Spring Break

I took 8 days off to enjoy spring break. My plan was to go to Hong Kong, but unfortunately, I got the flu the day before I was suppose to fly out. So instead of attending the HK International Film fest, I found myself watching my personal filmfest on the couch at my parents’ house. I am not really complaining though, it was an excellent opportunity, to catch up on American movies that I had totally missed out on during the last 8 months. I also did manage to get in a great day with my dad in Hiroshima. The two of us hit all of the art museums. I think my dad may have been on a bit of a cultural overload, but he was extremely patient with me, and even allowed me to get a bit of shopping in (seeing as I was in the “big city” and all.) Once I got better, Kiwi-boy picked me up and the two of us went on a bit of a road trip.

Day 1: The goal was to get to the Japan Sea and eat Fugu (blowfish, a specialty of Yamaguchi prefecture, where my parents live.) After, driving for about 8 hours (distances are short, roads are ultra windy) we end up at the Sea of Japan…only to learn that we have worked our way out of the Yamaguchi prefecture, so there was no Fugu for us. We saw a great sunset and decided to change our goal to: Catch 3 sunsets on the three major bodies of water over 3 days.

Day 2: Kiwi-boy had to go to school, and I had meetings in Tak (our lovely capital). But, we still had a goal to accomplish: go to the cave of enlightenment, then catch a sunset on the Inland Sea (which happens to be 2 blocks from my apartment). The cave of enlightenment is a rather hoaky tourist trap that is suppose to be representative of the place that Kobo Daishi (Japan’s original prophet who founded 88 temples in Shikoku…the island I live on)…I guess it is a dark tunnel under a building, that has a bunch of creepy blacklight drawings on the wall. And in order to get around, one has to place their left hand on the wall to use as a guide, as you wander into the pit of blackness. Turns out the pitch black tunnel closes at 5 PM…we arrived at 6. Then we raced back to my apartment (which was only like 15kms away…that is like 8 miles) knowing we had a solid 30 minutes before the sunset. I don’t know why, we didn’t consider Japanese drivers or Japanese roads. Because those 15kms took almost 45 minutes to drive…hence, we missed the sunset….

Day 3: Kiwi-boy and I drive to Kochi (the “beach prefecture”) we fill the car with camping gear (which we never use because the weather turns rainy) and we head south. Kochi is a really beautiful place. I cannot wait for the weather to heat up, so I can do some camping on the beach. And it seems to be one of the only places in Japan where one can actually go surfing…I can hardly wait. Other than great views (we did catch a great sunset on the Pacific) Kochi doesn’t really have much else to offer. The highlight of our day was going to the Anpanman museum. A museum dedicated to one of Japan’s most beloved Anime characters. The whole thing was pure kitsch, but honestly where else are you going to find a museum like this, but Japan?

Day 4: Today we hit the Kochi market, which is an 8 block farmers market. It was kind of fun to wander thru the stalls and get some pictures. Overall, there wasn’t too much to buy and not much diversity of wares. It really made me miss LA and the farmer’s markets there…particularly the live music, the bacon/onion hotdogs, the fresh juice stands, and all the great street fare food. After leaving Kochi city we headed down to Ehime prefecture. There we stayed in Awojima. A city known for bull-fights, pearls, and the Taga Shrine…(aka Japan’s sex museum). Now, I have been to the Sex Museum in Amersterdam, and honestly, I was expecting something similar. Boy, did I underestimate the Japanese. The 1st thing I saw when I arrived was a life-sized chocolate penis w/ scrotum and a life-sized chocolate vagina…both for sale. (Keep in mind that this is a country that censors its porn, so nobody can see any of the “lower bathing suit region”.) Of course I had no choice but to purchase the penis for my homo-phobe friend (It’s going to really freak him out;) Then onto the sex museum…which consisted of 3 floors of memorabilia. The building is literally overflowing with sex art and tchtchokes (Even the ceiling is covered with pictures.) The collection is the life work of a Japanese priest, who has traveled the world looking for artifacts. I think it might be the only place in Japan where one can actually see photographs of models with pubic hair (another thing that is censored by the Porn police here.) I would say that although it was complete overkill it defiantly gives Amsterdam’s Sex museum a run for its money.

Day 5: Moved on to Matsuyama. The goal was to visit the Dogo Onsen, one of Japan’s oldest hot springs baths. The building itself was really cool. The price was extremely reasonable. But the experience…Ick!!! Okay, keep in mind that I love going to onsens. Being naked and bathing with a bunch of other females does not normally freak me out. In fact, I have come to rather enjoy the whole experience. But for some reason, this onsen experience completely creeped me out. I don’t know whether I was weirded out by the insane number of obasans (super old women) or by the weird smell the whole thing gave off (not going to explain it, but let’s say that it wasn’t sulfur that I was smelling). Regardless, I have never bathed so quickly in all my life. I even beat Kiwi-boy out of the baths by about 30 minutes (a record, because he usually only takes about 30 mins at the onsens). After the onsen we wandered the town. Stopping at the park to enjoy a Hanami festival (cherry blossom party).

Day 6: I headed to Himeji Castle. This is a super famous castle in Japan. It’s really beautiful. For some strange reason though, I got it in my head that there was something horrible going on. Call it partial schitzophrenia, I don’t know…but it all started when I noticed the security guards, calmly (too calmly if you ask me) searching every nook and crany in the castle. Then I realized each of the security guards I passed were intently speaking into their headsets, and scanning the crowd. Finally, I watched a security guard nervously pace back and forth, watching every single person as they passed. So needless to say, I got it in my head that their was either a bomb or a something equally as bad going on at the castle….Unfortunatly, when you are at a Japanese tourist site, it is nearly impossible to exit, when you want to leave. Thousands of old, slow moving people, one way traffic, and general claustrophobic feel of being carried by the crowd.

I finally escaped…and as far as I could tell, everything was fine with the castle…but honestly, I didn’t really feel like sticking around to see if anything would go wrong.