[Japan Travel]: Matsuyama - Day 1
Hi everybody,
Sorry it's been a while. Like I told you before I had to work 6 days this week, so today is my only day off and so much stuff to do.
I'll be less busy in the next two weeks, so hopefully I can update more often.
Anyway, I'm posting today to finally continue with the photos of my spring vacation 2009.
After I left Okayama, I went straight to Shikoku, one of the huge islands in Japan.
There are several ways to get there (e.g. by ship, ferry, train or car). Everything leads over or through the ocean, though.
I travelled by train and it was awesome!! Honshu is connected to Shikoku via a huuuuuuuge bridge over the sea. Beautiful view, I tell you ^-^
Shikoku (四国?, "four provinces") is the smallest (225 km long and between 50 and 150 km wide) and least populous (4,141,955 as of 2005) of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of Kyūshū island. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima (伊予之二名島), Iyo-shima (伊予島), and Futana-shima (二名島). The current name refers to the four former provinces which made up the island: Awa, Tosa, Sanuki, and Iyo.
Anyway, I arrived in Matsuyama at noon on April 3rd 2009. Here's my day.
Matsuyama - Day 1 (April 3rd, 2009):
This was close to my hotel where I went first to get rid of my luggage.
I love the mirror effect of that building :)
As the weather was really good that day (and after having a bad experience with the weather in Okayama) I decided to go to the main attraction (at least for me) right away: Matsuyama Castle.
Like most castles in Japan it's on a hill. You can access it either by walking upstairs the whole way or using the cable car thingie :)
As I didn't have so much time, I decided to use the cable car :) (As you can see you also could use single lift-chair-thingies XD)
As soon as I arrived up there, I was bewitched! It was so damn beautiful and there were SO MANY cherry blossom trees EVERYWHERE!!! (*__*)
Of course it was quite crowded. It had nice weather and I guess spring is the best time to visit THIS castle anyway (with all those cherry blossoms).
It took me forever to move on. I stopped every two seconds to take yet another photo as it was just too beautiful ;o;
The castle was quite big and interesting (compared to other castles I've seen so far).
Of course the view from up there was awesome as well. A lot of people sat under the cherry blossom trees and were staring down to the city. Just awesome, I tell you!
As you can imagine (and judging by all those photos) I spent quite a lot of time there (^^') ....
Like in Okayama, too, there were some couples wearing Japanese wedding clothes, but I'm not sure if it was just a shooting for a catalogue. It looked like it!
One of my favorite photos! I love the colors (*_*)
Finally on my way to the entrance of the castle ^^;
There were less people because most of them only wanted to sit below the cherry blossom trees and waiting for the festival there at night. Most of them are locals that have seen the inside of the castle anyway. Plus visiting the inside of the castle costs money ;)
I love those old small windows that were used in battle to stick the weapons through it, I think?!?
The inside of a castle is what makes it special. Some castles are COMPLETELY boring inside (e.g. Osaka Castle).
Matsuyama Castle was quite interesting :)
On the top floor of a castle you always have the best view over the city ^-^
As Matsuyama is the partner city of Freiburg (a German city) there was (for the first time!!!) not only English, but also German!!! Yay (^-^)v (although there are a few mistakes XD)
How to correctly put on a Japanese suit of armor. I know you always wanted to know about it, right? XDD
Finally outside again. I took so many photos of flowers that day (especially in the late afternoon - you'll see later). I should call it the flower day. Maybe even the pink flower day?! XD
Already on my way back.
Byebye castle! ( ´Д｀)ﾉ~ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ
Very close to the castle was a small Japanese garden. Nothing special, though. I wouldn't recommend going there if you're on a tight schedule!
Great color combination.
I knew that by the time I would be posting that photo I'd forgotten the name of that building. I think it was the Prefectual Hall thingie. If I compare it to ours this one is sooooooooooo interesting and beautiful!
Anyway ... it was already quite late (late afternoon) and I decided to go to the Matsuyama Central Park. Despite its name it's not really central at all. It was quite difficult to get there as all the tourist busses etc. wouldn't go there and no tram either!
The park was on another huge hill and this time I had not other choice but to walk. Most people went up by car ;o;
The park was huge and I mean huge, really huge!! I didn't have time to see everything, but it was awesome there and I took tons of photos of flowers and stuff which will follow right away.
In order to take this photo I had to ask 2 Japanese boys to move. They looked quite shocked when I asked them in Japanese XD
That sculpture was really interesting. Here is a close-up.
On top of the hill is this. Something like an observation tower. It tries to imitate old European castles, that's what I read somewhere.
The view from up there was awesome!
2 things I want to show you in this photo:
#1 is the castle
#2 is the way Japanese roads are constructed. They're often as straight and long as this one. Interesting, huh?
Please don't ask me for the names of all the flowers I took pictures of that day. I'm not a plant expert at all and there were no signs saying wthat kind of flowers they are anyway.
Far over there you can see the ocean.
There were a LOT of cats in the park. So as you might have guessed already I took tons of photos of them ^-^ .... at least I tried to XD
I was a LITTLE bit afraid when I saw that sign! XD (ﾟдﾟ)！
Luckily I didn't see any snakes, but met another cat instead (*^-゜)vィェィ♪
It was almost like she was posing for me (I have tons of photos of this cat, but am only posting a few, of course).
A little bit hidden behind bushes I found these two cuties ^-^
I like the different colors in this pic.
I think it really should be the pink flower day! XD
Ha! I remember the name of that one! Red Tsubaki :)
That's a Tsubaki, too ^^
Look like roses, but I'm not sure. I'm completely in love with the soft pink color.
It's really not like I only took photos of pink flowers that day! I swear!!
Still walking around in that huge park. Finally reached the "cherry blossom tree" part of the park. As you can see the sun was about to set.
Cherry blossoms EVERWHERE!!!!!!!!! (*_*)
Anyway as it was getting dark I decided to go to the famous Dogo Onsen (道後温泉). It's the oldest onsen in Japan! (3000 years!!!)
Of course I went inside to try out the spa as well (*__*)
On this photo in the background you can see the Dogo Onsen main building and a few people coming from there in yukatas :) (Don't worry there will be more photos during daytime in on of my next entries ^^)
There are different price levels with different services. I chose the most expensive one, so I got my own room and was allowed to stay 90minutes in total.
I got undressed, put on the yukata I was given and locked my stuff away.
The view from my room's balcony. It was quite cold.
After that I went downstairs (the private rooms are in the third floor) where we got a short guide tour through the onsen. All in Japanese, but the old man who was the guide was really nice and always asked if I understood everything ^^;
Then, I finally went into the spa. It was REALLY small and super hot (hotter than any other onsen I've been to so far). The spa itself was nothing special at all (despite being the oldest). I met some girls my age there (Japanese, of course) and like always (strangely enough) we started to talk. Usually Japanese people rarely start a long conversation with me, it ALWAYS happens in onsen ONLY XDDDDDDD
They were from Tokyo so we had quite a lot to talk about :) It was nice ^-^ We all had to leave soon again, because it was just too hot for all of us ^^; .... My face was red for over half an hour after leaving the bath XD
That's why I prefer outside spas (preferably on the seaside XD).
Back up in my room I was served the famous Bocchan Dango (they are called after the novel "My darling master aka Bocchan" written by Natsume Souseki - the novel takes place in Matsuyama, that's why) and also green tea.
I sat down, opened the balcony door and tried to cool down a bit. It was super relaxing and nice :)
After I left the onsen I went a little bit to explore the area. There was a small festival going on nearby. There were two (famous it seemed) Taiko drummers. Their performance was beyond awesome! ;o;
Before going back to my hotel to finally sleep I went through the small shopping arcade there, but as you can see almost all the shops were closed already.
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
And that was my pretty busy, but awesome first day in Matsuyama which I'd like to call "pink flower day"
XDDDD
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Ciaoっス☆⌒(*^-゜)ノ~♪
Sorry it's been a while. Like I told you before I had to work 6 days this week, so today is my only day off and so much stuff to do.
I'll be less busy in the next two weeks, so hopefully I can update more often.
Anyway, I'm posting today to finally continue with the photos of my spring vacation 2009.
After I left Okayama, I went straight to Shikoku, one of the huge islands in Japan.
There are several ways to get there (e.g. by ship, ferry, train or car). Everything leads over or through the ocean, though.
I travelled by train and it was awesome!! Honshu is connected to Shikoku via a huuuuuuuge bridge over the sea. Beautiful view, I tell you ^-^
Shikoku (四国?, "four provinces") is the smallest (225 km long and between 50 and 150 km wide) and least populous (4,141,955 as of 2005) of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of Kyūshū island. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima (伊予之二名島), Iyo-shima (伊予島), and Futana-shima (二名島). The current name refers to the four former provinces which made up the island: Awa, Tosa, Sanuki, and Iyo.
Anyway, I arrived in Matsuyama at noon on April 3rd 2009. Here's my day.
Matsuyama - Day 1 (April 3rd, 2009):
This was close to my hotel where I went first to get rid of my luggage.
I love the mirror effect of that building :)
As the weather was really good that day (and after having a bad experience with the weather in Okayama) I decided to go to the main attraction (at least for me) right away: Matsuyama Castle.
Like most castles in Japan it's on a hill. You can access it either by walking upstairs the whole way or using the cable car thingie :)
As I didn't have so much time, I decided to use the cable car :) (As you can see you also could use single lift-chair-thingies XD)
As soon as I arrived up there, I was bewitched! It was so damn beautiful and there were SO MANY cherry blossom trees EVERYWHERE!!! (*__*)
Of course it was quite crowded. It had nice weather and I guess spring is the best time to visit THIS castle anyway (with all those cherry blossoms).
It took me forever to move on. I stopped every two seconds to take yet another photo as it was just too beautiful ;o;
The castle was quite big and interesting (compared to other castles I've seen so far).
Of course the view from up there was awesome as well. A lot of people sat under the cherry blossom trees and were staring down to the city. Just awesome, I tell you!
As you can imagine (and judging by all those photos) I spent quite a lot of time there (^^') ....
Like in Okayama, too, there were some couples wearing Japanese wedding clothes, but I'm not sure if it was just a shooting for a catalogue. It looked like it!
One of my favorite photos! I love the colors (*_*)
Finally on my way to the entrance of the castle ^^;
There were less people because most of them only wanted to sit below the cherry blossom trees and waiting for the festival there at night. Most of them are locals that have seen the inside of the castle anyway. Plus visiting the inside of the castle costs money ;)
I love those old small windows that were used in battle to stick the weapons through it, I think?!?
The inside of a castle is what makes it special. Some castles are COMPLETELY boring inside (e.g. Osaka Castle).
Matsuyama Castle was quite interesting :)
On the top floor of a castle you always have the best view over the city ^-^
As Matsuyama is the partner city of Freiburg (a German city) there was (for the first time!!!) not only English, but also German!!! Yay (^-^)v (although there are a few mistakes XD)
How to correctly put on a Japanese suit of armor. I know you always wanted to know about it, right? XDD
Finally outside again. I took so many photos of flowers that day (especially in the late afternoon - you'll see later). I should call it the flower day. Maybe even the pink flower day?! XD
Already on my way back.
Byebye castle! ( ´Д｀)ﾉ~ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ
Very close to the castle was a small Japanese garden. Nothing special, though. I wouldn't recommend going there if you're on a tight schedule!
Great color combination.
I knew that by the time I would be posting that photo I'd forgotten the name of that building. I think it was the Prefectual Hall thingie. If I compare it to ours this one is sooooooooooo interesting and beautiful!
Anyway ... it was already quite late (late afternoon) and I decided to go to the Matsuyama Central Park. Despite its name it's not really central at all. It was quite difficult to get there as all the tourist busses etc. wouldn't go there and no tram either!
The park was on another huge hill and this time I had not other choice but to walk. Most people went up by car ;o;
The park was huge and I mean huge, really huge!! I didn't have time to see everything, but it was awesome there and I took tons of photos of flowers and stuff which will follow right away.
In order to take this photo I had to ask 2 Japanese boys to move. They looked quite shocked when I asked them in Japanese XD
That sculpture was really interesting. Here is a close-up.
On top of the hill is this. Something like an observation tower. It tries to imitate old European castles, that's what I read somewhere.
The view from up there was awesome!
2 things I want to show you in this photo:
#1 is the castle
#2 is the way Japanese roads are constructed. They're often as straight and long as this one. Interesting, huh?
Please don't ask me for the names of all the flowers I took pictures of that day. I'm not a plant expert at all and there were no signs saying wthat kind of flowers they are anyway.
Far over there you can see the ocean.
There were a LOT of cats in the park. So as you might have guessed already I took tons of photos of them ^-^ .... at least I tried to XD
I was a LITTLE bit afraid when I saw that sign! XD (ﾟдﾟ)！
Luckily I didn't see any snakes, but met another cat instead (*^-゜)vィェィ♪
It was almost like she was posing for me (I have tons of photos of this cat, but am only posting a few, of course).
A little bit hidden behind bushes I found these two cuties ^-^
I like the different colors in this pic.
I think it really should be the pink flower day! XD
Ha! I remember the name of that one! Red Tsubaki :)
That's a Tsubaki, too ^^
Look like roses, but I'm not sure. I'm completely in love with the soft pink color.
It's really not like I only took photos of pink flowers that day! I swear!!
Still walking around in that huge park. Finally reached the "cherry blossom tree" part of the park. As you can see the sun was about to set.
Cherry blossoms EVERWHERE!!!!!!!!! (*_*)
Anyway as it was getting dark I decided to go to the famous Dogo Onsen (道後温泉). It's the oldest onsen in Japan! (3000 years!!!)
Of course I went inside to try out the spa as well (*__*)
On this photo in the background you can see the Dogo Onsen main building and a few people coming from there in yukatas :) (Don't worry there will be more photos during daytime in on of my next entries ^^)
There are different price levels with different services. I chose the most expensive one, so I got my own room and was allowed to stay 90minutes in total.
I got undressed, put on the yukata I was given and locked my stuff away.
The view from my room's balcony. It was quite cold.
After that I went downstairs (the private rooms are in the third floor) where we got a short guide tour through the onsen. All in Japanese, but the old man who was the guide was really nice and always asked if I understood everything ^^;
Then, I finally went into the spa. It was REALLY small and super hot (hotter than any other onsen I've been to so far). The spa itself was nothing special at all (despite being the oldest). I met some girls my age there (Japanese, of course) and like always (strangely enough) we started to talk. Usually Japanese people rarely start a long conversation with me, it ALWAYS happens in onsen ONLY XDDDDDDD
They were from Tokyo so we had quite a lot to talk about :) It was nice ^-^ We all had to leave soon again, because it was just too hot for all of us ^^; .... My face was red for over half an hour after leaving the bath XD
That's why I prefer outside spas (preferably on the seaside XD).
Back up in my room I was served the famous Bocchan Dango (they are called after the novel "My darling master aka Bocchan" written by Natsume Souseki - the novel takes place in Matsuyama, that's why) and also green tea.
I sat down, opened the balcony door and tried to cool down a bit. It was super relaxing and nice :)
After I left the onsen I went a little bit to explore the area. There was a small festival going on nearby. There were two (famous it seemed) Taiko drummers. Their performance was beyond awesome! ;o;
Before going back to my hotel to finally sleep I went through the small shopping arcade there, but as you can see almost all the shops were closed already.
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
And that was my pretty busy, but awesome first day in Matsuyama which I'd like to call "pink flower day"
XDDDD
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Ciaoっス☆⌒(*^-゜)ノ~♪