Mitaki Dera: Part II

More from our April visit of Mitaki-Dera.

Getting ready for the Osaka/Kyoto trip in 2 weeks! Pretty pumped, even though I've been told it will be hot as hell and crowded and we won't feel like doing anything. Hoping I won't blow too much cash there. I love Kyoto desserts, and I also love yukatas, so it will be difficult for me. However, it is my birthday month so maybe my parents will send me a lovely gift-o-yen... *hint* *hint* mom and dad. Plan on seeing plenty of beautiful temples, eating yummy food, and relaxing in an air conditioned hotel room. What more could you ask for? Alright off to bed. Markian says we need to quit staying up so late, and he has a point. If I keep doing this while my high schools are on vacation I'll be really screwed up for when they're back in session in September.

Mitaki Dera

It's strange how that now I have time to write some blog entries with school calming down, my site traffic has dramatically decreased. Now my viewers must be incredibly busy! I've gone from an average of ten visitors a day to one.

This trip was taken a couple days after we visited Miyajima in between the end of training and the start of work. Mitaki-Dera is only a couple train stops away from Hiroshima station. Some people have described it as better than some of the great temples they visited in Kyoto. It's just very different. I was very impressed with our visit here. You have to walk up a steep hill after leaving the station to even get to the temple. The temple is located in a beautiful, wooded, mountainous area.

These big statues really impressed me. I don't know why, but it reminded me of something you'd see in Coruscant (Imperal City) in Star Wars. They just looked really freaking sweet.


There was a really little waterfall behind them. Don't worry, much better waterfalls to come. Mitaki-dera has three beautiful waterfalls.


This place was just so beautiful and peaceful. I can't wait to go back and see the Autumn leaves, which is really what it's known for.
I think this last picture may be my favorite shot of these guys. More Mitaki-dera to come!

I found a kitler!

Look at this awesome kitler! I didn't even realize he was a kitler until Markian pointed it out! haha For those that are unfamiliar with the term kitler, a kitler is a "cat that looks like Hitler." Horrible, yes, but hilarious never the less. For more information please see, http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com It explains everything and has plenty of pictures of kilters. Perhaps I should submit this one.

These photos were taken in Hijiyama park the first of this month. It's basically a park on top of a mountain. I think there are previous pictures of cherry blossoms that were posted a while back from here. Anyway, there are tons of stray cats up there. I feel really sorry for them, many of them are very thin and hungry. I pet them, which drives Mark nuts because he thinks you shouldn't pet strays, cause you could get something. Anyway, this cat was very old but sweet and friendly and he looks like a kitler which made us laugh. I just thought I'd share. What do you think? I wish I could have taken him home!

Ugly babies and heat

Isn't this the most hideous thing you've ever laid eyes on? It's much worse in person I assure you. They make bags and pants out of these too. There is an entire store full of this crap. I can't figure out who buys it because I never see anyone wearing it. It's so horribly awesome.....it's like a train wreck, I want to look away, but I can't. Why oh why?

In other news, it is hot as hell. Actually, it's no where near Memphis hot. However, no having central heat and air makes it seem hotter than the US where I'm used to frigid air conditioning everywhere I go. I have all this free time with my high schools being on break. However, I'm too hot be able to enjoy anything. I sit here in the heat, whining that I'm hot. It's too warm in here to move, and I'm too cheap to turn on our little a/c unit. Besides it's in the kitchen and I don't want to sit in the kitchen all day to be cool. Sleeping in the heat sucks. We've tried sleeping in the living room on the tatami mats where we can open the big sliding glass door, but that doesn't feel really any different than the stuffy bedroom. I'm voting on bringing the bed into the kitchen area. Being hot isn't fun. I dread the walk to school today. It's too warm to be walking around!

I don't know if I've mentioned or not, but we're taking a little vacation during obon week. We'll be staying in Osaka, but visiting mostly Kyoto and maybe Nara again and Iga Ueno (the ninja town). So I'm really pumped about our little trip in the heat during one the biggest weeks for travel all year (I really didn't think this through, did I...). No, seriously, I am very excited.

Turfy the horse!

Isn't he cute? He's a Sanrio creation, you know the ones that make Hello Kitty and Badmarzu (or whatever his name is), though I've never seen Turfy in the states. The first picture is from a horse race betting place near the train station. It was a window display. Those little horses went round and round the sign. Adorable!
These pictures were taken at the Hiroshima Flower festival. All the kids were crowed around to see Turfy live in person. I probably looked stupid taking pictures of it because no one was standing around that didn' t have a little kid with them! Oh well, I find the kids stuff interesting. Turfy didn't talk; he let this lady do all the talking. He would just wave at the kids in between. It actually seemed really boring for children because it was basically a lady talking at them with a guy in a horse suit occasionally waving. Go figure.

Peace Park Crab

So about a month ago, we were walking back to the apartment late at night through the Peace Park. Markian spotted this crab just hanging out in the middle of the sidewalk. I couldn't figure out how it got there. I thought maybe it was someone's dinner and had fallen out of their shopping bag or something. It was a little small to be a crab for eating though, although he wasn't tiny or anything. I thought it wasn't even alive till Markian poked it with a stick and he moved. I was really afraid he would get smashed by all the bikes riding through here. We couldn't move him though because he would pinch us with his claws. He got a little feisty when you tried to come really close. I really hope he was ok.

I asked some people about it later, and if they'd ever seen crabs in the Peace Park. They said no, but they come from the river, which is only a few meters away, and that river is so close to the sea. But still, that crab had a little ways to walk. Crazy. I thought it was cool though to see a crab in the Peace Park. It just isn't what I expected to see.

Low Tide

Alright, still giving you Miyajima pictures. You know the gate that was in the water I posted lots of pictures of earlier? Well, this is that same gate, but at low tide. It's really cool because you can walk out on the wet sand and actually touch the gate that hours earlier was surrounded completely by water.



Look at all the barnacles on the gate! There are so many! This was so neat. It just made it so much more real to get up close to it like that. I didn't actually know you could do that until we went! The gate looks so huge up close; and well it is a huge gate!
I had to get a close up because I thought it was so cool!






In the picture below, lots of those people are out searching for oysters. This place is known for their fresh oysters. We did get some, because I'd never had them. They weren't bad, but not my favorite thing in the world. I'd rather have clams I think.

A beautiful view

Okay, so Mt. Misen wasn't all bad. We did get a lovely view of the Japanese inland sea and the surrounding area. These first few pictures are when we're almost to the top and we're so freaking tired.

Then I tried to take a picture of ourselves with the timer. The rock I set it on was crooked, so it turned out crooked.
Isn't it beautiful? What a view!


The top was freaking cold and crazy windy. It felt good at first because we were all hot and sweaty from climbing that stupid mountain.








After about five minutes I decided it was freezing up there. I'm like, "Hurry up Mark. Take the pictures. I'm freezing up here!!!!"



Then he decided to put his coat back on too. haha