[Japan Travel]: Matsushima (winter 2009)
ARGH!!!
My stupid lame laptop is driving me crazy!!! (As you might have guessed I still need to reformat it, GAH!!!
). And why has my fav. otome game a virus, so that I can't install it? And why am I too stupid for port forwarding now that I don't have a router anymore?! GAH!!!!
Uhm, .... anyway XD Today I finally want to continue with photos of my winter vacation 2008/09. After Aizu-Wakamatsu we went to Sendai (photos will follow in the next photo entry) and we also went to Matsushima (松島), because it's really close to Sendai.
It is said to be very beautiful there and it's one of the Three Views of Japan
Of course it wasn't as breathtaking as it could have been, because we went there in winter. Not the most beautiful season.
Matsushima means pine island. All its small ilands are covered with tons of pine trees :)
Anyway we (bf_nightingale and me) managed to take quite a few nice photos.
Please enjoy! ^^
In Sendai we had to wait for our train for a while, so I took a photo of this very funny sign XD (Me loves Japanese signs! XD)
And then we were already there :)
Only a few steps from the JR station away is the ocean. As you can see we were quite lucky with the weather that day. On our way to the bay there was a small tourist information booth and we got a sightseeing pamphlet in GERMAN!!! Now that was a surprise! :D
And then our tour through the quite small but ABSOLUTELY breathtaking Matsuyama began. I think we took too much time at each single spot because we couldn't stop taking photos XD Everything was just awesome and believe me when I say that the photos can't show how beautiful Matsushima actually is *nods* (*__*)
And yes it was WINTER, I swear! XD
In Aizu-Wakamatsu there was quite a lot of snow. In Sendai only a little bit and in Matsuyama we missed the snow almost completely ^^;
God, it's so beautiful there! No matter where you stand, the view is awesome and all the small islands everywhere and the ocean and and and (*__*)v
I always wonder why those coins won't fall down??!! o___O
Can you tell I was in love with that small red bridge? ;P
(No, no allergy against small little red Japanese bridges, only against huge red Japanese gates! XD)
There were a lot of huge stones, stone caves and stuff, too :)
As you can see it was still cold even without snow. Even the stone statues were freezing! XDDDDD
Woah! Look at that tree and the roots!!! Just WOAH!!!
Here (= Kanran-tei Pavilion (観覧亭))we made a breef stop to relax while having green tea, sitting on the tatami floor there and just enjoying the awesome view.
That was directly behind us.
That's what I got. That green stuff is actually famous for the region and I completely forgot its name ;____; *headdesk*
But it was really good :)
EDIT: It's called zunda (scroll down) and it's basically sweetened mashed green soybeans (thanks to princemononoke
Although it looks a little bit like wasabi it tasted quite sweet, a little bit coconut-like.
Probably one of the cutest crests ever ^^
Beautiful! I want something like that for my wall!
*lol* Random cute shot XD
I think that was close to or even next to the entrance to Zuigan-ji Temple (瑞巌寺).
But before we entered that huge temple we went somewhere else (the entrance fee there was quite high, so we were still thinking about entering at all or not).
The entrance fee here wasn't so high and we got to see a nice Japanese garden :)
Haha! There it is! Snow! XD
In the end we decided to enter Zuigan-ji Temple :) Sorry no photos, because for the most part photos were prohibitted.
On our way back: I love all those trees and caves :)
FINALLY we had some time for lunch! I think it was already 3pm at that time and we were starving like hell ^^; ... (well, there was so much to see and all and ... uhm, yes ... XD)
After our lunch we had to hurry up a little bit to get a few more shots before the sunset (yepp, winter and it's dark at 5pm -___-; ....)
There's a loooong red bridge connecting Matsushima with one of the closer small islands and that's where we were heading to.
That's the bridge. And as you can imagine we walked quite fast in order to reach that small island before the sun was gone completely.
Ah~ finally ON the bridge ^^;
WAH!!! But where's the sun? ;__;
Ah, probably somewhere over there ^^; (I LOVE those colors btw.)
Stopping a thousand times to take photos of the sunset instead of walking across the bridge quickly might not have been the best idea! XD
Wuuh, but we made it! Finally on the other side of the bridge and the sun was still there .... somewhat ;P
I want to buy a few of those small islands. I wonder if they're very expensive?! XDDDD
Haha, and the sun was gone. Uh well, we still were able to explore that small island a little bit before it got dark completely ^^;
And finally back :) Bye~bye small island!
5pm: It became dark, all the shops and restaurants closed at the same time. Everything was suddenly dark and Matsushima was almost dead.
And there we were standing, wondering what there would be left to do until the next train comes to pick us up. NOTHING!! (That was the only negative thing about Matsushima, but I guess you'll only have that problem if you go in winter anyway XD)
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
And those were our Matsushima photos. Hope you enjoyed it
One more winter vacation post will follow: Sendai
And then on to my spring vacation photos ^-^
Bye~ッス
My stupid lame laptop is driving me crazy!!! (As you might have guessed I still need to reformat it, GAH!!!
). And why has my fav. otome game a virus, so that I can't install it? And why am I too stupid for port forwarding now that I don't have a router anymore?! GAH!!!!
Uhm, .... anyway XD Today I finally want to continue with photos of my winter vacation 2008/09. After Aizu-Wakamatsu we went to Sendai (photos will follow in the next photo entry) and we also went to Matsushima (松島), because it's really close to Sendai.
It is said to be very beautiful there and it's one of the Three Views of Japan
Of course it wasn't as breathtaking as it could have been, because we went there in winter. Not the most beautiful season.
Matsushima means pine island. All its small ilands are covered with tons of pine trees :)
Anyway we (bf_nightingale and me) managed to take quite a few nice photos.
Please enjoy! ^^
In Sendai we had to wait for our train for a while, so I took a photo of this very funny sign XD (Me loves Japanese signs! XD)
And then we were already there :)
Only a few steps from the JR station away is the ocean. As you can see we were quite lucky with the weather that day. On our way to the bay there was a small tourist information booth and we got a sightseeing pamphlet in GERMAN!!! Now that was a surprise! :D
And then our tour through the quite small but ABSOLUTELY breathtaking Matsuyama began. I think we took too much time at each single spot because we couldn't stop taking photos XD Everything was just awesome and believe me when I say that the photos can't show how beautiful Matsushima actually is *nods* (*__*)
And yes it was WINTER, I swear! XD
In Aizu-Wakamatsu there was quite a lot of snow. In Sendai only a little bit and in Matsuyama we missed the snow almost completely ^^;
God, it's so beautiful there! No matter where you stand, the view is awesome and all the small islands everywhere and the ocean and and and (*__*)v
I always wonder why those coins won't fall down??!! o___O
Can you tell I was in love with that small red bridge? ;P
(No, no allergy against small little red Japanese bridges, only against huge red Japanese gates! XD)
There were a lot of huge stones, stone caves and stuff, too :)
As you can see it was still cold even without snow. Even the stone statues were freezing! XDDDDD
Woah! Look at that tree and the roots!!! Just WOAH!!!
Here (= Kanran-tei Pavilion (観覧亭))we made a breef stop to relax while having green tea, sitting on the tatami floor there and just enjoying the awesome view.
That was directly behind us.
That's what I got. That green stuff is actually famous for the region and I completely forgot its name ;____; *headdesk*
But it was really good :)
EDIT: It's called zunda (scroll down) and it's basically sweetened mashed green soybeans (thanks to princemononoke
Although it looks a little bit like wasabi it tasted quite sweet, a little bit coconut-like.
Probably one of the cutest crests ever ^^
Beautiful! I want something like that for my wall!
*lol* Random cute shot XD
I think that was close to or even next to the entrance to Zuigan-ji Temple (瑞巌寺).
But before we entered that huge temple we went somewhere else (the entrance fee there was quite high, so we were still thinking about entering at all or not).
The entrance fee here wasn't so high and we got to see a nice Japanese garden :)
Haha! There it is! Snow! XD
In the end we decided to enter Zuigan-ji Temple :) Sorry no photos, because for the most part photos were prohibitted.
On our way back: I love all those trees and caves :)
FINALLY we had some time for lunch! I think it was already 3pm at that time and we were starving like hell ^^; ... (well, there was so much to see and all and ... uhm, yes ... XD)
After our lunch we had to hurry up a little bit to get a few more shots before the sunset (yepp, winter and it's dark at 5pm -___-; ....)
There's a loooong red bridge connecting Matsushima with one of the closer small islands and that's where we were heading to.
That's the bridge. And as you can imagine we walked quite fast in order to reach that small island before the sun was gone completely.
Ah~ finally ON the bridge ^^;
WAH!!! But where's the sun? ;__;
Ah, probably somewhere over there ^^; (I LOVE those colors btw.)
Stopping a thousand times to take photos of the sunset instead of walking across the bridge quickly might not have been the best idea! XD
Wuuh, but we made it! Finally on the other side of the bridge and the sun was still there .... somewhat ;P
I want to buy a few of those small islands. I wonder if they're very expensive?! XDDDD
Haha, and the sun was gone. Uh well, we still were able to explore that small island a little bit before it got dark completely ^^;
And finally back :) Bye~bye small island!
5pm: It became dark, all the shops and restaurants closed at the same time. Everything was suddenly dark and Matsushima was almost dead.
And there we were standing, wondering what there would be left to do until the next train comes to pick us up. NOTHING!! (That was the only negative thing about Matsushima, but I guess you'll only have that problem if you go in winter anyway XD)
Camera used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
And those were our Matsushima photos. Hope you enjoyed it
One more winter vacation post will follow: Sendai
And then on to my spring vacation photos ^-^
Bye~ッス