Day 77 - Kanagawa

Today was an adventure to Kanagawa. Unfortunately, it was so hot today I think I boiled my brains, because I don't remember much of the day.

First we stopped in Kita (north) - Kanagawa, and visited this hydrangea temple. Thing. There's this cliff face where they dug out caves and built graves called Yagura. They currently don't really know why the graves were built like this, but hey, history. But since it's in season, the hydrangeas were lovely and in bloom. Which of course, meant that all the Japanese tourists were there as well. It was so busy.

Next stop was the daibutsu in Kanagawa. Daibutsu literally means "big buddha, and that's exactly what it was. A big buddha. Huge, made of metal, and actually hollow. For a fee, you could actually go inside it. It had these huge pair of windows in the back with big metal shutters. I heard some Japanese women exclaim that it looked just like a Gundam. Lol, Japan.

Next was lunch in some sort of busy road. Couldn't find much interesting so Tamarra and I went to a coffee shop. Called Excelsior Cafe, it has pretty much the same outside facade and font as starbucks, so it's a pretty obvious rip off. Good food though. I'm seriously getting addicted to the iced cocoas here. Can't help myself.

Next was Enoshima. The day was winding down, so the walk from the station to the island was very pleasant. Got to see some ocean, breathe in the sea air. It was really nice. Had about an hour to wander so we walked around, saw this group of guys with low-riders. What a strange thing to see in Japan. Wandered up towards the shrine near the top of the island, but were distracted a short way up by some friendly cats. One of them looked like one of mine. I miss my cats.

Then it was time to return. Took a different train back, and ended up in Ikebukuro with Tamarra for dinner. That was quiet and pleasant. But I'm exhausted. We stopped by a little shop in her station that sells owl-shaped taiyaki. I bought ten of them, a bunch of different flavors. Got to eat a custard one and an orange one. They're soooooo good. They rest were given to my host family. I guess Mama's actually gone until sometime tomorrow. She's visiting family in Chiba.

And that's it. My feet ache, and I'm tired. Tomorrow is looking to be a really quiet day. Maybe I'll get some laundry done finally. That's all for now.