[Japan Travel]: Kôchi - Day 2
Hey~ho (*゜ο゜)ゞ
It's photo time again ^-^
On my second day in Kôchi I had quite a strict schedule, but I was able to see so many awesome things that day.
Please enjoy the photos together with me (*__*)/~
Kochi - Day 2 (April 7th, 2009):
My plan was to go to the mountain Godaisan (五台山) and Katsurahama (桂浜). Both were quite far away from each other, so I got up as early as possible and was still not sure if I would be able to go everywhere I wanted to.
While waiting for my bus to Godaisan, I got bored and took some random photos. I already told you that Kouchi is not really prepared for tourists. My bus was a small bus with 114321523412 stops and it took forever to get there.
Then it was really difficult to find the right way to climb up all the way, no signs at all! And it was quite hot that day as well.
After quite some time I finally reached the top of the mountain. There's a really famous temple, the Chikurin-ji (竹林寺) which is one of the Shikoku Pilgrimage temples :)
There's also the Makino (*fangirl squee*) Botanical Garden. I decided to go to the temple first. As you can see it has a 5-storied pagoda :)
The temple and everyting around it was so absolutely beautiful I REALLY didn't know where to start!!!! (*____*)
Cherry blossom tree with fortune telling papers around it (*___*)v
That's where the pilgrims gather and pray. Actually, when I was there there was quite a huge group of pilgrims praying :)
Very interesting ^^
As you can see the weather was great that day (*__*)v
At first I just thought: "Yay, cat" and took a photo, but there's actually quite an interesting story behind this cat statue:
Can you see it? Cool, huh? XD
Nice weather, blue sky, red 5-storied pagoda and cherry blossoms. I love this photo! :)
Taking photos randomly of flowers again (^^')>
I really liked this pagoda (esp. the colors) - and I've seen many pagodas by now! XD
Sorry, random. I just loved the colors!
There was a really famous Japanese garden (small, but beautiful).
Different statues of gods and stuff. The explanation was in Japanese only, so I couldn't understand everything. As there were so many I didn't listen to the tape there until the end anyway XD
There was still more to see, but my schedule didn't allow me to stay any longer. I moved on to the botanical garden which was the most beautiful and the biggest I've ssen so far!! I spent way too much time there and became a fan of Dr. Makino (and not it's NOT because of his name!!!)
Cute cati (^-^)v
I went to the 温室 first (wow, I actually had to look up the English word for it! XD ... It's awesome that it sometimes happens that I can remember Japanese words faster/better than English words! XD) -> greenhouse.
The colors are awesome!
Yah, that was a real one! Enjoying the afternoon sun, I guess XD
Finally left the greenhouse and moved on. Awesome view (*___*)v
Like I said, I spent way too much time there. It was like: step - stop - take 1-2 photos - step - stop - 1-2 photos etc. XDDD This way you'll be able to move on 1 meter in 30 minutes or so x___X *headdesk*
And AWESOME view from up there! Remember that I had to climb up Godaisan first for that view?! But it was definitely worth it ^^
Here you can see all the rice fields once again :)
Zooooooooo~ooom
Of course cherry blossoms were almost everywhere as well, but as there were so many other interesting plants, I almost forgot to take photos of sakura this time XD
There was also a huge museum. Unfortunately you were not allowed to take any photos. It was about the life of Dr. Makino. He was really an interesting guy and he was quite handsome as well!
I managed to buy a postcard, but I'm too lazy to scan it, sorry XDDDD
It was already past noon and I still needed to go to Katsurahama which was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away.
Going all the way back down to the bus stop and wait 1,5h for the next bus and then walk to the station and then catch the bus to Katsurahama ...... well .... that would have taken too long.
I found a taxi and went by taxi to the station. I knew it would be expensive, but I really wanted to go to Katsurahama as well as it was my last chance (the next day I was already on my way to Naruto anyway).
The taxi driver was really nice, though, and we talked quite a lot (it was quite a long way anyway).
I can't rememeber how much I paid in the end, but it was a lot!
From there I went by bus to Katsurahama which is a really famous port/beach.
The beach there was really nice, but a little bit too windy XD
There's also a small shrine on top of a small cliff. Awesome (*_*)v
Hello, paradise!
There's also a really small aquarium! There weren't many people, but that's what made it a nice experience :)
Highly recommended!
Yay, penguins ^-^
There were also a few performances. That Japanese guy was really cute (and sometimes I took more photos of him than of the animals *ahem* XDDD)
Singing(?! XD) penguins!
They only have one dolphin and it's still very young, but he could do some tricks already :)
There were REALLY huge ocean turtles!!! You could also give them food (if you paid for it), but I didn't do it ^^
You were not allowed to touch them, though ^^;
So many Nemos! And LEGO! XD And a One Piece ship! XDD
It was time to go, so I said goodbye to the dolphin. I was all alone with him, it was awesome ^^
By the way on my way back I ran into the drill guy and his female assistant and we started talking about the dolphin's and the seal's training and all. The guy was currently doing some trick practice with a young seal.
They were really nice ^^
While watching the performances earlier there was also a woman who started talking to me. Her sister seems to live in America if I remember that corretly, so she wanted to know if I'm from there as well. (She assumed that I was - as always XD ....)
Statue of the famous Sakamoto Ryoma who was the leader of the movement to overthrow Tokugawa Bakufu during the Bakumatsu period.
Random, but I was just fascinated by these roots!
I also went to the Sakamoto Ryoma memorial museum, but I was too late! It already was closed ;___; .... and as you can see the sunset was close as well.
I wanted to eat dinner there (the tuna Kochi is famous for), but all shops and restauraunts were about to close as well!!! GAH!). Katsurahama is also famous for dog fights, but I was sooooooooo not interested in that, so .... I decided to go back.
Finally back in the central of Kouchi City, I met nightstar again and we went to eat one of Kouchi's specialities (the tuna I was talking about before and which I couldn't get in Katsurahama because the restaurants all had closed already).
Katsuo no takaki (special type of tuna) which refers to the raw fish you can see in the picture.
It was yummie and I'm a fan of raw tuna, but I've eaten better ones ;P
View from my hotel room. Bye~bye Kouchi!!!!!
Although the first day was kind of boring I really enjoyed my stay there. Especially this second day was awesome and in the end I wished I had a little bit more time.
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
The next day I got up really early, because I had to catch my bus. Yeah, that's right! I went not by train, but by bus this time!!!
Next stop: Naruto and the awesome whirlpools! (*__*)/
Hope I'll be able to post soon again *g*
Only 2 more days left anyway ;o; I wanna try to post them before I leave for Germany in a few weeks.
ヾ(=・ω・=)o☆バイバイ☆ヾ(=・ω・=)o
It's photo time again ^-^
On my second day in Kôchi I had quite a strict schedule, but I was able to see so many awesome things that day.
Please enjoy the photos together with me (*__*)/~
Kochi - Day 2 (April 7th, 2009):
My plan was to go to the mountain Godaisan (五台山) and Katsurahama (桂浜). Both were quite far away from each other, so I got up as early as possible and was still not sure if I would be able to go everywhere I wanted to.
While waiting for my bus to Godaisan, I got bored and took some random photos. I already told you that Kouchi is not really prepared for tourists. My bus was a small bus with 114321523412 stops and it took forever to get there.
Then it was really difficult to find the right way to climb up all the way, no signs at all! And it was quite hot that day as well.
After quite some time I finally reached the top of the mountain. There's a really famous temple, the Chikurin-ji (竹林寺) which is one of the Shikoku Pilgrimage temples :)
There's also the Makino (*fangirl squee*) Botanical Garden. I decided to go to the temple first. As you can see it has a 5-storied pagoda :)
The temple and everyting around it was so absolutely beautiful I REALLY didn't know where to start!!!! (*____*)
Cherry blossom tree with fortune telling papers around it (*___*)v
That's where the pilgrims gather and pray. Actually, when I was there there was quite a huge group of pilgrims praying :)
Very interesting ^^
As you can see the weather was great that day (*__*)v
At first I just thought: "Yay, cat" and took a photo, but there's actually quite an interesting story behind this cat statue:
Can you see it? Cool, huh? XD
Nice weather, blue sky, red 5-storied pagoda and cherry blossoms. I love this photo! :)
Taking photos randomly of flowers again (^^')>
I really liked this pagoda (esp. the colors) - and I've seen many pagodas by now! XD
Sorry, random. I just loved the colors!
There was a really famous Japanese garden (small, but beautiful).
Different statues of gods and stuff. The explanation was in Japanese only, so I couldn't understand everything. As there were so many I didn't listen to the tape there until the end anyway XD
There was still more to see, but my schedule didn't allow me to stay any longer. I moved on to the botanical garden which was the most beautiful and the biggest I've ssen so far!! I spent way too much time there and became a fan of Dr. Makino (and not it's NOT because of his name!!!)
Cute cati (^-^)v
I went to the 温室 first (wow, I actually had to look up the English word for it! XD ... It's awesome that it sometimes happens that I can remember Japanese words faster/better than English words! XD) -> greenhouse.
The colors are awesome!
Yah, that was a real one! Enjoying the afternoon sun, I guess XD
Finally left the greenhouse and moved on. Awesome view (*___*)v
Like I said, I spent way too much time there. It was like: step - stop - take 1-2 photos - step - stop - 1-2 photos etc. XDDD This way you'll be able to move on 1 meter in 30 minutes or so x___X *headdesk*
And AWESOME view from up there! Remember that I had to climb up Godaisan first for that view?! But it was definitely worth it ^^
Here you can see all the rice fields once again :)
Zooooooooo~ooom
Of course cherry blossoms were almost everywhere as well, but as there were so many other interesting plants, I almost forgot to take photos of sakura this time XD
There was also a huge museum. Unfortunately you were not allowed to take any photos. It was about the life of Dr. Makino. He was really an interesting guy and he was quite handsome as well!
I managed to buy a postcard, but I'm too lazy to scan it, sorry XDDDD
It was already past noon and I still needed to go to Katsurahama which was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away.
Going all the way back down to the bus stop and wait 1,5h for the next bus and then walk to the station and then catch the bus to Katsurahama ...... well .... that would have taken too long.
I found a taxi and went by taxi to the station. I knew it would be expensive, but I really wanted to go to Katsurahama as well as it was my last chance (the next day I was already on my way to Naruto anyway).
The taxi driver was really nice, though, and we talked quite a lot (it was quite a long way anyway).
I can't rememeber how much I paid in the end, but it was a lot!
From there I went by bus to Katsurahama which is a really famous port/beach.
The beach there was really nice, but a little bit too windy XD
There's also a small shrine on top of a small cliff. Awesome (*_*)v
Hello, paradise!
There's also a really small aquarium! There weren't many people, but that's what made it a nice experience :)
Highly recommended!
Yay, penguins ^-^
There were also a few performances. That Japanese guy was really cute (and sometimes I took more photos of him than of the animals *ahem* XDDD)
Singing(?! XD) penguins!
They only have one dolphin and it's still very young, but he could do some tricks already :)
There were REALLY huge ocean turtles!!! You could also give them food (if you paid for it), but I didn't do it ^^
You were not allowed to touch them, though ^^;
So many Nemos! And LEGO! XD And a One Piece ship! XDD
It was time to go, so I said goodbye to the dolphin. I was all alone with him, it was awesome ^^
By the way on my way back I ran into the drill guy and his female assistant and we started talking about the dolphin's and the seal's training and all. The guy was currently doing some trick practice with a young seal.
They were really nice ^^
While watching the performances earlier there was also a woman who started talking to me. Her sister seems to live in America if I remember that corretly, so she wanted to know if I'm from there as well. (She assumed that I was - as always XD ....)
Statue of the famous Sakamoto Ryoma who was the leader of the movement to overthrow Tokugawa Bakufu during the Bakumatsu period.
Random, but I was just fascinated by these roots!
I also went to the Sakamoto Ryoma memorial museum, but I was too late! It already was closed ;___; .... and as you can see the sunset was close as well.
I wanted to eat dinner there (the tuna Kochi is famous for), but all shops and restauraunts were about to close as well!!! GAH!). Katsurahama is also famous for dog fights, but I was sooooooooo not interested in that, so .... I decided to go back.
Finally back in the central of Kouchi City, I met nightstar again and we went to eat one of Kouchi's specialities (the tuna I was talking about before and which I couldn't get in Katsurahama because the restaurants all had closed already).
Katsuo no takaki (special type of tuna) which refers to the raw fish you can see in the picture.
It was yummie and I'm a fan of raw tuna, but I've eaten better ones ;P
View from my hotel room. Bye~bye Kouchi!!!!!
Although the first day was kind of boring I really enjoyed my stay there. Especially this second day was awesome and in the end I wished I had a little bit more time.
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
The next day I got up really early, because I had to catch my bus. Yeah, that's right! I went not by train, but by bus this time!!!
Next stop: Naruto and the awesome whirlpools! (*__*)/
Hope I'll be able to post soon again *g*
Only 2 more days left anyway ;o; I wanna try to post them before I leave for Germany in a few weeks.
ヾ(=・ω・=)o☆バイバイ☆ヾ(=・ω・=)o