Hello,

it's time for another vacation photo post - the last of my winter vacation. After that I can finally start presenting my cherry-blossom-full spring vacation photos XD
Anyway the last few days of our winter vacation bf_nightingale and me spent in Sendai (with a short daytrip to Matsushima).



Anyway .. one of the first things I took a photo of in Sendai (仙台) were these construction helper monkey thingies XDDDD~ Cute! Maybe I should have stolen one? (o__O')> ....



At first we went to the Rinnou-ji (輪王寺).

Rinnō-ji (輪王寺 ^?) is a complex of 15 Buddhist temple buildings in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The site was established in the year 766 by the Buddhist monk, Shōdō. Due to its geographic isolation, deep in the mountains of Japan, the site soon attracted other Buddhist monks in search of solitude. Among the most famous buildings is the Sanbutsudō (三仏堂) or Three Buddha Hall. This building features gold-leafed statues of Amida, Kannon with a thousand arms (Senju-Kannon) and Kannon with a horse's head (Batō-Kannon). Another building, near the mausoleum, houses an unusual statue of Amida riding a large crane, which is an iconography rarely found in Japan.

The temple also administers the Taiyū-in Reibyō (大猷院霊廟 ^?), which is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun.

I really loved all the colors of the buildings.





Awesome, right?






After that we went to Sendai castle ... or rather what is left of it today:



That's the entrance. As most castles Sendai castle (青葉城) was build on a hill as well. (And YES snow! *g*)

Aoba Castle (青葉城 ,Aoba-jō^?), also known as Sendai Castle (Sendai-jō 仙台城), was the castle of the Date family. Built by Date Masamune atop Mount Aoba, it commanded a highly defensible strategic position overlooking the city of Sendai. The castle was one of the nerve centers of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei during the Boshin War, when Date Yoshikuni was lord of Sendai. Taken over by the new government in the aftermath of Sendai's surrender, it was partially dismantled in the 1870s. Many of the remaining buildings on the castle site was damaged in the firebombing of Sendai during World War II, but sections of the castle survived, and a great deal of it, including the stone base, some walls, and some wooden structures, have either been rebuilt or are currently being rebuilt. The castle site also contains a Gokoku Shrine (Gokoku-jinja 護国神社), as well as a large equestrian statue of Date Masamune.

The weather was kind of strange that day, but at least the pictures turned out quite good (or what do you think?).



From the top of the hill where the castle once was we had a nice view all over Sendai ^-^



That's the Sendai Daikannon which you can see on this picture quite good. It's a approximately 100m high Kannon (観音) statue :)



That's the statue of Date Masamune (and I suck at taking photos x___x ....)

Date Masamune (伊達 政宗 ^?) (September 5, 1567 – June 27, 1636) was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tohoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all the more iconic for his missing eye, for which he was often called dokuganryū (独眼竜), or the "one-eyed dragon."

I really like the colors in this shot :)



Uwah! And it was already getting dark! I bought a lucky charm there (which I really don't do very often) feat. the 4 gods Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko and Genbu (Fushigi Yuugi fans: does that ring any bells? XD)



Do you have a dream? Mind telling me what it is? (Why the hell does this remind me so much of "Smile" right now? XD)



It was around 4.30pm. It was getting dark and fucking cold (especially because we were on the top of a hill), but there were still quite a lot of people :)



ψ(○ ｀∇´ ○)ψイヒヒヒ Me and my superzoom are stalking again! XD



I see snow! XD



Soon after that it was pitchdark and time for some nice nightshots ...... if only I wouldn't suck so much!!!
I'm pretty sure that my camera is capable of taking a few nice shots, but *I* am definitely NOT!!!　Σ(T□T)



No bus was running anymore after 5pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we had to walk the whole way back into the city ... and we were hungry! And it was cold!!! ;o; ... but uh ... at least I wasn't alone, so it was quite nice :)



FINALLY dinner time!! We decided to eat gyutan (牛タン) = grilled beef tongue and very famous in Sendai.
The photo above shows MY dinner.



That's what bf_nightingale got.
Let me tell you that both of them tasted really great ^-^



The next day we went to McDoof .. ahr I mean McDonalds for dinner. No photos, because it's not interesting at all, really, BUT look what I found on the toilet there!!!! (￣▽￣)うへへへぇ～



The next day we went to the quite famous Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine (大崎八幡宮)

Hachiman Shrine (八幡神社 ,Hachiman Jinja^?) (or 八幡宮 Hachiman-gū) is a shinto shrine dedicated to the kami Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of shinto shrines after ones dedicated to Inari.

Originally the name was read Yawata or Yahata, a reading still used in some occasions.

(source: wikipedia)

The "blue" thing you can see in the picture was a student training while running all those stairs up and down. Japanese shrines are definitely good for your fitness! XD



Sake anyone?



As it was just the beginning of the new year, they were throwing away all that old stuff (probably to make space for new stuff ^^; ...)



Though it doesn't show on this picture, it was quite crowded that day!





A school sport team praying for being able to win the next match, I guess. The blue "thing" is not with them, though. Maybe she was from a rival school?! XD





Pretty close was this AWESOME Japanese garden! It was not on our tourist sightseeing list at all, but I recommend highly that you go there if you ever have the chance to!!!
We were the ONLY ones there and it was soooooooooooooo awesome and beautiful! ;o;





I see those normal stones on almost everything lately. Anybody can explain to me what it means, please?



Don't ask me WHY, but I completey fell in love with THAT stone!!! ＼『愛』(^▽＼) キャッチ!



Shopping arcade in Sendai at night (blood donation anyone?)



Our dinner on the last night. It was awesome, uber-delicous and I LOVE sashimi ヾ(@⌒￢⌒@)ノ ウマヒィ



(*^-゜)vィェィ♪



And after that: starbucks love Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ イエイ!!



On our way back (bound for Tokyo) I was on my "if I can't get Fuji-san, then ..." trip again XDDDD
I had to sit in trains for uhm ... 8hours or even more .. I forgot x___X .. Sendai is just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far away (/´Д｀)/



I like this shot, especially considering that it was all out of the Shinkansen :)



That was close to Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture. Absolutely beautiful and I have to go there one day!! Why is everything always so far away? o(TωT )o



TADAAAA~ Fuji-san ... shy as always. I was soooo~ hoping to get my great photos back, but on that day I was not lucky ;o; ....



Well, at least you still can recognize him somehow, right? ^^;



Now imagine: no clouds and a blue sky with nice weather! And you have the photos in your mind which I lost ;o; ....



Bye~bye Fuji-san ... maybe next time then ... ;o; .... ( ´Д｀)ﾉ~ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ



After being abandoned by Fuji-san XDDD I decided to eat the bento I bought at Tokyo station. It was yummie :)



And because I was frustrated that Fuji-san was so shy, I decided to take a few more mountain shots XD ... I mean ... what else can you do if you have to sit in a train for 8+hours?! Yeah ....



Last but not least: that's what I bought in Tokyo back then.





Alright, that's all. Hope you enjoyed it　ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ノ
Next will be the photos of my spring vacation, starting with my first day in Okayama city on April 1st, 2009. Hope you're looking forward to it.

Ciaoッス　(´∀｀*)ﾉｼ