I thanked many times my friend in Kurashiki, because she let
me spent with her and her family New Years Eve and also visit many places that
I hadn’t dreamt of before like Miyajima and Hiroshima.
So that day I left quite early because the first train was
at 05:30 am and I was there on time as well as the always punctual shinkansen
that was going to take me to Okayama and then change for a faster shinkansen to
go to Shizuoka.
The train journey was quite pleasant and even though I
decided not to record much of the trip I regret it now. The reason why I regret
it is because along the trip I managed to experience 3 seasons in less than 4
hours (the whole trip was 3hours and 43 minutes with transfer). And like I said before, don’t be as daft as I
was, buy your JR tourist ticket – you’ll save lot of money, but anyway.
Along the way I saw green spring like landscapes, as well as
autumn like colours and at some point near the Japanese Alps (Nagoya) it was
snowing a lot where for like 30 minutes everything was white and covered by big
dark thick clouds. Yes, I can consider myself lucky. This trip was like many others beautiful
because you could see the satoyama (Japanese country-side) and how different it
is from the big and modern places like Osaka and Tokyo.
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| Waiting for the train at Kobe Train Station |
Shizuoka
Here I was after 4 hours of being on a train I felt I had
been awake for ages and that big part of the morning was already gone but it
was only just before 9am.
When I got there my friend wasn’t there but I knew her well
and that meant that she must likely was going to be late. I went to buy an
apple juice in a vending machine nearby and was looking at all the people that
were going to travel or were leaving the station like me.
If I’d have to describe Shizuoka train station then my words
and sentences would read exactly like Okayama. This is because the architecture
of most train stations in Japan or at least the ones I visited looked the same.
They have a big building and many stories but also they have this short-stay parking
place with a U shape that makes them look very similar. I suppose JR decided to
shape them that way or perhaps it was only one man who designed them. Anyway,
not my problem and from a architectural and functional point of view they were
quite useful and aesthetically well proportioned.
There she was! a bit stressed because she got late and also
a bit sleepy. But I told her not to worry and we left the station the next
thing we did was to go across the city to visit a pier. At that point I didn’t
know that you could see Mount Fuji from Shizuoka and that there was a big pier.
Sadly the Mount Fuji as most of the times was cloudy (although this would
change later during the day). In order to get to this pier she took me through
some very narrow and isolated streets, until we got into a forest and she got
lost – the GPS didn’t give her the right directions. I though it was only my
other friend but well by then I had the idea that it was a national problem.
View Larger Map
When we manage to get to the place we had this amazing
panoramic view of the piers nearby as well as the other side of Shizuoka where
a lot of industries and factories were based. One thing that surprised me is
that there was no sign how to get there, but when we got there it was crowded
(perhaps not like in Summer) and more cars were coming as minutes passed by.
Shimizu
After that we went to the other side of the city to Shimizu
and it was a 30 minutes ride southbound. It’s quite difficult to say which when
one part of the city finishes and when the other one starts. As she was driving
we were talking about her return to Japan after so many months abroad and
having visited many places like South Africa, Germany, Austria, France, Spain,
Egypt, etc. As many Japanese I know she wasn’t happy at all; she just didn’t
like to be back. However, it’s not that she didn’t want to come back, she just
wanted to explore a bit more the world. I think a person like me who still
after so many years haven’t been able to find his right place, because there’s
always new I want to explore.
Some minutes after we got to her parent’s house in the
middle of Shimizu and the house was a bit different, because her family’s
business is a auto-garage so it added more to the Japanese experience of
getting to know as much about the society as possible. My friend felt a bit shy
in the beginning but I loved it. Just outside the house there’s this little
shrine with kuma-inu and rice as well as mandarins. We got inside and she
called everyone saying “tadaima” Her mum said “okaeri” telling her “welcome
home”. All of a sudden I hear some steps running down the stairs and this girl
appears and starts laughing at the whole situation. It was my friend’s sister.
She’s a nice, funny girl and taller than me ^_^
After a rushed introduction to her and then her mum who also
was surprised and very kind we exchanged some words and I remember clearly my
friend’s word before arriving home: “Nobody in my family has met a foreigner
before just so you know”. Well, now I know… I felt so honoured to be the first
foreigner they ever met. They gave me a bit of green tea and a wagashi mochi.
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| Wagashi mochi in Shimizu |
My friend didn’t want to stay for too long because we had to
take my luggage to her sister’s flat so we said “good-bye for now” and off we
went quickly to the other place. We left everything and then we headed
southbound to a craftsmen village where my friends and I were going to make our
own shashin (chopsticks).
Now I was looking at
a more countryside like landscape and all of a sudden we ended up driving on
the coastal line next to the sea. It was great. I don’t know it felt like I was
in one of those Japanese drama series with amazing landscapes and a long queue
of cars. It seemed that there was an accident somewhere, although we couldn’t
see anything along the road. The queue went on forever but instead of focusing
on the cars my friend told me to have a look at the mountain behind it.
In that place they have the sweetest strawberries you can
eat in Japan and apparently it was very famous. To be point that they had the
strawberry-girls selling strawberries in stalls next to the road, and not only
one but up to 4 girls in some places.
Well after 20 minutes of coastal road and some chitchat we
arrived at the craftsmen village and by then I was already more friendly with
my friend’s sister and we were talking in Japanglish.
Before getting there I really didn’t have a clue about the
place and even though they asked many times “what I wanted to do” I didn’t know
what to do in Shizuoka or Shimizu.
Anyway, we got inside and you’ll have to pay a small amount to get in
but it’s seriously nothing for the cool stuff you can do inside.
The craftsmen village had many wooden houses (old style) and
each of them offer something different. I could tell that it was the beginning
of the year, because the place was a bit empty, or perhaps we just got there
too early.
My friend’s sister noticed that they were giving a free
drink, which she told me I had to try and so did I, I can’t remember the
flavour now to be honest but it was a bit different from everything and it was
good. They also gave us some free snack on a stick, although I was not very
impressed by that.
Moving on and around the place we saw these kids playing
with some wooden paddles, very rustic and you could tell it was hand-made. I
couldn’t hold it and I asked my friend if she wanted to play with me and we did
it! Haha then my friend’s sister also challenged me and it was good fun, especially
because the paddles are very light. They are made of some kind of very light
wood and the little ball you have to hit is a bit heavy and it flies a bit with
its feathers
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| Hagoita - Imperial Paddle Game - nowadays played in New Year |
As we moved on we got the building that offered the visitors
make your own craft. You’ve got many options: clay pottery, make some getta or
Japanese sandals or as we did chopstick.
These people who were going to guide us through the process
of making the chopstick, a young lad in the beginning and later on a girl were
so nice and patient. They explained step by step how to scratch the chopstick
in the perfect way. It seriously was good and entertaining. And you can see my
friend and I pretending we are pros doing this, when it fact we struggle for
like 30 mins.
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| Making high-end hashi (chopsticks) in Shimizu |
After we were done with the chopstick and we were happy with
them my friend insisted that I had to take a picture with the young girl – I
wonder why. Anyway, she was very sweet and I couldn’t refuse doing it.
This building had many other places inside where you could
make your own things, like I mentioned before, but if you are a bit lazy and
you feel like watching rather than doing it – then you can have a look at this
two men doing some craftsmen work.
We went out of the building and it temperature was going
down and the sun was hiding slowly behind the mountains nearby. Although, it
wasn’t late, you could tell the day was short and the funny thing is that it
was only just before 13:00. That meant that we needed to eat something so we
went to a small food stand that was selling typical food from the area.
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| Shimizu typical food |
The plate we asked had different things: potatoes, wakame,
pork, intestine and vegetables which name I can’t remember at the moment. The
flavour wasn’t bad at all but the taste of the intestine messed up all the
other things I had eaten. Unfortunately, after that I didn’t want to eat
anything that didn’t look like something I was 100% sure. I can’t blame anyone,
it’s a matter of not being used to this kind of food.
My friends realised that I didn’t feel ok and that I needed
something sweet and something that would help me get rid of the taste in my
mouth. Luckily there was a ice-cream shop nearby and I bought one. This shop and the surroundings were a bit
like a dream. There was a little girl, very young, I presume she was around 9
years old perhaps even younger. She was running and actually smiling at us.
When she saw that we wanted to go to the ice-cream shop she sat just outside
the shop encouraging us to get in. It was a bit weird.
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| Refreshing mint ice-cream in Shimizu |
After the icecream we had to go back to her parents to have
lunch, that her family had prepare for us and also to pick up her another
youngest sister.
Finally on the way to her house I was lucky, very lucky
indeed, to finally see the Mount Fuji without clouds. My friends told me that
the chances that mount Fuji getting cleared was higher than earlier that
day.
day.
Couple of minutes afterwards, we got home and as we were
coming inside the kitchen, we saw these 2 huge plates with lots of sushi, crab.
I didn’t know where to run and shout --- I'm in heaven --- my friend thought
that I was not going to like it but it was perfect, and to make it even more
special her father offered me sake.
To my surprised my friend’s youngest sister was so funny and
with an amazing English as well. As well as her mother who said some words to
her surprise. My friend’s youngest sister was the tallest of the 3 of them and
by then I felt a bit akward haha. Not that I care about sizes but it was funny
to be with 3 girls and the 3 of them were taller than me. Just hilarious
I also got to meet my friend’s grandmother who was very
quiet in the beginning but as I made as extra effort to speak and understand
Japanese she started smiling. She was so cute and fragile – I wish I could have
stayed there with her and talk about life and her memories. One day I’ll do it.
I’m sure I’m come back.
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| no comments ^_^ |
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| Massive plate of sushi in shimizu |
However, my friends
had a long schedule for me and we still had to go somewhere else. The depatto
or shopping centre and we went there by bike. By now I really felt I was 100%
immerse in the Japanese society, because now I was cycling with 3 funny girls
who were making fun all the way to the shopping centre. I took the youngest
girl bike and the youngest girl decided to jump on my friends back and off we went.
It’s a pity I didn’t have a gopro camera to record the ride,
because it was quite funny. My friends were preparing me another surprise and
this time it was breath taking. The whole Mount Fuji was clear without any
clouds and on top it has these beautiful sunset colours.
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| Sunset from Shimizu Pier overlooking Mount Fuji |
I told my friend
thank you for this, perhaps for them it didn’t mean much but for a westerner
like me it meant a lot, more than words can tell. But after the moment of shock
and silence, we asked some lads to take a picture of the 4 of us.
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| Best picture evah! |
My friend’s youngest sister wanted to take us 4 to take a
purikura, “oh boy” I said because I knew what it meant. My eyes where going to
be magnified and my skin most likely was gonna look like Michael Jackson ---
pale---- but I can’t lie I wanted to do it. But first I had to kiss this girl
who was blinking to me and I couldn’t resist so I kissed her.
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| Couldn't resist :) |
Shortly afterwards the girls who were inside the booth left
and we had our chance and we got inside this tiny but amazingly huge booth to
take a picture of us 4. “Are you ready?”
they said. Well for a couple of seconds you don’t know if they actually took
the picture or not because the camera doesn’t make any noise. I was blind like
a rabbit being flashed in the middle of the night by a hunter. Now, the editing
process and the big eyes, the funny emoticons and messages and poses were
funny. I have to say, I look a bit.... on those pictures but I don’t care I had the
fun of my life doing it and most likely I would do it again.
The last thing of the evening was going to be the most
entertaining bit of the day, we went to sing karaoke with some friends. We
booked a room for an hour and we started singing like crazy. My friend’s
friends were so friendly as well, that we didn’t have any problem to integrate
and have fun. We actually sang what for me was just part of a dream (not any
more) I sang Evangelion Opening Theme in a duo with one of the girls. Yes, I
needed some help because I couldn’t cope with the speed of the song and all the
kanjis on the screen. It was sugoi and if you have a chance to do it, do it –
you won’t regret it I promise.
After that and many more songs, sadly we had to say good bye
(I really wanted to stay another day) and head back home to sleep. We talked a
bit before going to sleep and then my friend’s sister offered me her bedroom. I
presume her boyfriend was fine with that, because he never showed up. Nice
shower before saying oyasumi to the girls and then yes off to sleep. Thank you
girls and thanks Shimizu and Shizuoka. I will defo come back again here in the
future.
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| New Pop band?? We'll defo get to the top 10 on Oricon ^_^ |
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