Adventures in Japan

Hiroshima

The reason why we took it so easy on Boxing Day is that we knew we had a big day after Boxing Day planned. Plus Japan doesn't have big Boxing Day sales or anything like that.

Wow, my segueing abilities are not working today at all.

So: Hiroshima...

Not working at all.

We went to Hiroshima.



In Hiroshima, we met a lovely friend of Nate's.



This is Utako. She met Nate in Vancouver. She was nice enough to show us around. After we had all checked in, we poked around for a bit and then decided that the best course of action was to go to the Peace Museum.

I don't want to sound glib, but glibness and irony and all that is how I respond to anything that makes me feel uncomfortable. I cannot speak for the others but I was fairly uncomfortable the whole time I was in the museum. There's only so many times you can read about school children loosing all their skin before your skin feels weird pressed against your body. Reading about the reality of that day made the rest of my day seem supremely unreal.

That skin stuff wasn't even the worst of it. There is just so much horror contained in that museum. Stuff that makes it hard to type because it won't leave my head. Fingernails that grow straight out from fingers... no. Let's not talk about that stuff. It was all bad. But I'm glad I went. I don't know how that works, but there you go.



There is one other main thing to do when you are in the Hiroshima area, and that is to go to Itsukushima shrine or is called Miyajima shrine?. It was a bit late in the day to get down to the boat to get us to the shrine. So we didn't do that. Instead, we took this picture.



Then we just kind of bummed around town looking for interesting things to see and do. For lunch, we ate some not good Italian.

After lunch, we split up. Carla and I found this:



That is an arcade game. That you sit in. It is like a mech simulator. You have all kinds of dials and levels and controls and pedals and such. And the entire interior of the unit is a screen. You are surrounded by the game. It looked intense.

We all met up again for dinner. We went out for Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki, as you all well know, is Japanese style pancake/omlette/pizza thingees. In Osaka, everything is just thrown all together in the batter and mixed up and then grilled. In Hiroshima, they cook everything separately and then stack it all up at the end. Either way: delicious!



After that we all turned in, there was a big day ahead of us. Plus Carla had to go to work.

The Day After Christmas

Was a lot less busy than Chriistmas proper. Not a lot of people did a lot. But we went out for dinner. Just Trev and Kim and I. Nate was taking it easy and Carla was working. So I finally got to eat at a place I've been dying to try for years. Seriously.



I first saw this place when I applied for my current job, that's over two years ago. It's a buffet style place, but to the extreme. Tonnes of seafood, and all well prepared. Except for the pot stickers, those were kinda bleh. But everything else was good.

Too good.

We ate too much.

The we had dessert.

There was a chocolate fountain and an ice cream bar.



I believe Nate stayed home and Wii'd.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope y'all have a good'un. We did. We went to the Outback Steakhouse, renowned worldwide for it's romantic atmosphere. Hey, don't look at me, Carla picked the place. She equates steak with love. And that is why we are so happy together. I had a steak and she had some prime rib, we split a bottle of wine and a dessert as well. It nearly killed us. Our stomachs are turning Japanese, they can't handle these vast quantities of delectable beef.

In other news, I am busy at work training my replacement. We saw yet another Aka Inu gig, it was fantastic as always. And Carla is teaching me how to bake. This is her way of teaching: she watches me and only tells me what to do only after I've done it wrong. Judging by the results, I did a lot wrong. I was aiming for muffins but they came out more like biscuits. Buffins? Miscuits? Misfits. They in no way looked or tasted like muffins. They looked like hockey pucks that let themselves go: all fat and lopsided. And they tasted salty and kinda dry. Carla ate the bulk of 'em, god bless 'er.

Anything else?

Probably.

On Christmas Day

We woke up and wished each other well wishes. Then we opened up gifts and such. Thanks, all, for the gifts and such.


Special shout out to Hunter for being so damn photogenic. Way more photogenic than our place after the gift opening.


After we opened our gifts and cards and such, we played with them.


Then we Wii'd and Guitar Hero'd.

Then we got all dressed and ready to hit the town. Not really hit it I guess, just walked around.




Then we went to Ben's place. Where we Wii'd some more. And exchanged more gifts. Ben is such a giving guy. All my friends are. I am a lucky, lucky guy. My lovely friends gave me a beautiful gift. Beauty, of course, being in the eye of the beholder.


Most people who saw the Virtual Boy did not think it beautiful. I'll just link to a wikipedia article about it. Cuz if I start talking about it... I just won't. Plus wikipedia, y'know: they may not always be right but at least they're enthusiatically misinformed.


So we all gave it a bit of a go. Then we all got dizzy and headache-y. So then we drank and Wii'd. Some more people showed up and much fun was had. Crepes were ate.