Today, I spent the day exploring Miyazaki and Miyokonojo, together with
Robert, Renzo and Tamar.
We started here in Miyazaki, checking out the center of the city. Miyazaki is nice, albeit a bit sleepy, but that might have something to do with the fact that today was Sunday and we didn't go exactly for kilometers on end.
Still a city to visit though, as there were some interesting things to see and Robert and I managed to figure some things out we spotted yesterday night, but didn't really understand.
Miyazaki's setup is very open; wide streets, separate lanes for cyclists and palm trees. Really nice, and a welcome and unexpected difference from cities like Tokyo and Osaka, where you have to fight for some room among the cyclists and other pedestrians.
After lunch, we hopped on a train to Miyokonojo; a 50-minute Limited Express train ride.
Miyokonojo is a fairly new city and basically consists of 4 smaller towns joined together. A star on the rise, or so they say.
In our opinion, they will have to rise some more, although it's not all bad.
We enjoyed our stroll through the city, ran across a few temples and a park, where we fed the koi and talked to some people.
When we returned, we went to see something which initially looked like a chimney, next to a nuclear power plant (it was a life-size model of a rocket, next to what appeared to be a museum; didn't translate the kanji yet). There was a small park next to it, where we talked with the locals some more.
Later on, we went to buy some post cards, and I got into a conversation with an elderly woman.
Much talking today; I'm glad my Japanese lessons paid off a bit. ;)
Children are the most fun to talk to; they're honest and sometimes quite direct. We met a father with two daughters who were a bit shy at first, but when it became clear that I wasn't going to bite their heads off and started talking Japanese to them, they thawed a bit. Their father was a good sport and went along with us; even scolded her a bit for not returning our greeting. ;)
The elderly lady at the post office wanted to know where I was from, and told me about her travels through Europe.
I think Miyazaki doesn't see large amounts of foreigners, since we're constantly stared at (mostly by school girls) and people want to know where we come from, but assume we're from the United States. ;)
Well, tomorrow, we're heading for Kagoshima, for a well-earned soak at Furusato Onsen.
Should be fun.
Cheers, K.