Howeer, this time, much more happened! When I first met up with her, we wandered around for a while looking for somewhere to eat lunch, and she kept talking about how strange it felt for her to be there with me, and how things had changed a lot. We eventually settled on a cafe, and got ourselves some pizza! (I honestly can't rememer the last time I ate pizza!)
Also, I have to give a shout out to her mom!! The reason for that is because her mom gave her some money so that she could buy us lunch, admission to the castle, garden, and whatever else we wanted. I was incredibly surprised, but it turned out that she said her mom wanted to thank me for always looking after, helping and being nice to my partner. Isn't that something I should do anyways??? Well, whatever the reason, it was definitely appreciated! Her mom is so kind!! Thank you so much for today!! It was fun!!
After lunch, we went to Himeji's main tourist spot -- Himeji Castle.
This time (unlike the last time I was there), we went inside the castle (the line wasn't too horribly long). The signs they had around said that it would take us about an hour to get in, but it was only maybe 20 minutes or so. Once you get into the castle (the section we stated in was really dark), there's a designated circuit to follow, and it takes you up to the top of the castle, and eventually back down again. There were quite a few people inside, but we were still able to enjoy the views and the cooling breeze that was coming in through the windows.
 |
| Some views from (and of) the castle |
 |
| After paying, reach in, grab your fortune, and then go check it out! |
This was actually my first time to do this, and it was really interesting and fun!
The next thing we did was go over to garden which is just down the road from the castle. It's called Koko-en. My partner told me that the best time to see it is in the fall at night time, when all the trees are colorful and illuminated.
 |
| There were so many koi!! |
Part way through the gardens, we could hear some traditional Japanese music and went to go check it out, but it was in an area that we didn't have access to. So instead, we found a little tea house, and got out of the heat for a few minutes by going in to do tea ceremony (drink some matcha and eat a sweet).
 |
| Tea ceremony time! |
As we were walking through the gardens, I took the opportunity to ask about some Japanese things, such as, why does the castle have things that look like horns on top. I'm not sure if I actually got an answer to that question though. Because....when I asked I made a gesture, and she thought it was too cute, and then so many pictures making that pose. Like this:
 |
| Look! Me and the castle are the same!! |
After the garden, we walked around a little bit more, checked out some of the souvenir stores, and eventually stopped one more time for a drink in a cafe.  |
| Writing a thank you to her mom.... |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a rather unrelated aside, on my way back home, I decided to take a bit of a long cut, and came across a lot of people clustered around for some sort of event. But at that point, I didn't know what it was, whether it hadn't started yet, or had already finished (and I wanted to eat too...) so I kept walking. When I got to the other side of the water, it had started. It was some kind of light/water/music show. Seemed kind of interesting, but I didn't really want to go back to all of those people, so I watched for a little bit from where I was.
If this video isn't working, try clicking here to watch.
On the way home, the lighting was also really nice, and the clouds kind of cool, so I got this photo too!
No comments:
Post a Comment