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OK Guys to continue on.. After the Castle, we headed to the Okayama Gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous - they are ranked as one of the top three in the country and even though the sky was threatening - we headed on in.. Now the best things about travelling is random things happen when you dont expect - wandering into a traditional inn, we found an art exhibition of rocks that have been carved to represent different aspects of Japanese life - it was the last day of the exhibition and the place was empty, so we wandered around to have a look - and amazingly - there was a couple who invited us to sit town and try some green tea, figs and japanese sweets and tried their best on speaking english with us - it was really sweet and lots of photos were taken amongst the group - we are like Japanese tourists in Australia - its hilarious!!
Relaxing after the monsoon rain that fell for an hour, we finished wandering around the gardens, resting our feet in a cold version of an onsen and then heading to the hostel to get ready for KARAOKE!! We hired out a room for2 hours at the Pumpkin Karaoke and armed with state of the art equipment and our japanese phrasebooks to use the equipment, we had the best time drinking cheap tasty beer and enjoying the good music but the crap versions of videoclips - they didnt match up!! Then headed back for the night and settled in with a deck of cards and played 21 and some other game I cant remember..
Monday 8th September 2008
I had plans to go to Hiroshima on my own today but when I realised how far it actually was and how expensive the Shinkansen wouldve cost me, I ended up going to the old Fuedel town called Karishuka near Okayama - the main town is very modern but the old tourist part of the town is old black and white warehouses converted into museums, art galleries and restaurants. Krysta and I had an awesome time wandering around and taking heaps of photos cause the place was dead - Monday is a busy work day here and it is our day off which will be perfect - and we accomplished a lot on our own - we found the train, got to the right station, found the tourist area without maps, went around without maps and got back to Okayama safely in the afternoon. Little did we know that it would be when we got back to Okayama that the maps would fail us! We went in search of an English book store to buy phrasebooks and study japanese texts for Krysta and the map was telling us to go one way, and the roadsigns another. Anyway, after a lot of wondering in the wrong direction in the heat and finding the longest shopping arcade in the world, Im sure - we found it!! Found the books, a Baskin Robbins and back to the hostel for dinner and study plus a bit of housekeeping before our massive day of training - and let you know what its like... AAAGGGHHH!!!
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Nawaf I loved visiting the gadern in Okayama City. The city in general had a very green' feel compared to most other Japanese cities I've been to. Plus you can get mexician food by the station! Always a bonus.