西日本の征服：成功！
March 12, with a one-hour delay, the plane landed in Kansai International Airport of Osaka, Japan. Less than an hour later, swiftly going through immigration and customs procedures (lucky the re-entrant alien residents had a separate line! woot!) I was out looking for the people waiting for me. My Korean little brother Chung Jinho, aka Andy, and Natsuki, our good friend and former floormate didn't easily find me, presumably from my drastic change of hairstyle, thus, "imechen" (Jap. image change)! Meeting up marked the start of the 2 week long adventure!
Most definitely, the two weeks spent together only brought me and Andy very very close. Trips like this only end up either that way or revealing too many faults in the other that you end up not liking each other much. We both took care of each other, as times can get frustrating and very tiring, spending endless hours in the train, walking miles, eating late meals. Some highlights of the trip...
March 12: NAIA to Kansai International Airport, Andy flew in from Korea
March 13: Osaka Aquarium, downtown Namba (Dotombori, Shinsaibashi), Osaka’s famed takoyaki (octopus balls) for dinner
March 14: Duck Tours (tour bus that goes into the river), Osaka Castle, Nihonbashi (Kansai’s Akihabara), very expensive Robatayaki dinner
March 15: Universal Studios Japan
March 16: hike around Nara Koen with Thomas and Francois, living treasures Nara deer, Kofukuji (has Japan’s second tallest pagoda), Kasuga Grand Shrine, Todaiji (world’s largest wooden building) which houses the Great Buddha (world’s largest buddha statue), arrived in Mie Prefecture’s Tsu City
March 17: Ise-Jingu Grand Shrine (most important Shinto shrine), Unagi (Japanese eel) dinner
March 18: Ninja Museum (very awesome), Black Miso Ramen lunch, arrived in Kyoto (and met up again with Thomas and Francois)
March 19: Kyoto Imperial Palace (guided tour was fantastic, very educational and fun), Sento Palace, Nijo Castle, Higashiyama Hanatoro 2009 (a district bloomed into life, where shrines, temples, statues, streets, pagodas were floodlit under moonlight)
March 20: Byodoin Temple (the structure that can be found on the back of a 10-yen coin), Genji Monogatari Museum (Genji Monogatari is the world’s first novel written by a female), sent off Thomas and Francois in the middle of the road to hitchhike
March 21: Fushimi Inari Taisha (dedicated to the gods of rice and sake, head shrine of Japan’s around 30,000 inari shrines), Toji (has Japan’s tallest pagoda and also hosts a big bazaar cum cultural fair every 21st), stopover for the night on the way to Kobe at Washington Hotel Osaka with Andy’s mom and grandma
March 22: had buffet breakfast at hotel, arrived in Kobe, braved the rain and walked to and around the bay of Kobe, stayed at @wan internet cafe
March 23: headed to Himeji Castle (Japan’s most admirable and well-preserved castle in original non-concrete form), headed to Hiroshima Peace Park, Peace Memorial Museum (absolutely entertaining and educational, electronic guides even had Filipino), A-Bomb Dome and Flame of Peace, stayed at Popeye Media Café
March 24: early start for Miyajima (commoners used to be banned from the island), Itsukushima Jinja (shrine that is on the beach), Floating Torii (one of Japan’s three most photographed tourist attractions), Senjo-kaku (Pavillion of 1000 Mats overlooking the pagoda, Itsukushima Jinja, and the sea), 7-hour trip home to Beppu on the local train