We have been planning a little trip out of Tokyo. Interacting with my friend David and with Róbert, reading. We exchanged our JR coupons and have JR passes for seven days: from today till next Saturday, we can take almost all JR trains without paying extra! We have made plans and seat reservations. Hotels are booked. But, since Friday, a typhoon is menacing. David warns us that it is expected to pass over us when we are in Takamatsu, he will keep us posted. For the moment, our plans are not affected.
We leave the apartment early, heading for the Shin-Okubo station. Take the Yamamoto line until Shinjuku station, then connect to the Chuo Line and take our first steps in Tokyo station. Exiting the local part of the station, there are plenty of counters offering all kinds of food: sweet, savory, fried, lean. Sophisticated bento boxes are offered. But we have to find the Shinkansen part of the station, so we look but do not stop. After finding the Shinkansen section, and the correct destination, we get up on the platform. The adults want to buy coffee, and there are 10 minutes left, so to the despair of the teens, Noe and Samuel go. back down in search of coffee. We are then ready to board the train.
The seats are spacious and comfy, there is plenty of space for the legs. And off we go. The train is going to Okayama, but, although this is our destination, we are supposed to change in Shin-Kobe. Why? We figure it out quickly: this train makes 4 or 5 stops between Shin-Kobe and Okayama, the one we will board next only stops once. But there are only 7 minutes to change, and although the women who booked our reservations stated it was plenty of time, our European experience says otherwise… In Kobe, we realize there are only two platforms and all trains going towards Okayama and Hiroshima stop at the same platform: we do not need to change. Seven minutes are really enough!
We arrive in Okayama, spot the hotel, and head there. But check-in is at 3pm, it is half past noon, and there we are asked to come back after 3pm. After some attempts in communication, including having to speak in a phone that transcribes my words in Japanese, we get to leave our suitcase at the hotel and head for lunch. Noe has spotted a place that has a good reputation for Okonomiyakis, we haven’t tried that yet, so the choice is made. They have room for four. We sit around a table with a plancha incrusted in its middle. Okonomiyakis here are of the Osaka variety (we think): eggs, veggies, meat and/or seafood in a sort of big patty. Once it is ready, it is laid in front of us on the plancha, and we have to cut pieces, poor different sauces on, and eat. Delicious! We finish eating around 2pm, too early to go to the hotel, so we take a stroll in Oyayama and head for the famous Korakuen garden. On the way, we spot Okayama castle, but it is closed for restoration. We will learn later that it is better that way: while it is beautiful on the outside, it was hastily rebuilt and the inside is not so impressive. We also see many references to Momotaro: this is his city.
Korakuen garden is impressive. We enter through the south entrance, and remember we received a stamp passport from Róbert. He told us many places, and certainly most JR stations, have stamps. It is true Korakuen, and we get a first stamp in the passport. (We got a few inks in another booklet when visiting a Ghibli store). Korakuen garden is considered one of Japan’s three great gardens. It was completed about 3 centuries ago for some feudal lord. It took 14 years to build. It is really a beautiful, quiet, impressive place, with lots of different trees, some rice fields, a little cascade, ponds all over. And some Japanese cranes are kept there too. A little mountain in the back is used to give the impression it is much bigger than it is. After going all over the place, we exit through the north exit, find another stamp, and head back to the hotel.
This is our first Japanese hotel, we have one room with two beds, one next to each other. We rest a bit, take some showers and get some information about the Typhoon. It is not too strong and going slow, we should be able to go tomorrow evening to Takamatsu, David will keep us posted. In the meantime, we head to a mall to have a beer, then go to a meat restaurant: we read that, while Kobe beef is very well known, there is a local beef that is equally good: Chiya beef. In the center of the table there is a gas grill this time, we order all kinds of meat, and have a very nice dinner. The meat is super tender and tasty. Time to walk back to the hotel and rest.
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