OH DEER: a day in the life of a Miyajiman deer

This is Fred. He comes from Miyajima island in Japan. He likes to make friends.

Mainly because his friends always give him food. He loves food. He loves eating food. And paper. Nothing goes better in a rice bowl than some flakes of seaweed and paper.

He spends most of his days sunbathing underneath the Sakura with his pal Carl.

Fred: "Sup Carl?"

Sometimes he and Carl hang out with their human friends, like Haruto-san here.

Having a chat with Haruto-San underneath the blossoms.

Fred: "It's nice to have someone to talk to about M-theory Haruto-san. It's a little too complicated for Carl here."

Fred also loves to go on walks by the coast and urges as many of his friends to go with him.

Fred: "Konnichiwa Mimi! Join Carl and I for a walk to the pagoda?"

And so off they go. The three muskedeers. Yes I did just make that horrific pun.

*trot trot trot*

But Mimi is such a lazy thing. She always ends up slowing the group down. 

"Guys can we not just chill here for a bit?"

Mimi: "Ok guys you just go on ahead. I'll catch up later with my scooter."

Sadly Fred and Carl never make it too the pagoda. They are stopped by a rice-bowl restaurant and the treasures it puts on display have Carl gaping wide-eyed and hungry.

Carl: "OMG"

Carl: "They have edamame and paper napkins. Score!"

So our heroes never make it to the 5-storey pagoda but stuff themselves silly and end their adventure with a siesta in the sun. Nothing better than soaking in those rays Fred.

THE END

Big in Japan ends: OSAKA

The last stop of this epic trip was Osaka, which was about an hour and a half from Hiroshima on the Shikansen. We pretty much used just used this day as a last-minute shopping destination so I unfortunately have nothing to say but sight-seeing and cultural stuffs.

I do however have stuff to say about where to stay and shop if you’re on a budget and review the restaurant Misono, which claims to have the best Kobe beef money can buy.

We stayed in the Floral Inn Namba hotel smack in the middle of the main shopping area of Osaka, near Ebisu Bashi-Suji and Shin Saj Bashi-Suji. The hotel itself isn’t first class flash nor is the service any good (only one concierge can speak English), but it has decent sized, clean rooms, a delicious breakfast buffet and situated in a really convenient location – all for a modest fee of around 50+ USD a night. Ok it’s not a bargain but for its location, its cleanliness, and for Japan it is a pretty sweet deal.

The shopping streets and Namba underground station are just a stone’s throw away from the hotel. You also have easy access to ‘special service’ shops including ear-cleaning or what have you if you’re into that kind of stuff. If you walk through Ebisu Bashi-Suji you will reach the Takashimaya Department store where you can throw tons of money away for a scarf OR (and I recommend this shopping strategy) you can hit the local boutiques down the street for some cheap buys.

You can get your ears professionally cleaned by a lovely lady for only 30 USD per half hour. What a deal!

Ebisu Bashi-Suji’s stores mostly sell cosmetics, toiletries, and accessories. You can get Shiseido and Kosé products for crazy cheap. On the other side you will find Shin Saj Bashi-Suji, which has a lot of local boutiques and caters more towards clothes and hats etc. A lot of the items are priced at around 1500+ Yen but if you look carefully you can find stores that sell for much less than that.  My personal favourite is this store called ‘Mocca’.

Keep a look out for that shop! They sell cute clothes, hats, and bags ranging from 580-980 Yen. That’s under 10 USD guys! I went mental buying stuff there.

Ebisu Bashi-Suji

A ridiculously good-looking Japanese dude walking down Shin Saj Bashi-Suji

AND since you saved oh so much money in accommodation and transport because you stayed in The Floral Inn Namba located in the centre of everything and opted for a shopping spree in Mocca instead of Takashimaya, you can now splurge the remainder of your budget on Misono’s Kobe beef.

And I’m not kidding about the splurge bit. The cheapest set meal you can get would set you back 150 USD a pop (excluding drinks, VAT, and cover charge). Good news is that you will be so stuffed you’ll be unable to sleep. A menu includes a salad, grilled vegetables (onions, pumpkin, garlic, bean sprouts, massive mushrooms), 120g of Kobe beef, and fried garlic rice. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it is.

If you are not familiar with Kobe beef, it’s supposedly the “champagne” of beef cuts. It is really hard to come by as the cattle are bred in certified prefectures and I’ve heard all these crazy rumours saying the cattle are given frequent massages, listen to classical music, and drink beer etc. in order to prevent them from getting stressed.

Misono boasts that it serves the best teppanyaki Kobe steak in the country. To be completely honest, I doubt I can afford another Kobe beef meal in the near future so I can’t compare it to anything, but I did have an hour-long foodgasm. The steak melts like butter in your mouth and has a lower melting point than other cuts. I mean look at the marbling on this thing!

Stuffed full of Kobe beef and Kirin beer, it was a great last day spent in Japan. For those who intend to go my word of advice is SAVE UP. I may have not exactly been travelling budget but regardless a lot of the 'cheaper' alternatives are not all that cheap. Although Japan may burn holes in your pockets, it is worth visiting. I fell in love with the culture, the people, and the incredible food.

No doubt I'll be going back once finances enable me to do so. It may be a long wait so I may just learn some Japanese so I am better equipped for the next visit!

Big in Japan continues: HIROSHIMA

There was a lot of debate prior to our trip as to whether Hiroshima should be included in the itinerary, and I’m glad that the outcome was yes. It was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen and had some of the best food I’ve ever had in a long long time.

Miyajima island

We first headed for the ferry terminal to catch a ferry to Miyajima island. I had no idea what to expect but it is a gorgeous island just off Hiroshima that boasts temples, shrines, the best oysters ever, and as many deer as there are people.

 Seriously the deer are residents of Miyajima as well, walking around eating paper and whatnot. A must-do for every animal lover, as the deer are very friendly and tame. Just make sure to keep paper bags, receipts, or anything out of paper really, out of their sight. They will eat it.

Our new friend Fred. Isn't he cute?

Miyajima is also mainly an island for walking since most of their roads are located further towards the back of the island and not really where the temples and shrines are. First stop is the shopping street of the island where you can find Kakiya restaurant, which has some of the best oysters I’ve had ever. It’s also a really small place but we managed to walk in without a reservation. It’s really affordable as well – a little cheaper than the unagi restaurant the night before and oh my oh my the money is so worth it.

Shopping street of Miyajima island

The chef at work in Kakiya restaurant. See the splatter on the glass? It's because when he grills the oysters they can EXPLODE.

Definitely try the grilled oysters! I had one grilled oyster on the side with my main being boiled oysters on rice. Sounds simple but it is delish. Also FYI I really hate taking pictures of food. It makes me feel like I am giving in to the Asian stereotype and that makes me very sad BUT I just had to on this trip.

I got the boiled oyster set with a grilled oyster on the side. So freaking YUM.

I've developed a lame habit of food picture-taking in Japan. This is a grilled oyster. Om nom nom.

After stuffing ourselves silly we walked through the Shinto temple and shrine and took some more posey pictures with the Sakura in full bloom. Ain’t it purdy?

The 5-storey Pagoda

Shinto Shrine

After strolling around for a few hours we made our way back to Hiroshima to visit the Hypocentre of where the A-Bomb hit and take a look at the Peace Memorial Park. This was a darker and sadder part of the journey but serves as a reminder of the type of destruction we are capable of.

To end the day we randomly ended up in this small teppanyaki place for dinner. I think it was called Hachiya Dining and is somewhere near the Peace Memorial Park area. If you find it, or can be bothered to look for it, I strongly suggest you eat there. I'll try and find the address or further details and edit this post later.

They don’t really speak English, nor do they have any English menus but they can understand ‘fish’, ‘chicken’, and ‘beef’ so they can easily point you to what you might like. Plus since it’s a teppanyaki place you can kind of see what the chef is cooking and just point and ask for it. The head chef is a really friendly young guy as well who tells you what the things are in Japanese. Definitely comes in useful.

Hiroshima is nothing shy of incredible and I was kind of disappointed to not have been able to spend more time in the Peace Memorial Park, but I guess it's just another reason to go back to Japan right? :)

Back to blogging

Sorry for the impromptu brb on my part but will finish putting up the last few Japan posts and will add the other really long overdue posts - Kuala Lumpur, spa weekend in Austria and settling in Europe, and my weekend in Cinque Terre, Italy.

In fact, I'm typing this in Manarola now basking in the Italian sunshine, drinking sweet wine, and binging on all types of pasta.

BRB guys, new posts will be up soon.