bad_karma
09-21-2007, 09:51 AM
I thought a little trip journal might be of interest...
Okay, so I took a little getaway last weekend and headed up to Shikoku to see my gf. I went out and shot a game of pool with my friends Thursday night, when I first heard about the typhoon that had formed under us.
Hedging my bets that the typhoon wouldn't have time to get that strong before moving past the island, I did absolutely nothing insofar as "typhoon prep". No Weber in from the veranda, no putting inside detergent, etc. from the washing area. I did bring in the couple of umbrellas I keep on the rail outside the front door, but that's it.
Friday morning I had the bright idea that I would take a cab from my apartment to Furujima-eki, then take the monorail the rest of the way to the airport. After realizing that bypass traffic is insane at 8:00 in the morning (and that Furujima-eki is slightly farther from my abode than I had originally calculated), I went ahead and took the cab all the way.
Hopped on board a flight to Kansai Int'l Airport. From there, got on the shuttle bus over to Shikoku. It is a very scenic ride, as you pass through the outskirts of Osaka, part of downtown Kobe, then over the port bridge over to Awajishima, following along the Seto inland sea. Some of you may know that Awaji island is where the massive January 1995 earthquake was centered. From Awaji, another bridge into Shikoku. Destination: Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture.
Takamatsu is a quaint, small Japanese city with roughly the same population as Naha -- 300+ thousand population, but a little more spread out than here land wise. My gf was just getting off work and picked me up at the bus terminal at 6:00 p.m. We went and checked into our hotel, then went to a famous area restaurant for their house chicken specialty accompanied by a monstrous, barrel-shaped mug o' brew.
Got up Saturday morning and it was time to road trip. Back in June, when I stopped by to see the gf on the way back from Tokyo, she made us a reservation at what I would say is the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. Check it out here at www.angkasa.biz (Moderators: This is not a sales plug for this place; rather, I'm trying to give anyone reading this a sense of what I'm talking about). We made plans to visit this place again, as it was very impressive the first time. It's located in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, about 200 km from Takamatsu.
We followed the northern coast of Shikoku to the west, towards Ehime. My gf kept asking me if the drive wasn't boring for me, but those of you on here with ties to the mainland know that it affords an excellent chance to soak up a completely different vibe than the one day-to-day here. The very traditional brown houses with gray roof tiles.
Okay, gotta go for a bit. Anyone interested in me continuing this later, or am I typing for naught?
Peace,
BK out (for now)
Okay, so I took a little getaway last weekend and headed up to Shikoku to see my gf. I went out and shot a game of pool with my friends Thursday night, when I first heard about the typhoon that had formed under us.
Hedging my bets that the typhoon wouldn't have time to get that strong before moving past the island, I did absolutely nothing insofar as "typhoon prep". No Weber in from the veranda, no putting inside detergent, etc. from the washing area. I did bring in the couple of umbrellas I keep on the rail outside the front door, but that's it.
Friday morning I had the bright idea that I would take a cab from my apartment to Furujima-eki, then take the monorail the rest of the way to the airport. After realizing that bypass traffic is insane at 8:00 in the morning (and that Furujima-eki is slightly farther from my abode than I had originally calculated), I went ahead and took the cab all the way.
Hopped on board a flight to Kansai Int'l Airport. From there, got on the shuttle bus over to Shikoku. It is a very scenic ride, as you pass through the outskirts of Osaka, part of downtown Kobe, then over the port bridge over to Awajishima, following along the Seto inland sea. Some of you may know that Awaji island is where the massive January 1995 earthquake was centered. From Awaji, another bridge into Shikoku. Destination: Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture.
Takamatsu is a quaint, small Japanese city with roughly the same population as Naha -- 300+ thousand population, but a little more spread out than here land wise. My gf was just getting off work and picked me up at the bus terminal at 6:00 p.m. We went and checked into our hotel, then went to a famous area restaurant for their house chicken specialty accompanied by a monstrous, barrel-shaped mug o' brew.
Got up Saturday morning and it was time to road trip. Back in June, when I stopped by to see the gf on the way back from Tokyo, she made us a reservation at what I would say is the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. Check it out here at www.angkasa.biz (Moderators: This is not a sales plug for this place; rather, I'm trying to give anyone reading this a sense of what I'm talking about). We made plans to visit this place again, as it was very impressive the first time. It's located in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, about 200 km from Takamatsu.
We followed the northern coast of Shikoku to the west, towards Ehime. My gf kept asking me if the drive wasn't boring for me, but those of you on here with ties to the mainland know that it affords an excellent chance to soak up a completely different vibe than the one day-to-day here. The very traditional brown houses with gray roof tiles.
Okay, gotta go for a bit. Anyone interested in me continuing this later, or am I typing for naught?
Peace,
BK out (for now)