Last Few Days with Dad! Niihama and Matsuyama – January 2013

Our last days together over the Christmas break were spent on Shikoku. We arrived in my city - Niihama - late on the 1st and Dad got to see the tiny apartment that I live in. That night, after a day spent in Hiroshima, we decided to stay in and get some rest.

The next day was a free day to explore. Dad decided that he wanted to visit the famous onsen in Matsuyama. We got in the car and took the scenic route from Niihama to Dogo Onsen. The scenic route being Route 11, with it’s winding roads. We even found an abandoned diner that was designed to look like a train.

We reached Dogo just after lunch. I’m not one for public nudity or bathing so I decided to forgo the bath and walked around the area. Dad went in and he said that it was relaxing and a great experience.

My walk consisted of going through the shotengai and seeing the little shops and stalls set up near the onsen. I even purchased a few of the tabi socks that I have wanted, they are awesome because they make you look like you have Ninja Turtle feet and are perfect for wearing with flip flops when you’re to lazy to put on real shoes in the winter.

I also visited two of the shrines in the Dogo area while waiting for Dad to finish. They are at the top of these stone steps that look perilous from certain angles. I was enjoying seeing the people celebrating the New Years at the shrine when it began to rain. This time I hadn’t brought my umbrella with me so I was subjected to increasing downpour. However I wasn’t out in the rain for too long and sought shelter in the covered shopping area.

After meeting up with Dad we made our way back to Niihama, as that night we were going to be having dinner with two of my JTs. We met up with Yuko and Aki at Goen, a yakiniku restaurant. Yakiniku is best described as “Korean barbeque”, it’s where there is a grill in the middle of your table and you cook your own meat and veggies. It was a really nice dinner and both of my JTs liked Dad. Saying that he was a lot younger looking than he thought he would be when I had told them his age. After our filling dinner it was back to the apartment for an early night as Dad was heading out for Shizouoka the next morning.

Over all I had a great Christmas break. It was nice to see my Dad and to have family around for that time. The trip was fun and I think at times we liked that there was someone else there to travel with… though we’ve both agreed that we prefer to travel on our own then with each other.