Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Hiroshima

Hiroshima is a city that really resonates with me. It is very easy to get around (lots of English signage), is full of stunning flora and satisfies my inner history buff. This was our second trip to the city and instead of visiting the main tourist attractions as we had on our previous trip (i.e. the Peace Memorial Museum and Hiroshima Castle), my beloved and I decided to walk from garden to garden. We spent an entire day walking the perimeter of the CBD from park to park, stopping to explore interesting shops and areas and, of course, to eat.

Here are some of the beautiful sights:

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
 A-Bomb Dome

 View from the CBD
Shukkei-en Garden



Traversing a city by foot takes a reasonable amount of energy. This means good fuel is essential. We enjoyed a particularly lovely lunch in the Shukkei-en Gardens - a big bowl of wakame udon soup for me under the shade of some of the garden's established trees.


At around $4, this meal was an absolute bargain!

Aside from some of the more sobering things that Hiroshima is famous for, its name is also associated with one of Japan's great foods - okonomiyaki. This layered savoury pancake/omelette is available throughout Japan, with each region claiming that their take on the dish is superior. However, Hiroshima is undoubtedly the most okonomiyaki-obsessed city that I have visited - there's even an entire multi-storey building devoted to the food - Okonomimura. Naturally, we had to sample one a few okonomiyaki.

I especially love the interaction of this food. The chef prepares your pancake on the grill in front of you serve yourself right from the hot plate. A casual, fresh and friendly way to eat.




The mixture of noodles, prawns, pork, egg, spring onions, cabbage, pickled ginger, kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce and various other condiments is an absolute winner. Oh, and there's only one thing better than okonomiyaki after a long day of travelling - okonomiyaki and beer!

6 comments:

  1. my chicken salad is not quite as delicious as your Okonomiyaki looks!!! I want one :0)

    Beautiful Pictures.

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    1. Thanks, AC! It's pretty darn hard to top freshly made Okonomiyaki! :)

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  2. OMG you were in Japan! I miss Japan so much...when we went, it wasn't all that good weather so we didn't get to take too many great photos in Hiroshima. Did you visit the Memorial Park? Also didn't get to try Hiroshima version of the okonomiyaki, what a shame.

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    1. Hey Jenny, yes...we walked through the Memorial Park on this visit. We didn't spend too much time there on this trip, as we'd spent quite a bit of time there during a previous visit. We were certainly very lucky with the weather there! :)

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  3. Interesting, thanks for sharing, JP is like a secret for everyone.

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  4. You are having a Myanmar trip, there is only one day left, and you still don't know what to buy in Myanmar for your family. Try buying the cigar in Myanmar. Cigar in Myanmar has a special smell, you can buy it at Inle Lake, there is a famous factory to produce cigar. Wind chimes is also a favorite gift tourists choose to buy. They are decorated with the images of famous attraction in Myanmar or the signals of the horoscope. If you are Buddhist, you can’t ignore to buy a statue of Buddha. According to the locals, the statue of Buddha can banish evil ghost.

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