Day 2: Miyajima

Note: due to difficulties with connecting to wi-fi in Miyajima, we could not update this blog on May 31, 2012.


Hello! Joey here, telling you all about our first day of our trip! After arriving late at night the day before, we crashed at the Toyoko Haneda inn. We only got a few hours of sleep, but due to jetlag, we woke up fairly early, about 5-6 in the morning. We all ate breakfast, and left at 7:45. From there, we went back to the airport to fly to Hiroshima, which was only about an hour flight. I’ve had enough of airplanes for a while… once we got there, we went on a long bus ride, followed by a train to the port. From there, we took a short ferry ride to Miyajima, an island, just off shore. (The breeze was amazing….) the island itself was absolutely beautiful. The scenery, the quietness, THE DEER. Yes, right when we arrive, we see a deer pop out into the open, where people pet. Now this is better than any zoo you can go to, because they’re out in the wild, roaming free to go wherever they want. We were supposed to see monkeys too, but I think they would be too aggressive for food to go near… as for us, we check into the kokumin shukusha (government owned and operated lodge) from there, we take a bus up the hill, to go on the rope-way to reach the top of the mountain. I have gone on a similar ride on Lake Tahoe, and I must say that the views here in Miyajima rival that. From that height, it was breath-taking. 

To make it even better, we went on a second rope-way to the observatory, where we enjoyed the views of the bay from up top. After that I went back down to look around the shops and enjoy the local atmosphere. Here, Chris and I got shaved ice- the perfect treat for this weather. However, I don’t know about what the others did during this time. At 6:30, we had dinner in our own dining room, with a lantern labeled, “George Washington High School sama”. (hehe) Our kaiseki-style dinner (traditional Japanese-style meal) was interesting to say the least. I had no clue as to what some of the foods were. We kept asking around to find out, and eventually just tried it. The only food I could not really savor was the snail. Go figure. When we ran out of water, we force Chris to go ask for more, in Japanese of course. He did great. After dinner, I got what I came here for. The public bath, (ok maybe not). This was a great way for us guys and girls to bond. It was too bad that sensei didn’t join us. But the bath was amazing, regardless. The only problem was that my face was burning up because it was reeeaally hot in there. After waiting for the wi-fi to work in the lobby, we gave up and went back to our room and chilled. Sensei and Andy went to bed early, while the rest of us gathered in the girls’ room next door. We got ice cream from the shop in the lobby, and watched a little TV to end the day. I liked how we only focused on the ridiculous appearances that comedians had on the show. From Haneda, to Hiroshima, to Miyajima, we had a blast. And that was only our first day.

Joey Yasuhiro