A history lesson in Hiroshima- A must see place for all Americans

The previous post in this series is here..

Our day 2 in Japan started early. There were enough vegetarian options for breakfast at the Tokyo Inn. They also had Croissants. Only thing missing was chai. We always had instant packets of Wagh Bakri ginger chai and that made up for it. They even had a free machine that dispensed hot cocoa. It was nice. Once everyone was ready we made it to the train station. Till that point we had only been on local trains.

This morning we were on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima. It was a long ride but the speed of the train and the timing to the second was just amazing! Thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Once at Hiroshima, we decided to go see everything by ourselves. There was a 20 minute ride from the train station to the center. We found a seven seater van to hire for this. (if you are a group of 4-6 chose this option in Japan. It is value for money but usually available only from train stations or on Uber apps. you can’t wave it down like a taxi)

It was a grim reminder of how low humans can go and also how folks can redeem themselves. There are lot of idiots in positions of power today with bloated egos. It does not bode well for the world.

We walked around all the memorials and museum. Decided to skip the boat ride. It was cloudy but you could feel the heat and humidity. Then we went to the Castle as the last stop. It was another interesting experience. Finally we made it to a marketplace.

Jr. had found an “insta” famous restaurant. When we went there it was closed! So we found another vegan place close by and decided to eat there. Given my allergies and it being the first time we were eating out, I skipped and sipped lemonade. Later we went to a bakery and got a lot of different breads including a cheese bread that I loved. The breads were different and so soft. Imagine bread that pulls off like soan pappadi! Just lovely.

Here are the photos..

After lunch it was time to catch the Shinkansen back to Osaka. So we took two taxis. At the very first light the two went in different directions. We knew it was a 25 minute ride from where we started. Good thing is we could track each other on the iPhone and catch up. More photos..

We walked by a Yoga studio in Hiroshima on our way to the train station. Given how Bikram had started teaching in Japan, I was interested in seeing the studio where he taught. We talked to a local guide and were pleasantly surprised to hear “in Japan, yoga now has a negative connotation. Ever since an organization bombed a train station with Sarin nerve gas and folks in that organization did yoga, we as a culture do not look up to it.. that is also the reason we don’t have dust bins everywhere. you have to carry your own trash back home! that organization used trash cans to leave the bombs”.. So we learned a few things on this trip!

A video highlight reel..

The return ride was a blur. Everyone was dozing off on the high speed train. When we came back to Osaka, it was a little after 3PM.

Decisions had to be made by weary travelers. Tough decisions.. but we made a great call.. that in the next post.

Teamlab Botanical Garden - Osaka

The previous post in this series is here..

Right after checking in at the Tokyo Inn in Osaka Namba, we went to the room, dropped our luggage and came down in 20 minutes. We had booked tickets at 7PM to see the light show at the Teamlab Botanical garden. It was supposed to be a short train ride but we were still new to the train business in Japan. You come 20 seconds late and the train is gone! These guys are very very very very punctual.

Also the same train station has many entrances and exits and if you don’t listen to your smart kids and haven’t figured out Japanese coins, buying tickets can take time at every machine.

We did barely manage our ride to this place and walked a good 20 minutes to the entrance of this Ngai botanical garden. We thought we were late but turns out everyone gets a 7PM ticket for night light show. There were 200 people ahead of us in the line. We joined the moving line and walked through the light show.

It was fantastic! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Here are the pictures..

After the light show our jet lag started to show. So we walked back to the train station. It was a beautiful and pleasant evening. We took the train back to Osaka Namba. There was still leftover food from what we had packed. So we ate that and went to sleep.

A video clip of the Team lab visit..

The next morning we had to wake up early for breakfast and catch a train. Every day was going to be packed after this..

Japan for the first time

Last year there was a graduation trip planned. Jr. was finishing her masters at UCI. My in-laws were visiting for the graduation and the plan was to go to two national parks in Colorado. My dad passed away. The trip was cancelled. We did manage to literally come back after the rituals were done and go straight for the graduation ceremony.

This spring we decided to do that grad trip. Unfortunately the little one could not join us. She was interviewing for jobs and was trying to finish her 4 year school in 3 years.

My BFF wanted to go on a trip together and we combined everything. So six of us went on a week long adventure to Japan. My friend has traveled to Japan a dozen times in his early Intel years but had selective memories of only Tokyo. A lot of stuff was new to him as well.

Most of the planning was done by Jr. , San and my friend. I gave a few inputs using copilot and found a few gotchas in the plan and found two Viator tours to save us a day. Other than that my contribution was a big zero. Did play photographer for the entire trip.

We covered Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo, Mt. Fuji all in that week. We were welcomed to Japan with an amazing view of Mt. Fuji from the plane. All the passengers came to the windows on the right and that must have made it difficult for the pilot as the weight shifted!

A short highlights video..

As soon as we landed in Osaka airport, Jr. told us to get the SUICA app and cards loaded to our phone. We did not listen to her. To this day we regret not taking her advice. We had enough Yen, we told her!

We took a train from the Osaka airport to the Osaka Namba area. Quickly checked into the Tokyo Inn at the Osaka Namba. There were kiosks to check in. It was interesting that the staff just watched as we were asked to scan passports and credit cards etc.

After a quick freshening up, we came back down for our first sightseeing within a few hours of landing. Did I mention this trip was planned rather meticulously?