Matsuyama Castle and more

This past Sunday, Natalie and I had the opportunity to visit Takashi city. It was a really nice day for the both of us as we were blessed with nice weather and we got to explore a really nice place in Takahashi, a very quaint town tucked between numerous mountains. It made for some very nice scenery, and it had a very different vibe from Okayama or Kurashiki (not that those places are bustling in comparison to a big city).

We basically spent the day in search of Matsuyama castle, Japan's oldest original castle and also Japan's only castle that is situated on a mountaintop. Unfortunately for us, the map the we were given of where to go didn't accurately portray how far of a walk we needed to make to reach our destination so we walked and walked and hiked, and then walked some more. Not that this was a bad thing mind you, as it was a beautiful day. Actually, Takahashi is filled with tons of natural beauty. We stopped at a Buddhist temple, splashed around in a gorgeous canal, took pictures under a waterfall, and attempted some daredevil like stunts. Along the way, I even got to fulfill one of my childhood dreams of stepping into a Samurai house. It was pretty cool to see how people lived hundreds of years ago. Basically, there wasn't much furniture but the houses are so simple and elegant. They're usually enclosed by walls and contain a small Japanese garden. We had a good time posing like a Samurai and what not.

After our trek through town, we finally reached the foot of the castle mountain only to realize that we had to make a rather formidable climb to the castle. It was a nice hike but absolutely exhausting. When we finally reached the castle, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the mountain valley and the opportunity to explore the castle's donjon. I really enjoyed the caste as this was the first castle that I saw in Japan. Since I've always been obsessed with medieval Japan, this was something I'll always cherish. It was a good day and we celebrated by going to Nepal.

I mean a Nepalese restaurant with the biggest Nan I've seen (not that I've seen many).

Other observations for the week:

+at the foot of the mountain, while measuring up our ensuing climb to the castle, we were instantly and suddenly startled by a loud bang. It scared the SHIT out of us. It could've been a gunshot or it could've been a vintage cannon from the castle or it could've been a noise to scare the animals away. We'll never know...(twilight zone).

+ Japanese people either speak zero English...or near perfect English. I don't understand it. For example, a Japanese girl asked us to take her picture next to the castle and she spoke nearly flawless English. Apparently, she had lived in Arkansas. We've both had many encounters with Japanese English speakers that speak great English, including my Japanese co workers. It seems like a lot of Japanese study abroad in an English speaking country. I like the fact the so many of them are well traveled. (and sometimes I forget that my freshman year in college, I had a Japanese roommate)

+ We had our first hitchhiking experience! Actually, this was my first hitch hiking experience ever. On our way down the mountain (and exhausted as we were), we did what any good hitchhiker would do, we stopped a pickup truck and hopped on the back so that it could take us down the mountain. It was a very enjoyable 2 minutes for the both of us. I say 2 minutes because in my effort to communicate with them, I couldn't figure out how to ask them to take us all the way to the bottom, and instead, we had to settle for barely 75% to the bottom. Oh well!

+ The changing of the seasons in Japan is not at all gradual. Let's start with this, today was a really cool day. It wasn't hot, but it was Sunny with a nice cool breeze. It was perfect for shorts and a T-shirt. However, on the way to work, I noticed that everyone had retired their shorts and skirts almost overnight. Gone were the comfortable summer outfits, and instead, they were replaced with with the drab colors and thick layers of Autumn. I mean, come on! You would think it was November or something, but we're not even halfway through September. I guess the Japanese take their seasons seriously. Of course, I only observe this through my rose colored glasses...(as with everything else)