Miyajima

While we were in Hiroshima, we decided to stop by the island of Miyajima since our apartment building is named after the place. It's considered one of the three most scenic places in Japan, and I would definitely have to agree. It's an island that has an old-time Japanese feel to it-- there aren't any big, modern buildings. You can imagine that this place looks pretty much as it did hundreds of years ago, minus the souvenir shops.

Miyajima is well-known for a few things, one of which is the huge tori gate that stands in the water. Tori gates are always at the entrance of shrines and temples and this particular one leads to a very picturesque shrine that also sits in the water. We arrived at Miyajima during low tide so we were actually able to walk right up to the tori gate. Just to give you an idea of how big this thing is, check out the picture below of Mike standing next to it.



The other thing that this island is famous for are the wild deer that roam freely. There was a vendor who was selling deer food to the tourists and Mike was all about trying to get some so that the deer would come closer to him. The guy forewarned him to break up the deer food before the deer came close, but Mike misinterpreted that to mean break up the deer food AS you give it to them. This picture shows Mike with a handful of deer, but what I wasn't able to capture was the shot that came next. Immediately after this was taken, Mike was surrounded by about 20 deer who saw that he had huge chunks of their food. I was so excited because it was going to make such a great picture when suddenly, I hear a yell and see Mike throwing the food up in the air and walking very quickly (running) away. I was a little annoyed that I didn't get my shot, but it turns out that the reason for my missed picture opportunity was that one of the overly excited deer bit him in the butt! All day after that, any time Mike saw deer, whether it was real or a figurine sold in a souvenir shop, he muttered how stupid and ugly deer were. I think the poor thing was traumatized by the experience.

Another thing that makes Miyajima such a unique place is the shrine that is built on stilts so that when it's high tide, it looks like it's floating on the water. Unfortunately we weren't able to experience that because we visited during low tide, but we were able to witness a traditional Japanese wedding that was taking place at the shrine.


This guy might be a priest of some sort, but he did a ceremonial dance in front of the bride and groom.


Here's the guy doing his dance, but it took so long that Mike and I eventually left. I thought Filipino weddings were long!



Here's the bride and groom, with who I'm assuming is the bride's mother.



The rest of the day was spent exploring the shops and eating 'soft cream', or soft serve ice cream. It's much better than the kind back home, probably because it's more fattening. Which now makes me feel even more guilty because I had 3 servings during our visit to Miyajima. My only excuse was that it was really, really hot that day and I needed it to cool down. Anyways, here's a few more interesting things we saw while at Miyajima...




A five-story pagoda behind the shrine.








An evil looking, red-eyed fake horse in a barn.





A really big spoon. The wooden spoon is considered a symbol of good luck here-- I'm not sure if 'here' means just Miyajima or all over Japan.

Miyajima was a surprise discovery. I originally just wanted to go to say we went, especially since our tower is named after it. In the end, it has probably been one of my favorite places so far. They really weren't lying when they said it's one of Japan's most beautiful places.

Hiroshima

We took advantage of Memorial Day weekend and traveled to historic Hiroshima for a few days. The trip took 4 hours by bullet train, Mike's new favorite mode of transportation. He was so excited about riding a bullet train that he was taking pictures of it like a typical tourist, and even a Japanese lady and her husband found his enthusiasm funny.













But I have to say, I was really impressed with how comfortable the train was. It was set up just like an airplane, but with much more leg room. They even had a stewardess who came around and offered drinks and snacks! Of course, we didn't need any because my mother has taught me to always travel with tons of snacks. It might be a Filipino thing--I don't know. To Mike's dismay, I filled his backpack with stuff that I bought at the Exchange the day before....dried mangoes, Nagaraya Crackernuts, Pocky, Crackerjacks, trail mix, the list goes on and on....

When we arrived at Hiroshima, we took a taxi to the hotel to put our bag away. Notice how I said 'bag' singular. I was very proud of myself for packing so lightly. That is not an easy thing for me to do. But I did use every square inch of that bag. Mike was afraid that it would randomly explode as we were walking through the train terminal because I had packed that thing to it's full capacity.

Our hotel room was a happy surprise because we lucked out and had a panoramic view of the city, as evidenced by the first picture on this blog. We started planning on what to check out first and we decided on Hiroshima Castle since it was smack dab in the middle of our view. The castle is surrounded by moats and within the grounds of the castle are the ruins of the military installation that once stood there, destroyed by the A-bomb. The castle was also destroyed, but later rebuilt and turned into a museum. The only reminders that this used to be a military base are the foundations where the buildings once stood.





Here's a picture of Mike sitting on the steps of was used to be the Hiroshima Imperial Military Headquarters building.












This was the Underground Military Communications room. After the A-bomb, when all of Hiroshima's telephone and telegraph lines were cut off, this was the only place left that was able to communicate the events at Hiroshima.


After Hiroshima Castle, we headed over to the World Peace Memorial Park where the A-Dome is found. This is the only building left standing after the bomb. There was controversy over whether or not to tear it down because it's such a painful reminder of what happened, or to leave it up as a memorial. In the end, the Japanese people decided to leave it as a memorial to remind the world of the consequences of war.

The t-shaped bridge behind Mike in this picture is a busy thoroughfare nowadays, but this was actually the target of the A-bomb.


The next day, we went to the museum where we saw lots of things, many of which were disturbing and scary when you think that the tragedy of Hiroshima might still be a possibility today. But one of the inspiring things that I saw was actually just outside the museum. After the A-bomb dropped, it was rumoured that nothing would grow for 75 years. But the tree in this picture was the first to bloom, just a few short months after the bomb. And it's still alive today! The Japanese people say that this tree gave them the courage to rebuild their lives after the tragedy. By the way, I am in this picture, amidst the school children who were on a field trip. They were all so cute in their uniforms and hats. And so well behaved too!!

Our Humble Home

Ikego is our new home here, and it's about 25-30 minutes away from the base. Above is a picture of our tower, Miyajima Heights. We live on the 7th floor and have really fantastic views from our balconies.












We were really fortunate to get housing so quickly, but it took forever to get our stuff!! Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic to be out of the Navy Lodge, but I still didn't feel quite at home without all of our things. So the day our household goods arrived was a happy day! They said the delivery was to be made between 8am and noon. I was up early like a kid on Christmas morning, giddy with anticipation! Of course, the delivery guys didn't make it until 11:59. Here's a picture of Mike calmly waiting and making the most of his time by playing his PSP. Meanwhile, I was on the balcony frantically searching for any sign of a truck that might hold our stuff.

When our delivery guys ( a crew of Filipino guys) finally arrived, the chaos of boxes and packing paper began. I was trying to unpack as quickly as they were bringing in boxes, but it was impossible. Just as I was about to finish unpacking a set of boxes, they would bring in a dolly stacked high with a whole new set of boxes. It was a long day of unpacking and figuring out where things belong, but the end result was worth it. Finally.....home....


Here's the kitchen. We have a really old and loud fridge, and we were promised a new one before we moved in. Ummm, yeah, that was a month and a half ago. For a while, I resisted making big grocery runs in fear that they would call me to let me know that they were replacing the fridge and I would be stuck with defrosting food. But I think it's safe to say that my dreams of a new and quiet fridge have died.















This is the dining room and balcony. I love the big sliding glass doors that lead out onto the balcony with a great view. I would, however, change the ugly 1990's lighting fixture. Unfortunately, I can't because of the whole Navy housing thing...














Here's our living room which I'm happy with. I do miss having a mantle and fireplace though. In the house, all my favorite things were displayed on the mantle, and I had a hard time trying to find a new place for them here.















Here's the master bedroom, which is a little smaller than our old one, but it's still bigger than what I thought we would get. For that reason, I'm definitely grateful because I love my bedroom furniture and I would've hated to have to put any part of it in storage.















And finally, Mike's playroom. This is a bit of a misnomer though because he currently doesn't have any gaming system, other than his PSP, so he doesn't actually do any playing here. He is constantly hinting at getting a new system, to which I reply, "Sure, for your birthday." And just like a little kid, he replies, "But it's sooo faaar awaaayy!" Who knows? Maybe if he behaves himself, he'll get an early birthday present...

Weekends in Nippon...

So we've decided that since we already saw temples and shrines in Kamakura, we'd check out a newer city here in Japan. About a 45 minute train ride up north, is Yokohama. Yokohama is one of the biggest port cities in Japan, situated between Tokyo and Yokosuka. Yokohama is also home to the Fleet Mail Center - whenever you all send cards and gifts to us, (hint, hint) that mail arrives in Yokohama and goes through customs before being delivered to it's final destination.

Here's a picture of us in front of the largest ferris wheel in the world - it's cool to look at, but pretty scary riding it during a strong Japan wind. The Cherry blossoms were in full bloom that week; fortunately, the weather was great that weekend. Shortly after, it rained pretty hard, and all the Cherry Blossoms were washed away - no more until next year!







This is Landmark Tower, the tallest tower in Japan, and has the fastest elevator in the world; 69 floors in 10 seconds.



In keeping with our plan of rotating between something ancient and something new each weekend, we decided our next spot would be Asakusa. The oldest suburb of Tokyo, it contains the Senso-ji temple, built circa 628 AD. Here is the entance gate to the complex.


This is the main thoroughfare leading to the temple and shrine itself. It's lined with all sorts of stores, selling everything from pottery and toys to Samurai swords and dog clothes (seriously). As you can see by the number of people, mixing commerce and religion is the status quo in Japan.


Once we finally made it to the temple, we had a Japanese couple take our obligatory 'Mike & Cicely' photo, trying to get all of the 5 story shrine behind us in the pic too. Maybe we're just dumb tourists, but all these temples are starting to look the same...

On our train ride home, I gave up my seat to an elderly lady, and as a token of appreciation, her husband made this oragami baby for Cicely. I always told her I'd give her a baby ;o)

Cody and Samantha...

As in Cody the Cube and Samantha the Skyline. I am not the kind of person to name cars, but I figure while I'm in Japan, anything goes. When we first got here, one of the obvious ways I could tell that I wasn't in Virginia Beach, or the U.S. for that matter, was the absence of SUV's or any kind of large vehicle. Small and compact is the way to go in Japan, and for obvious reasons once you see how small the roadways are and how congested the traffic can get at times. Below is a picture of the road leading to Ikego Hills, our new home. Most of the roads are just like this: tiny, two-way streets with pedestrians crossing constantly.


The cars used as taxis here are the Nissan Cubes. I fell in love with them from the first moment I rode in one....so much room in such a deceptively small car. So as soon as we finished our orientation class and passed the written and behind-the-wheel test to get our Japanese driver's license, we immediately started looking for one. The base has a "lemon lot" and lo and behold, that's where we found Cody. He has been working his butt off since we first got him....lugging groceries, suitcases, and various finds I've found while shopping at the bazaar.

Now we thought that we would be good with one car for a while because I wasn't planning on doing any driving outside of the naval base. Then came the news that the Navy was offering us a 3 bedroom place if we were willing to live about 25 minutes away from the main base. We decided to take it, especially after seeing what we would've been offered had we decided to stay at the main base-- a teeny, tiny 2 bedroom apartment that wouldn't even fit our bed in the master bedroom.

Living away from the base meant that Mike had to commute for work and I would basically be stranded during the day. Of course there are trains that I can take, but it's a 10-15 minute walk to the train station from the apartment, and a 10-15 minute walk to the base once I got to my stop. This is fine if I just want to get out and explore, but if I have to bring groceries back....forget it! So one day, Mike went to work by bus and this was my opportunity to test my courage to see if I could drive out in town. It was nervewracking at first, but I did it! Then, because I was feeling confident, later on that day, I decided to take the Yoko-Yoko, which is the expressway near our place. My heart was pounding while I was on it because everything is written in Japanese, with TINY English translations on the bottom so you really have to be paying attention. Imagine being on the highway and not being able to read anything....not fun, I tell you.

So long story short, we now have 2 cars, Cody and Samantha. Samantha is the Skyline that Mike just had to have once he saw how popular they are here. Out the window were our conversations of just getting a junker, a true 'lemon'. I should've known that deal wouldn't hold true. I mean, this is Mike we're talking about. Him....drive a lemon??? NEVER....

Japanese CliffsNotes and Buddha's Slippers

Despite Mike's propensity to list 'reading' as one of his hobbies, you may as well know that this perhaps may not be 100% accurate. My husband says he enjoys reading, but he just doesn't have the TIME. Ahhhh....so that's what it is.... Well, we found the perfect solution to his problem while visiting the Hasedera Temple in Kamakura. Here's a picture of Mike turning a bookrack called rinzo, where the important Buddha sutras for the temple are kept. They say that rotating the rinzo has the same honor and is equivalent to reading all the sutras. Leave it to my husband to discover Japanese CliffsNotes! I wonder if they have rinzos for all the books around the house that he doesn't have 'time' for....

Now, Mike may not be the best example of a reader, but at least he has normal-sized feet. I, on the otherhand, am cursed with disproportionately large feet for my petite height. Basically, I've got clown feet, okay? I'm fine with them now, but for many years, shoe shopping was a chore, not a pleasure like for most women, because I could never find my size. Living in Japan has doubled this dilemma because I am now in a country where when looking for house slippers, size XXL is still too small for my gargantuan feet. However, Buddha has helped to relieve any insecurities I may have. Check out his slippers behind us in this picture!

Konnichiwa!

The first week in Japan was a busy time filled with exploring the base, applying for housing, looking for a car, and taking an orientation class. Luckily the base has a bus system that helped us get around, although it was hard getting used to waiting around for a bus when back home, you could go wherever you wanted whenever you wanted.

The week long orientation class taught us about all the different customs we had to be aware of...for example, when eating out in public, never ever put your chopsticks in your rice bowl! This is considered extremely rude...who knew? We've had a couple of close calls with that one, but we've caught ourselves just in time. Here's a picture of Mike at a sushi place that had a revolving bar. You just pick up the plate that you want and each colored plate has a different price. Then you stack up your plates and that's how they figure out your bill!

Another part of the class was a field trip out in town. This was probably my favorite part of the orientation because it actually got us out to mingle with the locals and see the sights. Before we left, they taught us how to navigate the train systems and they gave us a little card that basically said in Japanese, "Please help me. I am lost. I need to find my way back to Yokosuka Naval Base." Mike and I vowed that we would not have to use our cards. Thankfully, we were successful in that goal.

We decided to go see the Great Buddha in Hase, which was about 25 minutes away by train. It was absolutely amazing to see all these places that were thousands of years old. One of the things you have to do before entering the shrines is to purify yourself by washing your hands with the water they have stationed at the entrance. We were warned in our orientation class not to drink from here, as tourists are commonly seen doing. We were good on that one- I can't imagine people trying to drink from a communal hand washing station, but it must happen pretty frequently for them to warn us about it.

A downside of traveling as a couple is that you have to ask someone else, a stranger, to take your picture if you want a couple shot. Other than the language barrier, which we overcame pretty easily with some hand gestures, the Japanese are very enthusiastic about taking your picture. And they're good at it! The man who took this picture of us in front of the Great Buddha told us how to pose and even got down on the ground to take this shot. This turned out to be our best picture from the trip. Oh, and by the way, we paid 10 yen to climb into that Buddha. Kinda cool!

Here are my first overall impressions of Japan and its people- everything is so clean, the locals love taking pictures, Japanese women are experts at wearing high heels no matter how much walking they do (see picture), and people really ARE nice here. We didn't have to use our "Lost" cards, but there was a moment on the way back home when we weren't sure which platform we were supposed to go to, and I guess based on the confused expressions on our faces, a Japanese man asked if we needed help and pointed us in the right direction. I think I'm really gonna like it here...