August trip

Let me start by saying that I went to 7 places in 7 days and I am still alive (take that mono!). As most of you know, I had travel plans with my bro and a friend named Gilly. It was a great trip and we got to see a lot of Japan in a very little amount of time! Here is what we did in that week:

August 5th:
I was convinced that my brother was never going to get to this country after he didn't arrive on the day he orginally planned, but to my relief, he made it and we started things off with a welcome party at G-bros - a gyouza bar that makes everyone happy. We finished the night off with Karaoke...and what a good night it was.

August 6th:
We started off our trip by meeting Megumi for lunch in Tokyo and from there we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto. We arrived in Kyoto and somehow found our B&B, only to learn that our host was drunk and hadn't even set up our room yet. Haha but it was all good...we loved the place and changed our plans to stay an additional night.

August 7th:
We did a walking tour and started out at Ginkaku-ji then made our way to see temples in the scorching heat. I dont think I've ever sweat that much in my entire life. Sexy.

That night we decided to try out this restaurant called the Lock Up....a place that puts you behind bars while you enjoy food and drinks. Unfortunately to my disappointment, they were full. We went to an Irish Pub instead and then off to Karaoke round 2.

August 8th:
We started out the day with a trip to Nara to see the Big Buddha. Then we headed back to Kyoto to see Kinkaju-ji and THEN we went to Osaka to meet up with Rach and Rossen where they accommodated us for the night. That day involved just a little bit too much train action.

August 9th:
The morning was spent at the Osaka Aquarium. What a great place...I recommend it to anyone who visits Osaka :). After that, we started our journey to Koya-san. Once we arrived at Koya-san, we all felt pretty relaxed (exactly what we needed). It's a beautiful village in the mountains that is stocked with history. We stayed in a temple and were fed and taken care of young Buddhist monks who smoke cigarettes and use cell phones. haha I love that.

August 10th:
A bright and early start with an intriguing Buddhist morning ceremony at 6:30am followed by a fire ceremony. After a nice breakfast, we packed up and started our hike around town to look at some of the temples. Koya-san is a very spiritual place and I look forward to going back again some day.

From Koya-san, we traveled back to Osaka where we caught the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. The first night in Hiroshima was awesome. We went to have some Okonomiyaki (amazing and the famous food in Hiroshima) and then we proceeded to Karaoke round 3 where we met a group of fabulously drunk Japanese people that asked us to join them in their karaoke room. Random and I loved it.

August 11th:
Miyajima - one of the 3 most beautiful sights to see in Japan. If you remember correctly, I've already been to one of the 3 - Matsushima...I've done pretty well.

August 12:
The A-bomb dome and the museum to describe the bomb's events. I can't say too much about this experience except that it was really haunting, surreal and emotional. It's a place where everyone in the world should take the time to visit.

Return to Hitachi.

After that, Gilly was supposed to leave on the 13th but her plane was cancelled so she came back to Hitachi. Her and my bro went to Fuji-san for a quick look on the 14th while I stayed home and went to the beach. She left on the 15th....thanks for coming Gilly!

My brother and I did some other cool things after Gilly left. We went to Tokyo Disneyland and Megumi's nursery school. It was great to spend some time with him!

Alright, I think that is about it. Thanks for reading!

Here's a slide show of the last month's adventures: (and a few other randoms photos)