nihon turipu apr 17: dear deers

finally, i get to continue it. :D sowee mga fans! hehehe...

early morning of april 17, i was dreaming of him. ngak, wrong entry! i think i woke up at around 9 on that day. i remember leaving around 10 in the morning to head to osaka station for my three day solo tour at hiroshima and hakata.

it was a 2 and a half plus hours by shinkansen from osaka to hiroshima. i was placed in a "silent car" part of the shinkansen. no announcement could be heard in that car so i had to be alert everytime the train stopped at a station. i was seated next to a not so bad looking nihon-jin. hehehe. i was sooooo hungry but i didn't eat because when i tried to open my plastic bag of karaage and rice, i had to desist. i was making too much noise! everybody was sleeping. i had to remember i was in a silent car. aside from making the plastic noise, the smell of the fried chicken was too "loud" in itself! poor me i had to eat the remaining tortilla chips that my ever beloved japanese ex-boss gave me as baon.

since i went too late to hiroshima, i skipped going to the a-bomb site and headed instead to miyajima island, one of the famed three most scenic spots in japan. the torii in the ocean made this island famous.

when i set foot on the island, huwow, i was mega happy despite my grumbling and complaining stomach. (i still hadn't eaten breakfast and lunch during the trip save for the tortilla chips) deers where everywhere. they were roaming around eating everything in their path! i saw some signs warning us to keep watch of our belongings as the deers eat paper, plastics, and clothes! and trulili, i saw a group of them dear deers snatching from a lady her paper bag. after they got it, all deers got their share of good food! hehehe.

and don't ever think that i didn't have my own exciting deer encounters. remember, i was hungry. i went to sit on a bench in front of the sea. i made sure no deer was in 50 meters proximity. after seeing that the deers were quite far, i began to unpack my food excited to bite and chew and swallow while looking at the sea in that lovely spring sea breeze. after two bites or so at my chicken, a deer was running towards me and my plastic bag! waaaahhhh!!! he bit my map! grrrr... i had to stuff all my food into the plastic bag (take note: not into the food container anymore) along with my drinks and tissue! i ran away. the deer actually followed me a few steps!

and i thought they were endearing! next i found me another bench. just when i opened my plastic bag, two deers had their ears pointing at my direction along with their eyes and noses! ahhh, i had to leave. i was walking around trying to find where there were no deers! but my ging gang gooly goodness gracious, they were everywhere like pokpoks in the streets of geylang singapore! i was becoming agitated by then. i trekked a hill going to somewhere (i forgot... hehehe... cable car perhaps). while going up i still noticed some deers feeding on grass in very steep slopes. and then i found a haven! a solitary open cottage with no one around. and no deers! finally! i settled there and was undisturbed halfway through my meal when all of a sudden a deer was coming towards my direction.

my gaaaaaadddddd!!! i screamed at the deer, lubayan nyo ako!!!! this time, i didn't run away. i stood my ground. or rather, i sat my high chair! hehehe. the deer was intent on approaching me. but thanks to having read "the life of pi", i learned how to control the animal. i looked at it straight in the eye. without batting an eyelash i continued eating. everytime the deer averted its eyes, i followed his gaze. the deer started to make some deer noises through its nose. i started to growl like an offspring of a polar bear and monkey. why polar bear and monkey? my confidence was as large and beautiful as the polar bear while my sound was as funny as a monkey. oh oh ah ah grrrr. it went on for about 3 minutes until the deer relented, turned back, and walked away defeated, and hungry perhaps. i was successful! yipeee!!! i was an official animal tamer! :p

after my sweet victory against one big menacing deer and after finishing my meal, i traipsed the island from its high of highs to its low of lows. :)

the five storey pagoda.

looking towards the famed itsukushima shrine.


and getting friendly with a deer. :p

after miyajima island, i boarded the shinkansen going to hakata. weeeee... i was finally going to kyushu! i've heard so many good things about it including handsome and accommodating guys! ahem! hehehe. this is where my ultimate challenge in finding accommodation took place. i couldn't find one!

i stayed at starbucks for an hour asking questions about cheap accommodations. it was nearing 12 midnight. i was already intent of staying there for the whole night but i was so dead tired that i needed sleep. waaahhh. good thing i had my notes about hattenbas in kyushu. hihihi. that was an exciting day. and night! :p

and i thought i would never be able to give a lengthy account of this day. pasalamat ako kay deer at may naikuento pa rin ako! hehehe. :p

till next time! mwah!