It was all unplanned. Totally. Hiroshima was never part of the itinerary and our last day was just meant for shopping though we had the full day (and I did not really like shopping when I travel) so I told myself that perhaps it would be a day for resting. During the middle of the trip, we had this crazy idea of extending our adventure to Hiroshima rather than allot the day just for shopping. After letting a day pass with all the calculations here and there, we all finally agreed to go!
We purchased our tickets after a wonderful day in Kyoto (day 5). Like our first bullet train trip from Tokyo to Osaka, our trip from Osaka to Hiroshima was at 6:20 AM. So after our misty day in Kobe (day 7), we went home to pack as that was also our last night in Osaka for our accommodation. Thus, the time had come again for us to run the next morning to the station where our bullet train was with all our luggage. Bullet train was always coupled with luggage and drunning (dragging and running).
Came morning, we woke up earlier than usual. Our accommodation was normally 8-10 minutes walk from the nearest subway. From the previous night, we already checked the 2 exits nearest to us if there were any escalators available but to no avail. That morning, we still attempted to find the other subway exits for we were in dire need of these moving stairs to save our backs. Unfortunately, instead of finding one, we were a little lost and we just could not and did NOT find the correct station entrance having escalators. And time was just ticking. Tik tok tik tok. We eventually ran back to one station we just passed by and continued with our drunning. Pant! Pant!
Inside the station, the drunning story was not over! You know that feeling of relief when you have gotten inside the station thinking that you kind of ‘made‘ it only to find out you still needed to dash some distance underground? Yes, we needed to forcefully run a mandatory 500-meter distance from Nippombashi to Namba subway. During this time, I realized that 500 meters was not near at all especially when the hallway was just a full straight stretch from end to end so it felt like the hall was never ending! Well, we had no choice but to use up all our energy because if we miss the subway train, we will surely miss our bullet train. Adrenaline rush!
We needed to do one more important stop before getting to the bullet train platform: throw our luggage to the coin lockers. We had just about enough time to do few cycles of this repetitive process: drag-and-run, ask where the lockers are, drag-and-run some more until we found it making sure also that we remembered which wing and corner of the building the lockers were located. And finally, yehey, we made it! The drunning was all worth it. ☺ Thank God!
Anyway, I told my friends that I have cousins working in Hiroshima and I reached out to them prior to meet us up when we get to Hiroshima. I was so happy when they informed me that they took a day off and would join us in the tour. Not only that, the Japanese husband of their Filipina friend would also take us around. Blessing after blessing! Yuhooo! So much fun! Too bad we could not meet the Filipina because she was at work.
We had a bit of a challenge to communicate once we arrived at the JR Hiroshima station. Firstly, we did not have access to WiFi anymore because we had already checked out from Osaka. Secondly, me and my cousins agreed to meet at the supposedly only exit of the train station.
However, upon arrival, we came to know there were 2: North and South exit. Uh-oh, we positioned ourselves at the North exit while trying to figure out how to send the message across that we were there. We asked for any existing phone booth and fortunately, one was available (unlike when we missed our flight that we could not even find one phone booth in KLIA). If I remember correctly, it costed 10 Japanese cents for 10-15 seconds. Something like that.
Thank God I was finally able to call my cousin to instruct that we were at the North exit. Apparently, they were searching for us in the South exit. Whew. When we all met together, it was an exciting moment as we were meeting familiar faces in a totally different territory. Amazing!
| Date | Place | Preview |
|---|---|---|
| April 29 | Airport Tour = Missed flight! |  |
| April 30 | Tokyo Tour Tokyo Prefecture |  |
| May 1 | Nikko Tour Tochigi Prefecture |  |
| May 2 | Mount Fuji Tour Shizuoka and Kanagawa Prefecture |  |
| May 3 | Osaka Tour Osaka Prefecture |  |
| May 4 AM | Todaiji Temple in Nara Nara Prefecture |  |
| May 4 PM | Kyoto Tour I Kyoto Prefecture |  |
| May 5 | Kyoto Tour II Kyoto Prefecture |  |
| May 6 AM | Himeji Tour Hyogo Prefecture |  |
| May 6 PM | Kobe Tour Hyogo Prefecture |  |
| May 7 | Hiroshima Tour Hiroshima Prefecture |  |
Places Visited
May 6, 2016
Tips and Notes
