31st Dec – Day 55, Bangai 6 (Ryuukouin)

It was a great sleep last night. Couldn't wake up this morning!! Around 7:15am, I had to pinch my butt to get out of the bed! My schedule was hay-wired!! When I was having my breakfast, I was shocked to see outside the window that everywhere was covered with snows!!!

The owner, Asada-san was a very delicate and thoughtful person. Even our slippers were organized nicely outside the dining room, although we kept going in and out! He would also help to heat up your food and volunteer to keep your things in the fridge and prepared everything well organized for you! This youth hostel was really well maintained by him and his wife. Later I even noticed all the hand towels around were changed daily!!

I finally left the hostel at 9:30am! There was a park just besides it with a nice view of the city! Could even catch a glimpse of the famous Uwajima Castle, one of those still remain at its original form since 400 years ago!

I was walking to this sex museum and it was still snowing lightly! The snow fell gently on my face and it was pretty cool, for someone like me who came from outer space! I was really enjoying my walk feeling very thrilled seeing heavy snows in the city! I thought of enjoying the view all the way, but soon it got very heavy that I had to get sheltered before I was buried with snows! Today, I felt more like a tourist and almost forgotten I was still a walking henro!

After a short half an hour walk, I reached the museum. Paid the 800yen entrance fee and felt excited about what I was going to discover inside! It was a three storey museum, but I really thought one level would already be sufficient! Kind of not what I expected. I was looking for something more educational, but it turned out to be more artistic instead. There were many paintings and pictures; artifacts and statues. Nevertheless, I took my time to make the 800yen worth! After around an hour, I almost read the fine-print as well! Left discontented! Went to look for lunch and just stepped in one not too expensive to avoid the heavy snow! But after the 700yen meal, I was still hungry and unhappy again!!

I walked over to the train station to check out the fare and distance to various destinations for my next mission after the pilgrimage tomorrow! By now, it was already 12pm and I was basically inclined to stay another night at the hostel. It might have been better to walk further 8km to sleep out at a Michi-no-eki so that tomorrow would be a more relaxing day! But I thought maybe I should not be too harsh to myself to cross the New Year Day in a toilet again!!

And so I started my pilgrimage today at 12:30pm and ended it in 30 minutes later!! I walked over to Bangai 6, which was pretty nice! I supposed so since it was situated in the center of the city and became a tourist attraction. Probably if I dropped by slightly earlier or later of the day, it would be even more scenic with the thicker snow! I came right at the time when it was sunny and with melted snow everywhere around. The temple staff was very friendly and spoke English with me! He knew Asada-san too and complimented him a very nice guy as well! He later passed me an envelope as o-settai, which I thought it contained only the charm. I thanked him with the name slip and left to find out that he actually returned me the 300yen temple stamp fee too!! I felt more obliged to complete my next mission after the pilgrimage!

After the temple visit, I was pretty aimless and my basic instinct just brought me to the Mc Donald to eat again! I got myself another key strap! And this time round, with a hot drink!! Who said you must have LARGE cold drink to get the key strap?!

Next, I realized I had a problem! I had run out of money and the banks were closing for 3 to 4 days due to the New Year! Glad the post office has an ATM that accepted PLUS bank card, and I was many thousands yen richer again!!

Didn’t know where to go next, I just sat outside the shopping mall to go online and waited for the time to get my dinner and breakfast. Saw a couple of ladies from China speaking mandarin. I tried to impress with a few of my own, but obviously I failed miserably! They left uninterested!

Around 3:30pm, I tried to go back to the stall selling 250yen meal box. Couldn't find it initially and went in a supermarket instead. There weren’t many choices for dinner. Decided to go back to Sunshine supermarket that I went yesterday. On the way, I found the 250yen shop but sadly it was already closed! Just when I was about to reach the supermarket, I saw a stall selling set meals and got my dinner there instead. Walked back to the hostel in heavy snow again! Wanted to count the 600 steps again but I missed the sign!

Today, there were many more guests at the hostel. And the owners were preparing special dinners for them. So, I waited to have dinner together. I had my showered and started enjoying my internet access. When it was time for meal, the host made some announcements that there would be some celebration at the shrine nearby at 11:30pm. Dinner was served shortly and I also treated a bottle of Asahi beer and a bowl of Udon with lots of ingredients as “o-settai”!! There was even a music performance from the hosts! Asada-san and his kids were playing the music instruments! I was so full after the meal!

I spent the rest of the night uploading my blog using the dead slow access, drinking the boozes and eating junk food to celebrate the New Year! Around 11:40pm, Asada-san gathered everyone to the shrine but only 6 brave souls dared the cold outside, including Asada-san and his daughter! We went to the temple first. Asada-san explained that it was a custom to ring the bell there twice to purify yourself before New Year. Kind of like getting rid of all the bad things behind and start afresh in the new year! Then, we walked over to the shrine to pray for good year ahead! There were many people at the shrine, and the staffs were handling out hot sweet sake for free! I tried some and it tasted like “bo bo cha cha” (A kind of Chinese hot dessert)! After a brief stay, we went back to the hostel where we pop a cracker each and wished everyone “Happy New Year”! I thanked Asada-san very much for inviting me to join them, and dived into my bed at 1am!

Today was the 2nd last day and I had a wonderful 1.5km walk for my pilgrimage, thanks to the “interesting” Sex Museum!