White Egret Castle

Trip Start Sep 25, 2002

Trip End May 15, 2004

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Flag of Japan Himeji, Japan
Monday, November 4, 2002

I have to talk about donuts and pizza. The donuts here are terrible...you know how Krispy Kreme has like twice the flavor of a regular donut, well, Japanese donuts have like half the flavor of a regular donut. It's like the anti-Krispy Kreme...no flavor at all!! Lastly, pizza, called okanomiyake here, is disturbing. It comes with crazy toppings, like squid or yams or corn or a fried egg!! The worst part is that they lather mayonnaise all over the top! I actually had pizza with corn on it though...wasn't bad! ;)

Day 20 - 11.04.02 (Mon) Himeji/Kobe - Off with Brady and Liz (and two friends of theirs visiting) to Himeji Castle and stopping in Kobe on the way back for a bite and a drink. Himeji Castle is Japans most historical and impressive castle. I t was built in the 1300's and is totally original! It is a huge complex with gardens and moats and bridges and "ishiotoshi", openings in the walls used for shooting arrows, guns, and pouring boiling water or oil on anyone that tries to scale the castle walls

01statue

. It was built up through the 1600's and is known as the Shirasagi, "the White Egret", b/c of its stately white form. Too much to tell really, but I took a ton of pics. After the castle, we went to Kobe (where I asked to be placed). Kobe is definitely where I'll be trying to move in the next month or so. It's a beautiful, vibrant city nestled between the bay and the mountains/hills. Anyway, we ate at a Brazilian all-you-can-eat restaurant. Ahhh, the first filling meal I've had since I got here. I will be going there a minimum of once every two weeks! If you ever have the chance to eat at a Brazilian restaurant, do it. It's awesome. Jason and I ate at one when we went to Cancun, they rock! After dinner, we went to an interesting bar in Kobe, I don't really remember the name, but the layout was cool with aquariums all over the place and seashell filled tables, bathrooms, and even toilet seats! Tomorrow I'm going to try to go hiking in Arashiyama, which is outside of Kyoto. It's supposed to have some really great hiking and beautiful scenery!

I didn't end up going to Arachiyama, but will definitely do so next week.