Today was Saturday, so the two day trips Don had planned were completely optional. Trudy and I have a similar mentality luckily, so we both wanted to participate in both of them to maximize our experiences during this study abroad. We met Don this morning in the lounge at 9am to make a trip to Northern Kyoto to see some more Shinto Temples. Only four of us showed up to attend, so we had a nice and small group of five. We took the Keihan Line to the Eiden Line and arrived in Northern Kyoto by 9:45am. It was raining outside, so I knew we were in for a very long day. First we visited the oldest wooden house in Kyoto, but unfortunately it wasn’t open for viewing. Next, Don led us to a gateway to another Shinto Shrine. We had no idea about the strenuous task that lie ahead of us. It cost 200 yen to get in, and we got an extensive map of all of the shrines that were located on the mountainside. I figured we might as well see them all since we had travelled all the way to get there. The hike was very beautiful, and we saw many Shinto shrines along the way. The downside was that the hike was over two miles long, and it rose in elevation 2,640 feet. I took my inhaler six times during the long hike, and the rain made the hike all the more tedious. I will most likely be very sore tomorrow, but I survived, and I’m still very glad that I went. At the top of the hike, there were beautiful trees with roots protruding out of the soil, and I think all of us, except Don, were completely dead. After descending the mountain, we opted to walk to the train station to save ourselves the expensive bus fare. During the walk, we stopped at a street vendor and bought sakura mochi and strawberry mochi. They were both so good!
After returning from Northern Kyoto, we headed straight to the Hanku Department store to meet people interested in the second day trip to Osaka. Trudy and I were the only two students who engaged both trips today, so we were exhausted. Don, Trudy, and I got Mos Burger before boarding the train to Osaka, and I ordered a fish burger. It was really tasty, and I would definitely buy it again. Most people complain about the overflowing amount of mayonnaise on everything, but it didn’t bother me at all.
Once in Osaka, we started by visiting the Suntory Museum by Tadao Ando. Tadao Ando is one of my favorite architects in Japan, so it was really neat to see yet another one of his projects. It continued to rain the entire time we were there, so photography in the rain was very difficult. After the museum, we ate ramen and fried rice in the Osaka Mall. That was the largest mall I have ever seen in my life, and the criss-crossing escalators were insane! We ended the trip by walking through a three-story arcade and walking around the shopping mall. I was really bummed that we didn’t have time to stop and actually shop a bit since there were so many stores. We also didn’t have time to visit the Imeda Sky Garden, so I was the most disappointed about that. I will hopefully be able to make a trip back to Osaka sometime soon to visit that building in particular, and hopefully that day will be sunny. The consistent rainy weather today was very inconvenient for traveling, but it still wasn’t going to stop me from engaging an opportunity to explore more of Japan.
I have no idea what I will do tomorrow. I will definitely sleep in, and I will most likely be sore from walking and hiking so much today. I am still impressed with myself and my capabilities, but I definitely won’t push it any more. Some people are hiking through a bamboo garden tomorrow, but I decided against joining them since it is another uphill hike in the mountains. Instead, I will do some grocery shopping and work on homework. I might possibly visit the Cherry Blossom Festival again and/or visit some temples with Norio. We shall see. I did laundry for the first time today in our hotel, so at least I got that out of the way. The dryer here doesn’t work very well, so I will buy hangers at the 100 yen shop tomorrow to hang dry everything. In the meantime, it is all over my room. So, I guess that is it for now. I am completely exhausted, so I will sleep very well tonight.
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