The Weekend Review: Okayama Shiraishi Island
Wow, what a difference a night’s sleep can make! It’s Tuesday morning, but the first day back at work after a long weekend. I went to bed a bit cranky and totally exhausted last night, but just getting a full night’s sleep last night and waking up to some sunshine has made me feel a lot better. I still need to plan my junior high school lesson this morning, do my homework for class tonight, maybe practice for my test next week and have a few classes, but even a busy morning doesn’t feel so bad.
Three-day Weekend
The weekend away was fun. The rolling hills in Okayama were splashed with fall colors and we had beautiful weather for at least two of the three days of our little journey, but after not really having a weekend the week before and getting back from Tokyo during the middle of the week, I went into the weekend tired and came out exhausted. We saw a lot of really cool stuff, including this really pretty town that the area’s samurai used to use as a holding/storage facility for the rice for the whole province, but I think I would have appreciated it more if I wasn’t so sleepy (which I’m only just realizing now). There were three other foreign boys and two Japanese girls with me, and I didn’t really have to plan anything – really just go along and enjoy it – but I think it was just all the running around and being sick for the last three weeks...I hit my limit :-P
So because we knew we were leaving early on Saturday morning, Friday night was pretty low-key. I had Japanese class in Kobe as usual and then came back with Caoimhe and hung out at the apartment with Tu, Caoimhe and Dave.
On Saturday morning, I somehow managed to get up, shower, pack and get to the train in about 20 minutes in order to make it to Himeji and meet the rest of the group on our way to Okayama (how am I always in a rush?!), but we all made it, and the rest of the trip to the island cabin went smoothly. As I mentioned, there were six of us on this trip and the first night, we traveled to the Kasaoka area on the Seto Inland sea to visit the Okayama International Villa on Shiraishi Island. When we arrived, we found a brilliant little resort-looking cabin (definitely as nice as the other Villas), but this time we were sharing the complex with an American family that’s living in Kobe and their friends (another family who were spending the night at a local Japanese Inn, but hanging out during the day).
Shiraishi Island Villa
Now Shiraishi is the Villa everyone raves about, and it was cool, but I wouldn’t say it was my favorite. It’d probably be a totally different experience if you stayed longer, could take advantage of the beach (in the summer) and didn’t share the house with little children, but for me, the one real catch to the island cabin is that - while it is beautiful - it can get pretty cold (inside and out... even with space heaters).
That being said, it was still a good time. During the day on the first day, we had a nice time just hanging out at the cabin, walking to the small, local grocery shop and then making nabe (Japanese stew with meat and veggies), playing cards and essentially entertaining the kids until the other family went to bed. On Saturday, I thought I'd take a little nap, going to bed way earlier than expected (not a surprising backfire), but it was a relaxing & sorta quiet evening before that.
On Sunday morning, I wasn’t really sleeping well and was up early, so I decided to just get out of bed and take advantage of the location by catching the sunrise from a local mountaintop. Even though it's late November, the leaves were still showing beautiful shades of red and yellow, so between that and just the view of the surrounding sea and small islands, I felt a little spoiled (like this is why I live in Japan!).
I wasn't gone too long on my first hike, but the views were spectacular and it was pretty warm out, so the rest of the group did the same trail with me after breakfast before catching an 11:30 ferry back to the mainland.
Kurashiki
Our next big stop after the island was supposed to be Okayama City, but the boys were planned the trip cleverly scheduled in a pit stop at a historic little city called Kurashiki, famous for it's white walls and historical significance (the rice storage town I mentioned earlier). When we got off the train, I was pretty shocked to discover the town also had a Danish-themed amusement park (or Tivoli, Danish for Amusement park), seemingly based on the giant TIVOLI park in central Copenhagen, but I really only had a brief moment of reminiscing (ahh, fake European buildings) before being distracted by the charm and elegance of the rest of the (real) town itself.
We only spent a few hours in Kurashiki, but it was just fun to walk down the streets and admire the old-fashioned buildings and canals. The trees made the ambiance all the more romantic and the small, tourist town feel (and town layout) reminded me a lot of Kinosaki. I probably won’t get back this year, but the town is worth a stop. I didn't really do my homework before we went, but I'll throw links to some of the stuff we saw at the bottom of the post, too, since there's actually a bit to do there (like visiting the first Western-style art museum in Japan!).
Okayama City
Sunday night was spent in Okayama, just doing izakaya food (local fish - yum!) for dinner and hanging out together in one of our rooms at the hotel. We were going to go for a long bike ride on Monday, but got rained out. It was a bit of a bummer (especially since I know one of the guys had been looking forward to that ride for a really long time), but I think we did alright with visiting the Japanese garden next to Okayama Castle (one of the three most beautiful in Japan and - again - fall colors in full force), walking around the town and looking in different bizenyaki (pottery) shops. I wasn’t the only one who was tired by this point, too, so while I would have done the long bike ride and probably would have liked it, the laid back afternoon was not the worst compromise.
Anyways, yeah, I'm a pretty lucky girl for getting to do all this, yes, but it left me totally exhausted and I think I need to enforce some personal time this week. Tests start soon, so hopefully I'll have some time coming up. But for now... gotta get my lesson plan done. Glorious weekend and I’m finally better (no coughing!!), so I hope everyone else was also able to enjoy theirs, too. Adios!
Links:
白石島 http://www.pref.okayama.jp/kikaku/chishin/ritou/16shiraishijima/index.html
岡山市 http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/kankou/index.html
☆missed the Taiko dram performance at Okayama Castle, but they have events all the time...
吉備路 http://www.optic.or.jp/kanko/edu_travel/spot/kibiji.html
☆Kibiji Bike Road (and it's only 1,000 yen... next time!)
自転車倉敷 http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kankou/
Three-day WeekendThe weekend away was fun. The rolling hills in Okayama were splashed with fall colors and we had beautiful weather for at least two of the three days of our little journey, but after not really having a weekend the week before and getting back from Tokyo during the middle of the week, I went into the weekend tired and came out exhausted. We saw a lot of really cool stuff, including this really pretty town that the area’s samurai used to use as a holding/storage facility for the rice for the whole province, but I think I would have appreciated it more if I wasn’t so sleepy (which I’m only just realizing now). There were three other foreign boys and two Japanese girls with me, and I didn’t really have to plan anything – really just go along and enjoy it – but I think it was just all the running around and being sick for the last three weeks...I hit my limit :-P
So because we knew we were leaving early on Saturday morning, Friday night was pretty low-key. I had Japanese class in Kobe as usual and then came back with Caoimhe and hung out at the apartment with Tu, Caoimhe and Dave.
On Saturday morning, I somehow managed to get up, shower, pack and get to the train in about 20 minutes in order to make it to Himeji and meet the rest of the group on our way to Okayama (how am I always in a rush?!), but we all made it, and the rest of the trip to the island cabin went smoothly. As I mentioned, there were six of us on this trip and the first night, we traveled to the Kasaoka area on the Seto Inland sea to visit the Okayama International Villa on Shiraishi Island. When we arrived, we found a brilliant little resort-looking cabin (definitely as nice as the other Villas), but this time we were sharing the complex with an American family that’s living in Kobe and their friends (another family who were spending the night at a local Japanese Inn, but hanging out during the day).
Shiraishi Island Villa
Now Shiraishi is the Villa everyone raves about, and it was cool, but I wouldn’t say it was my favorite. It’d probably be a totally different experience if you stayed longer, could take advantage of the beach (in the summer) and didn’t share the house with little children, but for me, the one real catch to the island cabin is that - while it is beautiful - it can get pretty cold (inside and out... even with space heaters).
That being said, it was still a good time. During the day on the first day, we had a nice time just hanging out at the cabin, walking to the small, local grocery shop and then making nabe (Japanese stew with meat and veggies), playing cards and essentially entertaining the kids until the other family went to bed. On Saturday, I thought I'd take a little nap, going to bed way earlier than expected (not a surprising backfire), but it was a relaxing & sorta quiet evening before that.
On Sunday morning, I wasn’t really sleeping well and was up early, so I decided to just get out of bed and take advantage of the location by catching the sunrise from a local mountaintop. Even though it's late November, the leaves were still showing beautiful shades of red and yellow, so between that and just the view of the surrounding sea and small islands, I felt a little spoiled (like this is why I live in Japan!).
I wasn't gone too long on my first hike, but the views were spectacular and it was pretty warm out, so the rest of the group did the same trail with me after breakfast before catching an 11:30 ferry back to the mainland.
Kurashiki
Our next big stop after the island was supposed to be Okayama City, but the boys were planned the trip cleverly scheduled in a pit stop at a historic little city called Kurashiki, famous for it's white walls and historical significance (the rice storage town I mentioned earlier). When we got off the train, I was pretty shocked to discover the town also had a Danish-themed amusement park (or Tivoli, Danish for Amusement park), seemingly based on the giant TIVOLI park in central Copenhagen, but I really only had a brief moment of reminiscing (ahh, fake European buildings) before being distracted by the charm and elegance of the rest of the (real) town itself.
We only spent a few hours in Kurashiki, but it was just fun to walk down the streets and admire the old-fashioned buildings and canals. The trees made the ambiance all the more romantic and the small, tourist town feel (and town layout) reminded me a lot of Kinosaki. I probably won’t get back this year, but the town is worth a stop. I didn't really do my homework before we went, but I'll throw links to some of the stuff we saw at the bottom of the post, too, since there's actually a bit to do there (like visiting the first Western-style art museum in Japan!).
Okayama City
Sunday night was spent in Okayama, just doing izakaya food (local fish - yum!) for dinner and hanging out together in one of our rooms at the hotel. We were going to go for a long bike ride on Monday, but got rained out. It was a bit of a bummer (especially since I know one of the guys had been looking forward to that ride for a really long time), but I think we did alright with visiting the Japanese garden next to Okayama Castle (one of the three most beautiful in Japan and - again - fall colors in full force), walking around the town and looking in different bizenyaki (pottery) shops. I wasn’t the only one who was tired by this point, too, so while I would have done the long bike ride and probably would have liked it, the laid back afternoon was not the worst compromise.
Anyways, yeah, I'm a pretty lucky girl for getting to do all this, yes, but it left me totally exhausted and I think I need to enforce some personal time this week. Tests start soon, so hopefully I'll have some time coming up. But for now... gotta get my lesson plan done. Glorious weekend and I’m finally better (no coughing!!), so I hope everyone else was also able to enjoy theirs, too. Adios!
Links:
白石島 http://www.pref.okayama.jp/kikaku/chishin/ritou/16shiraishijima/index.html
岡山市 http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/kankou/index.html
☆missed the Taiko dram performance at Okayama Castle, but they have events all the time...
吉備路 http://www.optic.or.jp/kanko/edu_travel/spot/kibiji.html
☆Kibiji Bike Road (and it's only 1,000 yen... next time!)
自転車倉敷 http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kankou/
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 11:46 PM
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