Lots of cranes hanging at a monument.
Author: jmodule
We went back to the Peace Park to go to the Hiroshima Museum. It covered the devastation that happened in the city when the atomic bomb was dropped and then recovery after the war. It also had some exibits about nuclear war in general. It was a sobering experience to see again what kind of damage atomic weapons do. MDF hurried us along through the museum, but we managed to see enough of the exibits and make a new record for time viewing the exibits (about 45 minutes I think).
On the way back to the park we were passed by a number of grade school marching bands that were parading in the street. Some of the Japanese children were dwarfed by their instruments, but they were all good musicians for their age.
After we sat in the park for a while, the decision was made to go back to shops once more, mainly to visit Deodeo, an “electronics and more” store. The store had about 10 floors, each having a different department (computers, lighting, audio, etc). On the ground floor they had lots of digital cameras on display. I stopped and looked at a number of different brands, Canon, Nikon. I even got to try out one I had been interested in, a Pentax *ist D.
We had a lot of fun yesterday at Hiroshima. We took the local train from Iwakuni. The train going there must have been old, because it swayed and rocked a lot — making at least three of us sick. Still we got there in one piece. We got off at a station on the outskirts of the city and walked down a block to catch the trolley to downtown.
A local train at Iwakuni Station
We started out at the Peace Park and right away we saw the Atomic Dome — one of the few buildings that was left standing after the Atomic bomb exploded over the city. It may have been cleaned up some, but it has been left a ruin like it was at the end of World War Two.
The Atomic Dome
We walked further into the park and looked at the various monuments that have been erected to promote peace. Eventually we decided it was time for lunch and we headed toward one of the covered streets where all the stores and restaurants were.
We ate at Italian restaurant called The Garlic House. CDF and I had spaghetti; mine had mushrooms hers had a side of garlic-flavored egg plant. We ordered sweet garlic bread too, it came topped with butter and roasted garlic cloves. MDF sampled off everyone’s plate. I think she liked the bread and some potatoes from Vasco the best.
Eating at the Garlic House.
After lunch, on our way out I stopped at a Konica shop that was down a side street to look for a memory card for my camera. I found some but didn’t like the price so we moved on. The next store we stopped at was an Andersen’s bakery. It was a great looking bakery. In addition to bread, they sold cheese, wine, flowers, and jam. CDF and I picked out some sweet breads, donuts, and muffins to sample. In all I think we spent around 1,000 Yen. We sampled one donut outside and saved the rest for when we got home.
We went to the Fish Tank restaurant for supper last night. It had traditional Japanese seating: a low table on a raised platform with cushions to sit on. As an American (and a tall one at that), I found it rather cramped, and almost got claustrophobic one time when I had trouble shifting positions.
The food was good though. We ordered meat and other food grilled on spits, such as chicken, mushrooms wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, fried battered shrimp, fried battered octopus, fried rice, and noodles. They brought the food on individual plates, and then everyone got what they wanted.
We went driving yesterday afternoon, around Iwakuni and down to the famous Kentai bridge. It’s one of only eight bridges like it in Japan. It was almost too cold to be out, so we spent most of the time in the van. We did get out and walk in the park by the river. The cherry trees are just about to bloom — only have started, but they’re supposed to be in full bloom next week. We’re also hoping for warmer weather so we can walk the in the park.
Kentai Bridge
Too Cold to be Out
After walking by the bridge, we headed back. In the parking lot there were a number of Japanese cats hanging around the cars.
Japanese Cat
I didn’t get close enough to the cats to see if their eyes had the Asian slant too.
After walking around, we went driving through more of the river park. There were a lot of shrines, bridges and buildings. It will be very pretty when all the flowers start blooming. Hopefully we’ll catch the begining before we leave next Sunday.
Building in the Park
MDF is quite taken with her baby cousin. She’s able to say Abigail’s name, and likes to watch Stephanie take care of her during the day. Yesterday CDF took some pictures of MDF and Abigail interacting.
Cousins
It has been in the 50’s for the past few days, but last night it started snowing! It didn’t stay long this morning, but it was pretty to look at on the mountains.
Yesterday we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant downtown. It was on the ground floor of a multi-story building. We sat at a large round table that had a large, marble Lazy Susan in the middle. We all ordered lunch specials. CDF got a beef and vegetable stir fry and I got ramen noodle soup. The special came with salad, rice, vegetables, fried squash, fried pork, and a peach/tofu desert.
My rice was mixed with eggs and vegetables. MDF liked it a lot and ate half the bowl. The ramen dish was spicy, but good. MDF also liked the desert. I think she ate most of Vasco’s dish.
Yesterday afternoon we went off base to the town. CDF had wanted to go to the 100 Yen store. We drove downtown and parked at a parking deck a few blocks up. The streets are narrow and the buildings are very close together. The Yen store building is not very wide, but it’s four stories tall. We rode the escalators all the way to the top floor and then began working our way down.
Heading downtown.
The clerks at the store are very polite. Every time one came out from the back, she would call a greeting to whoever was near by. Of course I couldn’t understand what she said, but I got the meaning.
Another building on the way back home.
We spent most of Tuesday (which was mostly still Monday back in the States) laying around, tired from the trip and feeling the effects of jet lag.
MDF and I walked around the building a while, exploring our surroundings. Stephanie and Vasco’s place is on the 4th floor. On the first floor is a community room. We walked around in it and were on our way back up, when we ran into a man who asked us if we were there for the playgroup. I said no, but we’d like to join. So we spent about an hour from 9:30 playing with the kids that normally come to the playgroup. We played with toys for a while, then had a snack, sang some songs, and had craft time where the children colored a bunny picture.
While we were down in the community room, CDF was sleeping. She got up after a while, and we had lunch. In the afternoon we rode around the base to see where everything was. By 6:00 PM though, we were ready for bed again.