Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Japan 2015 - Day 11 - Tottori to Matsue

April 17, 2015: Izumo Taisha, Matsue Vogel Park

There was some condensation on our window early in the morning and I wondered if we would be having a wet day again.  
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But not to worry, the weather turned out perfect.
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We made our way along the coast of the Sea of Japan and headed to the town of Izumo.
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We made a really short 10-minute bathroom stop here. In that short time I actually found something to buy. I can't remember what it was though . . . ooooh, now I remember . . . couple bags of hoshi ume!!
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This is the home to Izumo Taisha, the oldest and largest Shinto Shrine in Japan. The Shrine is dedicated to Okuninushi, the Shinto spirit God of marriage. 
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This where me and Sweetie had lunch.
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It was quaint inside with floor seating if you liked.
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This is Sweetie's udon. I had a little taste.  It was delicious.
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My tendon was really good too.
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After lunch we had a little time left to do some shopping.
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And then we headed for our next stop, the Matsue Vogel Park. I knew that we were going to a park with flowers, but I never expected this.
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OMG right?  How awesome is this?
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Wouldja believe this is the restroom? Nicest restroom I've ever been in. 
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So cute us, yah!
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We kinda lagged behind taking the photo booth picture so we had to catch up with the rest of the group. They went this-a-way.
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I liked the light on these leaves.
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Yay, we caught up in the bird place.
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We made our way to an auditorium where there was to be an owl show.
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This guy was so cute. He hopped like a human being one foot after the other following his trainer around.
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This one could fly through hoops.
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Try look at the little guy. He's looking the wrong way.
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And again, looking the wrong way.  So funny!
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This owl flew across the room from trainer to trainer.
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This one didn't do any tricks. He was just cute.
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This was our hotel for the evening, the Hotel Ichibata.
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It's a beautiful hotel located along Lake Shinjiko.
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Our room was quite spacious.
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We had sukiyaki for dinner!!
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After dinner me and Sweetie felt fat, so we went for a walk.
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I wish I had thought to take photos of manhole covers from the start of the trip, but I neva . . . 
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There was a really cool underground crossing tunnel.
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We walked for around 20 minutes until we got here. Everything looked closed so we headed back.
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16 comments:

Dd said...

Just bewtifull....Sweetie must've been in heaven right....and...ummm...is that pele's hair hanging !!

Kalin's Mommy said...

That tendon looked good!

jalna said...

Sure looks like pele's hair yah, Didi.

Mich, it was oishiiii with just the right amount of crunch.

Leslie's pics said...

So pretty the flowers!! And I wanna go to play with the birds too :)

Honolulu Aunty said...

That little boy was SO cute!

The food - too onolicious looking.

Can't wait to hear your toilet story.

K and S said...

all the flowers so pretty!

Anonymous said...

j: BIRDS! OMG plus OWLS. Ohh, I'd be in bird heaven. sigh -N

Lorna said...

Jalna, your photos are always stunning. And I'd have loved that bird place (would have tried to put one of the owls in my bag and taken it out).

DNakamaru said...

Great post! Japan has the best manhole covers!

jalna said...

You like birds, Les? I didn't know.

So, so cute the boy yah, Aunty. Toilet story coming in next post. I kept waiting for the picture to show up. Thought it was sooner.

I was so surprised, Kat.

N, the owls were soooo adorable!!

Thanks Lorna!! The birds were so beautiful. But those owls . . . they were awesome cute.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of the manhole covers from the beginning, Dean.

Kay said...

I called Art over to look at your photos. Awesome! It feels like I'm right there with you. Thank you so much for sharing all these really great photos. It's making us want to go too.

jalna said...

Thank you, Kay. I'm sure your mom would just love Matsue Vogel Park.

SW said...

So many colors in all the scenery and flower photos.. Was wondering what lens did you bring to take the scenery and the closeup flowers, food shots.. and fast bird pics.. great collections of pics!

jalna said...

Shun Wah, gear selection was a big issue for me. I brought two lenses . . . 35mm f1.4 and 100mm macro f2.8. Because of low light, the food shots were all done with the 35mm. The owl shots were done with the 100mm. Luckily there was good lighting, but I still upped the ISO to 1600 so that I could use a fast shutter speed. The flower close-ups were done with the 100mm. The one thing that I brought with me but never used was my flash. Ended up I just didn't wanna lug the added weight so it never left my suitcase.

Nippon Nin said...

I'm going back on your trip but still fascinating and fun to read! What a beautiful flower garden! Bird sanctuary is so neat too.

Nice meal you had, looks awesome! You two are so cute!

jalna said...

The meals you had on your trip looked really good too, Akemi!