The month of August has been unbearably hot and humid, but still very fun!
Here are some of the things we've done:
On August 6th, a ceremony was held in memory of the A-bomb victims. Lanterns were lit and floated down the river around the atomic bomb dome- very peaceful.
Colored lanterns floating down the river.
Jess showed us lots of different sights to see in Hiroshima, like the Kintai Kyo (/Bridge). It was pretty cool, but hard to walk on..
Ahhhh Kintai~
Jess enjoying the slighty-less-hot-but-still-unbearable-weather
We skipped stones on the water and ate ice cream (:
Next is Miyajima! This was my favorite place in Hiroshima.
We took a ferry to the island and Jess told me to stand by the railing just before we could see the Torii gate.
Shortly after this picture was taken, I was swarmed by people clamoring to the railing.
Good call Jess, good call.
Deer!! They're all over the island, and are very chill. I got to pet one :D (this was before I saw the sign that asked us not to touch them..)
They like to eat tickets and passports, even though they should not.
Oysters...
The pearl of Miyajima cuisine...heh heh...get it..."pearl"....
Jess about to enjoy oysters! Do deer eat oysters??
The famous floating Torii gate!
Also, corn.
The gate is huge! Its really cool walking out to it, but there was tons of algae...
One fish got left behind when the tide went out...
As our dad would say "circle of life".
This is the actual Itsukushima Shrine. It's very pretty.
It'd like to see it when the tide comes in, and it floats too.
The view of the gate from the shrine.
We started walking up the mountain and Jess showed us the tree that eats you.
I didn't believe her....until...
:O!
Further up we spotted....a monkey! They used to be on the top of the mountain, but
had been attacking people and so had to be removed.
Looks like we found the one that got away...
Bambi! (Your favorite Dad)
The ropeway up the mountain! Veryveryvery high up...but so cool!
At the top, there were left over signs from when monkeys still roamed free.
I wonder if the monkey we saw would hope to be such a monkey?
The view from the top!
Jess at the top!
We began to hike across the mountain top for a very long time. It started to rain on the way back!
We saw this shrine across the mountain. It housed the eternal flame. Oddly enough, it was hard to see the flame.
Walking back in the rain :)
Then we packed our bags and headed for the bright lights of....
Tokyo!! The famous Shibuya Crossing :D!
And you can't go to Tokyo without visiting...
Cinderella's Castle. You can't tell here but as soon as people get into the park, they run. Like, literally run. Or send their children or something. It gets intense here.
Our first ride was Big Thunder!
Unfortunately, the line is universal D:.
Tokyo Disneyland was really similar to our Disneyland. The only main difference was the lack of Princesses. There weren't any in the park, and barely any of the merchandise had them on it either! Instead, everyone loves characters! Especially Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Stitch.
Here, Minnie is getting mobbed.
For some reason, the Tiki Room is taken over by Stitch. They looove Stitch here!
Mickey Pork Bun! The food here is another big difference. They have lots of different flavors of churro-lemon honey, maple and cinnamon, and popcorn too- strawberry, milk tea, curry, soy sauce-butter (bleghh)
The Electric Light Parade!
We took a break from our Disney exploits to see a shrine. It housed the flame of peace.
The plaque read that a man found this flame still burning among the ashes of Hiroshima, and kept it as a symbol of the need for abolition of nuclear weapons.
This street used to be the black market!
Today, bottled Dr. Pepper can be found. Jess was happy.
And now.....
DISNEYSEA!
DisneySea was amazing! It's built right next to the ocean, and water weaves throughout it. Their parades and shows are preformed on the water! And instead of a castle, the center of their park is a volcano!
Aquatopia! Little hoverboats take you around a wet course or a dry course.
The Tower of Terror! The story behind this one is different than ours, and much scarier. Hightower was the man who owned this hotel, and he collected trinkets from all over the world. He brings back a Tiki Idol thing after one expedition and apparently its cursed (I think so...it was sort of all in Japanese). So while you wait for the elevator this story plays out in Hightower's study. And the Tiki Idol's there in room. Then all of a sudden, its eyes light up and took around, and then it gets dark, just around the idol, and it disappears! Then when your on the elevator it stops on one floor, and you see that the idol zapped Hightower and made him plummet down the elevator. Then you go up one more floor, and the Tiki Idol's there, laughing evilly, of course. And then you plummet down!
The Ariabian Coastline. DisneySea is divided by ports, including this one there are- American Water Front, Mermaid Lagoon, Port Discovery (aka port of the future), Lost River Delta and Mysterious Island.
Mermaid Lagoon aka Ariel-land :DDD We saw a mini-production of the Little Mermaid in the theatre inside here. The songs were in english but everything else was in japanese! Still very good :D!
Whats inside the Volcano!
Mythica- the water show where "Mickey and friends discover the land of Mythica, meeting dragons and unicorns along the way".
...reallyreally cool show :D
And finally, Hachiko!
The month of August was amazing and I hope to return soon!
Also, I hope Jess will update her blog more!
Thats it for now!
-Sensei Jessica
(With a little help from Imouto(little sister) Rebecca)
This is Mom! Great blog! It makes me want to come visit you, Jessica! Weren't you scared that the monkey would attack? Couldn't tell from your pictures how hot and humid it is. It looks beautiful. Love, Mom
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