Heyyo~ this is day #11, post #20 and we climbed up this one hill near where we stayed and arrived to Hiyoriyama Park that had an amazing view that overlooked Ishinomaki! It was honestly so amazing and crazy that such an amazing view was available yanno.
This was on the other side of town and this was one of the areas that was hit the most direct from the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The picture doesn't do it justice but it was such an overwhelming view because of the fact that it was so beautiful and calming, but it was the result of a disastrous earthquake in 2011. It's crazy to think how far the city had come in recovering but this area was deemed dangerous and so will be kept as a national reserve as a reminder of what happened in 2011. Back in town people are doing well to keep a positive energy and looking forward but reminders like this is necessary so we don't forget the losses that occurred that day. I know I keep pushing this off, but I will explain my reasons for being here/ what Ishinomaki is another day because I really want to devote time into trying to explain this. I'm not good with words but I will try my best to explain this to yalls and just lets the words flow out one day lol.
So to end it off, I had ramen and gyoza (DUMPLINGS) for dinner! So we went to this ramen shop that was near the hotel and they had really good food omg. The gyoza tasted so homemade and I loved it and the ramen was so clean (I had the white miso ramen). The chef looked very hardworking and seemed to enjoy what he was doing. It was really nice to see a nice stream of customers coming in during my time there; the initial few days in Ishinomaki felt like there was no night life but seeing the restaurant thrive was really touching :'). Intersting thing about the place: it opens at 7 pm and closes at 2 am!