Previous Day: Universal Studio Japan
Destination: Japan
Duration: 8 Days 8 Nights (Nov 27~Dec 05, 2017)
Day 3: The Castle & the Dome
We planned to check out early today
for a long journey ahead but apparently we failed again - it was definitely a trend. =P We finally completed
our checkout (and getting a
forgotten jacket after checkout) and took a train to Shin-Osaka Station.
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| Some Snacks in hotel while waiting... FAT DIE ME!!! |
We booked the 5 days Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass from this website which cost less comparing to purchasing on the spot. It was a shame it only had
5 days option else I’d have wanted a 7 days pass. We were kind of lost to find
JR West office at Shin-Osaka station but finally found it after a while. One
thing that went wrong:- the guy at the counter didn’t speak English and he kept
pointing out my credit card’s bank (no it wasn’t a local Malaysian bank!) was not recognized without
even trying to swipe it! We ended up paying 33.8K Yen in Cash which greatly
crippled our cash flow by the end of the trip. I used the same card before in
train station at Tokyo and also here in hotel/shops & later in Kyoto train
station without problem. The issue was the guy didn’t even try to swipe it and everything
just kind of lost in translation. UGH!!!
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| Facepalming on the lost in translation situation... |
The Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass
covered for most Shinkansen Shin-Osaka<->Hiroshima including Nozomi
unlike JR Pass which only covered for Hikari which was slower. Our timing was
perfect as we managed to grab a bento (in hurry) before jumping on Nozomi just in time. We found seats
at the unreserved car & enjoyed our little bento during the short 30minutes
ride to Himeji.
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| The Bento we bought in a rush... |
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| Look & Taste Nice... Apparently there is a background story in each compartment but we don't understand the Japanese explanation on the box! |
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| Lil one 1st Shinkansen Ride - which she has no idea what is the difference between this and a normal train... |
We found some coin lockers but the
huge lockers were all occupied, we were still in that ‘train transit area’
before going through the card machine that time. By some miracle hubby managed
to squeeze in 2 cabin size luggage & a handcarry Samsonite tote into a
single middle size locker (500Yen).. LOL… after we went out of the train
transit area, only we realized there were TONs of empty lockers outside!
*facepalm* Well, think of the bright side! At least we saved 200Yen since the big
locker cost 700Yen. =P
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| 2 Cabin Size Luggage & 1 Handcarry in a middle size locker! What a feat! |
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| Lil one helps us to take a picture... LOL |
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| The Himeji Castle area model in Himeji Station |
We could see Himeji Castle from afar
right after exiting the train station. It was a 20mins straight line walk to
the castle so you won’t get lost there. It was already 12.40noon++ by the time
we reached the castle area but thankfully the crowd was not much. Perhaps we
were too late? =P It was a really long walk to the main castle uphill and you
couldn’t be expecting a lift/escalator in a UNESCO heritage site right? =D
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| Drainage Cover at Himeji |
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| Walking towards the Castle |
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| A Random Heart in Yellow! |
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| Still far away! |
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| The Entrance!!! To the lower ground of the castle area.... =P |
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| Himeji Castle still faraway at the top... |
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| Getting closer... |
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| Still trying to get closer... *sweat* |
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| Yet another gate.... |
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| Climbing stairs to get to the top! |
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| It's just never ending! |
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| Getting real close! |
Once we reached the main castle, we
were required to take off our shoes to go inside to experience the life of the
resident during the old period. There were more narrow steps to go to the top
of the castle and the whole area was surrounded by free wifi which they
encourage you to download their app & unlock some videos when you reached a
certain landmark.
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| Take off your shoes and climb more stairs!!!! |
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| Very Narrow Stairs.. |
Once we reached the top, you may
enjoy the view of Himeji with a beautiful main road (which reminded me of Avenuedes Champs-Élysées in Paris) in the middle surrounded by trees in golden yellow
leaves – this was the main road we walked past earlier.
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| Finally at the top!!! |
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| The Champs-Elysees of Himeji! |
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| Another side of Himeji |
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| Sammy at the armory rack |
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| The Backbone of Himeji Castle |
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| Now let's get to the castle courtyard... |
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| With an army behind me! |
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| We just couldn't resist to take picture with the tree! |
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| Somehow i always think Sammy is more photogenic than us!!! |
After Himeji Castle, we walked back
to the train station on the same way that we came but not before stopping for
some famous udon at the street - Menme. We ordered 2 of their most recommended
udon – one with bonito & another with plain soy sauce, ginger & garnish
to enjoy the original flavor of the udon. The udon was really different from
what I’d tasted (and I’m not a lover of udon) and it was really silky &
smooth. It was also really nice to have a hot bowl of udon during cold weather.
=P
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| Goodbye Himeji Castle! |
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| Original Udon with Garnish |
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| Udon with Bonito - i actually prefer this one as it has heavier flavor =P |
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| How it looks like after mixing up everything... |
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| Menme Udon Restaurant! =P |
We walked back to the train station
and waited there for the 3.55pm Nozomi Shinkansen to Hiroshima. It took about
an hour to reach Hiroshima but the sky was already turning dark once we stepped
off the Shinkansen in Hiroshima at around 5pm.
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| Waiting for the next Nozomi |
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| Here it comes! |
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| Sammy enjoying the ride with some milk tea! |
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| Finally we are at Hiroshima! |
We took the electric streetcar from
Hiroshima station to Chunden-mae (180Yen per trip) to walk to our hotel for 2
nights – Sunroute Hotel which was about 5-10minutes walk. The room was booked
from booking.com at 19,008Yen for 2 nights.
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| Finally found the hotel! |
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| Nice Room but seems a bit dated... |
After settling in, we left the hotel
to walk to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park which happened to be just across
the hotel. The place was really quiet & somber as it was supposed to be a
memorial of the lives lost in war. There was also a ‘Peace Flame’ in the park
where it burns continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until
all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the
threat of nuclear annihilation (from Wikipedia). We walked alongside the river
to the atomic bomb dome which survived the atomic bomb blast and it looked kind
of eerie at night.
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| Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the dark... |
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| The Memorial Cenotaph with Peace Flame & A-Bomb Dome at the back |
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| Children's Peace Monument |
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| Sammy with the A-Bomb Dome at the back |
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| A-Bomb Dome from Aioi Bridge |
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| The Dome up close & personal... |
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| With moon glittering on top... |
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| Another side of the Dome |
After our walk, we continued to
Nagata-ya in Hondori for their famous Okonomiyaki. We ordered one classic &
one cheesy with soba together with lemon highball. The chef prepared the
okonomiyaki at their station before putting it on the hot plate in the middle
of the table. The two okonomiyaki were really different in taste and were
really huge.
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| The menu... |
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| Chef Station |
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| Condiments |
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| Lemon Highball |
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| Foods is finally here!!! |
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| The Classic Okonomiyaki with an raw egg yolk on top... |
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| The restaurant was closing by the time we left.. |
After dinner, we walked through
Hondori shopping street where almost all shops were closed again! On our way to
hotel, we stumbled upon this 100Yen shop where we bought lots of Japanese
bottle drinks & snacks.
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| Why is everything closed? |
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| Ichiran Ramen is there but we were too full! |
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| The "Pharmacy" with 100 Yen shop at 2nd floor |
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| Moon & Tree |
There were Christmas light
decorations along the street in front of our hotel thus we took some pictures
for half of that thinking to go over the other half tomorrow as it was a long
street. I guess by now you would guess that never happened at the end. LOL!!!
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| Christmas Light Decorations |
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| Bananas?! LOL |
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| Balloons & Train |
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| Some food we bought which we finished it in 2 days... *facepalm* |
Next Day: A Beautiful Day at Miyajima.. sans Powerbank
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