I got a lot of good sleep last night, so I got up and decided to do a hike. I had heard about a JR train station within a mile of my apartment. Usually if I want to ride JR, I take the local train company Sanyo over to Akashi – a trip that costs me 360 yen. From there, I can travel on JR fairly cheaply.
All geared up I walked north for about a mile, passing the crowds of people inundating the new shopping mall, until I reached the surprisingly modern station at Tsuchiyama. The place was really nice, and built for high volume. There weren’t that many people there, so it must be busy during the week. At the signboard I noticed that it was only 210 yen to Akashi from there – much cheaper. Still, it’s a half hour walk to the station, so I really have to plan my time well in order to get there and catch a train.
For hikes, however, it works just fine. I took the train west for three stations, and then walked the long way around to hike Takamikura from the northern side. Usually I go up the southern slope, and I wanted to try something different. The northern side was actually an easier climb, and the views were pretty nice as the train wrapped around the mountain.
It took about half an hour to climb the mountain, it’s about 1100 feet, so it’s a pretty vigorous climb. My legs did fine even though it’s been a while since I’ve gone hiking. At the top I said hello to some folks at the temple and sat back against a rock to catch my breath and take in the view.
I took the trail down the mountain on the opposite side, and walked up the pathway towards the temple – but only to buy a snack. They had some mochi they had made with a sweet bean paste inside. They were grilling them outside and I bought one to try out. It was good – the grilling gives it a nice flavor.
From there I walked to the JR station in Sone, and rode the train back to Tsuchiyama. After I left the station I decided to swing by the big shopping center grand opening. There were tons of people outside the building milling around, and traffic was seriously backed up approaching the center.
I went into the side that was closed last time I was there – the Carrefour side. Carrefour is French owned company, a self-described “hypermart”. Bigger than a superstore, it sells groceries mainly, but has lots of other things as well. I walked in and was instantly overwhelmed by the amount of people in there. I walked along with the masses, and was eventually kind of carried to the grocery store part of the complex. It was big – I’d guess around the same size as a Target Greatlands in the U.S. – maybe bigger.
I randomly walked the aisles, trying to sneak through little gaps in humanity as I perused the selection. They have some great stuff. There is cheese – lots of cheese. French cheese, mainly, but I will not be hurting for cheese anytime soon. What else? I could list things forever. Good tequila, an entire mushroom aisle, Guinness in draft cans (they even have the Guinness Bitter), Negro Modela Mexican beer, an imported food aisle with Mexican, American, Korean, Thai, and Chinese, a huge wine section with lots of international wines (including some ports), fresh rotisserie chickens, a nice bakery, a pizza parlor, a huge food court with a gamecenter for the kiddies – the list goes on and on.
Strangely I bumped into several people I knew there – the part time help at the yakitori, who tried to invite me somewhere but I didn’t quite understand, and also Chris and Lisa – the two JETs from the next town over. Their eyes must have been like mine – huge. There is really nothing in our little towns, so this makes available things that we had to go all the way to Kobe or Osaka for.
The interesting thing is that a big Ito Yokado is going in right next door to me soon, and I’m curious to see if they are trying to compete with these guys. I am certainly will be shopping at the Ito Yokado, since I’m on foot. Still, Carrefour has some great luxury items, and now here they are 10 minutes away.
Tonight I’m banging out some laundry, and I may run over to the yakitori later for some beers and to hang out a bit.
