Japan Trip: Day 3 - Sendai
After an exhausting 'excursion' I had had the previous day, I had decided not to set my alarm and let my body rest. But to my dismay, I woke up at 2am, feeling cramps on my left half! Most especially my left shoulder >< I thought it had been a bad sleep's position, so I turned to my right. But after a while, the pain wouldn't go away. So I decided to look for some painkillers. I woke up and went through my medicine kit as quietly as I could. I thought I had brought my vit. B + painkiller (because I get spine pain sometimes), but as it turned out, I had forgotten! The only option I had there was paracetamol, so I took one and tried to get back to sleep.
And it helped! When I woke up again at around 8am, the pain had gone, and I felt refreshed, thank God. So I got up and got prepared for the day.
When I was about to leave shortly before 9am, Nozomi-san from the guesthouse told me that a typhoon would be hitting the area later that day! So she told me to take care. Actually, just hearing a typhoon coming just made ma wary, so I started recalculating my plans for the day.
That day, I had only planned a Sendai sight-seeing anyway, so at the very least, I wouldn't be too far if the typhoon came while I was still outside.
I walked to Sendai station then. It was drizzling, but the rain had started pouring harder when I arrived at the station. I quickly went towards the bus stops, looking for Loople Sendai's. It was pretty easy to find, thankfully, so I queued to buy a day pass, which cost me 620 Yen (a single ride would cost 260 Yen). You just need to show this pass to the driver when you get off the bus and you're good to go xD
A little info, Loople Sendai bus is a bus line aimed at tourists. They stop at spots around the city that have historical and/or cultural meaning. Nice, huh? The bus itself is very catchy too. So retro xD
I took the bus at 9.20am (they start from the station at 20-minute intervals). What caught my attention was that the interior too, was retro. The driver was female, and had a hands-free mic attached. She'd not only introduce you to every imaginable spot you ride by, but she'd even announce everytime the bus would make a turn, stop at a traffic light, basically any movement the bus might make. I totally understand introducing the spots, but all those announcements I found really impressive! Never experienced anything like it in my life! O.o
My first stop was the Zuihoden - Date Masamune's Mausoleum. The Date clan was so powerful in Miyagi, that the lord got his own tomb on the top of a hill that surrounds Sendai.
In order to reach the mausoleum's complex, from the bus stop you have to go uphill on a set of stone steps (again?!?). These steps were pretty steep, and surrounded by huge cedar trees. I had to walk carefully at this point, not only because my legs were still a bit tired from previous day's hike, but it was raining too, so the steps might be slippery.
Arriving on the top finally, you have to pay 540yen at the entrance (got 100yen discount cos I had the Loople Bus day pass though, ha!). I asked for an English map/guide there too.
The gate to the mausoleum was right next to the ticket counter. From this point, you can already guess what you might find inside. I mean, the gate alone was so pretty!
To my dismay, though, right behind the gate, there were more steps! Seriously, what's with the people in the old times and stairs? xD But it's not much, and from the top of stairs, this is what the gate looked like from its back.
I suppose there was another gate at the top, but it was under renovation and covered, so I didn't know what exactly it looked like. You had to take a detour from its left side to find the mausoleum ahead.
But on the left side, too, stood a building that served as the mausoleum's museum. I went inside to check the place out and shelter from rain. The building only had one large room. The walls were covered with glass cases that housed artifacts that had been found inside the mausoleum(s). This included Date Masamune's samurai armor, complete with his famous crescent-moon helmet, swords, pots... it almost looked like a pharaoh's tomb raid, to be honest, LOL xD
A TV inside the room played some documentaries on the mausoleum. I stayed a bit to watch some since it was raining outside anyway xD But after some 30-minutes I decided to resume my journey. So I went out and followed the road towards the main building, the Zuihoden, aka Date Masamune's tomb.
It really was too bad that it was heavily cloudy and raining, cos you can't see the decoration clearly because of that. I wished I had gone on a sunny day. The vivid colors must be stunning! Here trying to photograph the details:
Surrounding the building were about 2 dozens of stone monuments. They were built there to honor Date Masamune's samurais who committed harakiri upon his death. Their bodies were buried elsewhere though, but there was a list with their names there ^^
From there, I returned to the gate. On the opposite side of the entrance was a road that led to the rest of the complex. I followed the road, and the next stop was the other 2 mausoleums built next to each other, of Date Masamune's son, Date Tadamune, and grandson, Date Tsunamune (all these similar Date names are confusing!). The mausoleums were built in a similar style, only they were slightly smaller, I think.
This one is the Kansenden, Date Tadamune's tomb:
These 2 buildings, too, were surrounded by monuments to honor their samurais who committed seppuku upon the lords' deaths.
Further into the area, you'll see more tombs of some of the latter Date clan members. Only they didn't have mausoleums built for them. Just stone tombs. Large ones, that is.
It was the exit of the complex from there, so I had to walk down the steps again to return to the bus stop. As I had expected, rain had made the stone steps slippery, and I did slip once. Thank God I fell on my butt, shielded by my backpack (although the camera hanging from my neck did clash against the stone steps ><). If I had fallen forward... I might not be alive to tell my journey ^^;;;
There was a branch into the woods. I checked it out, and deeper in there was the cemetery for Date clan children and concubines. But since it was raining harder by then, I didn't stay long.
I think it was almost 12pm by the time I took my next ride. The bus went uphill in the outskirts of the city, and after some 5 minutes, we've reached my next destination: Aoba-jou, aka Sendai's Aoba Castle.
The entrance of the castle complex had a huge torii, only it was in white. And well, more stairs behind it ^^
After climbing those steps, you arrive at some kind of plaza. A flat area with some markings on the ground. That, is where the Aoba-jou used to stand.
Yeah, the castle was completely destroyed during the WWII's bombing. Some parts have been reconstructed, and probably more will be in the upcoming years. One day, we might see th whole building reconstructed like back in the day, who knows? XD
On that same plaza, next to the castle site, stood a big statue of Date Masamune on his horse, overlooking the city of Sendai below.
Let's take a closer look at Masamune-sama, shall we? =3
It's very hard to take a good pic of the statue in that weather, especially since the rain was pouring harder at that point. And it had gotten windy too. When I looked down the cliff to the city, it was all hazy, you barely see anything below ^^;
The site is connected to a big shrine, the Gokoku Jinja. I looked around, and even in the rainy weather, people still flocked there. There were groups of school kids, even. I thought of buying an omamori or something, but they were too pricey T3T
So I walked towards the other buildings. The one closest was a large souvenir shop. I went in, checked out stuff, and finally bought some souvenirs for home =3
Next to the shop was the castle's museum. I wanted to get in, but the ticket was quite pricey (700yen, was it?), so I skipped it and walked further. I was greeted by an eatery complex. I thought I might as well grab a bite and rest.
My eyes stumbled upon the words 'gyuutan manjuu'. Miyagi prefecture, Sendai especially, is well-known for its gyutan dishes. So I went and bought one.
It was delicious! Piping-hot and savory. I like cow tongue myself (my mom usually stews it), but while eating this, I didn't think it tasted like tongue? Maybe cos it's chopped finely, nearly grounded, and cooked like a yakiniku, that it simply tasted like yakiniku? XD
I sent this pic to my family, commenting 'imagine how much a wagyuu manjuu would cost in Jakarta?' xDDD → we have manjuu too as street food here, usually filled with chicken, beef (sometimes pork), or mungbeans.
The next thing that caught my attention was in the little shop next to the manjuu stand. It sold food and drinks made of zunda (green soy). This too, is famous in Sendai, been seeing lots of this, especially around the station. So I went in and bought a zunda milkshake.
My opinion? It's delicious, creamy, and still has some soy crunch. But my only complaint was that it was too sweet for my taste. It seems they used a lot of sweetened condensed milk. But the good thing was that this, and the manjuu, made me full xDDD
At around 2pm, I decided to go to the next destination, so I returned to the bus stop. In some 20 minutes, I was at my next destination: Osaki Hachimangu Jinja.
The entrance of the shrine was right next to the bus stop, with a huge torii standing proudly there:
I wanted to take a pic of the entire torii, but for that, you'll have to cross the big street first. In that weather...? No, thanks.
Behind the torii, to my dismay, I encountered even more steps! Seriously, I get that the city is hilly, but steps everywhere I go??? xD
Up the steps, you'll find the shrine complex. There's a long road that leads to the main building, with another torii, although not as big as the first one.
There were some stands left and right, and a tent built right in front of the main building. I wondered if there would be some celebration, and I found out there would be a matsuri at the upcoming weekend, complete with yabusame (arrow-shooting while horseback-riding). Noooooooo!!! I'd have loved to see thaaattttt!!! ><
This is the Osaki Hachimangu, btw. Too bad for the large tent though...
After walking around the complex for a while, I decided to get back to the bus stop. The rain wouldn't stop, so there's no point in staying for long =/
While riding the bus later, back to the city center, I made a last-minute plan of stopping by the Sendai Mediatheque. It's basically a multimedia library, standing 7 stories tall, with an interesting, high-tech-looking architecture. The upper levels were also used as conference rooms, and even music studio!
I checked out the 2nd and 3rd floors. They were dedicated to books. I saw that they had a whole section dedicated to the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake. Understandable, since Sendai took a major damage at that natural disaster...
After that, I decided to just return to the guesthouse, since the weather didn't look like it would be cooperative anyway. So I took another ride, and got off at a stop closest to the guesthouse (after all the walking I'd been doing in the city, I'd quite memorized the ways, haha).
It was around 4pm when I arrived. My feet and legs were wet up to the knees at that point, and so was my bag, so I quickly took everything off my bag to dry them. Then I showered, made myself tea, and asked Miya-san to let me do the laundry (provided for a fee). And later when I put my clothes in the dryer, I simply put my bag in too, haha xD
Thank God I was already back then, cos around dusk, the weather simply got worse. The rain was stormy, and you could hear strong winds blowing outside, hitting the walls. The typhoon had arrived! Only, I had thought it would be gone in an hour or so, so I'd still be able to go out and grab some dinner, but it didn't get better until late, so I just made myself more warm drink, and went to bed early ^^;
Next entry: Day 4 - Kawagoe
And it helped! When I woke up again at around 8am, the pain had gone, and I felt refreshed, thank God. So I got up and got prepared for the day.
When I was about to leave shortly before 9am, Nozomi-san from the guesthouse told me that a typhoon would be hitting the area later that day! So she told me to take care. Actually, just hearing a typhoon coming just made ma wary, so I started recalculating my plans for the day.
That day, I had only planned a Sendai sight-seeing anyway, so at the very least, I wouldn't be too far if the typhoon came while I was still outside.
I walked to Sendai station then. It was drizzling, but the rain had started pouring harder when I arrived at the station. I quickly went towards the bus stops, looking for Loople Sendai's. It was pretty easy to find, thankfully, so I queued to buy a day pass, which cost me 620 Yen (a single ride would cost 260 Yen). You just need to show this pass to the driver when you get off the bus and you're good to go xD
A little info, Loople Sendai bus is a bus line aimed at tourists. They stop at spots around the city that have historical and/or cultural meaning. Nice, huh? The bus itself is very catchy too. So retro xD
I took the bus at 9.20am (they start from the station at 20-minute intervals). What caught my attention was that the interior too, was retro. The driver was female, and had a hands-free mic attached. She'd not only introduce you to every imaginable spot you ride by, but she'd even announce everytime the bus would make a turn, stop at a traffic light, basically any movement the bus might make. I totally understand introducing the spots, but all those announcements I found really impressive! Never experienced anything like it in my life! O.o
My first stop was the Zuihoden - Date Masamune's Mausoleum. The Date clan was so powerful in Miyagi, that the lord got his own tomb on the top of a hill that surrounds Sendai.
In order to reach the mausoleum's complex, from the bus stop you have to go uphill on a set of stone steps (again?!?). These steps were pretty steep, and surrounded by huge cedar trees. I had to walk carefully at this point, not only because my legs were still a bit tired from previous day's hike, but it was raining too, so the steps might be slippery.
Arriving on the top finally, you have to pay 540yen at the entrance (got 100yen discount cos I had the Loople Bus day pass though, ha!). I asked for an English map/guide there too.
The gate to the mausoleum was right next to the ticket counter. From this point, you can already guess what you might find inside. I mean, the gate alone was so pretty!
To my dismay, though, right behind the gate, there were more steps! Seriously, what's with the people in the old times and stairs? xD But it's not much, and from the top of stairs, this is what the gate looked like from its back.
I suppose there was another gate at the top, but it was under renovation and covered, so I didn't know what exactly it looked like. You had to take a detour from its left side to find the mausoleum ahead.
But on the left side, too, stood a building that served as the mausoleum's museum. I went inside to check the place out and shelter from rain. The building only had one large room. The walls were covered with glass cases that housed artifacts that had been found inside the mausoleum(s). This included Date Masamune's samurai armor, complete with his famous crescent-moon helmet, swords, pots... it almost looked like a pharaoh's tomb raid, to be honest, LOL xD
A TV inside the room played some documentaries on the mausoleum. I stayed a bit to watch some since it was raining outside anyway xD But after some 30-minutes I decided to resume my journey. So I went out and followed the road towards the main building, the Zuihoden, aka Date Masamune's tomb.
It really was too bad that it was heavily cloudy and raining, cos you can't see the decoration clearly because of that. I wished I had gone on a sunny day. The vivid colors must be stunning! Here trying to photograph the details:
Surrounding the building were about 2 dozens of stone monuments. They were built there to honor Date Masamune's samurais who committed harakiri upon his death. Their bodies were buried elsewhere though, but there was a list with their names there ^^
From there, I returned to the gate. On the opposite side of the entrance was a road that led to the rest of the complex. I followed the road, and the next stop was the other 2 mausoleums built next to each other, of Date Masamune's son, Date Tadamune, and grandson, Date Tsunamune (all these similar Date names are confusing!). The mausoleums were built in a similar style, only they were slightly smaller, I think.
This one is the Kansenden, Date Tadamune's tomb:
These 2 buildings, too, were surrounded by monuments to honor their samurais who committed seppuku upon the lords' deaths.
Further into the area, you'll see more tombs of some of the latter Date clan members. Only they didn't have mausoleums built for them. Just stone tombs. Large ones, that is.
It was the exit of the complex from there, so I had to walk down the steps again to return to the bus stop. As I had expected, rain had made the stone steps slippery, and I did slip once. Thank God I fell on my butt, shielded by my backpack (although the camera hanging from my neck did clash against the stone steps ><). If I had fallen forward... I might not be alive to tell my journey ^^;;;
There was a branch into the woods. I checked it out, and deeper in there was the cemetery for Date clan children and concubines. But since it was raining harder by then, I didn't stay long.
I think it was almost 12pm by the time I took my next ride. The bus went uphill in the outskirts of the city, and after some 5 minutes, we've reached my next destination: Aoba-jou, aka Sendai's Aoba Castle.
The entrance of the castle complex had a huge torii, only it was in white. And well, more stairs behind it ^^
After climbing those steps, you arrive at some kind of plaza. A flat area with some markings on the ground. That, is where the Aoba-jou used to stand.
Yeah, the castle was completely destroyed during the WWII's bombing. Some parts have been reconstructed, and probably more will be in the upcoming years. One day, we might see th whole building reconstructed like back in the day, who knows? XD
On that same plaza, next to the castle site, stood a big statue of Date Masamune on his horse, overlooking the city of Sendai below.
Let's take a closer look at Masamune-sama, shall we? =3
It's very hard to take a good pic of the statue in that weather, especially since the rain was pouring harder at that point. And it had gotten windy too. When I looked down the cliff to the city, it was all hazy, you barely see anything below ^^;
The site is connected to a big shrine, the Gokoku Jinja. I looked around, and even in the rainy weather, people still flocked there. There were groups of school kids, even. I thought of buying an omamori or something, but they were too pricey T3T
So I walked towards the other buildings. The one closest was a large souvenir shop. I went in, checked out stuff, and finally bought some souvenirs for home =3
Next to the shop was the castle's museum. I wanted to get in, but the ticket was quite pricey (700yen, was it?), so I skipped it and walked further. I was greeted by an eatery complex. I thought I might as well grab a bite and rest.
My eyes stumbled upon the words 'gyuutan manjuu'. Miyagi prefecture, Sendai especially, is well-known for its gyutan dishes. So I went and bought one.
It was delicious! Piping-hot and savory. I like cow tongue myself (my mom usually stews it), but while eating this, I didn't think it tasted like tongue? Maybe cos it's chopped finely, nearly grounded, and cooked like a yakiniku, that it simply tasted like yakiniku? XD
I sent this pic to my family, commenting 'imagine how much a wagyuu manjuu would cost in Jakarta?' xDDD → we have manjuu too as street food here, usually filled with chicken, beef (sometimes pork), or mungbeans.
The next thing that caught my attention was in the little shop next to the manjuu stand. It sold food and drinks made of zunda (green soy). This too, is famous in Sendai, been seeing lots of this, especially around the station. So I went in and bought a zunda milkshake.
My opinion? It's delicious, creamy, and still has some soy crunch. But my only complaint was that it was too sweet for my taste. It seems they used a lot of sweetened condensed milk. But the good thing was that this, and the manjuu, made me full xDDD
At around 2pm, I decided to go to the next destination, so I returned to the bus stop. In some 20 minutes, I was at my next destination: Osaki Hachimangu Jinja.
The entrance of the shrine was right next to the bus stop, with a huge torii standing proudly there:
I wanted to take a pic of the entire torii, but for that, you'll have to cross the big street first. In that weather...? No, thanks.
Behind the torii, to my dismay, I encountered even more steps! Seriously, I get that the city is hilly, but steps everywhere I go??? xD
Up the steps, you'll find the shrine complex. There's a long road that leads to the main building, with another torii, although not as big as the first one.
There were some stands left and right, and a tent built right in front of the main building. I wondered if there would be some celebration, and I found out there would be a matsuri at the upcoming weekend, complete with yabusame (arrow-shooting while horseback-riding). Noooooooo!!! I'd have loved to see thaaattttt!!! ><
This is the Osaki Hachimangu, btw. Too bad for the large tent though...
After walking around the complex for a while, I decided to get back to the bus stop. The rain wouldn't stop, so there's no point in staying for long =/
While riding the bus later, back to the city center, I made a last-minute plan of stopping by the Sendai Mediatheque. It's basically a multimedia library, standing 7 stories tall, with an interesting, high-tech-looking architecture. The upper levels were also used as conference rooms, and even music studio!
I checked out the 2nd and 3rd floors. They were dedicated to books. I saw that they had a whole section dedicated to the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake. Understandable, since Sendai took a major damage at that natural disaster...
After that, I decided to just return to the guesthouse, since the weather didn't look like it would be cooperative anyway. So I took another ride, and got off at a stop closest to the guesthouse (after all the walking I'd been doing in the city, I'd quite memorized the ways, haha).
It was around 4pm when I arrived. My feet and legs were wet up to the knees at that point, and so was my bag, so I quickly took everything off my bag to dry them. Then I showered, made myself tea, and asked Miya-san to let me do the laundry (provided for a fee). And later when I put my clothes in the dryer, I simply put my bag in too, haha xD
Thank God I was already back then, cos around dusk, the weather simply got worse. The rain was stormy, and you could hear strong winds blowing outside, hitting the walls. The typhoon had arrived! Only, I had thought it would be gone in an hour or so, so I'd still be able to go out and grab some dinner, but it didn't get better until late, so I just made myself more warm drink, and went to bed early ^^;
Next entry: Day 4 - Kawagoe