It has been a while since my last update so thought I would fill everyone in on what I've been up too…

While Helen was away teaching I met up with her friend Amy (this was my first time riding my bike!!) and we got the train to go and see Tama, a cat that runs a train station. Yes, you heard me correctly. The railway made cuts and the station was left unmanned, but a stray cat Tama used to be there every day, so naturally they made her the station master. In fact she is the only female in a managerial position in the Japanese railway system. They obviously coined in on this so the train we rode on was a cat themed train, and on the way back we had a strawberry themed one. Everyone was taking it quite seriously but Amy and I just found it hilarious.

We headed back to Wakayama and had some food and then sat by the river at the castle having a few drinks before joining Helen and their colleague Dan and heading to an 80's theme bar. I've learnt not to be surprised by anything here! After doing a mini bar crawl on our bikes, Helen and I headed back to Leopalace which now feels like home to me. Going to be sad to leave it!

Helen had the following day off work so we got the train to Osaka. We explored the city and I really liked it, it was less intense than Tokyo and had lots of good shops for us to wander around. We had a Mexican for dinner which we were happy about and then headed to a rock bar. It reminded me of the crobar in London and had polaroids of all the rock stars that had been there all over the walls. The next stop was a little bar with lots of vintage games consoles in, so after getting my butt whipped by Helen on streetfighter we got set into some sonic and Mario Kart. Was the kind of place that would be destroyed in the UK with all the games just on the bar for you to use. Japan is a very honest society compared to the 'if it isn't bolted down it will be stolen mentality of the UK.

The following day the cold that Helen and I seem unable to shake had gotten worse, but I missioned it alone to Hiroshima anyway. I successfully managed to take 3 trains without going wrong which I was impressed with! By the time I arrived in the late afternoon I wasn't feeling great so stocked up on vitamin C and had an early night.

I was woken at 5am by a crazy Korean lady in my dorm who decided to get up and turn all the lights on. Always lovely! I felt so awful when I eventually got up, all I wanted was to be at home in my Kigu with Charissa or Holly bringing me Fanta… but alas this was not going to happen so I decided to man up and got myself out. I took myself on a long walk and headed to the peace park. In the park is the A Bomb Dome, which is the building the atomic bomb was detonated over. The structure of the building remained intact when everything else around was completely wiped out. It was left as a reminder of the old Hiroshima and the destruction the city saw.

I then headed to the Peace museum, which had all the history behind the bomb itself and the lead up to the events in the war. Hiroshima was chosen as it was the only city that had no POW camps, and also as the weather was clear on the day they wanted to drop the bomb.

The second half of the museum was about the victims and survivors, and the effects that radiation caused long after the bomb hit. This was really harrowing to read about and see, some of the images I think will stay with me forever, it was truly horrific. After than I went and sat in the park for a while and then headed into the main town to do some exploring. Again with not feeling very well I headed back to the hostel and had an early night.

The next day I headed to an island called Miyajima which was famous for its floating pagoda in the sea. Unfortunately the tide was out when I arrived so it was on the land but was still impressive to see. The island was really quaint and they have deer just walking about the main streets. As soon as I got off the ferry I witnessed a deer trying to get into a restaurant.. was pretty funny to witness. I went exploring but it was so hot I took refuge in the aquarium to just get out the heat. There was lots of great stuff but my fear of crabs meant I probably missed a lot as they were everywhere! Might not have been the best decision after all…. From the Island I started my epic mission home, once again getting on all the right trains and headed back to Helen's, feels so good to be back!

Hope everyone is good at home, wish you were all here! xx