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I awakened at 8am having decided that I was going to switch to a midnight to eight schedule while travelling since there's no need for me to stay up late using the internet. I leisurely opened my presents (shinsengumi socks! a ghibli dvd! a book!) and had Christmas cake for breakfast. I checked out and meant to leave immediately, but I discovered that I'd parked right across from Miyazaki's Animate story (thus far my favourite anime store in Japan, by virtue of being the only anime store in Japan I've ever seen...) so I lingered until 9am when it opened and bought a few small christmas presents for myself (including a One Piece compass, which should come in handy *g*). I then headed for Saitou to see the burial mounds (I should mention I passed through Hyuuga the night before and my hotel was on Tachibana street - that should cover three anime fandoms nicely *g*). When I got there, it was drizzling but the mounds were utterly fantastic. I've never seen so many in one place and I've gotten around, believe me. They had a fascinating variation in size and style and the displays were actually quite informative. Unfortunately, since it was a Monday, everything was closed. I wandered around a bit and completely forgot such things as a) it was raining and b) it was lunch time *L* This guy actually stopped his car while I was wandering and pulled out this big black umbrella and hands it to me, saying "A Christmas present". I thanked him, but I was really thankful about a half hour later when it began pouring - sideways. I decided it was definately worth coming back another day so I decided to head off.
I had a nice kitsune udon in a little shop. I've started adding far too much spicy stuff to udon now. It makes my nose run. Cold is still lingering btw. Wish it would leave me alone. Thank god for hot drinks at convience stores. Anyway, I cheated and caught the expressway further south so that it was a matter of a few hours to make my way to Sakurajima. I went down one very cool road that was not for the faint of heart since it wound down the side of a mountain to kagoshima bay. I then hugged the coast until I could drive onto Sakurajima proper (a giant, active volcano in Kagoshima bay for those not in the know). I then did a sort of half crescent of one side to get pics, then headed around the other side to see the buried torii from the last eruption (in 1914...). I then made my way to the youth hostel, who contrary to Lonely Planet were not very friendly but did offer me a room all by my lonesome since I was a woman and a scary foreigner *L* I headed off to Furusawa Onsen on the south side which had been recommended to me. It was damn cool. I wasn't sure what to expect since it was mixed bathing but basically you got white yukatas and you showered inside the changing room. Outside was the coolest onsen pool I've ever seen. There was a sacred pyre in the ocean surrounded by ropes and those little white shinto paper thingies, just waiting to be lit. On the other side of the pool was a grotto made of the roots of this huge, gnarled tree (also sacred) which was sheltering about twenty little gods. The volcanic rocks made excellent perching places and it was a lot of fun even if you did have to be on your guard for slippage (there were two men in there and about seven women while I was there). I regretted not bringing my camera so I went back and asked if I could retrieve it. They were really nice about it and even gave me a dry yukata so I headed back down and took countless pics (and now I have a pic of msyelf in an onsen, yay!). So damn cool.
I then headed back to the harbor intent on finding a meal before I had to be back at the youth hostel, which had a curfew of 10 o'clock. I, without any real thought, pulled into this little place that looked like a restaurant called Moonsong (or some such thing). I walked in and asked if they had food. They assured me they did, though I'm pretty sure it was only supposed to be finger food and not the full meal they pressed on me. Anyway, the lady there spoke pretty good English and obviously thought it would be cool to have a foreigner there for the night. And it turns out they were having live music - Okinawan music which would finish just in time for me to head up to the hostel (it was around 7:30 or 8 by then). I settled in bemusedly and was served ridiculously fresh sashimi (the fisherman I was chatting with told me he had caught it that day!... it was boni or buri or something. no idea.) I couldn't drink because of the car but I didn't really feel the need to other than a sip of Kagoshima shouchu (which has almost no taste and must therefore be quite deadly...). While I was there, lots of random guys trickled in. We had fun trying to chat in Japanese and they discussed a load of things (I've never actually head a 'pub' conversation about the prices of iron rising...) It was a load of fun and I got a lot of Japanese practice. They also fed me rice and deep friend chicken and potato salad and brocolli and salmon and mikans (oranges), which considering I paid 700 yen total for everything was fantastic (a little over six dollars). It was really cool talking to everyone from the fisherman to the restaurant owner. They all asked me if I had a boyfriend which I found amusing. I told the fisherman (who was quite a character) that boyfriends were mendoukuse (troulesome) just to see his reaction which was suffciently entertaining. The restaurant owner quite enjoyed talking to me (and I'm pretty sure wanted something more but I played clueless). The music started late and it turned out the owner was the only one who was going to play, but he asked for me to play tamborine for him which I obliged. (He and his wife were a bit... hippie-ish.) He played some reallly nice songs (I quite liked the one about wind blowing) though it was difficult to follow the Japanese. I'll bet in Okinawa he'd have gotten some nice audience participation, instead all he got was me banging gamely on the tamborine *L* Still, it was a lot of fun and they wouldn't let me leave until the last moment when they pressed more mikans on me and sent me on my way. I got to the hostel just in time and settled in for a quite evening of reading.
This was quite nice and I then collapsed into a stupor at midnight only to awaken at 3am, horribly uncomfortable and coughing from all the smoke I had inhalled (being allergic to smoke sucks). Still, it was a fantastic day:)
I had a nice kitsune udon in a little shop. I've started adding far too much spicy stuff to udon now. It makes my nose run. Cold is still lingering btw. Wish it would leave me alone. Thank god for hot drinks at convience stores. Anyway, I cheated and caught the expressway further south so that it was a matter of a few hours to make my way to Sakurajima. I went down one very cool road that was not for the faint of heart since it wound down the side of a mountain to kagoshima bay. I then hugged the coast until I could drive onto Sakurajima proper (a giant, active volcano in Kagoshima bay for those not in the know). I then did a sort of half crescent of one side to get pics, then headed around the other side to see the buried torii from the last eruption (in 1914...). I then made my way to the youth hostel, who contrary to Lonely Planet were not very friendly but did offer me a room all by my lonesome since I was a woman and a scary foreigner *L* I headed off to Furusawa Onsen on the south side which had been recommended to me. It was damn cool. I wasn't sure what to expect since it was mixed bathing but basically you got white yukatas and you showered inside the changing room. Outside was the coolest onsen pool I've ever seen. There was a sacred pyre in the ocean surrounded by ropes and those little white shinto paper thingies, just waiting to be lit. On the other side of the pool was a grotto made of the roots of this huge, gnarled tree (also sacred) which was sheltering about twenty little gods. The volcanic rocks made excellent perching places and it was a lot of fun even if you did have to be on your guard for slippage (there were two men in there and about seven women while I was there). I regretted not bringing my camera so I went back and asked if I could retrieve it. They were really nice about it and even gave me a dry yukata so I headed back down and took countless pics (and now I have a pic of msyelf in an onsen, yay!). So damn cool.
I then headed back to the harbor intent on finding a meal before I had to be back at the youth hostel, which had a curfew of 10 o'clock. I, without any real thought, pulled into this little place that looked like a restaurant called Moonsong (or some such thing). I walked in and asked if they had food. They assured me they did, though I'm pretty sure it was only supposed to be finger food and not the full meal they pressed on me. Anyway, the lady there spoke pretty good English and obviously thought it would be cool to have a foreigner there for the night. And it turns out they were having live music - Okinawan music which would finish just in time for me to head up to the hostel (it was around 7:30 or 8 by then). I settled in bemusedly and was served ridiculously fresh sashimi (the fisherman I was chatting with told me he had caught it that day!... it was boni or buri or something. no idea.) I couldn't drink because of the car but I didn't really feel the need to other than a sip of Kagoshima shouchu (which has almost no taste and must therefore be quite deadly...). While I was there, lots of random guys trickled in. We had fun trying to chat in Japanese and they discussed a load of things (I've never actually head a 'pub' conversation about the prices of iron rising...) It was a load of fun and I got a lot of Japanese practice. They also fed me rice and deep friend chicken and potato salad and brocolli and salmon and mikans (oranges), which considering I paid 700 yen total for everything was fantastic (a little over six dollars). It was really cool talking to everyone from the fisherman to the restaurant owner. They all asked me if I had a boyfriend which I found amusing. I told the fisherman (who was quite a character) that boyfriends were mendoukuse (troulesome) just to see his reaction which was suffciently entertaining. The restaurant owner quite enjoyed talking to me (and I'm pretty sure wanted something more but I played clueless). The music started late and it turned out the owner was the only one who was going to play, but he asked for me to play tamborine for him which I obliged. (He and his wife were a bit... hippie-ish.) He played some reallly nice songs (I quite liked the one about wind blowing) though it was difficult to follow the Japanese. I'll bet in Okinawa he'd have gotten some nice audience participation, instead all he got was me banging gamely on the tamborine *L* Still, it was a lot of fun and they wouldn't let me leave until the last moment when they pressed more mikans on me and sent me on my way. I got to the hostel just in time and settled in for a quite evening of reading.
This was quite nice and I then collapsed into a stupor at midnight only to awaken at 3am, horribly uncomfortable and coughing from all the smoke I had inhalled (being allergic to smoke sucks). Still, it was a fantastic day:)
