Hiroshima - Day 2

(nearly forgot about this...)

So, we woke up, checked out and had a nice, if a bit weird breakfast(who serves a hotdog, or a weiner as they call it with breakfast?). We then headed off to the Peace Park and the museum for our requisit dose of depression. It was an excellent museum actually. From a historical perspective, I was impressed by how neutral (ie, relatively unbiased) the whole account and beyond was. It was the first time I've ever seen the Rape of Nanking mentioned in Japan for instance... I've also never understood why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were targets in the first place so it was nice to see it explained. That being said, it was a pretty harrowing experience and I was tearing up through most of it. The little stories about each artefact really get to you. After leaving, we went to leave some paper cranes around one of the memorials. It was drizzling and/or pouring rain the entire morning, which kinda fit the whole mood.

Afterwards, we seriously needed to lighten up so we went shopping. It was nice to see so much variety. I picked up a cute skirt, and some paper blow up fish for the small hanging aquarium I'm building on my cieling (everyone needs a hobby...). Chocolate croissants (much better than ones I've had in, say, France...) were lunch, and we continued shopping. I would have gotten away with not spending much but then we found Kinokunia where I bought the application for the JLPT test along with a kanji a day calendar and a guide to the exam. Next it was time for food shopping. Picked up some cheap raspberry jam and finally found some horseradish powder, even though my dad's sending me more from the US.

We had dinner in the Sogo department store since they had such a huge selection. I had this chinese sour, slightly sweet pork with green beans and lotus root. The sauce was to die for. We then picked up some omiyage for our students and went to catch the train. We managed to get a train with no transfers so it was just a three hour train ride home (which cost us 140 yen total! since no one collects tickets in Onoda after 8pm). I was pretty tired and it was nice to be home, though I will miss Hiroshima. It's a lovely city to visit.

Hiroshima - Day 2

(nearly forgot about this...)

So, we woke up, checked out and had a nice, if a bit weird breakfast(who serves a hotdog, or a weiner as they call it with breakfast?). We then headed off to the Peace Park and the museum for our requisit dose of depression. It was an excellent museum actually. From a historical perspective, I was impressed by how neutral (ie, relatively unbiased) the whole account and beyond was. It was the first time I've ever seen the Rape of Nanking mentioned in Japan for instance... I've also never understood why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were targets in the first place so it was nice to see it explained. That being said, it was a pretty harrowing experience and I was tearing up through most of it. The little stories about each artefact really get to you. After leaving, we went to leave some paper cranes around one of the memorials. It was drizzling and/or pouring rain the entire morning, which kinda fit the whole mood.

Afterwards, we seriously needed to lighten up so we went shopping. It was nice to see so much variety. I picked up a cute skirt, and some paper blow up fish for the small hanging aquarium I'm building on my cieling (everyone needs a hobby...). Chocolate croissants (much better than ones I've had in, say, France...) were lunch, and we continued shopping. I would have gotten away with not spending much but then we found Kinokunia where I bought the application for the JLPT test along with a kanji a day calendar and a guide to the exam. Next it was time for food shopping. Picked up some cheap raspberry jam and finally found some horseradish powder, even though my dad's sending me more from the US.

We had dinner in the Sogo department store since they had such a huge selection. I had this chinese sour, slightly sweet pork with green beans and lotus root. The sauce was to die for. We then picked up some omiyage for our students and went to catch the train. We managed to get a train with no transfers so it was just a three hour train ride home (which cost us 140 yen total! since no one collects tickets in Onoda after 8pm). I was pretty tired and it was nice to be home, though I will miss Hiroshima. It's a lovely city to visit.