Baseball Cards Quest

It's a Sunday morning and we're waiting on the platform in Iwakuni. We're on a quest to Hiroshima today to try to find Japanese baseball cards.
















Stan & Jake are "blending in" -- playing with their cell phones . . .

















Wow -- look at this really new "Green Mover" -- the trolley in downtown Hiroshima.

Near one of the entrances to the covered shopping areas.

















Jake & Stan wanted to go underground. Most of the department stores also have entrances below the street level in a kind of fancy tunnel.
















As we walk through the tunnel, we find what we're looking for -- Sun Mall entrance! This is where Jake has heard that we can find baseball cards.

As we walk through the store, we've found no baseball cards yet. Hmmm, who wears dresses like these. . . ?

















Stan thought this was an interesting store.

















The clothes were mostly black and here you can read the words below the name of the store. Interesting combination of words . . .

The entire floor in this department store seemed to be filled with second-hand American goods for sale. Like the way the Statue of Liberty is decorated?






















There appeared to be many separate vendors in this store. This one is called "Sexy Dynamite Queen" & the clothes here in Hiroshima are a bit wilder than what we're used to seeing in the quiet countryside of Iwakuni.

Stan's a little too tall to walk under this display.





















Super uh, somebody in this book store.

Look closely at how Pacific Ocean is spelled on this large fabric decoration.


















It's just too nice to stay indoors, so we're outside now & walking along the covered shopping street. I kept hearing live music that sounded like 60s American live music, so we walked toward it. As we came toward Peace Park, we found a Japanese band right beside the river who were playing very good Ventures songs.

Margie peeks around this cute horse outside a pub.




















Voicemail is the name of a clothing store.

This looks like a good place for lunch. Ever since Jake mentioned okonomiyaki earlier, we all had a taste for it!




















In this style, the first step is to make a circle of the egg mixture on the grill. It's somewhat like a crepe. Then the other stuff is piled on top.

Yum -- look how big each of these okonomiyaki are!
















This assembly line worked smoothly as each piece was being cooked, turned, & pushed to the left. When they were fully cooked at the end, each was placed on a plate to be served. These okonomiyaki were made Hiroshima-style with noodles.

It's a warm sunny day & there are lots of people out in this plaza.

A little girl was having fun climbing in this big heart.

Cute little restaurant that's made from a van in this plaza.


















I haven't tried the "meron soda" (melon) but Jake says it's delicious.
















Underground bicycle parking

Live classical music being played in the music department of this store. The violin music was coming out of the speakers in the electronic piano.

















Ta-da!

Margie's enjoying very loud music in these earphones from the club on the top floor of this department store.

















This shop's named for you, Heather.

Interesting artwork inside a coffee shop.




















Play area for the children.
















And the Baby Room, for changing, pottying, and even napping!

Well, we're back outside. Hmm, what's on top of that lower building -- above the big dog picture?





















Well, it's not Godzilla, but appears to be some sort of gorilla / zebra thing . . .

Must be a LOT of Kirin Beer here!
















Beautiful floral arrangement outside a shop.

















Oh, we found an ice cream shop, so in Pam's honor (she's in the US visiting before she starts her new job) we had to go in. It's called "Polar Bear."

Stan enjoys his almond ice cream -- we miss you, Pam!















Sign outside a beauty shop. The "parm" is pretty expensive and I don't even know what an "oz" is . . . The 3F indicates that the shop is on the 3rd Floor of this building.

Cute name for a parking garage -- "Par King" -- and it's open 24 hours. But we still prefer to take the train to Hiroshima.















Beautiful wedding store, but odd name. What do they produce?

















Flowers, menu & pictures outside a restaurant.

Walking down a narrow street, we saw this beautiful family posing for a shot so I couldn't resist.

















Beautiful flowers & flowering tree branches decorate the outside of a restaurant.
















One last look at the entrance to the covered shopping ginza -- as we get back on the trolley. I love those very wide crosswalks -- very efficient for everyone to get across quickly.

Hiroshima's baseball stadium. This is the closest we came to baseball today.















A pretty clear shot of the Atomic Dome at Peace Park.