| Miyazaki |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|03:39 pm] |
Whew it's been a hectic week! On Tuesday last week I cleaned my apartment top to bottom and packed to leave for Miyazaki. I also packed Joel's car and somehow, all of Leeann's things fit! I was pretty skeptical before I started but I was just happy to get everything in the car. We ended up leaving on Wednesday morning around 7:30 so we could spend the day sightseeing on the way to Miyazaki City. It was beautiful and a really nice drive so I didn't mind so much. Somewhere between Inukai and Saiki we saw a sign for the Furen Stalactite Grotto and followed it to a beautiful cave. This was my first time crawling through a cave but the opening at the end was awesome! The cave was about 500m long and at the end was a wide opening with spotlights on cool forms of rock. It just amazed me how rock could form this way-- it's so hard to describe but there are some pictures on my webshots. I was having some difficulty taking good pictures there because of the humidity in the cave. I made a comment to Joel as we were going through that I hoped there were no bats here, and he insisted on telling me that the sign out front said there might be bats! The whole time I refused to look up until we got to the end... bats aren't something I normally think about but I was not going to be happy being surrounded by a bunch of bats 500 meters into the Earth! Luckily there were no bat sightings so I was ok.
After the cave we made it to Saiki, a cool-looking city on the Pacific Ocean. Joel tried to take me to a black sand beach but sadly we couldn't find it :( We did follow the river to the port and it was sooo nice to just stand out there and take in the salt air and sea breeze. I wanted to hijack one of the little fishing boats and go for a ride... but I didn't. That would have made a great story though! After our time at the port we continued along the coast of Kyushu to a city called Hyuga. This city had such a great beach! The sand was a brown sand but felt as grainy as Siesta Beach in Sarasota! The waves were crashing and it was a great day for the beach! There was a nice wind and in general just felt great to be out of the car and walking the beach. I have some pretty nice pictures of this beach too. The only people we saw here were surfers though... no beach-goers on this gorgeous day! I couldn't believe it! I found out later that the beach season in Japan stops in October and people do not go to the beach, even if it is a perfect day. Try telling that to Floridians...
After the beach we continued to Miyazaki City to see Leeann. By this time, we had taken 11 hours for our road trip! It was getting dark as we drove through Miyazaki and we managed to unload the car into Leeann's apartment without a problem. Joel and I decided to get some dinner so I had my first taste of Mos Burger. It is a hamburger chain and they put salsa or chili on their burgers if you want. Joel swears that this place is the best fast-food in Japan so I was happy to try! It was good! After that, Joel and I just walked around Miyazaki to try to get our bearings. Then we went back to Leeann's apartment to meet her after work. Joel and I fell asleep early after such a long drive!
On Thursday, the 3 of us rode down to Aoshima, a tiny island off of Miyazaki. It was sooo cool! On our way to Aoshima, we stopped at a lookout over the water. We found some stairs that led down to the rocks on the water and I found out why it is called "Devil's Staircase!" Yeah, I sprained my ankle walking down. I haven't sprained my ankle for a while now so I guess it was long overdue. Anyways, I gimped back up the stairs and sat on a bench with my leg up while I waited for Leeann and Joel. I was lucky though and I didn't sprain my ankle too badly. It was sore and started swelling but not as fast or as much as it has in the past. Since it wasn't broken, we continued on to Aoshima and I sat in the back with my leg up on the seat. We drove past Aoshima to Udo Shrine, which is a famous shrine in Miyazaki. It was beautiful! Besides trying to climb up a hundred stairs to get there and climb all of the stairs around (since it had to be at the top of a mountain), I had a great time! I took a lot of pictures at the shrine as well. Before we left, Leeann and I threw clay pebbles into a rope circle for luck. There is a little indent in the rock and if your pebble lands in it then you will have luck. All of Leeann's and my pebbles bounced off the rock, but both of mine at least hit the rock inside the circle so I guess I am half lucky? Yeah, I am just gonna go with that... especially since my ankle brought me bad luck.
After Udo Shrine, we drove to Aoshima island and ate lunch on the beach. We were so lucky to have such great weather! No one was at the beach here either!! I still was surprised. We walked around the island and came to another shrine and looked around there too. I thought the Torrii on the island was so pretty, especially with the sand and the water behind it. That might be one of my favorite pictures so far. As we walked back to the car, we stopped in a few shops and I found a doll that was so pretty! I collect dolls from different countries so I have been looking around for a doll from Japan. I found a few I liked but settled on one wearing a black Kimono with pink cloth under it. She is about 12-14 inches tall and the best part is she was only $10! yay for my pretty doll!! We left the island so we could make it back to Miyazaki so Leeann could get to work on time. We stopped at one more beach in Miyazaki on the way, and surprise surprise, no people either. At this beach though, there was a sign warning of the jellyfish in the water. I guess October ends beach season because it starts jellyfish season. I always said Japanese people were smart!! After dropping Leeann off at her apartment, Joel and I went to Starbucks for coffee! It was as good as I remembered! mmmmmmmmmm! Then we went to the Miyazaki Science Center for an hour because they were closing. It was like MOSI and some other science museums so I wasn't too impressed, but we did take a simulated ride to the bottom of the ocean so that added a little excitement!! We also took pictures as astronauts, and I was so happy since I have always wanted to be an astronaut! Yay! After the Science Center I got carried away in a stationary store and finally bought all of the scrapbook items that I have been looking at for the past 3 months. I figured I wasn't going back to Miyazaki and I liked these things so I should buy them, then if they are the same as in Nakatsu, at least I have them and if they are different then I won't regret not buying them. I also picked up an ankle brace for my ankle since I had been neglecting it all day. I probably will regret that but I couldn't do anything about it at the time. Then Joel and I took naps until dinner and set out to find Pizza Hut! On our way to Aoshima we passed a Pizza Hut and it took us an hour to find it again. A $30 large pizza never tasted so good! I had plenty of American food, huh!?! Well, I was on vacation so I earned it!
We woke up early on Friday and left Miyazaki at 6am so we could make it back to Nakatsu for work. This time we just drove straight through and got back home at noon. I took a nap and then went to work at 5. On Saturday I went out to dinner and Karaoke and had a blast too! Sunday was spent working all day and Monday I worked in Yukuhashi. Today was the first day that I had enough time to write about my trip! Sorry it took so long and sorry it is so long! I am writing this more for me to remember my time in Japan anyway. Today is my day off and it is pouring and has been all day. I also am getting a cold and I have a really bad sore throat. It is a good day to stay in! I think I will watch a movie on my new DVD player and relax on the couch... with my foot up!! |
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