Pfft!... I'll Evangelion your ferris wheel

I got back from a little holiday a few days ago. Last week I hopped on a ferry from Hiroshima to Matusyama (and there stayed in one of the oddest little hotels I've ever set foot in), then from there braved the JR trains to Takamatsu, from Takamatsu I journeyed to Okayama and when I was finished there I travelled back to Hiroshima completing a big circle of sight seeing and adventures. I saw many things on my travels; castles, traditional Japanese gardens, art exhibitions, more museums in one week than I set foot in all last year, summer festivals etc. Your typical "I'm a tourist in Japan!" kind of stuff. My constant attachment to my camera, look of helplessness while attempting to read maps and slight sunburn only served to increase the touristy vibe that hung around me all week.

There were several things I saw/did that were not your commmon, everyday, garden-variety tourist attractions though. The clues are in the nonsensical post title. As they fall under the category of somewhat random, which is the theme I'm mostly trying to stick to on this little blog o' mine, I will enlighten you as to their existence. Here they are in reverse order of awesomeness:

3) Kururin ferris wheel, Matsuyama. Seen here from a distance. It stands atop a 9 storey shopping centre. Amazing views. Not for the faint hearted or those with a fear of heights.

Matsuyama from on high

2) Pfft! Cat Cafe, Okayama. (Click here for their cutesy website). This is a cafe where you pay to enter for a certain amount of time and lounge around on sofas, read books and pet cats. All thorough bred cats mind you. Couldn't be having strays in a room this decadent. There are toys for you to entertain them and a big cat jungle jim in the middle of the room. They must be sick to death of being petted as most were sleeping/hiding and dodged out from under your hand if you went to stroke them. Only one big, fat orange fella seemed to enjoy it. He may just have been too hefty to escape my clutches though. He was my favouritest.

The "staff" book with all the cats in it.

Kitty collage!!

 1) Evangelion sword exhibition at Bizen Sword Museum, Osafune. Thirty minutes train ride outside Okayama is a sword museum where you can watch master sword smiths at work and peruse a catalogue of finished swords. They take their work so seriously that most only get a chance to become a sword smith if they are born into the family or can otherwise prove that they are worthy of being trained. So they are the real deal is what I'm trying to say. And they only went a made real life versions of the swords from the manga and anime Evangelion! One of the first mangas I ever read. Nerdgasm.