Carol Elizabeth Wee Blog: Day 18

(This post is supposed to be dated 23 September 2012).

Went on an unexpected mountain hike today. I had wanted to go to the Shiraito Waterfalls (it's another destination that I've circled on the Itoshima map) and for the longest time I had been contemplating whether or not to go because it's more than 10km away. Also, I've read online that the buses to this place are very very infrequent, which is a bummer because I have a concert in the afternoon to catch.

So, in the end, I decided to wake up early to see if I can cycle there. On Google Maps, it says it will take about 35 min to drive, and 2 hrs+ to walk, hence I estimated that cycling would take slightly more than an hour..

Everything went according to plan.. until.. I realised that after a certain point in my journey, it became a non-stop upward slope - which is impossible for me to paddle up. Well, I tried to, but I kept losing my balance and fall off the bike. Anyway. Walking seemed to take less effort.

Pictures!

Scenery hike

A smaller waterfall along the way.

My final destination is 4km away?! This is when I decided to just park my bicycle here.

Took a break along the way.
Really delicious sandwich by the way!

The only cafe en route.

Another small waterfall along the way

A woman walking her cute pups.

Shiraito Waterfall

I WAS ELATED TO SEE THE CLEARING AND FLAGS.
No more hiking!

It's funny how people don't really recommend this waterfall to tourists. I've read in forums that some people actually discourage visitors from going.. And I'm thinking it's because of the inaccessibility of the place (unless you have better means of transport). Anyway, I'm glad I made it there.

SHIRAITO WATERFALLS!

A guy looking at the waterfall
(This photo is just for scale haha)

Something else caught my attention at the waterfalls too - it's the way people eat their noodles.
See pictures below:

The stall selling the noodles at 400 yen per serving...

A father teaching his children how to eat the noodles.

A group of friends having fun.

YES, YOU STAND BY THE 'WATERFALL TAPS' AND EAT!

Cold noodles - waterfall style.

Here's how to eat the noodles:
1. Grab some noodles with chopsticks.
2. Place noodles into the 'slide'.
3. Let it slide in the water for a distance.
4. Brace yourself.
5. TRY AND CATCH THE NOODLES!

(I tried taking a picture of myself catching the noodles, but the picture was too blurry.. hence I'll just post a picture of myself at step #2)

Unique and fun way of eating!

Honestly, I don't know what's the point of washing the noodles in the water (I assume it's to wash).
I was a little worried about the hygiene issues of such food consumption, but seeing that everyone is doing it and considering how safe Japan is, I thought it should be fine.

So far, no diarrhea.

The 人魚 overlaps

The journey to and from Shiraito Waterfalls took longer than expected (Thank God, the trip down was a lot faster!), so I ended up very late for the concert.

But I'm glad I still made it.

I loved the music and dance.. I loved the melody of the music and how graceful the dancer was. And I just really loved how both the music and dance complement each other.

For more information about this: visit here:
http://www.ito-artsfarm.com/harvest_fes_ws_performance/#ningyo

The 人魚 overlaps

Staff from Studio Kura managing the counter.

Back to the city

Ok, so I'm a bit nuts to be moving around after my exhausting hike.

This is a mall that was featured in the brochure, but honestly, I think it was less than spectacular.
I think the malls in Tenjin were better.

That's the Yahoo Dome in the background.

What was I doing in the city again?
Well.. FOR HARD ROCK CAFE OF COURSE!

My family has a 'tradition' of collecting Hard Rock Cafe pins everytime we travel, so I had it in my mind to get at least one. (In the end, I got only one).

And I thought that since I'm there and have probably eaten weeks and weeks of Japanese food, it's time for a little change. TIME FOR SOME AMERICAN FOOD YEAAHHH!