My 24th Tanjoubi

As of April 17th, I have officially managed to survive two dozen years on this crazy rock called Earth. It's not much of an achievement, nor is it it terribly exciting in and of itself. I could already drink and smoke, if I was so inclined, and it'll be another year before I'm able to rent a car. I would have been content to let the day pass without notice.

Ryan, however, had other ideas. He wanted to make my birthday special, which included taking me to a hot spring in Hiroshima. Who was I to argue? I'd been eager to experience one of these natural jacuzzis ever since I'd arrived in Japan.

First, the scandalous news: visiting a hot spring involves being naked with strangers. It's hard to to be self-conscious, though, since most of those strangers are of a quite venerable age and make you look really awesome by comparison. Also, the water feels goooooooood.

This particular establishment (Hanbe Gardens) had pumped the mineral water into a series of tubs inside, each of which was designed to massage a different part of your body. Only after your muscles had been thoroughly jelly-fied did you venture outside and sink into the spring itself. Several of the old ladies fell asleep at this stage. It was that relaxing.

I obviously can't post pictures of any of this because of the nudity involved. I do have some photos from immediately afterward, however.

The bathing facilities are housed in the same building as this very-Japanese-style restaurant.  If you don't know Japanese, you can just throw caution to the wind and point at something on the menu.  Just don't expect to be able to identify everything the waitress brings you.

Hanbe Gardens -- not surprisingly -- includes a garden!  We took in the greenery after eating but before the massage.

Springtime in Japan is glorious. :)

If you look carefully at the center right of this picture, you can see some of the few remaining cherry blossoms in Hiroshima.  They're now long-gone.  Sakura bloom early and fall early around these parts.

In addition to being the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan is also the Land of Stray Cats.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but you really can't go anywhere without encountering a wayward kitty.  We stumbled across one in the middle of Hanbe Gardens.  Like most of his peers, he was shy and refused to let us pet him.

This is a purely decorative water wheel.  Nice though, ain't it?

This couple had just gotten married and was out in the garden to have their wedding photos taken.  Afterward, instead of immediately rejoining the reception, they whipped out their camera phones and started taking pictures of the landscaping. I don't know why, but it was really cute. :P