Japanese Variety Shows

Hand written on 2010年2月1６日：

琴平～！ I had such a fun time today. (On a side note, I'm watching this comedy show and there's a guy dressed as a girl singing this song called 「Onaraは恥ずかしくないよ」 [Farts aren't embarrassing].)

We woke up at 8 and hit the train around 10. The train ride was picaresque. The 片原町駅　（Kataharamachi station) right next to where we're staying sits on the line that takes you directly to こんぴら。

こんぴら itself is kinda small and empty. There weren't too many people around. It seemed like a very peaceful place. Jen, Lily and I were all marveling at the 雰囲気 (atmosphere) of the place. The narrow roads were all lined with strung up lanterns and all surrounding the city were mountains and agricultural fields. Nothing but green.

When we pulled in, we got directions to the temple and started the trek. The stairs were manageable, but when we did get tired, all we had to do for inspiration was turn around. The more stairs we climbed, the better the view got.

On our way up we met a fellow from Korea. He offered to take our picture for us. His English was fantastic. He was one of those amateur photographers, so he took 5 or so awesome photos for us! Nice guy. We kind of trailed each other alternatingly all the way up.

Once at the top, you realize no one really goes for the 神社 (jinja)-- you go for the view. You could see all the way to the ocean. It was amazing. Besides the 神社 (jinja), there were some other strange things up there, such as a golden propeller (like to a boat) about 40ft tall, a solar powered submarine from the 40s (at least that's what it looked like), and fun house mirrors. Also, part of the complex looked to be brand new and a little bit industrial. Kind of the last thing you'd expect at a 神社.

We stayed up there for a while, admiring the view. When it started to get colder and the rain clouds started blowing in, we headed down for a late lunch. We ate at a tasty-looking udon place. They made their own noodles on the premises that same day. It was delicious! Lily's hands were so cold, though, that she had some issues with the chopsticks. She's normally very quick with them, but today I replaced her as the one to finish eating first.

After that we got some ice cream. It was a 四国 (Shikoku) special version. The ice cream was a mix o0f two flavors: しょうゆ and a 四国 specialty flavor. Jen thinks it tasted like cheese whiz. I don't know about it being quite that strong, but there was a distinctly cheesey flavor to it. Then to top off the ice cream you could either get donut-holes (yeah... no joke) or these little sugary colourful puff balls called オイリー (oiri-). We got オイリー. They weren't half bad. Like tiny sweet versions of cheetoh puffs.

Jen was full at that point, but Lily and I had our hearts set on some 焼き団子 (yaki dango). We went up the road a bit to a shop we'd seen earlier and boy, were we glad we went! We got two kinds of 団子, さくら and よもぎ (よもぎ is like a 抹茶 [maccha] flavor), with あずき (azuki is sweet red bean paste) on top and green tea. They were amazing, but the best part was where we sat. It was set up so you could sit and eat while soaking your feet in an 温泉 (onsen)-like trough! It felt so good on our sore, cold feet.

There wasn't too much to do after that. We wandered through their ghost town of a shopping arcade (新町 [shinmachi] romanized as Sinmati), then caught a train back to 高松 (Takamatsu). We were all dead tired by the time we walked through the door. Dinner was discount stuff we found at the super market across the street.

Tomorrow we leave 高松 for 松山 (Matsuyama). I greatly enjoyed my time in this city. I would gladly come back here to explore more of the surrounding area. I feel so lucky to have met so many kind people to help us along our way. I hope I can return the good karma someday.

Love until later,

Caitlin D.