Japan 2024 - Hiroshima (Day 3 of 21)

***This post is a recount of the trip after I returned to Singapore from the trip.***

Link to day 3's video: https://youtu.be/mbxOM9sv9QE

After spending 2 days in Fukuoka, it was time to move on to the next city. I'm a little sad I'm leaving Fukuoka so soon because the peaceful nature of the city was just starting to grow on me, but the plan is priority and I cannot shift everything back by one day considering I already booked most of the places.

So on the 19th of December 2024, I took my very first virgin step into the famous bullet train of Japan. Well, it wasn't all glorious when I did so. In fact, I screwed up big time. Firstly I took the wrong local train from the wrong train station and ended up at a weird place. Sad life. Japan metro is confusing.

Wasted an extra half an hour of local travel to Hakata train station. At Hakata, I queued up half an hour to buy the wrong Shinkansen ticket. Seriously... Wasted $50 on the wrong ticket that couldn't be refunded. What happened was I didn't know Shinkansen is express train only, so I clicked the non-express thinking I can get on the Shinkansen as well. Needless to say the gates won't let me pass and I realised I had to spend another $90 on an actual Shinkansen ticket to Hiroshima. GG.

Ok enough about that garbage mistake, I start to make correct decisions with the purchase of an Asahi can of beer before I boarded my train. Spent a lot of time on the platform just admiring a different station layout that I'm used to seeing back in Singapore.

To be honest, the inside of a Shinkansen feels pretty underwhelming. It's just a plane layout with more space. I drank my beer as fast as I can then fell asleep. LOL. As an engineer, I would rather fix a train than sit on a train. I would rather figure out how the trains work than admire the sceneries.

1 hour flew past instantly and I was in Hiroshima by 2pm. I ate a bowl of ramen at Hiroshima Station before walking to my hostel. Checked out a few guitar shops along the way because cannot tahan already. Haha.

The views and sceneries of Hiroshima is so very different from Fukuoka. Plus, the fact that this whole place was bombed not too long ago is insane. There is totally no sign that it was ever bombed. Wow. Passed through the Atomic Bomb memorial park before arriving at my hostel.

This hostel was cosier than Fukuoka's, but the space in the capsule room was way smaller. The curtains rolled down fully which was great. There's a TV in the capsule room for nefarious purposes. The lights emit heat so it was much too hot in the capsule.

I had to stuff my bags and dirty clothes in the locker, bringing only hangers and new clothes into the capsule. I had to lay all my bread at the side to minimise squeezing them when I sleep. Otherwise, it was a pretty nice room to be in.

The WiFi was much stronger here so that was great! I lazed in bed for a little before going back out to the streets. 

Checked out some Pokemon card shops and bought some card sleeves to commemorate my visit to Hiroshima. Bought my first Pokemon card there also. Ate at a random udon restaurant at the corner of a street and was thoroughly satisfied with it. Damn shiok.

Walked back to the hostel at sunset to enjoy another can of Asahi before sleeping. It is from here that I made it a point to sleep early so the next day can be productive. Starting to love this slow pace of life.

Click <<< to return to Day 2 or >>> to move forward to Day 4.