I really gotta start pumping these things out on a more consistent basis. Besides my crippling laziness, Val and I have been experiencing the weekend laziness blues. Because our schedules during the week are pretty messed up, it's difficult to find time to do the essential stuff like errands and groceries. Therefore, our weekends totally feel like that one scene in Old School where Will Ferrell is telling those kids he's gotta go to Home Depot tomorrow. He might go to Bed Bath & Beyond, but he's not sure if he'll have time. Adult weekend hell. Man, being "grown-up" sucks.
Regardless, my birthday rolled around (thanks for all the bday wishes!) and we figured we should get off our asses and do something. I had heard a lot about this Himeji Castle, so it was high time we checked it out. A two hour train ride later and we were all ready for explorin'.
The only other castle I can compare the one in Himeji with is the one in Osaka. I gotta say, the one in Osaka SUCKS. The surrounding area is much better put together and way hotter looking. For the small fee of $6 we could wander around and even go into the castle. How rad is that? This place is a UNESCO world heritage site, so they were pretty strict about not smoking, eating or drinking. Did I mention this castle is made almost entirely of wood?
The only other castle I can compare the one in Himeji with is the one in Osaka. I gotta say, the one in Osaka SUCKS. The surrounding area is much better put together and way hotter looking. For the small fee of $6 we could wander around and even go into the castle. How rad is that? This place is a UNESCO world heritage site, so they were pretty strict about not smoking, eating or drinking. Did I mention this castle is made almost entirely of wood?
I took a megaton of pictures, so bear with me, it's gonna be a looooong one...
prettier.
Speaking of pretty... <3
Yup. You read it right. It's the suicide quarter! All kinds of cutting open your stomach went on there I'm sure. We checked it out but nothing interesting of note...just a small courtyard. I love how the spot that says "You are here" is all worn down from all the idiots who've touched this map.
This pictures is actually sideways (sorry!). The walls are constructed in a way I've never seen before. Some of the rocks are placed in sequence, but other parts are, to quote the info placards, "random style". Apparently it was to prevent invaders from scaling the walls.
The architecture of this castle is truly remarkable. The sheer amount of detail is mindblowing. It's hard to imagine all of this was built by hand. Those poor peasants.
This bad boy was taken from inside the castle. The windows were just open spaces with wood slats, so it was easy to lean out and take some pictures. I love how there's always mountains everywhere. Did I mention I like skyline pictures?
More castle porn!
Someone help me! I don't know how to smile properly. It must be that old age.
The back door. Go on, think of something funny.
It took a good 20 minutes just to walk from the front of the place to the actual castle. There's a large grassy area leading up to the castle where I half expected some hippies to be playing ultimate.
Heavily fortified and able to defend from all sides. Except ninjas. Nothing beats ninjas.
Yup. You read it right. It's the suicide quarter! All kinds of cutting open your stomach went on there I'm sure. We checked it out but nothing interesting of note...just a small courtyard. I love how the spot that says "You are here" is all worn down from all the idiots who've touched this map.
This pictures is actually sideways (sorry!). The walls are constructed in a way I've never seen before. Some of the rocks are placed in sequence, but other parts are, to quote the info placards, "random style". Apparently it was to prevent invaders from scaling the walls.
The architecture of this castle is truly remarkable. The sheer amount of detail is mindblowing. It's hard to imagine all of this was built by hand. Those poor peasants.
This bad boy was taken from inside the castle. The windows were just open spaces with wood slats, so it was easy to lean out and take some pictures. I love how there's always mountains everywhere. Did I mention I like skyline pictures?
Someone help me! I don't know how to smile properly. It must be that old age.
The back door. Go on, think of something funny.
After a long few hours of exploration, we needed some ice creamy nourishment. Right across the street there was a place with 10 odd flavours of soft serve. You'd be making that face too if you had their mango ice cream. Mmmmm....mango ice cream.
From the train station, you can actually see the castle way off in the distance. It's actually straight down the main street and takes about 15 minutes to walk. Along the way, there were a bunch of totally random statues. We figured we couldn't not take a picture of this bad boy. We got some stares for taking a picture, but we're not the ones with a fat, naked saxamaphone player in our city...
There was a lady selling a bunch of beetles on the sidewalk. She wasn't crazy or anything. These things were HUGE. If I saw these things my first instinct would probably be to stomp them the hell out. From what I understand, kids collect beetles and raise them at home. When you've raised your beetle to a good size, you fight them with other beetles. Kinda like cock fights for kids. For adults, I think the "joy" is in breeding them. A guy I work with told me his girlfriend won a pair of prized beetles which are worth about $125 a piece. if they breed successfully, their offspring get get anywhere from $200-$500. Them shits is ridiculous. The above beige one is of Japanese origin while the black one is American.
From the train station, you can actually see the castle way off in the distance. It's actually straight down the main street and takes about 15 minutes to walk. Along the way, there were a bunch of totally random statues. We figured we couldn't not take a picture of this bad boy. We got some stares for taking a picture, but we're not the ones with a fat, naked saxamaphone player in our city...
Here's something you don't see every day...
There was a lady selling a bunch of beetles on the sidewalk. She wasn't crazy or anything. These things were HUGE. If I saw these things my first instinct would probably be to stomp them the hell out. From what I understand, kids collect beetles and raise them at home. When you've raised your beetle to a good size, you fight them with other beetles. Kinda like cock fights for kids. For adults, I think the "joy" is in breeding them. A guy I work with told me his girlfriend won a pair of prized beetles which are worth about $125 a piece. if they breed successfully, their offspring get get anywhere from $200-$500. Them shits is ridiculous. The above beige one is of Japanese origin while the black one is American.
Finally! All done! If you wanna see the rest of the pictures, you can check em' out here.
I've probably said this before, but it's very easy to get into a routine and lose track of why we're here to begin with. It's always awesome to do something really Japanese or see something so flippin' cool to help us appreciate Japan that much more.
p.s. I went to Fushimi Inari in Kyoto last week! It's truly an amazing place. I took something along the lines of 200 pictures so I'm still sorting that out. I'll post about it when I get my shit together. Later dudes!
p.s. I went to Fushimi Inari in Kyoto last week! It's truly an amazing place. I took something along the lines of 200 pictures so I'm still sorting that out. I'll post about it when I get my shit together. Later dudes!
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