A crowded day in the train station
Omelette Rice Ball (omu onigiri)
Omelette rice is a popular dish. It’s basically ketchup rice covered with egg, sometimes cooked like an omelette. The best thing here is that it’s in an onigiri. I’ve been pretty japanitized, so onigiris are quite appealing to me. This however, is just awesome.
Yogurt Ads
Yup, it’s the Yakult yogurt company with a guy with a hat that looks like balls on his head. I guess it’s a good ad since I took a picture of it.
Toyama/Kanazawa Visit
We went to Toyama to visit a friend. We saw one of the three big buddah statues in Japan in Takaoka City – now only the one in Nara is left to see.
Afterward, we had some delicious sushi and went to see the famous coastline where on a clear day you can see the Japan Alps across the sea…neat huh?
Then some of our friend’s friends joined us to go to Gokayama to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site of old gassho-zukuri farmhouses with very sloped roofs. It was a very peaceful area and we spent some time wandering around and checking out some the museums and exhibits. There was some very old Japanese antiques. We also enjoyed the beautiful mountain surroundings. Afterward we headed to the onsen and back to Takaoka City for a cheap local izakaya.
The next day, we visited a local shrine and headed to Kanazawa to see the famous landscape garden Kenrokuen. We wandered through the old streets of Kanazawa and then the Modern Art Museum before taking our time in Kenrokuen. Of course we had to take a picture by the well-known lantern statue next to the pond. Then we went to see Kanazawa castle – a rebuilt castle – before heading back to Tokyo. It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun meeting new friends and exploring a new area of Japan.
Check out the green grass of the same shrine.
That’s a lot of My Melody!
Delicious bento in the old area of Kanazawa.
Modern Art Museum – this exhibit was called Swimming Pool. There is a layer of water on top of clear glass and you can go under the swimming pool and pose like this lady.
Kenrokuen
Kimono in Kawagoe
My friend invited me to go to Kawagoe to try on kimono. We had a nice Japanese lunch before going to the kimono store.
After browsing through their selection, we chose kimonos and the shopkeeper helped us put them on. It took her about 10 minutes per person and she was efficient and fast. I figure it would’ve taken me at least an hour to do it myself. They were tight and walking was a bit difficult at first. We walked around the old town (Koedo).
Then Kawagoe Castle which was just recently reconstructed and open to the public.
There was even a special event going on where people were able to dress up as samurai.
It was definitely a lot easier to breathe after we took the kimono off though. Overall, a fun, girlie day.
