廣島御好燒與老式壽司店／李明熙
廣島縣的嚴島是日本三景之一，從廣島巿坐一小時電車，再駁程船就到。
嚴島神社建在水上，我們來時正值潮退，看不到水中神社的景觀。但大家普遍都為了一睹神社外，水中朱紅色的大鳥居而來，可幸潮水還未全退，大鳥居還在水中。至於是否稱得上日本三景之一，我倆都抱著質疑的態度。
來嚴島前最好填飽肚，雖然島上有很多餐廳，但價格驚人。表參道商店街雖有不少小食，如炸紅葉饅頭、全隻炭燒蠔等，嚐過後總覺得是名過於實。
餓著肚子返回廣島巿的本通商店街，找一間上樓店吃御好燒。廣島式的御好燒是炒麵底，中間夾著肉片、洋蔥、青菜等配料，再在頂層加上荷包蛋，及大量醬汁。我們雖坐在鐵板燒枱前，但御好燒上枱前已經弄好，鐵板只為保溫。
以往接觸到的御好燒，都是卡樂 B 薯片的口味，沒想到親身在廣島吃，味道竟差無幾，原因是醬汁的甜味太濃，蓋過其他配料的味道。我們笑說，日後想吃御好燒，買包薯片更實際。
倒是在本通商店街尾的流川町，我們找到一間開業 50 年的老式壽司店。店內只有幾個位，吧枱就是壽司枱。店內無餐牌，只得 3 個價錢的套餐，全由老闆發辦。老闆老闆娘兩公婆一個主外一個主內，另外還有一名常客，邊吃著魚生邊看電視直播棒球賽。
開始時只是我們跟老闆娘用 Google Translate 對話，說這種老式壽司店開始沒落，大家都去迴轉壽司店。我們卻說在大街看到立食壽司，嚇了一跳，決心找尋老式壽司店。後來常客亦加入幫手翻譯，興之所至，最後連老闆都好奇向我們發問，又免費切多幾片魚生給大家。
我們五人就這樣雞同鴨講地談了一個晚上，樂得連吃過甚麼壽司都忘了，因為味道是其次，濃郁的人情味卻難忘。
壽司店叫「鶴寿し」，自己去找找：https://goo.gl/maps/iQUFdF3uyrF2
Shimanami Kaido Cycling／Kimberlogic
Cycling in Japan has become extremely popular over the last few years. The country is known for it’s beautiful sights as well as it’s bicycle-friendly roads, pathways and citizens. There are numerous options when planning a cycling journey in Japan; from joining a tour, hiring a private guide or giving it a go on your own. All of these options are open to everyone with all kinds of cycling skills; from beginners to the most advance bike riders.
Although Ming Hay is quite skilled in cycling, I am not so confident in my skill. But, we decided to plan a cycling day on our own that would please us both. The Shimanami Kaido area is known as a cycling destination, especially for beginners and intermediates. To ride from Imabari to Onomichi can be done in one day if you push yourself hard, and two days if you take it leisurely.
Without a lot of time set aside for this and my lack of confidence, we created a custom route of cycling with plenty of stops to check out the area. Since we were on a time schedule, we decided to get up early and take a ferry from Imabari to Omishima island, ride through the entire island and straight back across the bridges to Imabari.
The Japanese government has very affordable bicycle rental shops throughout Imabari as well as all of the connected islands, so creating our own route was quite easy. We rented our bicycles in the morning before taking the ferry and paid a small deposit that would be refunded if we returned the bikes at the same location.
After the ferry ride to Omishima island, we rode on quiet, winding roads for about an hour before arriving at our first destination, the Hakata salt factory. This factory produces much of the world’s salt and was free to tour. We were even given a gift of different salt samples to bring home. Before leaving, we sat down to enjoy their famous salt ice cream. The combination of cold, sweet and salty was perfect for a hot, sporty day.
More cycling on winding, mountainous, island roads led us to an old famous Oyamazumi Shrine (which you can find a lot of in Japan). The most famous part of this shrine was the 1,000+ years old tree on the grounds.
We were almost finished our cycling adventure for the day. We had made it to the other end of the island and started crossing bridges to head back to Imabari. The bridges have nice, big bicycle lanes going across and special winding ramps to get up and down from the bridge. Unfortunately, while riding down one of these ramps, Ming Hay crashed his bike. Once I realized he wasn’t behind me, I turned around and started heading back up the hill. From around the corner he came slowly pushing his bike and dripping with blood.
Although he didn’t have any broken bones, he was badly cut up and unable to finish the ride. Luckily, we were only two kilometers to another government-run bicycle rental place. The woman running the place helped to clean him up and get bandages. We were able to return the bikes to her and jump on the next public bus back to Imabari.
Since this area is so popular for tourists to cycle, it was very easy to plan a route, rent a bicycle, ride and deal with anything unexpected along the way. We were never worried or afraid, we had a great time and even when the unfortunate happened, we were able to get the help we needed.
