It was 5am and still dark when our Highway Bus pulled up at Sendai.  The bus ride was comfortable.  We parked our asses at a nearby 24 hr internet/manga café and waited for the sun to rise before calling our Hostel so that we could maybe drop off our baggage.  We learned our lesson from our day in Hikone, we do NOT spend a day carrying our travel packs – that’s a recipe for a sore back and a terrible day.

Annie called the Hostel (which was actually a Ryokan – Japanese Style Inn) and got directions, they also said it was ok to drop our stuff off.  It was only a short bus ride and a 5 minute walk away so we did that.  The hostel was nice looking, I’m not actually sure it was a hostel.  Inside was really nice, and it reflected in the price we paid.  It was the most expensive stay on our entire trip, but luckily we were only there for 1 night so it wasn’t so bad.

We walked back to Sendai Station where all the action was, bit of a mistake as it was a bit tiring of a walk.  I might mention that by Sendai I still had not seen substantial snow. (I say substantial because it DID snow in Hirakata, but like a total of 18 flakes fell).  Sendai’s roads were icy, and slippery, so much so we actually saw a local fall off her bike – aww…  Sendai was also really spacious and open.

Paul had read about a thing called the “Loople” bus in Sendai.  This bus actually has about 8 stops in its route, and they are all the touristy locations around Sendai.  Yay! Convenient.  So for about 600 yen or something, we got a day pass for the Loople.

The first stop was the Zuihoden Mausoleum.  It was a pretty cool place, but it felt rather temple/shriney with a hint of dead people.  All the buildings there were remade but they were still quite impressive, and i really liked the finer details in the buildings.

The Remains of Sendai Castle

The next stop was Sendai Castle, which was actually destroyed in WWII.  So, we saw rubble, basically.  However, the Sendai Castle grounds overlooked Sendai itself, and let me tell you, the view was breathtaking!

Also at Sendai Castle was a Statue of Masamune.  Now, i’ve heard mixed things about Masamune and am too lazy to wikipedia him, but I’ve heard he was a feudal lord, but also that he was a weaponsmith… dunno, but he’s important and also appears in a bunch of games, including every Final Fantasy game to date (usually as a sword – so i’m leaning towards weaponsmith).  Oh and it’s here that I got to touch snow for the first time! It was this dodgy, dirty snow lying on the side of the road, which i just thought was the greatest thing ever!

Omanyte

Next stop was a Natural Museum.  It was really cool, they had dinosaur fossils (there was even a magical liopleurodon! … … xD) and a couple things that looked like the Pokémon, “Omanyte”.  The museum was pretty small though, so we were done pretty quick.

More Museum snaps:

That night we ate Ramen for dinner at this tiny Ramen shop right near our Ryokan.  That place was awesome, probably some of the best Ramen i’ve ever eaten!

That night we just chilled, getting ready for another big day the next day.

STOLEN from Annie’s Sendai Post

Oh! Almost forgot! We also got a Japanese breakfast in the morning the next day, which was delicious.

After checking out, we hoisted our cargo on our backs and took off to Sendai Station by bus.  After we got there Annie realised she left her Laptop power plug at the Ryokan, so Paul and I took charge of all the cargo and strategically made camp in a defensible fort (McDonald’s) until she got back.

Sendai was a really nice city, and i really liked the idea of the Loople (even though I don’t understand why the “le” is on the end of loop), it was cheap and really convenient.  But Sendai really did look and feel different to the rest of Japan, It could have been the fact it had OPEN SPACE!  Or maybe because the buildings weren’t grey and ugly… I’m not sure what it was… maybe it was these elevators:

Dunno, Sendai just had a nice vibe.

Ciao for Now!