We are actually boarding a streetcar in Hiroshima City that was only a 10 minute train ride away from Kai Tai (the suburbs of Hiroshima, where I lived). The sight of Hiroshima City was definitely different from where I lived. Tall majestic buildings lined the streets and the city was bustling with activity. Vehicles occupying the wide roads with bicycles also joining in. From the large wide roads, there were branches of other roads leading deeper into the city that were filled with even more activity. Shops of all kinds can also be seen lining the streets: Pinball centers, mini marts, mini cinemas can also been seen showing all the newest movies from Japan, I really wanted to watch those movies, but, I don't really know Japanese that well, the frustrations of being in a foreign country. The malls were also never ending, at every corner you could see 1 standing there and filled with customers. I lived in Penang where tall buildings were scarce, so it was quite a sight for me.
We were actually on the way to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima City. It was built to remember the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima City back in 1945, when the US dropped the Atom Bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" and blasted 140,ooo Hiroshima citizens to death instantly. Thinking about it makes me shiver inside.
We reached the station near the museum and had to walk a distance to reach it. Along the way, we pass a garden where the bomb was landed, of course, the whole place was reconstructed and you could see landmark after landmark with each of it having its own history about the bombing. The 1 that really caught my eye was the A-bomb dome.
The A-Bomb Dome.....It was one of the remaining buildings that survived the bombing and now its a World Heritage site. After taking a few pictures with it, Okasan and I decided to proceed to the museum. Ok, the details here are damn boring. The museum is what museums are supposed to be like, detail after detail after detail about the bombing. Even my Okasan got bored listening to all the explanations. They gave us a device that had every explanation about the exhibitions encrypted into it and to fully understand everything, you have to listen to everything it had to say, which of course, I skipped alot of them.
There were even things left over by the victims who died that were shown in the museum, including a lunchbox that a boy held when the bombing occured, the mother recognised her son's body because of that lunchbox, he held it tightly to his chest as burned to death, sad.....
Most of the other things were clothing and other metal items. There was even a watch showing the exact time of the explosion, 9.15am.
After 2 hours of walking through the museum, finally, we got out of it and went for lunch. It was quite a quick lunch as my Okasan needed to go back home to work and she left me alone to roam the city, she gave me a few extra yen, wished me well and left me alone to roam the big city of Hiroshima.
The feeling was exhilirating as it was my 1st time in a foreign country and roaming the city on my own. The feeling of looking for an adventure, trying new things and facing new experiences, it was all too appealing!!!! I walked and walked and went in to a lot of shopping malls visiting every floor. The japanese really like clothing because they have 7 floors dedicated to ONLY selling clothes, yes, I'm not kidding, 7 FLOORS!!!! The top floors were mainly restaurants and the waiters are so courteous when I walked pass, they kind of make you feel embarassed sometimes.
After walking through some malls, I decided to have a walk through the streets of Hiroshima. Even took a few pictures of the place:
Hiroshima Castle, 1 of the places I visited.
1 of the shopping plazas around Hiroshima
Entrance to The Castle just now.
1 of the shopping plazas around Hiroshima
Entrance to The Castle just now.From the castle to the shopping plaza, it took me 3 hours+ to walk around as both places were quite a distance apart. By the time I finished touring both places, it was nearing 5 o'clock and it was time for me to go back to my home in Japan. I took the streetcars back to the Hiroshima city station and waited for the train to arrive. My Okasan bought for me a station card which has a credit of about RM500 in it, have to thank her before I leave, hehez....
I was waiting by the tracks on the waiting booth as I was about 15 minutes early. I sat there and it was quite evident I was a foreigner, with the bags, thick clothing and snow cap over my head. I even wore gloves to protect my hands from the cold. The students there only wore their normal uniforms which were short skirts or thin pants as though the cold was nothing to them. There were the occasional sweaters and scarves but not all of them needed it.
As I sat there, I took out my Ipod and listened to some tunes before the train arrived. The train was loud so I could not miss it. Suddenly, a girl maybe younger than me by 2 years came walking towards me. I did not notice at that time as my ears were stuffed with my head phones. As she walked close I started to notice her and immediately switched off my Ipod.
She did not say a word. All she did was gaze at my hands as though she had seen something very interesting. I looked down at the hand she was looking at and realised that she was actually looking at my watch. I guessed that she must have been wanting to know the time so I stretched out my arm for her to have a closer look. She stumbled back and was quite surprised that I offered my watch to her, she must do this a lot and get shooed alot. After a few seconds she walked back and took a look at the time. After that she nodded her head in gratitude and walked off. I was amused, and felt quite interested about the girl. At that moment, the train arrived and both of us scurried up the train. There was a lot of people as people started to go home from work and the train was packed. I could not find any seats but the girl could and she sat down. She attempted to offer me the seat beside her but an old lady immediately sat down beside her and she hushed away. Standing there holding on to the railing above, I took a glimpse at the girl. She was quite pretty with big eyes and fair skin, her hair was long and she let it down on the right side of her face. She was clad in a student's uniform and she held a bag next to her. When she saw that I was watching her, she blushed and looked to the window. I blushed too as it was quite embarassing to gaze at people. We did not speak a word to each other until the next stop. The old lady who sat beside her got up and left the train. She offered the seat to me again and I immediately sat down before anyone could. We smiled at each other and I introduced myself: "Watashiwa Mareshajin desu(I'm a Malaysian), namaewa Aaron Lee(My name is Aaron Lee)" She then nodded and smiled. I expected her to introduce herself too, but she did not say anything after that so I offered her my card from the exchange student programme. She took it and kept it in a small bag and looked happy to make a new friend. I did most of the talking, half in English and half in Japanese and she just went on nodding her head, surprisingly, I did not feel bored for that 10 minutes we talk, I just went on and on. I don't even know whether she understood what I was talking about, because she just kept nodding her head.
Anyway, after 10 minutes, the train stopped at Mukainada and it was her stop, she just smiled at me and bade farewell in a very soft and gentle voice, the 1st time I heard her speak. I sat there as she left the seat and the train and was happy that I made a new friend. As I saw her walk up the stairs of the station, I don't know what came over me as I sped out to the train exit and shouted in English: " WHAT'S YOUR NAME!!!!!????". She spun a round as the train doors were about to close and smiled at me. She then replied: "My name is Miyuki!!!!"
The doors closed as she said those words and I waved goodbye to her, she waved back and as the train moved, the sight of her faded away..... I went back to my seat, noticing that everybody was looking at me after what I just did, I blushed a bit and sat back in my seat.
Little do I know that Miyuki was 1 of the most important people I would ever meet in my life........
End Of Chapter 3
I was waiting by the tracks on the waiting booth as I was about 15 minutes early. I sat there and it was quite evident I was a foreigner, with the bags, thick clothing and snow cap over my head. I even wore gloves to protect my hands from the cold. The students there only wore their normal uniforms which were short skirts or thin pants as though the cold was nothing to them. There were the occasional sweaters and scarves but not all of them needed it.
As I sat there, I took out my Ipod and listened to some tunes before the train arrived. The train was loud so I could not miss it. Suddenly, a girl maybe younger than me by 2 years came walking towards me. I did not notice at that time as my ears were stuffed with my head phones. As she walked close I started to notice her and immediately switched off my Ipod.
She did not say a word. All she did was gaze at my hands as though she had seen something very interesting. I looked down at the hand she was looking at and realised that she was actually looking at my watch. I guessed that she must have been wanting to know the time so I stretched out my arm for her to have a closer look. She stumbled back and was quite surprised that I offered my watch to her, she must do this a lot and get shooed alot. After a few seconds she walked back and took a look at the time. After that she nodded her head in gratitude and walked off. I was amused, and felt quite interested about the girl. At that moment, the train arrived and both of us scurried up the train. There was a lot of people as people started to go home from work and the train was packed. I could not find any seats but the girl could and she sat down. She attempted to offer me the seat beside her but an old lady immediately sat down beside her and she hushed away. Standing there holding on to the railing above, I took a glimpse at the girl. She was quite pretty with big eyes and fair skin, her hair was long and she let it down on the right side of her face. She was clad in a student's uniform and she held a bag next to her. When she saw that I was watching her, she blushed and looked to the window. I blushed too as it was quite embarassing to gaze at people. We did not speak a word to each other until the next stop. The old lady who sat beside her got up and left the train. She offered the seat to me again and I immediately sat down before anyone could. We smiled at each other and I introduced myself: "Watashiwa Mareshajin desu(I'm a Malaysian), namaewa Aaron Lee(My name is Aaron Lee)" She then nodded and smiled. I expected her to introduce herself too, but she did not say anything after that so I offered her my card from the exchange student programme. She took it and kept it in a small bag and looked happy to make a new friend. I did most of the talking, half in English and half in Japanese and she just went on nodding her head, surprisingly, I did not feel bored for that 10 minutes we talk, I just went on and on. I don't even know whether she understood what I was talking about, because she just kept nodding her head.
Anyway, after 10 minutes, the train stopped at Mukainada and it was her stop, she just smiled at me and bade farewell in a very soft and gentle voice, the 1st time I heard her speak. I sat there as she left the seat and the train and was happy that I made a new friend. As I saw her walk up the stairs of the station, I don't know what came over me as I sped out to the train exit and shouted in English: " WHAT'S YOUR NAME!!!!!????". She spun a round as the train doors were about to close and smiled at me. She then replied: "My name is Miyuki!!!!"
The doors closed as she said those words and I waved goodbye to her, she waved back and as the train moved, the sight of her faded away..... I went back to my seat, noticing that everybody was looking at me after what I just did, I blushed a bit and sat back in my seat.
Little do I know that Miyuki was 1 of the most important people I would ever meet in my life........
End Of Chapter 3
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