29 April 2009

I woke-up at 8:00am this morning, since Derrick and I planned on taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast offered by the hotel at 8:30am. We went downstairs together and enjoyed everything they had. I had two types of nigiri, miso soup, cabbage salad, tsukemono, sliced bread, and a buttered roll. It was very good, and I’m glad I was able to save some money by not having to spend money on breakfast. We met in the lobby at 9:30am and left for our next destination: Naoshima. We took two trains and a ferry to get there. I am continually surprised by how calm the waters are and how smooth the ferry rides are. The ferry ride was much longer than the one to get to Miyajima, but it was a nice change from riding the trains and subway. Upon arriving at the dock in Naoshima, I could already tell that that city was going to be unlike anything I have seen and experienced so far. It was completely small, historic, and somewhat desolate. I couldn’t differentiate a house, from a restaurant, from a store. It was really strange. I honestly have no idea how people are able to live there. We took the Benesse House shuttle bus to our hotel, which is ironically located above the Benesse House Museum. The hotel is technically composed of three different areas, so we were split amongst all of the buildings in order to see all of them. I was set to room with Shae, Trudy, and Karen in the only quadruple room. We were in the rooms located directly over the museum. Our room is by far the largest room out of everyone’s, and it is by far the nicest place I have EVER stayed it. Oh my gosh, I can’t even put it into words! We have a beautiful wall of windows overlooking the ocean, along with a living room, kitchen, huge bathroom, and four beds. It is amazing! There isn’t really anything else to do on this island, but this Tadao Ando project is by far the best project we have seen so far. The rooms are amazing. I took the time to go visit everyone else’s rooms, and they are pretty cool too. The Oval Building, which is probably the most famous of the three buildings here, is located on top of the mountain above the museum. You actually have to take a monorail to the top, but there is also the option of stairs if you want. The monorail is really slow, so I actually prefer the stairs. The Oval Building was definitely very cool, but I still prefer my location at the bottom of the hill. The views from every room are definitely amazing nonetheless. The third building is the Park Building. It is located even below the Benesse House Museum, and only Don, Derrick, and Blake are staying in those rooms. I really liked that building by Ando since it combined the use of natural wood with his usual use of concrete.
For lunch, we once again took the shuttle bus back to the Naoshima Port area. If I wasn’t with Don and Norio, I would’ve never found a place to eat at since they just look like ordinary houses. None of the restaurants could hold more that a couple of us, so we all had to split up. I ended up going to a small restaurant with Don, Derrick, Seth, and Jeff. I have no idea how anyone else was able to order since none of the restaurants seemed to have pictures or English. The restaurant we chose only had two tables and could seat a maximum of nine people. My bedroom at home is easily larger than the size of that restaurant, and it was truly a home-cooked meal that we received. Since I am totally in love with ramen, I ordered the regular ramen for 550 yen. It was so delicious, and I wish we were staying here longer so I could enjoy it again.
After lunch, we all met up again at a central point and proceeded to follow Don to probably the only grocery store on the island. There is literally nothing around our hotel, so Don suggested that we buy food and snacks to hold us over in the hotel. The groceries were priced fairly reasonably, so I got two bananas, bottled tea, a bento box for dinner, and some sembei for snack. It was less than 900 yen for all of it. We took the shuttle bus back to the hotel and basically stayed there for the rest of the evening. It is really weird to not have anything to explore in the direct vicinity of the hotel. A small group of us hung out on my room’s balcony and watched the sunset. It was really pretty, but it would’ve been even better if the sky wasn’t so hazy. Shae, Derrick, Seth, and I watched movies and tv shows for the remainder of the evening in my living room. Everyone else was drinking, so we weren’t interested in hanging out with them. Tomorrow we won’t be leaving Naoshima until around 7pm, so I plan to spend the day visiting the Benesse House Museum, the Art House, and a James Turrell project. Our next destination is Himeji, so I’m sure new adventures will await me there as well.