The weekend before Christmas, December 21st, I went out with a few friends out to Kamakura to have a little bit of fun. We rode the train early in the morning all the way to Enoshima where we transferred onto a smaller touristy train. As we were making our way there, I got to see the sea for the first time. I also managed to see many surfers riding the waves despite the cold. I really want to try it one day and it happens that one of my friends is willing to teach me during the summer.

Once we arrived, the first thing we did was stop to go see the famous "Daibutsu", a statue of Buddha. But before entering the area we had to wash our hands which really represents the washing of our souls before entering a holy place. After a few moments of anticipation, there it was! It was seriously huge... 

(The Daibutsu.)

(The Daibutsu's sandals. I could fit my whole body on them.)

I tried reading about the history of the Daibutsu but I probably should have done so before leaving. We were able to enter the inside of the statue. Apparently, from the signs inside the Daibutsu, its head had to be reinforced since the metal it was made of started to rust.

After that, we headed back to the station and met this cat haha. Of course we had to take some pictures.

We also ran into a weapon shop and I was really tempted to buy a traditional Japanese sword known as "Katana." No worries mom, I still have all my figures.

We reached the station, jumped on the train again and off we were to the central part of Kamakura! There we walked around, walking in and out of various temples, parks, and buildings. That day I was having a few problems with school and stuff in general, and I was very grateful for my friend Valentina who listened to all of it and gave me advice as well as shared her problems with me.

After having visited everything we could, Kahea and I left the group to head off to Enoshima, where our Russian friends were waiting. As soon as we got off the train, we were greeted by a chilling wind. It got even worse when we crossed the very long bridge which led us to the illuminations. We met the Russian girls there and climbed up the mountain. This is part of what we got to see while we froze our butts. Here's what we saw there:

We had some good laughs and conversations. After taking a break to eat some warm food, we headed back all the way to Tokai and that was a wrap. I can now check both those places off my bucket list!