Day Four - Hiroshima (Part 1)

Oh man, I'm such a fickle-minded person. There were too many things happening today, and I just can't decide on the best picture. So again, I have decided to divide this day to 2 sections, Part 1 and Part 2. Bear with me yea.

Before I go on any further, I would like give a special announcement: This happened a couple of days ago. I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BATHED NUDE AMONG OTHER NUDE MEN! Yes! I finally did it! Now I can go to the hot springs in Kyoto in peace.

After a bath in the hotel (which is shared, of course), I put on a Yukata. I have never worn a Yukata before, so I wanted a photo of me in it!



Here you go. And remember, I ain't wearing anything underneath *wink* *wink*



Urm, let me take back my winking.

Although we had a busy photo shoot schedule, we decided to leave the scene and wait for Uncle Omar in the lobby. And guess what I just realised was there...



A coin-operated classic Nintendo console! Cool, man!



Even comes with controller and gun! I'll try this out tomorrow. Hope it's not too expensive.

Uncle Omar picked us up and brought us to Saty, a shopping centre. We had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts' sister company: Mr Donuts.



Look at the array of donuts! I wonder why this chain is not available in Malaysia.



They sell slightly different variety of donuts than Dunkins. Here, their donuts seem more... harmonious.



And I chose two of the most un-harmonious ones of the bunch. The long crispy thing is ok, but the Chocolate bun is superb! There's some tasty cream inside. Too bad my mom took three-quarters of it *grumble* *grumble*



Here's Uncle Omar in his signature coat.



The reason we came to this mall is that it is connected via a skyway to the Museum of Contemporary Art. So we were on our way there.



We had to go through a park in order to reach the museum. Ah, so peaceful and serene. The only sounds I hear are the raindrops hitting on my umbrella.



Yes, my daily signature photo!



I dunno what this statue has anything to do with this building...



...coz this building houses the Hiroshima City Manga Library.



Look at the wide array of mangas. All in Japanese though. But isn't it nice to have the government support this library, which is just for manga readers? Good luck in having this kind of library in Malaysia. Come to think of it, it's a good idea not to have it, since the library will be just full of Gila-gila, Ujang and Gempak.



This is what I like about Japan: manga-reading is an ageless hobby, just like game-playing. Look at all these readers that span between various age groups. So cool.

This might sound familiar, but what better way to read manga...



...than to read it with a view of the Sakura blossoms!



Was trying to find Aishiteruze Baby manga, but the librarian said that all its volumes are fully borrowed. Looks like the people here have good taste :)

As I was walking towards the Museum of Contemporary Art, I stumbled upon a cemetry below the hill. I was thinking whether it's against tradition to take pictures of it, but how often will I be in Japan right? (maybe often, but that's wishful thinking for now). So I went down the steps to see the cemetry.



Japanese normally cremate the dead, not only for religious reasons but also because burying a body would require space, and space is what the Japanese don't have.



Yet another tombstone, if you wanna call it that. Beautiful flower and petal arrangement, don't you think?

Once I was done, I walked back up to my mom, and we walked towards the Museum of Contemporary Art.



Yup, the museum's design reflects contemporary art, alright.



Sorry, I couldn't resist! When I saw this statue, I just had to do it! Forgive me!



All the art pieces in this exhibition reflect on the bombing of Hiroshima 60 years ago. I love this piece, as it beautifully merges human figures on to the mushroom cloud. "On Top of the Mushroom Cloud" by USAMI, Keiji.



This is one HECK of a complicated piece! it's called Rebirth Field 96 E-I by TABE, Kenzo. I have no idea what the concept is, but it sure took a lot of effort! He used a lot of vehicle parts to create this masterpiece.



I also like this one. It's called "Relation-Lead Greenhouse: Dandelions in Hiroshima" by KAWAGACHI, Tatsuo. If you see here, it's no longer green nor clear anymore...



...and there are no dandelions in the greenhouse at all! The A-Bomb blew up everything.



This piece is done in relation to the Chernobyl incident. There is a number on the yellow guy's suit (at his stomach area) stating the radiation level of that place. I like the scenery and how striking that guy in the yellow suit is.



Another creative one. This is called The Human Project. There are instructions attached to this piece as such: Find a place where wildlife grows, destroy it all within a big square, pave that square with asphalt, then finally paint a big chinese character for human. This piece shows that humans do just that, be it for war or for economic development.

Ok, my art sense upgraded already. Now it's time to meet Uncle Omar again.



On the way back to Uncle Omar's car. Darn, the cat just dowanna look this way.



I guess taking a picture of my mom within the same scenery is better.

Uncle Omar then took us to Hiroshima City University, where he teaches Political Science. He showed us around the campus. I really wanna study in Japan one day, so having this kind of exposure is good.



This is the University. It sits on top of a hill, so it's quite high up from the city.



This is the hallway of the International Studies faculty. Notice how clean this corridor is?



Of course, the same cannot be said for Uncle Omar's room, but of course, a messy room indicates that the person has done a lot of work. I wish I could convince (if ) about that.



The door is operated based on the staff card...



...which connects to the main login system. From there, students would know which lecturers are in or out of their rooms, as clearly depicted through this electronic board.



A view from one of the windows of the corridors.



What's a university without pillars, right?



Yay, took some shots of university students. I'm so nervous when I take pictures of people. It's a double-edged sword. If you take their picture without their consent, they might find it offensive. On the other hand, if you take it with their consent (quite embarassing to do this), their poses wouldn't be natural. Oh, the dilemma.



The university cafeteria was already closed by the time we arrived, so students would normally eat in this restaurant, which is also within the campus area.



The centre of the University. Ah, so much space and freedom. Kinda regretted that I didn't have a proper campus life. Instead, from day one of college, I wore a formal shirt + pants and studied in an office building. How... interesting.



On the way to the Faculty of Language Studies, I happened to see this. Of course I couldn't resist to take a picture of any good scenery.



Once there, Uncle Omar introduced us to one of his students, who gladly showed us around the faculty.



Just look at the lecturer's classroom table! Similar to the setup of a flight simulator system, isn't it?



A typical classroom in the faculty. Every student is provided a computer and four of them would share one printer. This is too much!



They even have a recording studio!



Looks like a radio broadcasting station, doesn't it?



They have a vertical plasma screen to showcase any events or announcements. Malaysia is going to have this very soon, in, say, 20 years? Maybe more? :D



Instead of having a third-party interior designer to run the show, people within the art faculty took the initiative to design the interiors of Language Studies faculty rooms. One of the classrooms' floor looks like this.



The squares would spill out into the hallway...



...where it will merge with another floor spill-out of another room. Really simple and cool. Furthermore, each colour shade represents a region. The red-shade squares represent Asia...



... whereas the floor here represents the South America region.



Before leaving the university, Uncle Omar showed us the lecture hall.