Hawking around

Howdy all
Just checking in with everyone to say hi! It's the first day of Autumn in Japan but it's been hot again. C'est La Vie I gues! Nevertheless I think we'll be seeing a cooling down over the next few weeks. School is about to go into exams, and I have started working on a new book, so more info on that soon. I will be revisiting my time in Ethiopia in the first of a new series called 'Short Journeys'.

Amazing birds

Yesterday I journeyed down to Ishinomaki to go and see a movie (Star Trek: Into Darkness) which I very much enjoyed. I'd heard bad things but I was happily surprised. I ventured down with a friend, Kevin, and we met my wife at the station (she had been in Sendai). It looks like a really nice interesting place, it was devastated by the tsunami in 2011 but we didn't head to the coast.

A hawk in flight!

The road we took to get there though was quite treacherous, on the top of a cliff high above a river on a road that was broken in parts and sloping down towards the river in others. We were lucky that on that stretch of road we didn't pass a single vehicle. Actually, the condition of the road was probably why no-one was using it.
A bit further on and we saw a bunch of hawks swooping around beautifully in the sky. It was quite a sight. Big, beautiful birds.

Ishinomaki harbour.

At Ishinomaki we had dinner at 'Big Boy', an American chain I have never visited although there is one here in Ichinoseki too. Their salad and soup bar was good value, as it was all you can eat. We also briefly visited the harbour for a quick snap! Took in the movie and went back via a different route. The heavens opened and kaboom! We were well and truly dumped on! The rain was so heavy it became very dangerous, and yet people in this part of the world don't seem to think they should stop tail-gating or turn the high beams off! Well, that's driving in Japan for you!

Bog boys at Big Boy!

Next week I hope to return, because the place looks interesting and there is a Manga Museum there I am keen to see. So stay tuned.
AND if you have any interests in my travel writing, don't forget the website now up and running.
The writings detail the journey I undertook from Dhaka to Dakar (Bangladesh to Senegal)  and you can buy the twenty chapters individually for Kindle via Amazon, or it's also compiled into three volumes -Asia, Europe and Africa. If you like the blog, please consider!
Thanks!

Dhaka to Dakar the website

Sending a message to Sendai

Hijinx amongst the day trip to Sendai. Yes, that's me!

I was lucky enough to have my sister visiting Japan. Just for a short week, basically staying only in Tokyo, but we managed to work out a meeting - in Sendai. This was great, because I had never been to Sendai before last weekend when I drove down to meet her.

Traffic was ok on the expressway - that's why you pay for it! But near the centre of Sendai it's another matter. Sendai is a big city and the capital of Miyagi prefecture. I had sensibly decided to meet my sister on the east exit of the station, which may actually be on the west side of the station, but is labelled east, and was the one I had known when I had transferred to the bus from the train earlier this year.
At least I knew where to find her, and after the struggle to get from one side of the station to the other by car, I picked her up and we drove back to the other side! HA!

Sendai

Knowing what to do was a bit of a puzzle. So I had my old guidebook out and we headed to the City Museum, where there was free parking! There was also a school tennis tournament going on, and I tried to park in the car park for that initially but wasn't allowed. I am still amazed at the size of the events that sports day are here. Inter-school baseball gets on the TV!

Outside the museum.

The museum itself was actually a bit bleh. I might be permanently off museums I think. Lots of pots and rocks, my FAVOURITE (not). But some interesting paintings and art work about the Date family, who built a castle up on the rock above Sendai, lots of plans of Sendai hundreds of years ago too. Seems Matsumane Date was the main man in history, even if most explanations were in Japanese I could work that out. My sister later read in the book (something I should have done I guess :)) that most of Sendai was destroyed in the Second World War. It was also hit by the tsunami, but that part of the greater city was a little way away from the centre.

We went up the hill to the see the castle, just a fifteen minute uphill walk from the museum. The weather was splendid so it was a pretty good choice. Even from there we couldn't see the ocean, or much of a castle either. Now there are a few shops and restaurants, and soft serve place which hit the spot! The views were good however, if a little blocked by the occasional misty cloud.

The base of the castle, the only thing still 'castlely'

Following that, we parked at a carpark close to the station. We had to wait for cars to leave before the gate in this automated place let us in, parking is a serious issue in any big city in Japan. I guess it stems from being so populated over the years, but on street parking just doesn't exist here, at least not in the cities. There really isn't any here in Ichinoseki.

The falls.

Temple at the falls.

We grabbed some lunch and headed for some waterfalls about 20 km from Sendai, although I took the 'long way' and we drove about 35km to get there! Much faster on the way back. The roads were typically windy but the scenery beautiful. The 55-metre Akiu Otaki (falls) were lovely as it started to cool down. It looked like a perfect place to go hiking too, but time and my wife's shoes did not allow! Back to Sendai, my sister had a train to catch! A great day for a tired old teacher! :)