I was up relatively early so I could make it to Yamadera (literally "mountain temple") which is, as you might suspect, a mountain with loads of temples and shrines.
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| Part of the town of Yamadera, on the way to the base of the mountain |
My first visit was in 2009 and it was one of my first trips outside the Tokyo area. (See the post here, which includes a little more explanation of the mountain itself.) Of course, it hasn't really changed since I was there before, but I went back because I remembered how beautiful it was.
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| Buddhist monuments, jizō statues, and other relics line the stairs to the top |
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| A view across the valley |
The skies were even prettier than my last visit, and I spent quite a while at the lookout point enjoying the view.
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| At the lookout point. Special prize goes to this woman, for making the trek in those heels... |
Made a loop past one more temple on the way back down to the base where I spotted some kitties!
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| Perspective is everything: Are these just peaceful zen kitties... |
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| ...or clever, hungry kitties waiting for a goldfish-y snack? (P.S. I have no idea what all that yellow string was for.) |
On the way back to the train station I stopped to get some tama-konnyaku (balls of konjac that have been simmered in soy sauce), a Yamagata specialty.
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| Simmering in the pot |
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| They are often served smeared with Japanese karashi hot mustard |
One more view of the mountain from the train station platform, then on to Sendai!
My friend Paul is in Sendai attending grad school, and since I wasn't going to be that far away I added an extra leg to my trip so I could stop by and see him.
But first I had to wait until his classes were finished for the day, so of course I went browsing for Japaneesy things...
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| Business lotion... |
We decided to start with a late lunch. After exploring our options we settled on ramen. Ramen makes Paul happy.
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| I chose the super-special spicy ramen. Seriously, that's how the name translates. It was oh-so-good. |
Full--and suffering from a mild case of heartburn from all the habanero in the soup--Paul took me on a walking tour. Though I've been here twice before, it's nice to have someone who's familiar with the city to show you around. We even stopped by his university; Paul is in the DJ club, so I got the behind-the-scenes tour of his practice room.
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| The literal "elephant in the room" was my personal favorite of all their interior decorating choices. |
And then we were off for a walk through the downtown area. Lucky us! We were there to see the Christmas lights.
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| Even the lion outside the department store was dressed in his holiday best. The beard was a nice touch, don't you think? |
And of course, there are the obligatory photos of things we like to make fun of:
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| A clothing store, of course |
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| "For the nice tomorrow" |
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| Perhaps the children's smoking section is around the corner? |
We topped off the evening with an ice cream stop. After all those stairs I'd climbed in the morning, plus my walking tour of the city, I figured I could spare the calories. No photo, though. It didn't last very long...
Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation. I've got some plans, but I'm not yet sure I can pull them off. It's hard to tour the countryside when you don't drive a car...
Anyways, stay tuned for one more post!
1 comment:
I may like Blue Boots, but when it comes to trekking up mountains ( or going anywhere at all with your Significant Other), every good Asian girl knows that looking fashionable is the key. Maybe your should invest in some blue high heels so you'll be appropriately dressed next time you hike up a mountain.
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