Day 13. 20th May 2016. Friday.

Another day in Kanazawa . This hotel was sans breakfast, so the boys ate the breakfast supplies we had picked up the night before and then we headed out. The bus stop is right outside the station, which is a few minutes walk from the hotel. We went into the bus office and got bus passes for the day. Then boarded the bus for Kenrokuen Garden, which is supposed to be one of the best three gardens in the whole of Japan. Looks like everyone had the same idea and there was a queue for the bus going there. There as this British guy standing in line in front of me who started to mutter and grumble about the queue. Then we saw this disabled person who seemed disoriented walking in the middle of the road and the British guy in front of me got all excited. Luckily one of the cops came by and escorted the poor guy away. Not sure where they took him.

Soon enough we got to the stop where we had to get off for the gardens. I was a little disoriented and had to ask which way to walk to get to the garden. Before we got to the entrance, the boys spotted an ice cream place. This is where the ice cream here is different. Kanazawa is the gold leaf capital of Japan. So guess what, the sell soft serve ice cream covered in gold leaf! Zach of course wanted to try it but Zane refused. He wanted his regular vanilla one, which is cheaper, so good for him. And the gold leaf has no taste. But I saw a lot of locals eating it too. So it must be a thing here. Cost of the gold one was 680 yen . I was amused the woman selling the ice-cream had a fake ice-cream display so you could point out to the flavour you want. Like the fake food display outside restaurants. 

We then walked up a steep path to get the entrance to the gardens. We made our way towards the Ishikawa gate which is opposite the Kanazawa Castle. We didn't go inside the castle, just posed for pictures outside it before going into the gardens. There was a ticket booth just before the entrance to the gate. The gardens are lovely with artificial ponds, hills, small houses, flowers, trees, fountains, tiny bridges. It is tranquil and peaceful except for the other tourists milling about trying enjoy the landscaped beauty of the place. The word Kenrokuen literally means garden of six sublimities which are spaciousness, tranquility, artifice, water, magnificent views, seclusion. We walked to the big pond in the middle called Kasumigaike which is called an open sea and has an island in the middle where supposedly a hermit with miraculous powers lives . We took a few pictures and then ventured ahead. The boys loved the place, running around exploring, there were tons of paths all over the place. We checked out the Meiji monument and then the Shigure teahouse and then made our way to the waterfall below the pond which is one of Japan's oldest powered by the drop in elevation. The Midori waterfall then flows into the Hisagoike pond that we sat and watched for a while. The boys ran around the area, enjoying the empty space and the lovely weather. We finally exited through the Mayumizaka gate.

From here, it was a short walk to the 21st century museum, which was a bit of a disappointment. There weren't many interesting exhibits. Even the Leandro Erlich's swimming pool which is a permanent exhibit and has a separate charge to enter inside the pool that I didn't mind paying for, was closed for renovation. The only thing open was the cafe which looked interesting so we had lunch there and had to decide what to do next. Outside the museum, while we were walking to the bus stop, Zachary and Zane saw another gold leaf ice cream shop and wanted to try the one with the gold leaf. So we went inside the shop, which was a little cramped and was a proper gold leaf shop that sold other stuff besides ice cream and bought two cones. This place was cheaper at 450 yen per cone. Zane made me lick all the gold off before eating the ice cream. Bit of a waste of the gold. 

Anyway, then we were at a bit of a loss what to do because I had reservations to the Ninja Temple (they only accept reservations by phone, in Japanese, so I had asked the concierge at the Sheraton Hiroshima to call ahead and make reservations for me and Zach . They don't take kids under 6 and we had a 400pm appointment). Zane was greatly upset that he couldn't go and since we still had time before our date with the ninja's, we took the bus to the Korinbo area, just before Omicho market. There are lots of shops in this place and a huge McDonalds where we went to get the boys some snacks and while away our time until we had to leave for Ninjadera. 

Soon it was time for Zach and myself to leave and we planned to all meet up at the hotel. We took the Kanazawa loop bus going east and got off at the closest stop. The Ninja Temple was a five minute walk from there. When we got to the temple, we were a few minutes early. We had to take off our shoes and I had show Zach's passport for proof of age. I had read this is required even if the kids look older and I had read stories of people being turned away because they weren't carrying their passports with them so I was prepared. We were then seated a sort of waiting area and handed a folder that showed all the traps and tricks and explanations of what we were going to see . Its a Japanese only tour and even if you have a translator with you, you are not allowed to speak during the tour. So I read and explained to Zach what we would be seeing. And soon enough it was our turn. It was built in the 17th century and functioned more as a fort than a temple, I think. The temple was built with a lot of deceptive defences and escape routes including hidden tunnels, secret rooms, traps and lots of corridors and staircases. Zach enjoyed the tour, it was well worth the effort to get to this place. They do not allow photography inside, so when the tour was finished, we made do with a selfie outside. We met an Australian couple that walked in after we had finished who had to make do with taking pictures from the outside as the place was closed. Ours was the last tour. We explained to them what we had seen. 

We then walked back to the bus stop, found a vending machine and got Zach's favourite Kirin lemon ice tea, and waited for the bus back to the station. At the station, we spent a little time looking at the fountain that spells Kanazawa and also the time. Very cool, not sure how that works. Anyway, we got back to the hotel and Zane was still napping. Apparently he was grumpy that we had left him behind and then on the bus ride back to the hotel, he fell asleep. After he woke up, we walked to the station to the mall attached for some retail therapy and then had dinner there. There were a lot of restaurants in the food court area and there was even a cinema upstairs. 

Coming up: Samurai houses and tea districts
Steps walked: 7,683

Click Here to see pictures about the 21st century museum