Okonomiyaki...

  Hiroshima, Japan
Monday, February 18, 2008

I suffered a mental block when boarding the Shinkansen to Hiroshima, as I gormlessly got on the Nozomi - the ultra fast train that Japan Rail Pass holders aren't eligible to use. I didn't realise until the conductor came around, but he was typically polite and just told us to change to the Hikari at Shin-Yokohama - no big deal, it just meant that we'd arrive in Hiroshima an hour later.

It was yet another crystal clear day, so I made sure that we were sitting on the right hand side of the train to get a good view of Fuji-san. We were to see a lot more of it later on in the trip as well, leading Ali to believe that it is always clearly visible, which believe me is not the case - she was just incredibly lucky!

With the help of Saya from K's House in Tokyo, I'd booked us into a hotel in Hiroshima for a bit of luxury. She found it amusing that it was called "Hotel Active!" complete with unnecessary exclamation mark, but it looked pretty suave on their website. She called to make the reservation, and ended up having to give her details in case Ali and me didn't show up, something that I teased her about afterwards. As it happened, we were a bit late in arriving and I later found out that they'd rang Saya to see where we were!

We found a superb low-lit restaurant that evening, and I enjoyed some delicious beef from Miyazaki. However, the thing that sticks in my memory is the bizarre bathroom that involved three toilets facing eachother in a sort of triangular formation, and the walls were covered in mirrors! Thankfully noone else was in there when I had to go as it lacked a certain degree of privacy...

I checked my emails the next morning in the hotel lobby as I was awaiting news of the birth of my niece, and it was a relief to hear that little Gracie had entered the world weighing a healthy 7lb 3oz. I'd had to wait six months to see Ethan when I was in New Zealand, but this time I'd only have to wait a couple of weeks, and it added a huge element of excitement to returning home...

After breakfast at the hotel, we used our rail passes to get to Miyajima Island via train and a short ferry ride. I was eager to keep hold of my camera on this occasion, and took many photos as we walked through Itsukushima-jinja and saw the famous 'floating' torii - one of Japan's three best views. There were many deer mooching around as usual, but I didn't see anyone selling food to give them, much to my disappointment!

I really wanted to ascend to the summit of Mount Misen as I didn't do that last time, and so with the weather set fair, Ali and me boarded the cable car on its lengthy journey. At the top, it was a delight to see so many monkeys running around everywhere, giving eachother piggybacks! The view was pretty special as well, so we'd made a good decision to do it...

We arrived back in Hiroshima late afternoon and had a walk by the river to see the eerie A-Bomb Dome, one of only a handful of buildings that survived the explosion. Our aim was to then go to the Peace Museum, but it was getting late and I knew that it warranted at least two hours of our time, so we went to the Peace Memorial Hall instead, a contemplative place where the names and photographs of atomic bomb victims are kept. We ended up going to the Peace Museum the next morning instead, and it was just as touching as I had remembered.

Now whenever I mention Hiroshima to a Japanese person, they always insist that I go and eat okonomiyaki at Okonomi-mura - a four floor building with some thirty minirestaurants packed tightly together. I'd actually been on my previous visit, so I knew exactly where to go, and we chose the one recommended by the Lonely Planet. Thankfully there was an English menu and the lady cooking in front of us was very friendly, and the okonomiyaki was amazing...and incredibly filling! Ali chose to have seafood in hers, whereas I had pork, and we both left feeling stuffed!

We went for a relaxing karaoke session afterwards and I lazily stretched out, singing a few Buddy Holly songs and some high pitched Beach Boys numbers. It had been Ali's favourite day in Japan so far, but we still had much to look forward to...