This is the most elaborate of them all, St Peter's Cathedral in Vatican City. Looks absolutely stunning! The amazing thing is that all the greenery and plants are all real. To make them look like tiny miniature trees they used bonsai, which must have taken ALOT of work. Lunch was another buffet and we were joined by a huge group of (again!) university students.
We took a looooong road trip all the way up into the Miyagi prefecture to see some snow! The bus headed straight for Mt. Zao, a ski-mountain with lots and lots of snow!
These are the so called "snow monsters", which are actually trees covered in snow blown by winds from the chilly Siberia. I wonder how those trees actually survive winter covered in snow like that :/ Interestingly I noticed animal footprints on the snow, though they looked really weird, as if it had 3 legs... the Abominable Yukidarumon? (its an old Digimon character that I suddenly thought of LOL)
That's the highest we could go by cable car. Super strong and chilly winds! I only spent about 15mins outside and my hands, feet and ears were numb. The vending machine inside the cable car station was our savior, I bought a hot coffee and there was an instant "Ahhhhhh....."
On the way down in the cable car, I spotted a snowboarder zipping down the slopes, twisting and turning as he winded down. Cool stuff!
After a long day in the freezing cold the bus took us to another onsen hotel! Perfect way to warm up the body. Took this shot in the hotel:
Its a weather information board! You can set the city or prefecture that you're in and it adjusts accordingly. Subsequently I saw this board in 2 other hotels located in the smaller towns.
Next morning, I experienced the hospitality of Japanese service staff - the entire reception and lobby staff lined up outside as we boarded the bus and waved us farewell, until our bus went out of sight.
Such politeness! I wonder when Singapore can ever reach that standard of service..
On the way to the next activity which was strawberry picking (drool!), the bus weaved through swathes of farmland and rice paddies. I took this pic of an oba-san, toiling hard at her age. One trend I noticed was that most of the farmers I saw were old folk, with the exception of a few young guys helping out. I suppose all the youngsters headed straight for the big cities upon graduation from school - who would work in the fields nowadays?
Strawberry picking was rather fun, even though I wasn't a fan of strawberries. It was really warm inside the greenhouses, and everyone had a great time gorging on HUGE SHINY strawberries. They gave us 30 minutes, but within the first 5 everyone was already full. I think my dad easily wolfed down 30. He'll probably have strawberry nightmares for the next few nights LOL.
Drooling yet? All the strawberries were crazily sweet, without a hint of sourness at all.
After that hearty, fruity breakfast we went to Matsushima Bay, one of the more popular tourist spots in Northern Japan.
Nice view isn't it? Especially with the morning sun shining overhead. We boarded a small boat to cruise around the Bay and check out the tiny rock outcrops that seem to sprout out of nowhere. From what I can recall there were more than 50 such islands, and each had a name. An example is "Kabutoshima", which means helmet island (it really looks like Kabuto the Pokemon XD)
Strange to see pine trees growing right? Must have been part of the mainland a loooong time ago. The fun part was when the guide brought out some snacks, and the seagulls started to swarm around the boat trying to get a quick meal. They flew really close to us!
Oyster farms! Too bad it wasn't the oyster season then, otherwise we could have eaten FRESH oysters plucked from the ocean and eaten on the spot just like you see in Japan Hour on TV where the host goes "mmmmmmmmmm oishiiiii!!!!!!"
After some retail therapy at the shops by the bay and a visit to a shrine that opens its doors only once every 33 years, we went to see a golden shrine built for one of the shoguns. Unfortunately photos weren't allowed. Every part of the shrine was covered in gold! From the statues to the pillars right down to the floor! No wonder they protected it within a glass exhibit. Took some pictures within the grounds:
A really fat cat guarding the entrance to one of the shrines. Cute!
A family checking out their fortunes.
That night we stayed in Morioka. After dinner we explored the area around the hotel and discovered a shopping street that was closed by the time we got there (around 9pm). Japanese stores close so early!
This guy was busking along the street, and his voice was really good! The tune was also rather catchy - the next YUI perhaps? His friend looked kinda spooky though =x
And that concludes part 2! More to come...
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