by Sharna Steer

I was very strategic when choosing my classes to ensure I have Mondays off. A lot of my friends had the same idea so we often do day trips on that day if we don’t have homework to do. However, recently I felt like going on a solo trip to Himeji city where the most famous castle is in Japan.

The main attraction in Himeji is, of course, Himeji Castle. It is famous because it was where ‘The Last Samurai’ was filmed so many foreign tourists go to see where Tom Cruise acted. Although the castle is very beautiful and grand, I went there to look at the Koko-en gardens out the front of the castle. Our university gives us culture passes which often gives us free entry into cultural sites around Hyogo prefecture. Koko-en garden and the castle are included so I decided to have a cheap day. The gardens were a lot bigger than what I anticipated, it had many different sections with beautiful autumn leaves, traditional Japanese-style buildings and ponds with koi fish. Although there were quite a few people there, it was still very quiet and was exactly what I needed living in such a busy place like Osaka. 

After I went and viewed the castle. I opted not to go inside because there were so many tourists and according to my friends, there was nothing to see inside the castle. By this point I was very hungry, so I went to a udon place called ‘Memme’ that I saw recommended online. Their signature dish is their memme udon which features dried bonito flakes and a raw egg. I chose not to have that though because kitsune udon is my favourite which has a piece of marinated tofu. The server was very nice and sweet, and the udon was super thick and warm, which was exactly what I needed since it was such a cold day. It was the best udon I have ever had and I might need to go back there to have it again.