I realized that I my last couple posts from Japan never posted, so just a summary of the end of our trip:
We found the LDS ward in Hiroshima. It was hard to find since it didn't have a steeple and was in a apt building essentially without a name out front. But, we spotted a young American boy with a tag in the street! We enjoyed Sacrament Meeting with the gift of having head phones and someone translating. The talks were great and there were mostly Japanese families and then some American families, who I was so impressed were all singing the hymns in Japanese and not all needed headphones. It was wonderful to hear strong testimonies of the Savior and feel a commonality with those that were there- a desire to give gratitude to our Savior and that we are each growing on our path.
That afternoon we caught a train out the the floating Shinto Shrine. It was picture perfect and a beautiful site as we took a ferry over to the island. The path leading along the ocean to the shrine and temple were covered with deer, aggressive deer. One took a paper right out of my purse ;) You can imagine monks coming here and finding this a sacred and beautiful place to collect thoughts and meditate.
After we found an aquarium down along the water. The highlight of the Aquarium were the penguins just walking around with their keeper. It was so funny to see them waddle right up next to us :) We also loved the jelly fish displays- always my favorite- art in motion.
We enjoyed a boat ride back to Hiroshima afterwards and we could see everything from the water. The boat stopped right in front of our hotel.
That afternoon we took a train to Osaka. We stayed at the Osaka Marriott which was not hard to find, since it was just across the street from the Shinkansen station. It is the tallest hotel and building in Japan. We stayed on the 54th floor I believe it was. Our room had a 180 degree view of the city- breathtaking. We hardly wanted to leave our room, but we did for tasty tepanyaki dinner on the roof of the hotel. Sam spread out in his own room and enjoyed his cosmopolitan room with all screens on and a cool drink by his nightstand. So funny.
The bottom of the hotel was a huge mall. We explored the mall in the morning and then headed to a quick tour of the city and to the Osaka Castle. That honestly was a bit of a disappointment. They had totally renovated the inside to be a museum which had some interesting military artifacts and a few others, but I was hoping for it to be old and historic but it was new and modern. We enjoyed a walk around all the gardens and then headed for Osaka Pizza. In a busy part of town with tons of restaurants, we found a place that makes this Osaka pizza. It is basically like an omelet almost on some flour. Sam enjoyed it and thought the show of them making it was just an interesting as our tepanyaki night. Off to the airport and back home.
Our trip was a great test to see how Sam would do keeping up with his blog, seeing new places, trying new things, being on the move and guess what,... he passed with flying colors. He loved it all and was game for anything and everything. We had some laughs, some disappointments, some moments of exhaustion and some great surprises and as a whole it was perfect.... He still loves Udon noodles and sushi and sashimi and his favorite thing had to be conveyor belt sushi and the candies we found in Kyoto.
Now onto our next adventure....!!!
We found the LDS ward in Hiroshima. It was hard to find since it didn't have a steeple and was in a apt building essentially without a name out front. But, we spotted a young American boy with a tag in the street! We enjoyed Sacrament Meeting with the gift of having head phones and someone translating. The talks were great and there were mostly Japanese families and then some American families, who I was so impressed were all singing the hymns in Japanese and not all needed headphones. It was wonderful to hear strong testimonies of the Savior and feel a commonality with those that were there- a desire to give gratitude to our Savior and that we are each growing on our path.
That afternoon we caught a train out the the floating Shinto Shrine. It was picture perfect and a beautiful site as we took a ferry over to the island. The path leading along the ocean to the shrine and temple were covered with deer, aggressive deer. One took a paper right out of my purse ;) You can imagine monks coming here and finding this a sacred and beautiful place to collect thoughts and meditate.
After we found an aquarium down along the water. The highlight of the Aquarium were the penguins just walking around with their keeper. It was so funny to see them waddle right up next to us :) We also loved the jelly fish displays- always my favorite- art in motion.
We enjoyed a boat ride back to Hiroshima afterwards and we could see everything from the water. The boat stopped right in front of our hotel.
That afternoon we took a train to Osaka. We stayed at the Osaka Marriott which was not hard to find, since it was just across the street from the Shinkansen station. It is the tallest hotel and building in Japan. We stayed on the 54th floor I believe it was. Our room had a 180 degree view of the city- breathtaking. We hardly wanted to leave our room, but we did for tasty tepanyaki dinner on the roof of the hotel. Sam spread out in his own room and enjoyed his cosmopolitan room with all screens on and a cool drink by his nightstand. So funny.
The bottom of the hotel was a huge mall. We explored the mall in the morning and then headed to a quick tour of the city and to the Osaka Castle. That honestly was a bit of a disappointment. They had totally renovated the inside to be a museum which had some interesting military artifacts and a few others, but I was hoping for it to be old and historic but it was new and modern. We enjoyed a walk around all the gardens and then headed for Osaka Pizza. In a busy part of town with tons of restaurants, we found a place that makes this Osaka pizza. It is basically like an omelet almost on some flour. Sam enjoyed it and thought the show of them making it was just an interesting as our tepanyaki night. Off to the airport and back home.
Our trip was a great test to see how Sam would do keeping up with his blog, seeing new places, trying new things, being on the move and guess what,... he passed with flying colors. He loved it all and was game for anything and everything. We had some laughs, some disappointments, some moments of exhaustion and some great surprises and as a whole it was perfect.... He still loves Udon noodles and sushi and sashimi and his favorite thing had to be conveyor belt sushi and the candies we found in Kyoto.
Now onto our next adventure....!!!
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