Rainy Days

It was my second day in Hiroshima and the typhoon had taken its next victim. I laid in bed toying with the idea of staying in Hiroshima and wait for the rain to pass or visit Miyajima. I went through the same thought process back in Tokyo and decided to venture to Nikko despite the rain. It still turned out to be a great day so, with this in mind, I hopped on the tram to Miyajima. I was itching to get back to Tokyo but wanted to see the "floating" torii before I left.

View from the ferry

It had already started raining when I boarded the ferry. I didn't mind so much as I had my waterproof jacket and boots on, as well as a borrowed umbrella from the hostel. Other than the torii, I couldn't remember what else there was to see on Miyajima. I grabbed a map and perused the top 5 list of attractions.

First on my list:

Miyajima is well known for its quality wooden rice scoops. It also houses the world's largest wooden rice scoop. This weighs 2.5 tonnes.

The street - Omotesando - also contains many souvenir shops and eateries. Randomly, there's a salon with those flesh nibbling fish. This craze can be found in Britain. I have seen shops where customers stroll in and dip their feet into a bowl of water with these little fish in that nibble away at your toes. Upon closer inspection, this shop was advertising the same treatment but for your face! There was a video being played which showed a Japanese girl dunking her face into a bowl of water and these fish started nibbling away...one went up her nose! Yikes! I swiftly moved on.

Goju-no-to: Five storied pagoda built in 1407AD

Another main attraction is the Itsukushima Shrine. I was hoping to get a closer and better view of the torii too.

I didn't take that many photos as the place was packed.

The winding pathway (of the shrine) that leads to the torii

I took a lot of photos of the torii. The weather was gloomy and miserable which created a misty almost spooky atmosphere.

I saw this couple dressed in traditional attire. A hired photographer took photos of the couple in a series of poses within Itsukushima Shrine and near the torii. Here the lady tries her best to protect her very white dress from the rain.

A dedicated member of staff is dusting the shrine...

Me and the torii

 Something a little different...

There were deer in Miyajima too. They weren't as violent as the ones in Nara so was able to take the first photo. They were just as hungry though. The deer above was very fond of this guy's jacket. It later went after his map. The guy pictured here asked me a for photo. I thought he wanted me to take a photo of him...he wanted a photo with me! My pasty face is floating around on someone's Facebook page right now!

This deer really wanted tempura

The first thing that scares me is the obvious. These are cat toys which howl and laugh when you clap your hands. The ones hanging up roll around and the ones in outfits dance. The second thing that scares me is that these cats are a part of a 1050 Yen shop. Like the 100 Yen shop - Japan's version of Poundland - everything in this shop is 1050 Yen. Wow.

I didn't spend too long in Miyajima. I originally wanted to go up the ropeway and visit Mount Misen but the weather was awful. I decided to skip it and head back. I was hungry and there was an okonomiyaki dish with my name written all over it.

As I said before, I wanted to go back to the restaurant I went to the night before and order correctly this time. I was guided to a seat and I ordered a drink. Before I ordered food I need to nip to the restroom. I wouldn't normally note this but inside was this...

The lighting's not the best but you can hopefully see the three spiders playing Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses by the toilet. It took me a good few seconds to realise they weren't real!

I was ready for food. Bring. It. On. Here's a science lesson for you...

 Full moon...

Half moon...

Total eclipse!

This dish was incredible. I made sure I expressed my gratitude to the chef. He could speak a little English and we had a bit of banter. He asked how old I was. He is also 25 which warranted a handshake for some reason. The staff here were very friendly and I'd eat there every night if I had the chance. 

I was on my last bite when a guy sat a few seats away from me and struggled to order from the menu. I didn't catch his accent at first. I knew he was ordering what I ordered so tried to help out. Before I could say anything he whipped out his iPhone and showed the waitress a photo of what he wanted. Damn, that's a good idea. Thankfully he was a social guy and we got chatting. Although I was full to the brim, I was jealous when a fresh okonomiyaki rolled up. Although I finished, I decided to stay and chat to the French (I could now tell from his accent) stranger. Like Maluen, he was hilarious and very chatty. We decided to hit a bar afterwards. We weren't quite sure where we were going. We were surrounded by girls bars. We just wanted a drink and I hoped I was enough female company for one night!

We had a cunning plan. We saw what looked like backpackers so decided to follow them. It was early so was sure they were heading to a bar of some sort. They rocked up to what looked like a themed bar but turned out to be a posh hotel. Oops. Thierry decided to go in and ask at reception. I was too cowardly and stayed outside. The staff there were very helpful and pointed us in the direction of Molly Malone's, an Irish pub. It just happened to be ladies night which meant half price cocktails for me. Lovely. I had an iced chocolate martini and some fruity summery cocktail called vanilla sky. Despite the half price offer, I stuck to two cocktails. Alcohol in Japan is so expensive. I'd rather save the pennies for future activities.

The next morning I had breakfast and sniffed out free chocolate.

Wahoo!

I intended to go to Tokyo but was in no rush. I decided to hang about for a bit and see if there was anyone new to speak to. Another anti-social dining area. Dammit! I tried to engage conversation but failed miserably. I didn't have much to work on - "that looks like good eggy bread" (a common backpacker staple I have found). I decided to have a couple of mugs of tea and relax.

This was my attempt at a tortoise. It needed some work but I was happy. I left it on the side and forgot about it. One of the workers there added it to the display. Can't have been that bad then. 

I saw Thierry again and met his dorm room mate, Henrick. They were going to Miyajima together. We both went to the station and this is when I realised that the trains had been cancelled. I was stuck in Hiroshima for another day. The guys headed off to Miyajima and I trudged back to the hostel in the hope that I could stay another night. Thankfully there was another room free. They took pity on me and put me in a new dorm room which was female only. I was previously dorming with 5 other guys. I never know which room I'm booking. It doesn't make much difference to me whether it's mixed or female only. I have learnt that snoring and smelliness aren't solely male backpacker traits.

I didn't really have much to do and was in a bit of a grumpy mood so went back and watched a couple of movies. The Majestic - Jim Carrey loses his memory after the worst-reason-to-crash-your-car moment - and Collateral - Tom Cruise with grey hair is just wrong. The guys came back part way through Collateral.

They looooove the iPhone. I think I could have flashed my boobs and they wouldn't have flinched. They were booking hostels and researching nightlife in Osaka. They were there for a long long time.

The guys were on their phones solidly for around 3 hours...probably more actually as we didn't go out to eat until 11:30pm. Everywhere was shutting (food-wise) but we knew Molly Malones would be open so went back there. Earlier, an Aussie guy started talking over an integral part of The Majestic...ok the film wasn't that great but when I start watching a film I'm in it 'til the end! I thought I'd offended him when I paused the DVD and waited until he left. He came over and started speaking to us. He decided to join us in our late night food hunt. We had a brilliant night. The guys were hilarious. I found out that the Aussie guy is called Hans...as a die hard errr Die Hard fan I really wanted to say "Hans, booby, I'm your white knight" but the fear that he wouldn't get it prevented me from uttering the phrase. Least it was that and not "yippykaya m...".

As our party included a Swede, a Frenchman, an Aussie and me, the conversation led to culture comparisons and mickey-taking. It was great fun. Thierry was very self-deprecating about his country and was always the first person to make a joke about it. The conversation quickly turned to politics and I had no idea what they were talking about. I made the odd joke and laughed along but begged for the conversation to steer on to a subject I am knowledgeable in. Television, film and comedy cropped up. Wheeeey. That's more like it. Although it was hard work. None of the guys knew of James McAvoy or William H. Macy. Never mind.

Back to the hostel we went. I didn't get to bed until around 3am and wanted to get up at around 8am...groan! I managed to get a train the next day. I crashed at my Fuji-buddy's (Ben) place which I was thankful for as it saved a few pennies. I didn't do too many touristy things. I mainly lazed and hung out with people I met earlier. Of course there was plenty more of Tokyo that I hadn't seen but after being so lonely earlier on in my trip, I wanted to take advantage before I left for Thailand.

I'm still one blogpost behind so I'll have to wait until I get to Thailand to round off my stay in Japan. I will say this though, it has been brilliant. I have met a lot of funny and genuinely nice people here. I've not really had any bad experiences which is what I hoped for with my first stop. I have no idea what I'm going to do in Thailand. I originally had a 4 week charity work placement booked and was going to stay on in Thailand for another two weeks. However, I have since cancelled the placement so I now have 6 weeks to play with rather than two. I hope I meet some people to hang out with and wing it but my gut instinct says I'm going to have to figure it out for myself! Wish me luck! 

Weight before I arrived in Japan: 68kg
Weight departing Japan: 66kg
Estimated spend in Japan: £3000

Actual spend in Japan: £1350 (I rounded it up!)