A blast of the past in Hiroshima!

Saturday April 23, 2011

A blast of the past in Hiroshima!

Fortunately, I felt better this morning with the body aches minimal and I woke the earliest I have in Japan at 7:15am to get out the door by 7:45am on the subway station to the main train station where I would get on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. Many of us know that this Hiroshima is the first place in history where an atomic bomb was detonated killing about 200,000 people in the area back in 1941.

Anyway, I am so happy with my purchase of a Japan Rail Pass. This type of pass can only be purchased outside of the country by foreigners. You can buy 7, 14 and 21 day passes and I bought a 7 day pass for about $360. This is a lot of money but many people told me it was worth it for both the experience and price! The train itself is so sleek looking and pulls up like a quiet snake. It then travels over 200 miles an hour to get to your destination with local stops in between at major cities. Simply amazing…and I wonder if the USA or Australia ever initiated a building of such a transportation feat-what would it do to the country??!! You can reserve a seat however if there are no more spots in the reserved seat there are non-reserved seats where it’s a first come first served basis. The trains have food cart services, telephones, restrooms, ample baggage storage, comfortable recline chairs and electric sockets at each seat! Price wise, I learned that one point to point ticket from Osaka to Hiroshima is about $120 alone so I guess the ticket pays itself off with just a few trips I am planning to take.

Hiroshima, like Kyoto, appeared to be a very well visited place by tourists and locals since the maps and information booths were very well facilitated. I walked to the “A bomb Dome” site which is where the bomb detonated right above this building and left some of the walls still standing incredibly….around this site is Peace Memorial Park – so quite, peaceful and reflective with a number of memorials and a wonderful free museum you can visit too. A tram runs through the town and I got on that to get to the ferry port to arrive to get to MIYAJIMA, an island 10 minutes on a boat that is typical in Japanese small town community and culture.

Again, many families here. I was amused by the free reigning deer all over the place. They are wild and eat everything including paper so there were warnings about keeping your tickets and passport close by. A beautiful shrine protudes from the water that welcomes you into the little island and you can take a small row boat out to the shrine itself. There are many temples and more shrines as well as a gondola to the top peak of the mountain at around 500 meters high. I ended up just walking around and enjoying the scenery, people and stores. The island is known for making manju here filled with all kinds of flavors but the popular one being smooth red bean paste. I also tried my first Japanese pizza/pancake. Its hard to explain…but I’ll try: OKONOMIYAKI is a crepe base, topped with heaps of cabbage, 2 slices of bacon, noodles (this was the special added item in this area and every region has a different twist to their okonomiyaki) and then a cracked cooked egg on top…Lastly drizzled with this sweet soya sauce and topped with sprinkles of red crunchy ginger seasoning….wow! how’s that?!!!!! Very interesting combination tastes that’s for sure!!!!!

Anyway, I left the island around 4pm and then Hiroshima at 6:15pm on the Shinkansen after checking out some of the shops in the area including the 100 yen shop! I got home back to the house around 9pm after picking up some food from the supermarket. At home, I was greeted to a farewell dinner party by my friend since it was my last night in Osaka …. Hahaha just kidding! My friend Adam had some friends over and it was really fun to talk to them in English. All of them were Japanese men and I was so impressed with how eager and willing they were to speak to me and learn more English! I hear that the people in Osaka are known to be very friendly indeed and louder or should I say more voiced than people in other parts of Japan. I have had a great time in Osaka and am grateful to have stayed with friends and have such a local experience there. I also feel like such a local now as well at the local grocery store and feeling comfortable with a lot of the train lines in Osaka….But tomorrow…I’m Nagoya bound!