We were out of the rooms early today, by 8:15, to catch a high speed boat from the dock out back of our hotel to go to Miyajima (pronounced: mee-yah-jee-mah) Island where the Miyajima Shrine and Torii (pronounced: tore-ee) Gate are. As we were waiting for the boat to arrive we saw a Celebrity cruise ship pull into port, ever so slowly. Kenji had purchased tickets for us and we boarded the high speed boat which only took 30 minutes to get to the island. The boat ride over was smooth and afforded beautiful, water-level views of the port, harbor and into Hiroshima and up the deep green hills. We were told we needed to make a reservation for what time we wanted to return as the boats fill up, so we chose 1:55 pm. That would give us almost 5 hours. We were each given a ticket stating "13:55" on it that would be required at the end of the day to get back. Almost immediately after getting onto the island Mom spotted a sign with the word Bakery and said "Oh, Karin, look a bakery." Which I took to mean she wanted to stop and get breakfast. So we did. We each got a bakery item and Mom also ordered an iced coffee.
Having had breakfast we walked towards the Torii Gate. I wanted to get there by 10 am as that's when I had found low tide would be and we would be able to walk out to the Torii Gate in the mud. It was as spectacular as I remember it from 21 years ago. *swoon* Huge and majestic. We spent a lot of time walking around it, getting photos from many angles and just taking it all in. It was very muddy and puddles of water were still around as the tide had gone out not too long before. There are the expected barnacles surrounding all four posts. There were A LOT of people out at the Torii Gate.
We headed back up from the water level and headed towards the Shrine. Mom decided not to go to the Shrine, but rather sat and watched the Torii Gate and the tide. The 3 Lusters paid our 300 yen entrance fee per person and walked through the open air hallways with views of the Torii Gate. We came across several altars and made our offerings and offered our prayers. I wanted to go out to the furthest point on the Shrine's property to get a shot of the Torii Gate from the Shrine. A couple of Japanese women in front of us asked me, in English, if we'd be willing to take their picture and she'd take ours, if we wanted her to. I said yes, please, so we took turns taking each other's pictures and all too soon it was time to move away and let the rest of the long line have their turns. Coming to Miyajima was an experience I've been looking forward to since we decided to come back to Japan. I enjoyed it very much 21 years ago and have watched many YouTube videos about it during the planning of this trip. It did not disappoint!
We slowly made our way out and found Leo at the exit. He showed us an item he had purchased at a nearby souvenir store and of course, I wanted to look around. I did and I made a couple of purchases. The guys walked back to fetch Mom and bring her to where I was so we could continue looking around "town" and find some lunch. When they got back we looked in a couple of shops and Kenji found a place for lunch. There were 4 seats downstairs and the rest of the seating was upstairs. Fortunately for us, they told us to stay downstairs. Kenji and I sat at the counter facing the kitchen and Leo & Mom sat at a small table. We looked at the picture book menu and made our selections. Kenji & I had been considering the same 2 items, so I ordered one and he ordered the other and we shared. We also got an order of veggie tempura. I had a lemon soda. It was so crisp and refreshing! Mom had the same pork and rice dish I ordered that came with miso soup. Leo had deep fried oysters with rice and miso soup. He said he enjoyed them, and was ok that it only came with 2 oysters. LOL. We paid (cash only) and left.
As we meandered through the streets, peeking in windows and watching treats being made and the IG-worthy ice creams being consumed, Mom and I found a shop to walk in, cool off and made a couple of purchases. We got back to the entrance to the Shrine and Mom and I told the guys we'd like time to just sit and watch the tide come in for a bit. We didn't have to be back at the pier til 1:45 pm to catch our return boat. So we did just that. The guys went walking and looking around then came back for us an said it was time to head back. Slowly and enjoying the breeze (it was still hot and humid) we started back. Leo broke off to go get a maple leaf-shaped treat. I asked him to get me one, too. The adults found a Lawson's and went in for cold drinks for the boat ride back. We found Leo and got to the pier to find a long line for the 13:55 return trip. Yikes! Did we wait too long to get back? We had been told to be back by 1:45 and it was only 1:38. Are we going to have to stand up the whole time?
We did *not* stand up the whole time. Phew! We found a group of sofa-like seats in a square that was empty and sat there. A large group with some kids came and sat near us, but there weren't enough seats for them all so one man sat with us, joking (in English) that his family didn't want him anymore. I told him that's ok, he can join our family now. And that began a 30 minute conversation with a Vietnamese man from La Habra about the Celebrity cruise he was on and life in the US vs. Vietnam, which he left when he was 14. He was a fun person to talk to and Mom was very chatty, as you know she is. his family got off at the stop before us and were planning to go see the A-bomb Dome and still had to be back onboard the ship by 6:30. It was now 2:15 pm. May the Force be with you! That was going to be a very fast visit as they planned to take the street car to get there.
Kenji and I did some souvenir shopping at the hotel gift shop and came back to our rooms to relax and cool down before a planned early dinner. For dinner we broke into 2 groups, Mom & Kenji and Leo & Karin. Leo and I went for conveyor belt sushi and Mom & Kenji ended up getting okonomiyaki, which she later said she was glad to have had again. I had soooo much fun at the sushi place! It's a chain that Leo has been to back home, Kuro Sushi. Patrons sit in booths and a conveyor belt rolls by on the end of the booth with items you can just reach out and take. We also ordered items on the iPad that arrived on a conveyor belt *above* the other belt. Those items were programmed to bypass the other booths and arrive and stop at our booth for us to take off the belt. We chose mostly based on what we saw, not being able to read the signs, but also looked at the iPad to see what was offered. We had various types of nigiri (seafood on top of of rice) salmon, seared tuna, egg omlette, something that looked like tiny meatloaf with a tiny dollop of mayonnaise (Leo made a weird face so I didn't try the 2nd piece), shrimp (cooked), scallops (cooked), a sort of California roll a seafood salad and slice of cucumber wrapped in seaweed with a pat of rice, as well as a tuna and cucumber roll, creamed corn in a seaweed wrap, tempura bacon (we don't recommend), corn fritters. For dessert we had "bread pudding" which was a few little chunks of pound cake topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with chopped pistachios (which is what caught my eye in the first place) and raisins. It was ok, not great. Leo had steamed cheesecake which wasn't as fluffy as he'd hoped. Oh well. It was a super fun experience and not I'm looking for someone to go with me when I get home. Leo says there's one in the Glendale Galleria that he's been to.
The 4 of us met at the bus stop, went to 7/11 and got a few necessities and returned to the hotel to pack and go to bed early.
Tomorrow we have to leave the hotel by 7:30 am to catch our 8:43 am train. We are dropping Mom in Mishima to get on a bus to her School Nurses International Conference and we head off to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort!
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