Today was a travel day and I was expecting it to be worse than it was. I even tried to make it worse. It took three trains to get from Sabae to Fukuchiyama, and four trains to get from Kinosaki Onsen to Sakaiminato, so I figured the weird criss-crossing across Shikoku would be as bad. Nope. Just two trains.

But first, breakfast at the Candeo Hotel.

The quality was good and the view even better. The Dormy Inn had more interesting things last year, including Tai Meshi, but I really can’t complain.

So then it was off to the train station. I had exact change (¥160) because I can learn sometimes. I got change by buying a Mickey D’s cheeseburger last night that was ¥140.

The first train was the express bound for Okayama. Holy crap were the rails bad. The train swayed a lot.

I transfered at a place called Tadotsu and that was another hole-in-the-wall station. But not only did it have a 7 Eleven, but there was a bakery there. The second train was another Anpanman train! And it also hauled ass.

I waited until I got on the train to have my lunch. It’s like what I usually get at 7 Eleven but much better. The apple pastry was made with Fuji apples, which got a little mealy after baking. I remember people pick different apple varieties for different recipes and this was a good example of why. The sando and the chocolate twist were great.

The train took us through a beautiful gorge with rafting. The train was going too fast and I was on the wrong side to get any good pictures.

When I got to Kochi my stomach wasn’t doing so well. I dropped off my bags and found the tourist bureau and they went on about a Sakamoto Ryoma passport. I walked towards the castle and was almost there when I decided I should head back and check in and take it easy. My intestinal issues were making me feel pretty tired.

I finally left the hotel to get the passport and then later to get dinner. Here’s most of what I had. Under the onions is a huge slab of seared bonito. It’s a Kochi dish and it was excellent. The other dish is deep fried whole small fish. Those were good too.

I did finish up with some pastries at the hotel and a banana the fish place gave on the way out. I took it easy and it wasn’t a bad day. I hope I feel good enough to go exploring beyond the city tomorrow.

Well, I didn’t plan this day very well. I knew I had to get on a ferry and I knew I’d probably also get on a train to get from Beppu across to Shikoku and then up to Matsuyama. It wouldn’t be that big a deal but I always have some trouble finding the Japanese ferry times online. Plus, it was the day after the big typhoon and the winds were still causing high waves, prompting a warning. I figured I’d find out when I got to the ferry terminal.

I got a fairly early start and found a coffee shop called “Italian Tomato” and had pretty much the same breakfast that I did both days in Hakata. IT was fresh and it was tasty. The coffee, not so much.

The ferry was kind of odd but it’s a ferry. I found a seat rather than lie down on the tatami. The waves were pretty bad and going out on the deck was too windy. I felt like I was going to be blown away. But the ferry was stable and plowed through the waves without much trouble.

I decided to try to beat the rush by taking a taxi from the ferry terminal to the train station. There was no rush and there was a bit of a wait for the train. Yahatahama station has nothing around it (no cafes, etc) but it did have a 7 Eleven. I bought a tonkatsu sandwich and bought a ticket for the train to JR Matsuyama station.

The train arrived and it was an Anpanman train! That thing went quite fast through the countryside. It was kind of fun and went through parts of Shikoku I haven’t seen yet.

At the Matsuyama train station I asked about places to see. It’s a bit of a trip from the station to the hotels and I didn’t know if I’d be back before I left the next day. I decided just to go to the free Botchan train museum and then do laundry. (Botchan is a famous novel by Natsume Soseki and you can even find info on Wikipedia about the local Botchan train.)

I had a bit of an issue on the tram because they don’t take Suica in Matsuyama (the backwards bastards) and I didn’t have anything smaller than a ¥10,000 bill. The change machine only took ¥1000 bills maximum. Fortunately there was an older woman who had change for ¥10,000!

I checked into the hotel and walked to the Botchan train museum through a long shopping arcade. The museum is in a Starbucks! It’s Japan’s first narrow-gauge railway going from Matsuyama to Mitsuhama and turned into the city tram system.

It took a while to do my laundry. The dryers weren’t the best. I was late to get dinner and my first try was to get a Matsuyama specialty I haven’t tried yet: nabeyaki udon. I got lost when I got close and asked a woman in a shop where it was and she looked at me like I was going to rob her. I went to another shop where they were much more friendly and they told me that you can only get nabeyakiudon for lunch! So I walked all the way back to the hotel and then north to the dinner place I went last year to get taimeshi (sea bream rice). This time I got a different style than the last time I was here. This one comes with raw tai and egg.

After that it was back to the hotel to watch Japan eke out a win against Scotland in the Rugby World Cup game.

That’s about it.