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Today, I've awakened early again even after fixing my sleeping situation (slept on top of the covers, not under them and turned on my sound machine). I caught an early ferry to Kagoshima after visiting the brown-signed Lawson on Sakurajima for breakfast (no one seems to know why the sign is brown, but it is (Lawson signs are usually blue for the clueless)). The ferry was really fast and I immediately drove to the train station, then drove to the other train station upon discovering that both my lonely planet and map of Japan were woefully out of date and they've completely renamed the main station. meh. Once there, this lady helpfully helped me book myself into the ryokan I'm staying at now. It's called Nakazono Ryokan and it really nice. My room is small but cute with painted sliding doors and a kotatsu (<3!). The smoking area has samurai armour in it *L* It's also really nicely situtated so now that I've parked for the evening, I don't need to actually drive anywhere.
My first order of business was to hit the sento (public bath) across the street because I still smelled of smoke. I was very entertained to get there and discover it was highly traditional. They even had these scary looking wooden barrel thingies that you sat in with your head popping out the top while it cooked you. (No, I didn't try it.) There was a salt bath and an electric bath and a sauna, plus the strongest massage shower I've ever experienced. (Ow.) I chatted with a few of the ladies there (I love that no one even attempts to speak English down here, though I have no idea why... maybe it's just me and where I travel...) and had a good soak and relaxed, even if it made me more tired. I then drove to the archaeology museum which I had been led to believe covered all time periods, but really focused on the Yayoi and Nara periods. Still, I learnt a lot and the displays were impressively arranged and automated. They certainly did their best to make shell mounds interesting (they're not. trust me.). I'm somewhat amazed they showed the kids peeing in the little animation video about the site, though then again, the little display dioramas were anatomically correct. I love how seriously the actors take everything in their historical videos too.
I then headed back into the city to visit the Fairytale Museum because it was recced to me. Only it was closed so I wandered around, took a few pics, saw a few statues then headed out. I parked at the ryokan and walked to the nearby aqarium which was expensive but quite nice. They had a really good display on local waters and some really nice tanks, plus lots of fish I haven't seen. Their dolphin show was also quite different. They did the usual but also a lot of really random things like quizing the audience and making people direct the dolphins using a tv. Also, no annoying music. It was nice. They had baby sea turtles too which broke me into tiny squeeing pieces and is largely the reason I bought a little stuffed turtle in their gift shop. Damn them. I'm now off to dinner and then will lounge in my room under my kotatsu, reading and writing.
And look, a volcano erupting! (It was a bit disconcerting while on Sakurajima to find all these instructions on what to do if the volcano erupted...
May you all have had as good a holiday as I did. Tomorrow, I head back to Saitou to see the mounds again, then up to Kumomoto. Ja ne!
My first order of business was to hit the sento (public bath) across the street because I still smelled of smoke. I was very entertained to get there and discover it was highly traditional. They even had these scary looking wooden barrel thingies that you sat in with your head popping out the top while it cooked you. (No, I didn't try it.) There was a salt bath and an electric bath and a sauna, plus the strongest massage shower I've ever experienced. (Ow.) I chatted with a few of the ladies there (I love that no one even attempts to speak English down here, though I have no idea why... maybe it's just me and where I travel...) and had a good soak and relaxed, even if it made me more tired. I then drove to the archaeology museum which I had been led to believe covered all time periods, but really focused on the Yayoi and Nara periods. Still, I learnt a lot and the displays were impressively arranged and automated. They certainly did their best to make shell mounds interesting (they're not. trust me.). I'm somewhat amazed they showed the kids peeing in the little animation video about the site, though then again, the little display dioramas were anatomically correct. I love how seriously the actors take everything in their historical videos too.
I then headed back into the city to visit the Fairytale Museum because it was recced to me. Only it was closed so I wandered around, took a few pics, saw a few statues then headed out. I parked at the ryokan and walked to the nearby aqarium which was expensive but quite nice. They had a really good display on local waters and some really nice tanks, plus lots of fish I haven't seen. Their dolphin show was also quite different. They did the usual but also a lot of really random things like quizing the audience and making people direct the dolphins using a tv. Also, no annoying music. It was nice. They had baby sea turtles too which broke me into tiny squeeing pieces and is largely the reason I bought a little stuffed turtle in their gift shop. Damn them. I'm now off to dinner and then will lounge in my room under my kotatsu, reading and writing.
And look, a volcano erupting! (It was a bit disconcerting while on Sakurajima to find all these instructions on what to do if the volcano erupted...
May you all have had as good a holiday as I did. Tomorrow, I head back to Saitou to see the mounds again, then up to Kumomoto. Ja ne!
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Mmmm, Kotatsu. Jealous! <3
Your package arrived safe, and thank you so much for the myriad of goodies inside! :O *glomps* The backup CD got broken in transit though, waah. ;_;
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