Day 5 - Hiroshima - 13 Dec 2016

It was rainy and cold today.

We had breakfast at Hotel Matsumasa at about 8am and when we were all done and checked out, we set off at about 930am to our first destination of the day - Rurikoji Temple Pagoda. Not sure if it was due to the rain or the off-peak timing, there wasn't much crowd which made photographing easy. There wasn't much to do at Rurikoji and we left about 45 minutes later after we arrived.

We drove to our second stop - Kintaikyo bridge. It is a historical bridge built in a series of five wooden arches. This is one of the most unique bridge that I've ever seen but looking at it wasn't enough; we had to walk across the bridge to and fro and took some pictures along the way. As the bridge was wet, we had to be extra careful lest we slipped and fell while going up and down the arches.

We had our lunch at a nearby hotel by the name of Kanko hotel. After an hour later, we drove for about 45 minutes and parked near Miyajimaguchi station and then took a ferry to our final destination - Miyajima, where the iconic Itsukushima Shrine (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site) stands.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around the island. There were many gift shops where we just shopped for our souvenirs. Emma tried their oyster, known to be very delicious, but unfortunately, I can't really appreciate the taste of it.

We took the ferry back, took our cars and drove to Mitsui Garden Hotel Hiroshima where we would spend the next two nights. After checking in, all of us took our showers before heading out for dinner.

Dinner was at a restaurant near our hotel. Most Japanese restaurants serve their food that are of above average quality, at least methinks and so far, it is proven as such. We didn't need to fret over researching in advance; we can just walk into any of the restaurant and usually, we will leave the premise satisfied. Tonight is no exception.

We got back to our hotel at about 945pm. Upon getting the kids to bed, we also retired.