Waka Wakayama

The second long weekend in a row I had fell on a Friday to Sunday, Sept 23 - 25th. I was planning on going to Kagoshima because it's Miami's sister city and also because of an amazing ancient cedar forest that is there, but after an expensive weekend in Nagoya, it wasn't seeming likely.

I toyed with the idea of Wakayama all week but by Friday I still hadn't made any definite plans. But at 10am Friday morning, I just decided -let's do it. So with nothing but my iPhone, we navigated our way, booked a hotel, and decided the attractions to visit.
I'm not too proud to admit that I would be lost without my godphone. lol.

On top of Wakayama Castle: Osaka Bay & some of the Kumano Mountains 

Wakayama is the name of both the prefecture and its' capital city. Wakayama prefecture is huge so we stuck to the most famous attractions. On Friday when we arrived in Wakayama city, we walked to our 'Best Western' hotel. If there's something I'm learning in Japan, it's to stick with the hotel chains you know. This time the bed actually sunk a bit when you sat in it allowing for some measure of comfort. It was small, clean, comfortable and all for 3,000en per person per night. We dropped off our bag and headed out to Wakayama Castle. Yes, another castle. They really do start to all look alike - just like the cathedrals in Europe - but you eventually start to notice their unique aspects. This time, the view  from the top was spectacular. Instead of just endless city, Wakayama city has Osaka Bay to one side and the sacred mountains of the Kumano Pilgrimage on the other. By the way, over the week, the weather changed to be less humid and more like fall, so walking through the gardens on our way up to the castle was also a delight. We then wandered aimlessly around the city in search of food. We found another Coco Ichibans! This one was even better though cause they had garlic bits as a topping option. I of course went over board with the toppings, but what can I say? I always like things in excess. Luis was keen to do some karaoke, but I couldn't fathom karaoke with only two people. It seemed depressing if we weren't drunk enough. Either way, I knew we would have an early morning, so we just turned in.

The next day we headed out to Koyasan, also known as Mount Koya, one of Japan's three most sacred mountains and a World Heritage Site. We consulted the godphone but the route had us going more than half the way home back to Osaka, just to come back down through another rail line to Koyasan station. This was ludicrous to us, so we asked the front desk and were completely perplexed when they told us the same thing. There was a charter bus that left from a nearby hotel, but we would have had to have booked it 24 hours in advanced. Whoops.. so off we went to Osaka to then just come back down via the Koyasan railway. It took two hours in total before we arrived in front of a cable car that would take us straight up the mountain. As a side note, I was baffled by how an efficient country like Japan didn't have an easier way to get to Koyasan and sure enough I found a more direct route later which we used to get home that night. Both the phone and front desk had given us the most direct route to Koysan but not fastest. Blargh.

From the top looking down. @_@

Anyway, the cable car was unlike anything I had ridden before. I had done mountain rope ways before, but those were cars that could fit maybe 10-12 people at most and were, well, on a rope. This was a huge train car that had been fashioned to travel at what had to be a 75 degree angle. The stairs going up the car were already angled. This was so dizzying that it made my head hurt. Imagine being in a regular train car in Japan, but then the car is suddenly on its' two back wheels and there are stairs to get from the front to the back. Dizzy yet? I am just remembering it, so moving on. The ride was about 10 minutes and had lush forest on either side. As I had anticipated, once we reached the top and got out, it was much colder than on the ground. Colder, but like walking around outside with air conditioner, so perfect. Koyasan was different than I had imagined. I thought it was meant to be a hike on this mountain to one famous temple. Instead it was a cluster of temples with local establishments dotted along the way. It was amazing. We visited the two most famous temples of the area, Okunoin, which houses the founder of Shingon Buddhism (Kobo Daishi Kukai), and the Grand Stupa he had built. My favorite part of the whole trip was the path up to Okunoin. It was a path lined with towering cedar trees and over 2,000 ancient graves of all shapes, sizes, and significance. I had read somewhere before my trip that this forest was the inspiration for the forests and creatures in the Miyazaki film, 'Princess Mononoke.' The beauty and presence that this place help was breathtaking - truly worthy of being a World Heritage Site.

Okunoin. One of my new favorite places in Japan. 

View from the Top

The next day, we knew we had to head home, but I had seen an interesting looking temple on a travel brochure that seemed to promise a waterfall for my viewing pleasure. A few inquiries later and we were on our way to Inunakisan-Shipporyuji Temple. What I wasn't expecting when we got there was a hike up the mountain to get to said temple. I had been wearing my hiking shoes all weekend so this was no hurdle, just a welcome detour. It took us about two hours of climbing. Along the way, we were following a river that would have little rapids and waterfalls of its own. I was also absolutely fascinated by all of the over grown foliage covering the graves, torii, and diety statues we saw along the way. The grand finale was a thirty foot waterfall framed by a brilliant red bridge. We took pictures and just gazed in awe at the nature around us.

How long has he been here? 

I've always loved the atmosphere one can find in Japan. It's unlike any other place that I've been. Whenever I find myself in a shrine or temple, there is noticeable stillness and quiet that brings peace to my usually restless mind. These first couple of months living in Japan had not been such a smooth transition, but this trip reminded me of why I waited so long and worked so hard to get here.

A Tranquil Moment

On the way home we stopped in Osaka for dinner and little known to me, the best, most serendipitous act since I've been in Japan was yet to come...

Long Weekend in Nagoya

In Japan, there are two national holidays that can land on the Monday of a week and then on Friday of the same week, meaning that you have a blissful three-day work week or even a proper 10 day vacay if you can get the days in between off. The dates of the holiday are fixed so when ever this happens, it's called Silver Week! Or as like to call it since it's rare, Silver Unicorn Week! (just a little fun reference there if you get it) The holidays are Respect for the Elder Day and the Autumnal Equinox if you were curious. I didn't take the three days in between off, so this post is only about the first three day weekend I had. I have most of my PTO planned out already so I knew I couldn't take the 10 day vacay route, but I do however have a number of places that I want to go to in Japan that require at least 3 days so it was alright by me.

First stop: Nagoya to visit an old college friend of ours.

Before getting on the train to Nagoya, a Linkin Park concert was going on in Osaka. I had gotten my bf tickets as a birthday present for him, but think I ended up having a better time, haha! We had been able to acquire these tickets in a very serendipitous manner, so we were absolutely stoked to be seeing our favorite band in our favorite place in the world. We arrived at the venue when we were supposed to, but were surprised to find huge lines in every direction. A friend of ours from Tamba had arrived before us but was equally as confused. Apparently there was a letter and a number on our tickets that would correspond to the line we were suppose to get in. Our friend was already in a random line, so when we did figure out what line we were suppose to be in, it had gotten even longer than ours! We looked at each other and the decision was unanimous - we had to play the baka gaijin card. This card should not be abused, but since Baka gaijin means 'stupid foreigner' it usually aids in the plight of a foreigners who are still trying to figure how things work in Japan. So when you make these kind of obvious mistakes, Japanese people assume you didn't know any better and let whatever indiscretion slide. We waited and were ushered slowly towards the front until it came time to rip the tickets aaaand success!! We got in ahead of easily about 600 other people who were in our proper line. Phew!

Lead singer, Chester Bennington doing his thing. 

On to the show! We had already booked our shinkansen in advanced so we were a bit nervous when the band hadn't started playing 10 minutes after they were supposed to with an opening act supposedly going on first. In America it would be silly to expect a concert to start on time but, this is Japan. People have places to go and train times to go with them! So my faith in Japanese punctuality wavered only briefly after 15 minutes, but then all of a sudden, Linkin Park came out guns (read instruments) a blaring!! no opening act, no nonsense, just right into their first song. It was amazing. Since it was standing room only, we pushed our way to the front and in a sea of moshing and jumping, we got to see the whole band up close, maybe 10-15 feet away. I made two novice mistakes though. I wore sandals and I took a shoulder purse - what is wrong with me?! My feet were not just being stepped on, but stomped on! My purse was in the way and rubbing up against sweaty people..so gross (remember I'm a clean freak). It was all worth it though. I have great footage, even if I have less than great pictures. I couldn't really help that though since moshing is the opposite of standing still. The whole thing was an unforgettable experience. And my faith was restored in full as the show ended promptly and we caught our train to Nagoya.


We arrived in Nagoya and noticed we had inadvertently booked a hotel in the red-light district. Lots of host club guys were hanging around and posters displaying the faces of heavily made-up girls were in the windows. Unfazed, we headed up to our hotel, desperate to take a shower. What did faze us though was how hard the bed in this place was. No spring board, just a box. And this hotel wasn't cheap either. What the?

Bunnies!

In the morning, we met up with our college friend and headed off to a bunny cafe called 'うさぎ と cafe' (Bunny with Cafe). I adore bunnies, always have. I had a bunny in fourth grade for a couple of years and as of late, have really wanted one again. Once we arrived we were told we had to wait 30-45 minutes. The mounting anticipation was too much. The bunny area is kept separate from the eating area, so when we finally sat down, all I could do was stare into the next room awaiting my turn. You pay by the half hour to play with the bunnies and order food separately. I placed my order for bunny curry and then proceeded to the next room. Kyaa!!! I almost died from the cuteness overload! The bunnies run free but you're not allowed to pick them up, only to pet and play with them. Floppy eared, straight eared, long hair, short hair, big, small, all kinds. One of them had the softest fur I had ever touched. I fed them hay and let them approach me for petting until my food came 10 minutes later. The curry was too cute (and not actually made out of rabbit, lol). I had a hot chocolate with vanilla ice cream floating inside for dessert. It was presented to me in an adorable bunny mug, so I had to buy that too. Afterwards, I went back in for more bunny time!

Softest fur ever!

Nagoya 'lovers' Tower

After we walked to Nagoya tower. Towers in big cities are a thing in Japan. Towers in general aren't something I'm interested in, but I do enjoy the art of collecting, so Nagoya tower was just next on the list. Part of this collecting process by the way, always includes some kind of cell phone charm from the tower (a Kitty-chan one is preferred). I've never been to a tower with a theme though. This one's seemed to be 'love.' There were four posts showing different ways to hug in each of the cardinal directions, there was a lover's sanctuary, and even a wall picturing couples that had gotten married at Nagoya tower. It was slightly odd, but I enjoyed it all.

Hugging in every way?

Next we ate a Coco Ichibans, a fantastic curry house chain. After that I wanted to ride a Ferris wheel that I had seen from my hotel window, but since I wanted to ride it at night we had time to kill so we went to happy hour! Yay! It was a cozy little British Pub that was showing the Rugby World Cup. I'm not into rugby but after watching a few minutes of it, I could be. Very thrilling sport where men are men and injuries are likely. In honor of this world cup, the menu featured drinks from around the world. Naturally, I tried what 'Japan' had to offer and then the blue color of 'Argentina' called me. Then, it was off to the Ferris wheel. I'm also not a huge lover of Ferris wheels back home, but they're everywhere in Japan, so why not? The ride was nice and we got some nice views of the city. All and all, a great day.

On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel and had a healthy breakfast of conbini food (chips and a sandwich) before meeting up with our other friend in the neighborhood. We were meeting her and her girlfriend at Nagoya Castle.

The castle, and its golden dragons

Nagoya Castle is known for the golden dragon fish that sit on top of the green roof. They don't look so big from a distance but they had some on display inside the castle that showed how big they really are and wow, they're huge. One fact I found interesting and sad was that the original castle was bombed during WWII only a month or so before Japan surrendered anyway. Such a shame.

We were starved soon after so we took a subway towards a street mall that promised food and fun. The food turned out to be an authentic Italian style pizza joint with some scrumptious coal-fired pizza. The fun came in the form of purikura which we nearly had to drag our friend to do. Purikura are sticker pictures that you can decorate to no end. These are popular with kids who are still in primary school but our friend didn't like them even back then. I however love them. The possibilities are endless when doing purikura and it's such a great way to make a life-long memory in a small way. These machines are usually located in an arcade so on the way out I passed a UFO machine that caught my eye. It was full of Hello Kittys in witch costumes holding a pumpkin. I was sold. I kind of suck at these machines so a little known fact to foreigners is that you can ask the attendants for 'tips' which essentially means they'll put the prize in a more accessible place. Even after all of that though, it still took me four tries to get my Kitty-chan prize. Totally worth it.
We had passed a temple on the way to the street mall, so we went back and just sat on the steps and talked. The temple was lit up rather nicely at night, making for a fond final memory of our time in Nagoya. It was my best weekend in Japan thus far.