Traveling Home from Japan - December 2017

We began our 24 hours-o-travel bright-eyed and awake!  

The first task - fill up the rental car with gas before returning it ... our GPS failed us in navigating to the gas station.  Twice.  Eventually, we made it, to discover that the gas station only accepted cash ... of which we were fresh out.  

Next to the gas pump is a kiosk in which you "enter much money" then pump your gas, and any change you are owed is issued.  

In order to have the cash to put in the machine, we had to walk across a bridge to the airport, find an ATM, withdraw cash, and then walk back to fuel up.  A super helpful gas station attendant explained this to us after Hubby asked to pay with a credit card.  The Japanese seriously do not have a credit culture like we do in the states.

The small green sign in this first picture is for the ATM, we followed it and got our cash!  Airport #1.

 Having successfully fueled and returned our rental, we boarded a JAL flight from Hiroshima to Haneda in Tokyo.  The view of the Japanese countryside as our flight took off was spectacular. 

 We spent far too much of our flight finding the young girl in the next row over absolutely adorable.  Also of note, the JAL seats include small steps for use in putting your luggage in the overhead bins.

 In exiting Hiroshima, we walked behind what we assume to be a sumo wrestler and his family.  Airport #2 of the day!  

The next step in our journey was to buy a bus ticket for our transfer from Haneda to Narita. 

The bus included fold-out seats which added an extra space to each row.  Pretty efficient use of space in our humble opinion!  

 After the bus ride, we went through security at our third airport of the day and enjoyed a beautiful view taking off from Narita.  We, however, are beginning to look a bit more tired. 

The airline food was not great, and Wifey was grateful that we carried on a couple of Nijiri which saved the day.  You can probably tell from the photos below that wifey at least is so over it.  

Nijiri saving the day! 

We eventually landed at airport #4 of the day ... went through customs, immigration, security for the third time, and then caught a train transfer to our new terminal.  Our last flight was tolerable, and we happily landed at Airport #5 24 hours after we started.  Photo documentation of these last steps does not exist because ... we were tired.  Until next time!!!

Sunday - Korean BBQ

Sunday night we met up with everyone for our last dinner of the week - Korean BBQ.  Being overconfident in our translation skills we went ahead and ate at a restaurant that didn't have an English Menu.  After trying and failing to decipher the menu, we asked our waitress what her recommendation would be and then just ordered 6 of those.  It did not disappoint.  

A unique feature of Korean BBQ is that you cook your meat and veggies on a hot plate in the middle of your table!  Hubby did the cooking for us and did a fantastic job!  We've already looked for a Korean BBQ place back home unsuccessfully but will remember and visit this location again if we're back in town.  

part of our meat ... uncooked

the cooking process

inside the BBQ restaurant.  

Sunday - Miyajima

After lunch, we continued up the coast and caught a ferry to Miyajima! This was a repeat visit this trip for Hubby and Wifey and a first time ever visit for our friend, M.  

 We arrived relatively late in the day with plans of taking the cable car to the top of the mountain on site.  In the end, we would have arrived at the very very end of the open hours and likely not been able to visit that part of the island, so we chose not to go up.  Next trip ... cable-car is on the to-do list!  We did happen to be visiting this trip around low tide, allowing us to walk out to the shrine gate and take plenty of pictures! 

 In addition, we took a self-guided walking tour of the Itsukushima Shrine.  This was a first for us, and we found it interesting to see how the Shinto religion is practiced. 

Leaving the Shrine, we came across the shortest garage ever! 

Also on Miyajima, we stumbled onto our first Starbucks of the trip!  The Japanese Starbucks did not accept our Gold Card, but did accept our Credit Card in exchange for actual frappuccinos!  

We snapped a photo of the worlds largest rice scoop!  Around 1800, a Buddhist monk living near Miyajima suggested the local people make and sell rice scoops to tourists visiting the Shrine after having a dream about such a scoop.  When Miyajima's Itsukushima Shrine was declared a World Heritage Site, this extra large scoop was created as part of the commemoration. 

 After a long, exhausting day of fun, we caught the ferry back across to the mainland and our car ride back to Iwakuni! 

Sunday Morning in Japan

Our second to last day of breakfast at the Green Rich, we took advantage of the hotel provided robes to be comfy as we ate! 

 After breakfast, we quickly changed and struck out for some blended coffee.  During Wifey's walks about town, she had identified exactly one coffee shop that served a "coffee smoothie" which appeared to be similar to the frappes and frappuccinos to which we're accustomed to stateside. 

Pos Cafe did deliver taste and consistency of coffee, although the volume was somewhat lacking.   Also intriguing, this little shop included a charging station for various mobile devices and accepts payment in bitcoin.  Wifey was tempted to return to the hotel, figure out how to buy a part of a bitcoin, and then go pay for her coffee with that bitcoin .... just to say she did.  Cooler heads prevailed. 

After acquiring our blended coffee smoothies ... we walked to a nearby AoG church for Sunday morning services.  We greatly enjoyed visiting RockPoint Church.  The congregation and pastor were friendly and welcoming. 

#Missions

 After church, we drove to a seaside restaurant called Miya for lunch.  The view was spectacular and our food also excellent.  Post lunch we enjoyed a short walk down to the water and explored the seabed that is periodically covered by hightide.