My apartment!

With only a couple of weeks left in Japan I've slowly been sorting through all the stuff I've gathered in my apartment. Now the place is becoming emptier and emptier and it's really sinking in that I will soon be leaving this place.

This apartment has meant a lot to me because it is my first place just for me. Up until now I've never lived alone before and it makes it even more meaningful that I got to do it somewhere exciting like Japan. 

You can see from the map that the apartment is in a really great location, about 10 minutes walk to Hiroshima train station, and 20 minutes down town!

It does make me sad that not everyone I wanted to visit me could come here, after all flying to Japan is a long and expensive trip. A few people have asked to see pictures of the place so I thought I'd share some photos! They're not much, but soon there will be no furniture and little to look at so better now than never!

So let's start with the entrance...

Most Japanese homes have a 'genkan', where shoes are removed before entering the house. Many people also use the genkan as a miniature waiting room, and where I sign for my mail!

The bathroom...

It's pretty small, but it does the job! The mirror is a bit beaten up so I tried to disguise the cracks with fish stickers! This bathroom allows you to shower on the floor so you're squeaky clean before you step into your bath.

The toilet...

Yes, that's a toilet! Do you like my funky toilet seat cover??

And of course something pretty to look at on the bathroom door ha ha!

The main room...

As you can see, the main room in my apartment includes living area, bedroom and also kitchen! This is pretty normal for a one person apartment here. I'm going to miss that rug, it's so soft...

My sleeping area! And no those aren't a giant pair of blue trousers on the wall.... My bed here consists of a mattress pad and 2 futons, because comfort is important!!

Last of all, the kitchen...

Tucked away in the corner of the main room this little kitchen area is pretty compact! With only one burner it makes cooking fairly limited sometimes. I can't wait to have a proper kitchen again!

The view from the balcony wasn't that great (thanks Suzuki) but you could see the mountains in the distance. It's a good thing I don't mind traffic noise at night.

So that's about it, I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour!

  

Shimane Coast Roadtrip!

This week has been Japan's national holiday Golden Week, and that means insane crowds of people at every tourist hot spot (trust me, I remember the queues from last time)!

So this year, myself and a couple of others decided to visit a friend living just on the border of Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures to get away for a couple of days from the hustle and bustle of Hiroshima.

With a car at our disposal, and the sun shining bright, we took a short road trip along the Shimane coast! The red line very roughly shows the route that we took...

original image from:https://bumdom.wordpress.com/page/2/

The first stop on our trip took us to Iwami Park in Hamada, where we got to enjoy gorgeous white sandy beaches and crystal blue ocean! Standing on that beach it felt like we were somewhere tropical!

The park's flowers were also in full bloom, adding another sea of pink!

Driving along the coast offered more spectacular views. We were particularly impressed by the wind turbines...

And the sun slowly beginning to set across the ocean waves...

The final stop on our trip was in Izumo, where we visited Izumo- Taisha Shrine, which is considered one of the most ancient and important shinto shrines in Japan!

Some areas of the shrine were off limits, but you could just see this magnificent roof poking out behind one of the walls!

We also stopped for a delicious ramen lunch, but sadly I was too ravenous to take pictures!

Our trip consisted of many hours in the car, but it was so much fun being able to drive along winding mountain roads that you don't get to see on public transport. A great start to Golden Week! 

Hakone trip/ Mount Fuji!

At the start of this year I took a trip with my lovely mum to Kyoto and Tokyo (sorry this is a few months late...). During our travels we decided to try the Hakone round trip which I'd heard good things about, and which is supposed to offer great views of Mount Fuji.

You can see more detailed information about the trip here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html

Our quest began with a ride on the romance car from Shinjuku Station (Tokyo) to Hakone, which is about 1 hour journey. I definitely recommend paying the extra money for the romance car, as it is much faster than a local train and you get great views of the countryside surrounding Tokyo!

The round trip consists of various different means of transportation (all included in the day pass which you can buy at Shinjuku station), including a cable car, ropeway and even a pirate ship!

We stopped off for lunch in Gora, where we also had a wander around Gora Park with a stunning backdrop of forests and mountains...

Strange cabbage like flowers!

A traditional tea house!

The park also had a small greenhouse with many gorgeous plants and fruit trees!

A wild Izzy appears!

Next we caught the ropeway which took us up to Sounzan...

Unfortunately the cable car wasn't running due to recent volcanic activity, with only the last bit open to the public. Instead we had to take a short bus ride for the majority of this section of the route. However, when the cable car is open as normal visitors can make a trip to Owakudani, where you can purchase eggs cooked in the naturally hot water and are blackened by the sulphur. I'm so sad we weren't able to see this during our trip!!

From where we could go, you could just see steam rising up off the mountain side!

On the other hand, with our trip being in winter the sky was beautifully clear and we got some fantastic shots of Mount Fuji in all it's glory!

Next from Togendai to Hakone- machi you can take a pirate ship!! The pirate ship takes you across Lake Ashi, where you are surrounded by the stunning mountains!

                            

A hidden building in the trees!

Overall, the round trip can seem fairly pricey but I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for beautiful scenery and fantastic views of the iconic Fuji-San! I think we chose a good time to go because it wasn't very busy, I imagine in summer it can get rather crowded! Also the winter air meant clearer skies and better views!

Bye bye Mt Fuji!

I'm a little sad that I didn't get a chance to climb Mount Fuji during my time in Japan (even though I'm sure it is hard work!), but I feel this opportunity to see Mount Fuji made me realise just how immense and impressive it really is!

On another note, only 3 weeks left in Japan!! I'll try my best to get some more posts up before my departure!