacts and stories of those who passed away. Tourists are first told about the city’s history before the bomb and then moved on to the survivor’s description of the bomb, the “white light” and “black rain.”
What literally choked me up were the recovered artifacts and the stories behind them. I had to take a long restroom break to pull myself together.
*Time stopped when the atomic bomb landed.
*A human shadow burned into the steps at Sumitomo Bank Branch.
The most painful part was seeing the artifacts and reading stories of the young victims; those who were in schools when it happened. All of their stories were about the last time they were seen by their parents or friends. After the explosion they went out to look for their loved ones but only found the victims’ belongings which they were last seen with. Lunch boxes, bicycles, burnt skin on school uniforms, shoes, and other things that were owned by children. War is the most stupidest and pointless thing in the world.
The museum also mentioned Sadako’s story; from her early childhood to how she became the inspiration for the Children’s Peace Monument.
*Some of Sadako’s original paper cranes.
Despite how depressing the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was, I’m glad I visited the park. It gave me a lot of new perspective in life. It’s not just about learning from your mistakes, but it’s also about understanding the entire situation including the other party that makes you grow. I have heard how brutal and heartless the Japanese soldiers were when I went to Corregidor and Palawan, but they also suffered a great lost in Hiroshima. Both sides had its flaws and victims who shouldn’t have been involved.
We headed back to the train station near the hotel and looked for a public locker to put our things in since we’ll be returning to this station. We didn’t have change for the locker so I had a good excuse to buy some tasties. I bought Hiroshi his favorite éclair and a crème puff for me. By the time I got back with change, he already got change from another store. Oh well, at least we now have a locker to put our things and a box of yummy-in-my-tummy.
We made our way to the Hiroshima Bay to take the ferry to Miyajima, the Shrine Island. This part of the trip reminded me of Philippines when I rode the boat to Corregidor. I love the sea salt smell. It reminds me so much of Philippines.
And right from the boat, we could see the torii from the Itsukushima Shrine.
OMG, I knew I was going to love this place right when we reached the shore. I could already tell they specialize in seafood and I was right on the spot. Their main specialty is oyster. It may not be crabs but I don’t discriminate. There was marketplace called Omotesando a few blocks from the ferry that lookes very much like a modernized version of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka back in Kyoto; filled with restaurants, stores, and snack vendors. It was also packed with tourists, students on a field trip, and of course, those lovable deers.
Our appetite kicked in out of the blue and fortunately there were restaurants everywhere. Hiroshi wanted grilled oysters while I was craving for okonomiyaki (Hiroshima-style). It didn’t take us long to find a place that serves both. What’s the best part? They serve seafood okonomiyaki!
The wait was long as I expected so our grilled oysters came first and oh man, now I know why Hiroshi wanted it. Pour in some of that sauce and it’s like sipping heaven.
It took another couple of minutes for our okonomyaki to arrive and when it came, it was much smaller compared to the one I had in the US. But dang, this sucker knows how to pack a punch and I’m so glad Hiroshi and I decided to share this. For a big eater such as myself, I rarely get full on seafood in such a small amount. I don’t think I’d be able to finish one by myself. However, one thing I love about Japanese food is that I don’t get sickly full unlike most Americanized pastas. If anything, Japanese food makes me feel content and energized.
Once we got our fill, we finally ate the snacks I bought back at the train station. Hiroshi was a little irritated how I brought a snack until he saw the éclair. He immediately munched on it while I ate my crème puff. I think it would’ve tasted better if we ate it right when I bought it or I took the ice pack the lady offered at the vendor to keep it cool. I was really impressed with the ice pack too.
We walked around for a bit and aside from seeing a lot of rice scoops, there’s one that stood out the most: A giant shamoji. It was the world’s largest wooden rice scoop and I totally didn’t expect to see this. I kept on seeing this particular one on TV or the Internet. Seriously I could’ve sworn that I saw it on one of Hiroshi’s Japanese shows but he said he never seen or heard of it before. I must’ve seen it somewhere else then.
And then we ran into another interesting snack vendor that Hiroshi never had and couldn’t resist: Croquette Oysters. Now I’m not really a big fan of croquette since the ones I’ve tried in Mitsuwa are just mashed potatoes (cold for the most part) with seasoning but this was fresh! I wish Hiroshi bought two instead of one to share. Hiroshi loved it so much that I decided to stick to my one tiny bite and let him finish the rest. It was exactly like the Kaki Fry that I had but with a creamy potato.
We finally made our way to the torii at the Itsukushima shrine. Because of the low tide, tourists had the opportunity to actually walk up to the torii. To be honest, standing out there felt like a dream. Waves slowly coming in, salt water blowing on my face, and next to me stood a tall torii staring at ocean. At some point, I could only hear the ocean waves and absolutely blocked out tourists. Such a great place for meditations.
Hiroshi has only been here on a high tide and never on a low tide so this was new for him. After he took a couple of pictures, he went straight to the foot of the torii and studied the barnacles. He studied it for a while like a curious cat. He looked so cute until he touched it. Eew!
*Eew! What are you doing?!
It was time to head back to the Hiroshima train station but before we left, we just had to try one more thing. Aside from oysters rice scoops, maple leaf seems to be another theme on this island. There were deep fried maple leaf-shaped fish cakes, gelatins, and pastries. We went for the pastries of course since its small and looked light… It was just like the okonomiyaki. Another sucker punch! We even bought different flavors too: chocolate (its ok), custard (my favorite), maple (refreshing), and red bean (the correct one unlike the other blasphemies according to Hiroshi). We saved the leftovers for later.
We got back to Hiroshima train station on time, picked up our things from the lockers, and headed off to Osaka. Even though our stay in Hiroshima was short, it was most memorable. It somewhat reminded me so much of my Philippines trip last year. Both were near the ocean and greatly affected by WWII. Plus there’s the seafood galore!
*Bye-bye Hiroshima!
It was another long train ride to Osaka and by the time we got there, it was already dark. Hiroshi originally planned on walking around the city at night to see the famous giant crab and running man on buildings. We might not have walked a lot today but the train ride still took a toll on us even though we rode a bullet train. Plus we didn’t really have much time to walk an entire city. Instead we opted for an aquarium which I suggested and Hiroshi has never been to. It was the same aquarium that I saw at this one Korean drama called “You are Beautiful.” It was gorgeous when I saw it and just thinking about seeing it in person made me more excited.
Once we reached Osaka, we jumped right into a subway to go to the aquarium. On one of the stops, a little boy in uniform came in. I immediately noticed he was by himself. My first thought was “Oh, he must be meeting his parents here.” But after a couple of stops, he was still there by himself. He was a little restless too, looking and turning here and there. I brought it up to Hiroshi and he said it’s normal for kids to travel by themselves in Japan. My jaw literally dropped. Wow… My ex would brag about UK being the best in healthcare, benefits, and how the government really looks out for their people. That people are safe in the UK because of the government… Kids can travel by themselves in Japan! That says a whole lot more! I probably looked creepy when I took a picture of the kid.
*Couldn’t pass on taking a picture of a mini-Hiroshi (^.^)
That also explains why they have these signs by the door on my hip level. Is it mean how this warning sign cracks me up? >XD
The walk to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan from the subway wasn’t so bad. It was like any harbors I’ve been to but instead of a rollercoaster, there was a giant green Ferris wheel. It was huge and perhaps bigger than the London Eye.
As we walked down the pier we passed by a couple of trees that were lit up in blue lights. We were obviously heading to the right direction and there it was, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. It looked like a giant Lego building. From the look of it, we already knew we were going to have fun in there.
Someone above must’ve been watching over us because right when we walked into the building, the first thing I saw was the locker room. My backpack was starting to get a bit heavy from all the small souvenirs, pamphlets, tickets, and charms I’ve collected from the trip. It’s all paper weight until you have enough to turn it into a book.
I haven't been to much aquariums but I have to say I’m most impressed with this one. It’s like a bigger version of Shark Reef Aquarium in Las Vegas but so much less touristy. On one section, guests are led to a pathway that walks around a huge tank so they can start from the top and walk around it to the bottom. It was so beautiful. All of the fishes looked like they were flying instead of swimming. They’re literally right next to me at my eye level. It’s like a whole new world. Now even though I’m not a big fan of animal captivity I had so much fun looking at the animals. I was a bit disappointed that the large aquarium that I saw in the Korean drama was closed but I still enjoyed myself.
*Hahahaha! So cute!
*Hiroshi totally wanted to eat them.
*I still don’t know what this is…
What I really wanted to see in the aquarium was the whale shark. We didn’t get to see the full grown since the big aquarium was closed, but we did see two adolescents on the regular tank. It was hard to take a good picture of it. Hiroshi actually wanted to see the manta ray. Sadly we didn’t see it. I think those were also in the closed aquarium along with the full grown whale sharks.
This was yet another Hiroshi-cat moment. Because I was taking forever admiring the whale shark, he went on ahead of me. I found him at the lowest level of the aquarium watching the fishes. Just as I was about to approach him, a large stingray at the corner started moving and the size of it was staggering. I’ve never seen a stingray this big in my entire life. I wished I caught it on video but photos will have to do.
We had so much fun at the aquarium even though our time in Osaka was really short. It was as if we were little kids seeing these creatures for the first time. I’m so happy we decided to go to the aquarium rather than walking around the city’s busy streets. If we had gone to the city, I probably would’ve gotten sick from exhaustion. At least the aquarium was more relaxing.
The last train ride of the day was much short than the previous one. Hiroshi predicted we will arriving at the hotel past dinner time so it’s best to have bentos for dinner on the train ride. These lunchboxes are so convenient (they’re pretty much have it on every train station) and a whole lot more healthier than fastfood. Plus they’re mighty tasty!
As always, he was right. We arrived at Nagoya late at night and we were so ready to crash in our hotel room. This particular hotel room was very small compared to the ones we’ve stayed before. Hiroshi felt a bit cheated on and I assured him its okay since we’ll only be staying here for one night. A nice long hot bath and a very pretty city view did the trick.
End of Day 5
It was a beautiful morning. Blue skies and barely any clouds and yet our first stop is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Seriously, the weather has a twisted sense of humor. What sad was that the view from our hotel room was beautiful at night but when morning came, I’ve never seen so many cemeteries in Japan. See the concrete section on the left hill on the top photo? That’s the biggest one. There were more on other hills.
The first site we visited was the Genbaku Domu (A-Bomb Dome) that used to be the Industrial Promotion Hall. It’s the closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that is still standing. Well, partially. The structure itself was heartbreaking. If such a force was able to do this to a building and still affect the Phoenix Trees offspring at Nijo-jo castle, I can’t imagine its impact on all those who had experienced it.
Just over the river is the Children’s Peace Monument. Much to Hiroshi’s surprise, I was very familiar with this section because of the documentaries that I’ve watched on WWII. This statue was dedicated to a girl named Sadako Sasaki who survived the explosion at the age of two and died ten years later from radiation exposure. She’s well known for folding a thousand origami cranes to grant her wish by the gods. I’m not sure if she was able to fold a thousand cranes, but she became the symbol of innocent victims of war. People around the world pay their respect by folding and contributing a thousand cranes to this park hence the reason behind the freshly folded cranes.
Close to the Children’s Peace Monument, we came across the Peace Flame. The flame was lit in 1964 and will only be extinguished when all nuclear bombs are destroyed.
Behind the Peace Flame is the Memorial Cenotaph, a monument that has all the names of the people who were killed by the bomb. The arch represents the shelter for the victims. It carries an epitaph written in Japanese that translates to “Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.”
We also went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Not only did it contain the history of Hiroshima’s before and aftermath, but it also had artifacts and stories of those who passed away. Tourists are first told about the city’s history before the bomb and then moved on to the survivor’s description of the bomb, the “white light” and “black rain.”
What literally choked me up were the recovered artifacts and the stories behind them. I had to take a long restroom break to pull myself together.
*Time stopped when the atomic bomb landed.
*A human shadow burned into the steps at Sumitomo Bank Branch.
The most painful part was seeing the artifacts and reading stories of the young victims; those who were in schools when it happened. All of their stories were about the last time they were seen by their parents or friends. After the explosion they went out to look for their loved ones but only found the victims’ belongings which they were last seen with. Lunch boxes, bicycles, burnt skin on school uniforms, shoes, and other things that were owned by children. War is the most stupidest and pointless thing in the world.
The museum also mentioned Sadako’s story; from her early childhood to how she became the inspiration for the Children’s Peace Monument.
*Some of Sadako’s original paper cranes.
Despite how depressing the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was, I’m glad I visited the park. It gave me a lot of new perspective in life. It’s not just about learning from your mistakes, but it’s also about understanding the entire situation including the other party that makes you grow. I have heard how brutal and heartless the Japanese soldiers were when I went to Corregidor and Palawan, but they also suffered a great lost in Hiroshima. Both sides had its flaws and victims who shouldn’t have been involved.
We headed back to the train station near the hotel and looked for a public locker to put our things in since we’ll be returning to this station. We didn’t have change for the locker so I had a good excuse to buy some tasties. I bought Hiroshi his favorite éclair and a crème puff for me. By the time I got back with change, he already got change from another store. Oh well, at least we now have a locker to put our things and a box of yummy-in-my-tummy.
We made our way to the Hiroshima Bay to take the ferry to Miyajima, the Shrine Island. This part of the trip reminded me of Philippines when I rode the boat to Corregidor. I love the sea salt smell. It reminds me so much of Philippines.
And right from the boat, we could see the torii from the Itsukushima Shrine.
OMG, I knew I was going to love this place right when we reached the shore. I could already tell they specialize in seafood and I was right on the spot. Their main specialty is oyster. It may not be crabs but I don’t discriminate. There was marketplace called Omotesando a few blocks from the ferry that lookes very much like a modernized version of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka back in Kyoto; filled with restaurants, stores, and snack vendors. It was also packed with tourists, students on a field trip, and of course, those lovable deers.
Our appetite kicked in out of the blue and fortunately there were restaurants everywhere. Hiroshi wanted grilled oysters while I was craving for okonomiyaki (Hiroshima-style). It didn’t take us long to find a place that serves both. What’s the best part? They serve seafood okonomiyaki!
The wait was long as I expected so our grilled oysters came first and oh man, now I know why Hiroshi wanted it. Pour in some of that sauce and it’s like sipping heaven.
It took another couple of minutes for our okonomyaki to arrive and when it came, it was much smaller compared to the one I had in the US. But dang, this sucker knows how to pack a punch and I’m so glad Hiroshi and I decided to share this. For a big eater such as myself, I rarely get full on seafood in such a small amount. I don’t think I’d be able to finish one by myself. However, one thing I love about Japanese food is that I don’t get sickly full unlike most Americanized pastas. If anything, Japanese food makes me feel content and energized.
Once we got our fill, we finally ate the snacks I bought back at the train station. Hiroshi was a little irritated how I brought a snack until he saw the éclair. He immediately munched on it while I ate my crème puff. I think it would’ve tasted better if we ate it right when I bought it or I took the ice pack the lady offered at the vendor to keep it cool. I was really impressed with the ice pack too.
We walked around for a bit and aside from seeing a lot of rice scoops, there’s one that stood out the most: A giant shamoji. It was the world’s largest wooden rice scoop and I totally didn’t expect to see this. I kept on seeing this particular one on TV or the Internet. Seriously I could’ve sworn that I saw it on one of Hiroshi’s Japanese shows but he said he never seen or heard of it before. I must’ve seen it somewhere else then.
And then we ran into another interesting snack vendor that Hiroshi never had and couldn’t resist: Croquette Oysters. Now I’m not really a big fan of croquette since the ones I’ve tried in Mitsuwa are just mashed potatoes (cold for the most part) with seasoning but this was fresh! I wish Hiroshi bought two instead of one to share. Hiroshi loved it so much that I decided to stick to my one tiny bite and let him finish the rest. It was exactly like the Kaki Fry that I had but with a creamy potato.
We finally made our way to the torii at the Itsukushima shrine. Because of the low tide, tourists had the opportunity to actually walk up to the torii. To be honest, standing out there felt like a dream. Waves slowly coming in, salt water blowing on my face, and next to me stood a tall torii staring at ocean. At some point, I could only hear the ocean waves and absolutely blocked out tourists. Such a great place for meditations.
Hiroshi has only been here on a high tide and never on a low tide so this was new for him. After he took a couple of pictures, he went straight to the foot of the torii and studied the barnacles. He studied it for a while like a curious cat. He looked so cute until he touched it. Eew!
*Eew! What are you doing?!
It was time to head back to the Hiroshima train station but before we left, we just had to try one more thing. Aside from oysters rice scoops, maple leaf seems to be another theme on this island. There were deep fried maple leaf-shaped fish cakes, gelatins, and pastries. We went for the pastries of course since its small and looked light… It was just like the okonomiyaki. Another sucker punch! We even bought different flavors too: chocolate (its ok), custard (my favorite), maple (refreshing), and red bean (the correct one unlike the other blasphemies according to Hiroshi). We saved the leftovers for later.
We got back to Hiroshima train station on time, picked up our things from the lockers, and headed off to Osaka. Even though our stay in Hiroshima was short, it was most memorable. It somewhat reminded me so much of my Philippines trip last year. Both were near the ocean and greatly affected by WWII. Plus there’s the seafood galore!
*Bye-bye Hiroshima!
It was another long train ride to Osaka and by the time we got there, it was already dark. Hiroshi originally planned on walking around the city at night to see the famous giant crab and running man on buildings. We might not have walked a lot today but the train ride still took a toll on us even though we rode a bullet train. Plus we didn’t really have much time to walk an entire city. Instead we opted for an aquarium which I suggested and Hiroshi has never been to. It was the same aquarium that I saw at this one Korean drama called “You are Beautiful.” It was gorgeous when I saw it and just thinking about seeing it in person made me more excited.
Once we reached Osaka, we jumped right into a subway to go to the aquarium. On one of the stops, a little boy in uniform came in. I immediately noticed he was by himself. My first thought was “Oh, he must be meeting his parents here.” But after a couple of stops, he was still there by himself. He was a little restless too, looking and turning here and there. I brought it up to Hiroshi and he said it’s normal for kids to travel by themselves in Japan. My jaw literally dropped. Wow… My ex would brag about UK being the best in healthcare, benefits, and how the government really looks out for their people. That people are safe in the UK because of the government… Kids can travel by themselves in Japan! That says a whole lot more! I probably looked creepy when I took a picture of the kid.
*Couldn’t pass on taking a picture of a mini-Hiroshi (^.^)
That also explains why they have these signs by the door on my hip level. Is it mean how this warning sign cracks me up? >XD
The walk to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan from the subway wasn’t so bad. It was like any harbors I’ve been to but instead of a rollercoaster, there was a giant green Ferris wheel. It was huge and perhaps bigger than the London Eye.
As we walked down the pier we passed by a couple of trees that were lit up in blue lights. We were obviously heading to the right direction and there it was, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. It looked like a giant Lego building. From the look of it, we already knew we were going to have fun in there.
Someone above must’ve been watching over us because right when we walked into the building, the first thing I saw was the locker room. My backpack was starting to get a bit heavy from all the small souvenirs, pamphlets, tickets, and charms I’ve collected from the trip. It’s all paper weight until you have enough to turn it into a book.
I haven't been to much aquariums but I have to say I’m most impressed with this one. It’s like a bigger version of Shark Reef Aquarium in Las Vegas but so much less touristy. On one section, guests are led to a pathway that walks around a huge tank so they can start from the top and walk around it to the bottom. It was so beautiful. All of the fishes looked like they were flying instead of swimming. They’re literally right next to me at my eye level. It’s like a whole new world. Now even though I’m not a big fan of animal captivity I had so much fun looking at the animals. I was a bit disappointed that the large aquarium that I saw in the Korean drama was closed but I still enjoyed myself.
*Hahahaha! So cute!
*Hiroshi totally wanted to eat them.
*I still don’t know what this is…
What I really wanted to see in the aquarium was the whale shark. We didn’t get to see the full grown since the big aquarium was closed, but we did see two adolescents on the regular tank. It was hard to take a good picture of it. Hiroshi actually wanted to see the manta ray. Sadly we didn’t see it. I think those were also in the closed aquarium along with the full grown whale sharks.
This was yet another Hiroshi-cat moment. Because I was taking forever admiring the whale shark, he went on ahead of me. I found him at the lowest level of the aquarium watching the fishes. Just as I was about to approach him, a large stingray at the corner started moving and the size of it was staggering. I’ve never seen a stingray this big in my entire life. I wished I caught it on video but photos will have to do.
We had so much fun at the aquarium even though our time in Osaka was really short. It was as if we were little kids seeing these creatures for the first time. I’m so happy we decided to go to the aquarium rather than walking around the city’s busy streets. If we had gone to the city, I probably would’ve gotten sick from exhaustion. At least the aquarium was more relaxing.
The last train ride of the day was much short than the previous one. Hiroshi predicted we will arriving at the hotel past dinner time so it’s best to have bentos for dinner on the train ride. These lunchboxes are so convenient (they’re pretty much have it on every train station) and a whole lot more healthier than fastfood. Plus they’re mighty tasty!
As always, he was right. We arrived at Nagoya late at night and we were so ready to crash in our hotel room. This particular hotel room was very small compared to the ones we’ve stayed before. Hiroshi felt a bit cheated on and I assured him its okay since we’ll only be staying here for one night. A nice long hot bath and a very pretty city view did the trick.
End of Day 5
