Travel Blog: Hangover / Okonomiyaki / Train to Kyushu / Yufuin… Finally

We woke up with a bit of a hangover this morning. Japanese drink vast amounts of sake and when they take you out, and you just gotta follow them. Nothing a little coffee can't fix though. I found an Illy espresso cafe and ordered a cappuccino and an apple pastry. We checked out and headed over to see the Atomic Bomb Dome, the exact site where an atomic bomb was dropped and exploded 600 meters above the city, instantly incinerating all buildings and all people around there; a total of over 200,000 deaths in a matter of seconds. A grim reminder for all generations that follow about the horrors of such weapons.

We went back to the hotel to grab our luggage, and headed over to Hiroshima station. We had about an hour before our train left, so we decided to try an okonomiyaki restaurant a few floors above the station. In Hiroshima, okonomiyaki is served differently from other regions in Japan. Okonomiyaki is basically a Japanese style pancake with "whatever you want" inside; typically scallions, shrimp, cabbage, pork, and pickled ginger inside. How can you possibly top that? Do it the way they do here: add yakisoba (fried noodles) and a sunny side up egg on top. Fabulous!

After our meal, Hilary chatted with an old lady who wanted to practice her English. She told us she learned English on the radio and listened everyday at 2pm. We were quite impressed. She asked if I was Hilary's boyfriend or husband, and when Hilary told her "husband" she said "thats better I think"

We got on the Shinkansen to Kyushu; first stopping at Kokura. From there we transferred to an express train to Oita. You could actually view the scenery outside the window on this train which was nice. The shinkansen is so fast its hard to notice anything. From Oita we transferred to the slow local train; just a one car train heading for Yufuin. I wasn't sure about schlepping all the bags on there but it worked out just fine. It was getting dark and by the time we got there it was evening. There were a few cabs at the station and we took one up to our Ryokan; a little gem surrounded by trees and lanterns with little stone paths crossing running streams. It was awesome. We went straight into the onsen (Japanese hot spring) and immediately relaxed. The water all flows from the natural hot springs in the area. The actual hot spring bath was made from rocks. Sooooo nice. We got out and changed into our traditional robes (as required here) and went to sit down for dinner in the dinning area. A beautiful traditional kaiseki (seasonal) meal lay out in front of us: A hot stone plate to cook the thinly sliced beef, chicken, and vegetables. There were numerous side dishes including two soups, tsukemono, sashimi, some roasted chestnuts, yuzu infused mushrooms, and a grilled salted sardine. All was rapidly consumed. These meals typically feature only seasonal and local ingredients. Desert was apple sorbet with yuzu peels and three types of mochi.

No internet here, (so writing off line) so we decided to watch Japanese TV before heading to bed. Hilary picked up a few more words; sugoi (amazing) being her new favorite.