Besshiyama Hike – A Tale of Miscommunication; That Turned Out OK

Before moving to Niihama a year ago (my 1 year anniversary in the city is June 18^th, 1 year in Japan was May 31^st) I did a little research on the city.

It’s not a big city compared to Mississauga, but it does have a great history. The city was once one of the most productive copper mines in the world and was what gave the Sumitomo Company its jump-start. The mine is located south of the city centre on Besshiyama. I have wanted to take a trip to see the mine and it’s history – I thought that I would be doing that, but as of this post I still haven’t actually been to Minetopia Besshi.

What started out as a conversation about going to Besshi to take photos led to a case of miscommunication. When I had suggested going to Besshi I was talking about going to Minetopia, walking through the museum, seeing the park and the history. What my friend thought was that we would be hiking through the mountain.

This lead to me being not properly outfitted for a day of hiking – but by the time I realized that it was too late to go back to the apartment to change. So I was wearing my brand new Black Milk Mermaid leggings and my friends flip flops on our hike.

In the end it didn’t really matter. It was an adventure and I was able to see something new in Niihama.

All the Spring Flowers

Spring has been happening here in Japan since March, that’s when the plum blossoms began and the weather started to get warmer.

The first blossoms I saw were the plum blossoms in Osaka, when I was visiting with my Mom. I really loved the reds and pinks of those little flowers.

Then in April it was the Sakura – Cherry Blossom. I took a bike ride up to Hirose Park in Niihama and found a wonderful collection of cherry trees. I loved getting photos of the little white blossoms, as well as pictures of other flowers at the park.

I also did Hanabi (blossom viewing) with my JT Aki, her family, Bret and Angelina. It was nice to sit and enjoy some food under the cherry trees.

After the cherry blossoms fell with warmer weather and a few days of wind and rain, flowers began to sprout up and bloom all around Niihama and Shikoku.

Planted along the roadside in Niihama I found pink, white and red rhododendrons. As well as interesting tree blooms, petunias, peonies and other beautifully coloured flowers.

On my last day of Golden Week I took a trip to Takamatsu to visit Ritsurin Koen. A beautiful park filled with flowers and bright with the green of spring. I got to see the Wisteria and Iris and just experience a wonderful afternoon enjoying the sun and a nice walk.

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. 

Ehime Prefectural Science Museum – December 9th, 2012

A fun, educational and entertaining day out in Niihama is going to visit the science museum. I was lucky to be taken by my friend Yuko. The museum is a combination of both science and natural history – so I had been excited to go when I learned that Niihama had such a museum and it didn’t disappoint.

Two new friends: Galileo and Isaac Newton

The architecture of the entrance to the museum is spectacular; the glass cone is really something to see. On the inside the cone is the part of the walkway between floors.

The museum is also home to the world’s largest planetarium with a diameter of 30m. Yuko and I went into the planetarium and saw a show of the rising of the constellation Gemini; it was then followed by a Dinosaur movie. The star and constellation demonstration was impressive; the dinosaur movie was laughable. 

Planetarium

How they show the stars

After the planetarium we walked through the museum displays. I enjoyed the hands on physics and illusion area.

But Nothing beats the DINOSAURS!!!!!

Watch the video to see the animatronic T-Rex and triceratops.

There is one downside to the museum though, and that’s that everything is in Japanese. However even if you don’t go with someone who can translate – most of the displays are self explanatory.