6th september
managed to get about 2 hours of sleep before i realised i was late!! it's hoeman's last day in tokyo so i quickly changed and went over asakusa to meet him about 1030am. (where he thought i was going to kuramae and waited at the wrong place instead.) eventually we managed to meet around 11am, where stella and jiayi was already on the way anyway.
but we did get to walk kaminarimon and i encouraged hoeman to get an omikuji, which is some luck charm. hoeman really had very horrible luck. it's the middle bad luck charm. i almost died laughing reading the contents

and for bad luck charms, you have to tie them to this rack so your bad luck goes away

then we met up with the taiwanese and headed to a kaiten sushi for brunch. hoeman ate all that he wanted - sea urchin, fat tuna

i had some horse sashimi (it says horse, but maybe it's really fish?)

then we went to where hoeman stayed at - j-hoppers hostel and slacked there for a while, before we sent him to the station.


around 1pm, it was goodbye tokyo and welcome america for hoeman.
i spent the rest of my day walking around asakusabashi (for zephyr and some craft beads), then at akihabara with stella and jiayi (since it was all within walkable distance) before i headed home around 6-7pm since i was getting a headache from lack of sleep.

osaka and kyoto is pretty near, about half an hour to an hour's ride (depending on train), and 690yen.


and another 120yen to j-hoppers.


we left our bags at j-hoppers then continue to take the express train to himeji about 1.3k yen per trip)

while waiting fo the train, we had breakfast inside the station!

(this is a display)

the real deal.


and we reached himeji.


path towards himeji jo

we went to the visitors' centre to ren bikes... which is free!!

nice model of himeji jo inside that lights up according to some buttons you press on its panel.

and it's off to the castle!

and we came here soon enough. the legendary castle featured in the last samurai!



bought the tickets to enter.




and yes, more students.

we sort of tailgated them and listened to their guide anyway. haha.
getting nearer to the castle.


unique rocks

getting in the castle!

bonds!

secret room.

and when we finally climbed to the top of the castle...


view from there.

truthfully, the insides weren't as grand as expected. it was old and had a bit of exhibitions here and there, but that was it. you had to follow a certain path that will bring you up and down and finally out.
harakiri?!


a well with a rumored spirit...


(sadako?)
princess' balcony/foyer/room (whatever it's called)

time to go out


we didn't get to visit the park... which i heard i beautiful. but oh well.
we headed to the history museum instead.
seems like we were there at the right time because there was a kimono try-out going on, and it's only once per day for 1 customer!
so i prepared for the 12 layers traditonal kimono!!





see the lady behind!! so cute.


hahah denzyl's samurai form

and because the lady who helped me was so kind, she accepted the request for my sister to try on too!!





by the time we finished trying on and printing all the puri kura and photos that we wanted, it was already 5 (we took 2 hours!!!). so we only managed to look at the first floor of the museum... t'was a pity because the museum looks fantastic... (i love miniature models!)








ships in almost real sizes




after that we shopped and biked a little around himeji. dinner was oden! (himeji's dish)





it was a little weird because everyone seems to know we're foreigners when we entered. but the shop was very cozy and everyone was very friendly, so some of them talked to us. overall, it was a very nice meal!!!
looking desserts later on... (kuromitsu shiratama matcha)

and some yummy food shops

omu rice that my sister really wanted to eat.

very nice (and famous?) waffles!


then it was back to osaka.

and we got the shock of our lifetime when we got back to j-hoppers. apparently we had booked the wrong date so we had no place to stay, plus j-hoppers didn't bother to call us and deducted the full amount from my sis' credit card after sending an email. (who checks their email when they are traveling like us!?) i was so mad at them! luckily, they managed to help us find a cheaper place to stay at some secluded place in osaka, called hotel raizan (2100yen per night, j-hoppers was 3000yen - which means they deducted 9000yen straightaway for a night we didn't stay).
when we were over at the area, we were swarmed with over-friendly folks trying to help us locate the hotel, one of which was a drunk who kept spitting on our way to the hotel. not sure whether we were supposed to be afraid, happy or what. it was such a weird night. when we finally found the hotel, it seems like we were at the wrong branch (north istead of south), and this one was more expensive by 200yen. in the end, we were so tired we just rested there anyway and they charged us 2100yen all the same. (well, won't it be better to fill up you unoccupied rooms and earn that extra bucks for a few hours...)
the next morning we realised that the hotel we were supposed to go to was just beside the one we were at. (-_-`)
what a bad end to our nice day.
as to the j-hoppers thing, i later sent a complaint email and eventually they agreed to deduct 50% after much arguing.