Jurassic Park 2

Hand written on 2010年2月14日

Aloha everyone! Since I haven't got a computer on my lovely vacation, I'm going to journal manually. Wow that sounds nerdy. As I sit here writing this, Jen and Lily are relaxing on the futon watching Jurassic Park 2 in a terrible Japanese dub. It's probably the first TV I've seen since leaving Tokyo. We've got some green tea brewing, as well. It's a relaxing evening tonight. That's what vacations are about after all! Not to mention we've had a long day.

We started our journey at 9am when we left Maison Iwakuni. Lily stayed the night before with us so we could all leave together. We walked over to Kyoto-eki to catch our bus with a stop-over at Lawson's for onigiri. The bus loaded up at 9:50 and we were off!

I got a seat in the first row with a view of the road. The woman I was placed next to was really nice, too. We got to talking for the second half of the trip. She lives in Uji and graduated from Doshisha. She was very kind. It was great practice. She patiently explained things I didn't understand and gave me some suggestions on places to go and foods to eat.

The view for the ride was awesome. People weren't kidding when they say Shikoku is 田舎. It was mostly oceans and forests on the way. The whirlpools of Naruto (yes, I've been in Naruto), one of our original destinations that fell through, were visible from the bus! They were pretty cool looking. I got a couple of neat photos.

When we first arrived we decided to get some food. We ate at this ramen place that looked appetizing. I got 塩らめん (shio ramen) with some kind of special oil in it. Possibly one of the best bowls of ramen I've had so far... but you know, it seems like every bowl I have, the ramen gets better and better!

Anyway, after we ate we went down to this info desk we saw at the entrance of the building we were in to see if we could get directions to the youth hostel. Only after we asked our questions did we realize the desk only dealt in info for that building. The girl sent us over to a different building for what we needed. When we got there, though, we realized it was wrong...and by that point, so had she. She walked all the way over from where she was to appologize and help us out! It was so kind of her. We felt bad for inconveniencing her, but she did help.

We found the general area of the hostel with her help, but when we went there we couldn't find it. At a loss for what else to do, we asked a man at the nearest train station. He was incredibly kind, as well. After consulting with some colleagues, he came out from the booth to lead us all the way there. This is the weird part though...

He couldn't reall find the place either. After asking a nearby hotel we went to some place called Sakurai... or something like that. There wasn't a single sign that mentioned hostels till we walked all the way into the garage.

After we found the place we waited for a while. Then this elderly woman comes bustling in. She was kind of terse. When we mentioned a reservation, she made a phone call, but then proceeded as if there hadn't been one. We were all quite confused, but the room she was setting up for us didn't sound so bad.

We ended up in the building across the street. Our room is pretty big. We've got a TV and a safe, a bathroom of our own, and two rooms(ish). The cost is a little more than we would have liked, but for what we get, it's not bad.

Anyway, after we dropped our stuff off we went to explore the area. There was a shopping arcade not too far away so we went there. We wandered for a bit then picked up some sweets at a discount shop and sat on a bench to eat. While we were enjoying our candy (a Valentine's Day indulgence), this guy walks up to us and starts up a conversation. He was older, dressed as a salary man and he didn't appear to be intoxicated. He started out by asking us if we spoke Japanese. We said yes. He then asked if we understood all of what he was saying... yes.

He then proceeded to talk to us for over an hour. We talked about Japanese grammar, Japanese history, world geography, current events, American education... the list goes on. Just when he was about to leave, he'd come back and start up a new topic.

We were all a little unnerved, but he seemed like a genuine guy. Again, the practice was good.

After we were released from the conversation, we got Udon. Udon is a specialty of Shikoku. The place we went to was self serve, which means it was cheap! You order a size or type and then you can pick out tenpura to go on top. The food was so good. We got a decent sized bowl of 肉うどん (beef udon) for ￥３９０. Amazing.

Now we're back at the hotel. When we went for showers, we thought there was no hot water, but after about 30 min, the hot water started flowing. We're squeaky clean and ready for bed.

Oh! And when we came back in for the evening, the futons were all made up for us. Plush!

Tomorrow is 栗林公園 (Ritsurin Kouen). Should be interesting.



When we were on the bus, I looked at the beauty around me and I wanted nothing more than to share it with all of you. I wish I could let you all experience it first hand, but for now you'll have to settle for pictures and this blog... at least till Jen and I invent teleportation.

Love until later,

Caitlin D.