Ekiben and Hiroshima

Activated my JR pass (my friends already had their passes activated), seats in shinkansen to Hiroshima reserved and off we went, on our first ride on shinkansen. Aside from Haruka Limited Express from Kansai Airport to Kyoto, this is my first long train ride.

I always favour trains to buses, especially when reading in buses makes me nausea :P But taking the shinkansen is a different experience altogether. Complete with vending machine and attendant selling food and drinks. Even the toilet is big. :P

Not to mention I love having ekiben on the train :P

Look, the packaging is pretty, isn't it?

After removing the paper wrapper...

The food! My pick - sushi and pickles ekiben. Nice... isn't it?

And I got myself orange juice from the vending machine. Natchan... :P

Reaching Hiroshima train station, we followed the directions given in the website and tried to find Hiroshima Hana Hostel. Me with my fatty backpack, and friends with their trolley bags. On our way, a kind local asked where we are heading to. Told him we were looking for Hana Hostel, he told us it was further up, in front of a temple.

Along the railway track, it sure doesn't feel like there would be any temple nearby... till we saw this!

Checked in and dropped our bags. Moo Moo Gal was excited seeing a lift in the hostel :P
Then off we went for a stroll.

Walking along railway track...

As we stood waiting for the train to pass, I saw some students in school uniform, presumbly walking home. It reminded me of the drama Proposal Daisakusen, specifically the episode where Ken tried to make amends because he didnt give the second button of his school uniform to Rei. Trying not to give spoiler of the show, but second button because it is the nearest to the heart. Sweet.

On the way, we got distracted by loud speaker from a shop, selling this...

LOL, we bought one... and shared among the 3 of us. We must've looked funny then, sharing one sweet potato by the road side :P

After spending some yen in a bookshop, and further strolling, we were back to hunting for food. We settled for some Hiroshima style okonomiyaki at this shop - Tanpopo, run by a friendly Japanese couple. It was cosy and homely shop, the kind that I like :)

Me, being nosy, took my camera and sit at the bar to take picture of okonomiyaki when it was being cooked, at the same time, practise my measley Japanese. :P

We order 2 okonomiyaki to share among the 3 of us - both soba, one curry and one plain, with ikaten (squid cracker). Yumm :)

We ended up eating at the bar, despite initially sitting at the table. A little hot but it was fun! This, by far is the best okonomiyaki I ever had.
(Edit: it is to be eaten by a little spatule, but cutting it into small pieces. If more help needed, chopsticks are provided as well. However, the owner gave us special treatment, he divided it into 3 portions for us)

Side note: It's finally Friday!