Japan Trip: Day 2 Osaka - Miyajima - Hiroshima

Osaka



Excited to get up early and use our communication and navigation skill to the test...On osaka station, our goal is to reach the shinkansen line.




Early in the  morning

  





interesting finds at the station

  





brought ourselves some ekiben and cold drinks



There is a large number of tourist

Part of the JR Pass, is being able to ride Shinkansen (Bullet) trains anywhere in Japan (except for the Nozomi Shinkansen), including some JR buses and all JR operated trains and the JR Ferry going to Miyajima.  You can get the JR Pass before going to Japan to affliated travel agencies or JAL airline ticketing office. The pass is good for 7days, 14 days to up to 21days.  Its a great deal - you can have your 7 day pass worth just by taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and back.  You can also have reserved seats with no additional cost - or just hop on and off the Shinkansen non reserved seat cars at any given time.


Clockwise: Shinkansen Hikari, Me & Zarah seated, Train Info, Me,
Zarah at the handrailing and the Shin-Osaka Sign

 

taken while travelling at the Shinkansen Hikari

From Shin-Osaka Station to JR Hiroshima Station, took us about one and half hours, and the distance between Osaka and Hiroshima is about 280 kilometers. It was so fast.

At the Shin-Hiroshima Station, there is a tourist center, with an english speaking receptionist, that will hand you out a guide map on how to get around Hiroshima, tips on where to start, she also handed us the train map that showed us how to get to Miyajima-guchi, she even told us the platform where the train going to the pier is at. The train from Hiroshima to Miyajima-guchi is a JR train (part of the JR Rail Pass Family - no need to buy tickets again...a great buy indeed)




train to Miyajimaguchi

Just outside the train station towards Miyaji Ferry -
we bought a yummy Y680, 8pc takoyaki.

subway underpass towards the pier headed to Miyajima Island

just outside the pier

the JR ferry that will take us to Miyajima island,
the only ferry that is part of the JR Rail Pass Package.




Miyajima Island

From a far, you can see the Itsukushima O-Torii Gate, the present torri gate, which was the eighth since the Heian Period erected in 1875. The gate stands under its own weight, its about 60 tons.



The O-Torii Gates of Itsukushima Shrine





The Five Storied Pagoda, Sakura 







Mikasanohama area



takikoji alley




This is an alley that goes straight to Daishoin Temple.
Daishoin Temple is the most distinguished temple of Miyajima Island.

The Daishoin Temple



 

They have purification areas before you reach the temple:
With your right hand scoop water,cleanse your left hand,
then your right hand, pour some water in your left hand
put it in your mouth, gargle and spit it out.Then with the
remaining water cleanse the handle and place back
the laddle face down, as courtesy to the next user.



rickshaw....

Before heading down, we have a short break at a coffee shop, had some pastries, green tea (traditional green tea, supposedly medicinal...but it is definetly an acquired taste) and a coffee. Then, after a few blocks away we saw a momiji manju, (cake in a maple-leaf shape with filling) we can't resist a good smell of a newly baked pastry, so, we grab some and ate it at the bakery shop, they even offer a free hot tea with it.


Have a break - Have a Momiji!




Omotesando Shopping Arcade, Miyajima.



O-Shakushi (world's largest wooden rice scoop) it is displayed
in Omotesando Shopping Arcade



Hiroshima




From the Miyajima Ferry Terminal, we took the local streetcar which is not covered by the JR Pass, it took us almost 50 minutes to reach the station of Genbaku Dome were the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park is located...


A-Bomb Dome

 





The Motoyasubashi Bridge







Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims
(Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace)





The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park



Hondori  Street is a pedestrian arcade that is closed to traffic and lined with shops and restaurants. It starts near the Peace Park and stretches east about half a kilometer.





 Hiroshima Hondori Street




Before catching the Shinkansen on our way back to Osaka, we had a quick dinner at the JR Hiroshima Station.




Dinner Time



Japan Trip: Day 1 Manila - Osaka (KONICHIWA!!!)

April 8, all set and ready to GO!...ironically  a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Tokyo the day before...But, hey - that definitely won't stop us on our Adventure!!!

having breakfast before we leave at 5:30am

at NAIA Terminal 3 - used to be exclusive for Cebu Pacific and Air Phil Express...but maybe they made way for ANA and maybe other airline carrier in the future as well :)

please fall in line



a very long line for the check-in counter



Our ride...

The flight took us 4.5 hours to touch down at Narita and 1.5 hr window time to pass thru Japan Immigration - pick up our things at the conveyor - change some $ to Y and check in to our connecting flight to Osaka - Itami....whew!

our airline food - "oishi"

By the way be wary on things concerning your luggage on connecting flights. The ground crew at ANA who checked us in Terminal 3 told us that we we will be picking up our luggages at Osaka airport (Itami), no need to pick it up from our first stop which is Narita.  Upon landing in Narita and exiting the immigration - I had this feeling....just to make sure....I approached an ANA ground crew member near the conveyor - showed our claim ticket and asked if our luggages will head straight to Osaka --- 'Lo and behold, the staff said we need to pick our luggage at Narita and transfer it to Domestic Check-in (which gladly is just a few steps out of customs) - if we trusted the Manila ANA ground crew - we would have worn our flight clothes for Days!!!

flight schedule

We reached the Osaka airport at 6pm, got our baggage and bought ourselves two tickets to Umeda Station which is nearest to where we will stay (Hotel Granvia) via the Airport Limousine Bus.  It was drizzling, we struggled on how to get to the hotel, hard to navigate at night while raining on a Friday night with lots of  people crossing and walking fast. Well in fact Granvia was just a few meters from the bus stop.


found our way to the hotel



the weather worries me, i thought its gonna be
 raining the whole time.

Hotel Granvia Osaka Lobby

 Check-in was a breeze, the bellboy helped us with our luggages and guided our way to our room,  the room was compact (generally for the same price in Manila, the room will be thrice the size).  We just freshened up a bit and headed down to exchange our JR Pass (our hotel is just beside Osaka Station) and to find us some delicious dinner.

@ 21st  Floor, Non-smoking, zarah just received her first business call from Manila.

very cute toilet

exchange our JR coupon at the JR Counter in Osaka

Secured ourselves reserved seats for shinkansen
trains to Hiroshima and Tokyo.

In looking for a place to eat, we ended up in a
small rows of alley with restaurants.

i had the large bento box while
zarah had the maguro sushi

This is the South Gate of Osaka Station

Need to rest and have Good Night sleep.





Japan Trip Update: 3-day before flying (preparation)

So far forums on "whether to go or not to go on a trip to Japan" - is leaning to "Go and visit" - so armed with caution and excitement we decided to GO! 

As of press time Cherry Blossom are spotted all around Japan, and for sure in a couple of days we will experience it as well.....we are brining with us some blue tarp to sit on while eating bento box under the Cherry Trees....That is the plan :) Hope it pushes thru!

We are utilizing the most out of our JR Pass. The plan is Osaka-Hiroshima-Miyajima-"Tokyo-Kamakura"-Kyoto-Kobe-Osaka....and maybe some more short side trips in between.




JR Pass (note: it cannot be purchased in Japan)

Tickets and Hotel Booking, ok.. But I don't know where Zarah placed them.
Itinerary on hand, check.  Books on Interesting Sights, check. Maps and other information... Check.. Pocket Money???

Source of Information

Clothes, Jackets, umbrellas, medicine, basic necessities,  etc, Check...

We are checking in (2) luggages, but a total of 4 ... a luggage within a luggage....
 Now, the challenge here is to carry all four of them on our way back from an 11 day trip..




a luggage within a luggage....

 Now, just waiting for Friday to come, finishing some errands at work and off we go to the "Land Of The Rising Sun".... Kampai!!!









Japan Trip Update: New Iterinaries (after the quake)

After the last update (20 days ago),  with all the quakes, the Tsunami and the Radiation, hundred of thousand are homeless and death toll reached over 10,000 and still climbing...our deepest simpathy to the people of Japan especially the people up north....

April 1 was our supposed trip but due to a very devastating event happened, we prolong our departure for a week, and even change our iterinaries from Tokyo,  now to Osaka... news from the net and television (cable news) are alarming but thanks to our friends and bloggers from japan in updating us in the real situation in tokyo...


Plane Tickets...............................rebooked  (originally Narita, now Itami Airport) 
JR Pass Vouchers....................... still on hand
Aiport Buss Express Voucher .....cancelled still waiting for the refund
hotel vouchers............................ rebooked
kyoto tour vouchers................... rebooked
Mt. fuji tour vouchers................. cancelled
Disney vouchers......................... cancelled
Itineraries................................... scrambled/ chaotic and still working on it

Things to bring:  clothes, map guides, umbrella, etc... (zarah started to pack...)

Excitement Factor:  still uncertain...but still on the positive side.