Miyajima Bound

We slept well again, perhaps a bit too well. We had planned to be up and out the door early in order to be on our way to Miyajima Island before the real heat of the day set in. Early we were up, but not out. The air felt a bit cooler to the touch this morning however. A soft breeze gently flowed over our skin cooling us every so slightly. But in the end it did little to quell the heat of the day that bore down on us. We had hoped to make another early day of it on the beautiful island of Miyajima, but it was not to be. It became instead a long day on the beautiful island of Miyajima.

Logan was undecided about riding on the street car. One minute he wanted to, the next he said that he didn't want to ride the street car. But we had to take the street car across the city, where we would transfer to a train. We would then ride the train around the outskirts of the city to the sea shore. Once at the sea shore we would board a ferry boat and ride to the island. Logan was extremely excited about riding on a boat. We made it to the train and then to the ferry boat about an hour later than our original plan. The plan to stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day was beginning to unravel.

We rode the ferry boat to the island. Jenny and Logan stood at the railing looking out at the ocean and the island that grew larger and larger in the distance. Jenny was slightly dismayed by all the trash in the ocean. She called me over to look at all of the little trash bags that were floating in the wake of the boat. As I came walking over to the railing from my seat, she exclaimed, "Hey they aren't bags, they are Jelly-fish." Floating in the water were hundreds of little jelly-fish. It was an omen, foreshadowing for the coming day. It would be a day of seeing new and amazing sights.

The first thing that we did upon disembarking the boat was to pick up some of the travel brochures from the information center. We brought them outside where we walked over to a nice shady spot outside to inspect and peruse the information. It was here that our pamphlets and brochures were promptly eaten. Eaten you say? I know what you are thinking, "Well, well, well...You really should give Logan a better breakfast, and then he would not eat your travel brochures." But I assure you that it was not Logan's lack of a healthy breakfast that caused him to... NO; wait a second here, Logan didn't eat them it was a sad misguided Deer. Yes it was a deer, not my healthy little boy. We still have the other half of the map that the deer ate. The best part of it was that after getting a taste of our little map he came after our little boy. The deer did not give up and came in for a second helping of "not deer food" and went after Logan. The little man had to scramble away and move up into Jenny's lap for protection. It was then that we had to go back into the visitor center to get a new map and study it indoors.

We first headed to the shrine and tori gate. The tori gate is considered to be one of the three most scenic places in Japan. When you see the pictures from Japan of the giant orange gate standing out in the ocean you are seeing the gate at Miyajima Island. The gate is so massive that it actually is standing right on the sea floor. Looking at it one thinks that the timbers but go down meters into the earth to hold it upright. That is not the case. The Gate is free standing right there on the beach. At low tide the water recedes and you can walk out and get close enough to throw a rock. At high tide water completely surrounds the gate and it seems to be floating out in the ocean. when we got there in the morning there was a group of kayakers out paddling around the gate. We wandered through the Shrine and took some time to admire the gate. We then wandered over to some temples that were on the edge of the shrine. Then it was off to the mountain.

The last time I was at Miyajima the highlight and biggest disappointment for me was the mountain. I enjoyed riding the ropeway to the top of the mountain. Once at the top I found the view breathtaking to say the least. I was a trifle disappointed that I was not able to see the monkeys that inhabit the area surrounding the observatory, but they were in the forest. I was incredibly disappointed once I reached the bottom of the ropeway, because it was here that I learned that I had not made it to the top of the mountain and I had missed everything that makes the mountain worthwhile. I was very sad and decided that next time I would go and see all the sights.

We rode the rope way all the way to the observation area. This time we were fortunate enough to see the monkeys. It was really cool to see the monkeys that were at the top of the ropeway. There were about fifteen to twenty monkeys lounging in the shade trying their best to stay out of the heat of the day. We wandered over to the observation area where we could look out and see around the entire island. Then it was off to the trail that lead to the top of the mountain. We began our hike and walked in what seemed to be hundred degree heat. The first part of the hike was rather easy and almost seemed to be going the wrong direction as the trail traveled down hill. We were planning to hike up the mountain, and here we were going down hill, but not to worry the trail soon began to climb up the mountain. We walked for what seemed like an hour, even though our guide book stated that it was an easy twenty minute walk from the observation area to the top of the mountain. That was the toughest twenty minutes of my life. There was a certain comradery that was present on that trail. We heard the word "Gambare", which means work hard, many times on that hike. People walking in our direction would smile and say hello and comment on how hot it was, and people on the return trip would tell us to hang in there and that it was not too much further.

The walk was definitely well worth the effort. We found ourselves at a complex of temples near the top of the mountain. One was even a temple where you could pray to ogres. There was even a fire that was lit by Kobo Daishi, a very important Buddhist monk, and kept burning ever since. It is this fire that was the pilot light for the fire that is burning in the eternal flame memorial in the peace park in Hiroshima. We hiked and found small shrines that are supposed to help insure safe childbirth and other good health. When we did finally reach the top of the mountain the view was unbelievable. We enjoyed some kakigori, shaved ice, at the small rest station. After resting we began the hike and ride back down the mountain. I was amazed to see some of the people coming up. There were people hiking the path in dress clothes. One woman was walking the path in a dress and high heels. I still shake my head in disbelief.

We rode the cable car back down the mountain and set off to find a temple. While we were visiting the temple at the top of the mountain one of the monks gave us a brochure for another temple on the island. We decided after looking at the pictures in the pamphlet that this would be a place to visit. We first tried to get into the folklore museum but we were denied because it was so close to closing time. It was by this time close to four thirty and places begin to close around five or five thirty here in Japan. We began to worry abut making it to the temple before it closed. I picked Logan up and we hoofed it as quickly as we could to find this temple complex that was about a five minute walk off the main sightseeing area. We completed the five minute walk in about three, and when we reached the gates my heart sank.

I looked up and saw a giant flight of stairs leading up into the temple grounds. After walking all day in the searing, scorching heat I was spent. I was not sure if my legs had any pull left in them. But we had to do it, we had to go in and see this temple after all this temple was different. All of the temples that we go to visit here are Buddhist. Usually from one of the Japanese schools of Buddhism such as Zen, or Pure Land. This temple however appeared to be more like a Tibetan Buddhist Temple. I suppose that the biggest signal that this was a Tibetan Buddhist temple was the giant portrait of the Dhali Lamma hanging above an altar. The first signal that this temple was different were the prayer wheels. All the way up the entry stairway were little wheels engraved with Buddhist sutras. As you walk up the stairs you spin the wheels and it is a form of prayer. We took our time climbing the stairs praying as we went. It made me laugh when we saw a big statue of Ampanman, the children's anime character, on the stairway. We saw many fantastic sights that day. As we climbed the entry stairway we saw a garden filled with small statues of different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We entered a room filled with small statuary and offerings. Another room that was lit by hundreds of hanging lanterns that illuminated different icons. Statues of the Chinese seven gods of luck, and ones of all the symbols of the Chinese zodiac. It was really the highlight of the trip to see this beautiful temple. We took our time to wander the grounds and absorb all of the fantastic sights.

By the time that we left the temple grounds we were utterly spend and very tired. It was around this time that I caught a glimpse of myself in a bathroom mirror. I found myself to be almost unrecognizable. Sweat poured from my face, and my shirt was soaked all the way through. When we finally made it back to our hotel Jenny commented that my shirt was stained by the salt in the sweat. It was at this point that we meandered our way out to the tori gate. The tide was on its way down and we were able to walk almost all the way out to the gate itself. We even took a chance to cool our feet in the cool water of the Pacific Ocean. The last thing that we had energy to do was to do some shopping. We were only half hearted about it and mostly did it because the shopping street was on the way back to the ferry boat. We rode the ferry back to the mainland, but the adventure did not end there.

We still had to find dinner. Riding on the ferry back to Hiroshima we discussed what we should do for dinner that night. I was in favor of returning to the okonomiyaki village and getting some more Hiroshima-yaki. Jenny however was in the mood for some pizza. We had seen a couple of pizzarias on our search for the okonomiyaki village the night before. I gave in and we staggered off to find some pizza for dinner. But pizza was not to be. We checked with both of the eateries were booked with private parties for the evening. We finally found a semi-classy joint that served curry. We were disappointed with the food that we received. The food was delicious, but the quantity was lacking. We make our own curry and load it with veggies and potatoes, tofu and sometimes meat; and when we make it, we make a huge pot and end up with leftovers. At this restaurant I ordered the beef and potato curry, there were three pieces of beef and two potatoes in my curry. I couldn't help but wonder if this was all twelve bucks could get me. I was just glad that my salad contained between seven and ten pieces of lettuce and two shreds of carrot. My stomach did a lot of grumbling that night. Where oh where was that giant pie I spent the return trip dreaming about.

After dinner we returned to the hotel but not before we stopped to take some night photographs of the A-bomb Dome and some of the peace memorials. That night was the one night of the trip where we literally fell into bed. I am pretty sure that I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. It was a exciting and eventful trip. One that I know that our family will cherish in our collective family memory. The adventure was not over however, we still had the trip home to Omihachiman.

A Day of Wandering and Sad Contemplation

We decided that our first day in the area would be spent exploring and seeing the sights of Hiroshima City. We slept very well and woke up early in the morning and headed out to explore the city. We hoped that by getting out the door relatively early in the morning we could beat the heat. I guess that is not possible in Japan. When we left the lobby of the hotel at eight thirty in the morning it was already blazing hot. We walked up the street towards the peace park and the different memorials that are located in it. We walked to find the information center, and found out that they did not open for another thirty minutes. We decided to go and view the A-bomb Dome first. The A-bomb Dome is the remains of the agriculture and trade building that was located near the epicenter of the bomb. It is the only building that remains from the devastation wrought by the bomb. There were shells of about three or four buildings that remained standing after the explosion, but the A-bomb Dome, as it is called now, is the only one that was preserved as a memorial to that fateful day. The building is hardly more than a shell and it has been painstakingly preserved in the same condition as it stood over fifty years ago. It is interesting to see the steel skeleton that holds the crumbling walls together. We walked around and took in the sights of the building from all sides before heading off to the memorial for the little girl Sadako.

I remember being an elementary school student and having our teacher read the book, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" to us. A few years back I read it to a class of my own. It was very hard reading the story of a little girl, whose joy was running races because she was the fastest girl in her class, only to have her life cut short after she developed leukemia. She was only a baby when the bomb detonated but the radiation was still in the air and it ended her life. I thought that it was difficult reading the book to my students. Reading a book was nothing compared to seeing the memorial that was dedicated to her and all of the children who lost their lives. Seeing the cranes that are left in the giant boxes to remember. Going to the museum where they have the actual cranes that were folded by Sadako. Being able to see with my own eyes, and experience this was very difficult.



After seeing the children's memorial we walked down through the park and passed by the eternal flame. The flame was lit and will only be extinguished when there are no more nuclear weapons left on earth. Next to the eternal flame is the symbolic grave of all of the thousands of people who were obliterated that fateful day. When I came with the people from Grand Rapids we were able to witness city workers removing the books that list the names of the dead as a symbolic remembrance. This time we walked by and gazed and offered a silent prayer toward everlasting peace.

Next we went into the peace museum. I will admit that I did not give the museum the attention that it deserves; this time. It was my second time and I wanted Jenny to be able to enjoy and take it all in. She told me that it was difficult to see. I agree and think that it was very sobering. When I signed the visitor book the first time I left the comment area blank. One of the students asked why I didn't write something and I simply responded, "There are no words to explain how I feel right now." Logan seemed to be quite captivated with the model of the city, both before and after the bomb. He enjoyed looking at the map and finding the things that he recognized. "There is a boat. Where is the train Papa? Oh there it is." He spent close to twenty minutes studying the map and finding the things that he knew about. Then we walked over to the model that showed what the city looked like after the bomb exploded. He simply looked at me and said, "This one is all messed up." I could not sum it up better, "Yes Logan" I responded. "Someone wasn't very careful."

After visiting the museum we headed back to the hotel to escape the dreadful heat, and to take a rest. We spent a couple of hours resting and playing in the hotel room with the AC turned all the way up. Once we figured that the temperature had dropped a degree or two we decided to venture forth again. This time it was off to someplace a bit more light hearted; the shopping street. We hoped to find some stores that would be good stores to find traditional Japanese things in. We were a bit out of luck. The stores that we found were for the most part the same stores we have around here. But the night would not be complete without dinner. We decided that we had to eat at the Okonomiyaki Village. It is hard to describe okonomiyaki, some people call it Japanese pancake or pizza, but it is not really either of those things. It is round and flat like a pizza, it is cooked on a griddle like a pancake, but to call it one of those two things is to do it great disrespect. I would simply call it... deeelicious! We headed to a building where it is eight floors of restaurants all selling the same food, Hiroshima's special okonomiyaki called hiroshima-yaki. Okonomiyaki is different in Hiroshima because they use noodles in their okonomiyaki.



The building was fairly narrow and it contained about six restaurants on each floor. Each one looked like your typical greasy spoon from an old movie. An L shaped griddle with a wooden area on the outside flanked by stools. We walked up three flights and I realized that it didn't matter which one we picked because they were all essentially the same. We chose one that had some customers but still had room for us at the bar. It was a lot of fun. The shop was run by an old woman and her husband. She took the orders, yelled them to him, even though he was a foot away, and he cooked the food. It was great fun to watch them make the food right there in front of us. They both took great pride in their work. At one point my glass of beer was sitting on the griddle in front of my, now mind you that this part was not being used, and she told me not to leave it there because my beer might get warm. Of course mind you she said all this in Japanese, so I am only guessing, but he fact that I know the word for hot and that she would touch the grill and move her hand away quickly, well lets just say that I got the picture.

We stubbled home, but not before stopping at the local Hagen-Daz location to enjoy some cold refreshing ice cream. We crawled into bed hoping and praying that tomorrow would not be as hot as today.

Long Train Trip

The sunshine streaming through the window at five thirty in the morning woke us from our peaceful slumber. The infernal buzzing of the alarm clock in our ears didn't hurt either. Which ever it was we were up and ready on the bright. We had plans to be at the train station before seven o'clock and to be riding the rapid that left Omihachiman bound for Himeji at 7:03 in the morning. This was going to be our train. We wanted, neigh NEEDED, to be on that train. Things like train time tables become important details when you are staring down the tracks of a twelve hour long train trip. We were out bound on our first real family vacation. We were going to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island.

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit both of these places with the group of students from Grand Rapids that visited here in the spring. I wrote about it then. The difference then was the trip and the amount of time that we would be spending in the two locations. When I went with the students from Grand Rapids the trip to Hiroshima was a two hour ride in comfort. We rode the Shinkansen, otherwise know as the "Bullet Train". The Shinkansen is the way to travel in style here in Japan. Running along the rails at a whooping one hundred twenty miles per hour, the Shinkansen competes the journey from Kyoto to Hiroshima in around two hours. This time we as a family were planning on riding the regular rail lines and we were planning on spending closer to eight hours on the tracks. Once we figured in time for changing trains, potty breaks, leg stretching, and the ubiquitous "Logan needs to run around" breaks we estimated that we were looking at closer to twelve hours of riding the rails. It was for this reason that it became imperative that we were on one of the earliest trains out of town.

It was an adventure to say the least. We opted to take the method of travel that we did because of simple economics. Shinkansen tickets are expensive. I would equate them with airline tickets. The cost of two, maybe three tickets from Kyoto to Hiroshima would be a bit cost prohibitive. We were able to take advantage of a special ticket called the "seishun ju-hachi kippu". The ju-hachi kippu is a great ticket. It offers five days of unlimited train travel for about twenty dollars a day. Ride the train as far and as often as you like in one day and it is all good. A trip that could have cost us upward of six hundred dollars only ran us around eighty five bucks. But in terms of time we had to commit to an adventure.

We boarded the seven O'clock train and left Omihachiman for a long weekend. We made it to the city of Himeji with little to no difficulty. Well I must admit that it was mostly due to the fact that the train we were riding on only went as far as the city of Himeji. Himeji is about two hours away from us and is about a quarter of the total journey. After arriving in Himeji the true adventure began. It seemed that none of the trains leaving the station were going the direction or place that we needed. We ended up taking a train that only traveled down the line about three stops and then it terminated. We then found ourselves stuck in a tiny town with nothing to see or do, we couldn't even see a restaurant to eat lunch at, for a little over an hour. Then we were able to travel a short distance in the direction we were going a before again having to transfer trains. The trains we were on seemed to get progressively smaller and smaller. We started the day riding a train that was about ten cars long and at one point toward the end of the day the train we were riding was two cars long. I hesitate to say that we ever got lost, but there were times that it sure seemed that we were. The only thing that stopped me from totally feeling lost was the knowledge that as long as we were going west we were going the correct direction. Although at one point I did have to drag the compass out of the backpack to check and make sure that we were traveling in the appointed direction. It was a futile attempt at orienteering however because the train is propelled by electricity which caused the needle on the compass to spin like a top.

We did make it all the way to Hiroshima though. It ended up being closer to a thirteen hour trip instead of a twelve hour one though. We boarded the bus that would take us to our hotel. Now is the time where I must be brutally honest. I hate taking the bus. It is not that I think that it is a low form of travel, it is simply because riding a bus can be nigh on impossible. It is hard to hear the station names when they are announced, it is hard to figure out the proper fare, and worst of all chances are that you will get stuck on the bus for longer than you want to be. And that is exactly what happened to us. The bus became packed full of people and when the time for us to get off we could barely move and it was not possible for us to get off the bus. We were stuck to say the least. Trapped on the bus, unable to extricate ourselves from the cocoon of transportation. I will be eternally grateful to the people on that bus however. Not only did they tolerate a lot of bumping and jostling from three tourists, but they also alerted the bus driver to our predicament. He stopped the bus and let us off only one block from the stop, just on the other side of the hotel.

We wandered, a bit dazed and confused into the hotel and checked in. We then proceeded to the eighth floor and found our room where we fell into bed. Oh yes you heard me correctly, BED! Our first time sleeping in a real bed in almost a year. We didn't even mind that they were two twin beds set up fifties style. I totally felt like Ricky and Lucy in the old episodes of I Love Lucy. Two beds with a night stand in between. We couldn't have cared less. We jumped into the beds, Logan and Jenny in one and me in the other. It was a blissful nights sleep. What a great way to prepare the body and soul for the devastation that visiting the A-bomb dome, peace museum, memorials, and eternal flame can wreak.

Hey Y'All

Just thought I would let everyone know that we just uploaded a bunch of new photos to our Smugmug page. Stop on by and see the pictures that detail the things that I have been blogging about. All of the best photos from the Steam Locomotive Museum, Tenbin Matsuri, Shimogamo Book Fair, and the Obon Holiday are now online and ready for your viewing. Use the link on the right side of the page. Enjoy!!

Ahhh!!! Bureaucracy

I love the smell of paperwork in the morning. Er... mid-afternoon. Last month we went and filed the forms to get an extension on our visas. That all went fine and dandy like sour candy. If you need a refresher on how our day went check the archives. A couple of days ago we got the postcard from the immigration bureau stating that out visa was ready and that we were required to present ourselves at the immigration office with our passports, the postcard, and a revenue stamp (like a postage stamp showing that we payed the proper fees). I came home at lunch and we jumped on a train to the capital city of Otsu, which is about half an hour away by train.

We made it to Otsu and realized we could not remember which floor of the building the office was on. The sign in the lobby was all in Japanese making it next to impossible to read. For us at least. So we had to take care of it the old fashioned way. We pushed the button for floor two and proceeded to check each floor for the office we needed. When we finally got to the fifth floor the elevator door closed before Jenny and Logan could get off and they went off to the sixth floor while I found the office on the fifth floor. Jenny and Logan waited for me to join them one floor above me while I waited for them to return to the fifth floor. Well they finally came back down and Logan told Jenny that she should not push any more buttons in the elevator. We walked down the hall to the immigration office. We waited while they found the proper papers to place into our passports.

When they did get it all taken care of we were then told that we would have to return to Omihachiman and go to city hall and have our alien registration card altered to reflect the new visa number. On the walk, in the blazing sun and oppressive heat, we joked that we would probably be told to return to Otsu so that they could verify that the Gaijin Card had been changed. Which lead to the speculation that we would have to go back to city hall to verify the verification. Well in the end we got the ID card changed and updated with little difficulty, and we did not even have to have it verified. Which is good. Now our visa is extended for another year.

Obon Holiday

Last night marked the end of the Bon holiday here in Japan. Obon is one of the two major holidays here in Japan. It is the holiday where people pay respect to their ancestors. There are special rituals that are performed and rites that are followed. It is a very special holiday for the veneration of the dead. Most Japanese will travel to their hometown to be with family and to tend the graves of their ancestors, offer special offerings to the dead, and to pay their respects. Obon and New Years are the two times a year that travel in Japan peaks, trains become very full, hotels sell out, and traveling can be difficult.

This holiday was also one that we were aware of before we came here to Japan. We had watched a documentary on PBS about Japan that highlighted the Obon celebration in Kyoto. After seeing that program we were determined to see the sights for our selves. We did our research as to where to go to see the sights that we wanted to see. And we set off to a whole new part of town. Our destination this time was a bridge over the Hozu River. On the river that evening would be placed lanterns that are inscribed with the name of a family member that has passed on. The light in the lantern is supposed to guide the soul of the deceased back to the land of the dead. The lantern floats down the river and guides the spirit back to its resting place.

We were also there to see the fire on the mountain. On the side of six mountains around Kyoto there are huge bonfires that are lit. The fires take the shape of different designs. We were in a location to see the fire that takes the form of a tori gate. There are others as well, two are the kanji for big, one looks like a ship, and there are two that together spell out the words for Buddhist law. I originally wanted to see one of the mountains that said big, but there was not enough time to go everywhere in one night. And we were able to see the tori gate fire from the same place as the lanterns.

We were very excited to see this. What we were not excited about were the crowds of people who were also very excited to see the event. Now for a family who lead a fairly boring life in America crowds used to be a big deal for us. We would time shopping to avoid crowds. And shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, well we never even thought about it. I must admit that we are doing much better at dealing with crowds of people, because well we have to. Everywhere we go and everything that we do we basically deal with crowds. But for some reason the crowd last night seemed to be offensive. I know that offensive might be too harsh a word but last night was very trying of my patience. I was after some nice pictures of the lantern that we would be able to share with you. And it seemed that every time I got a good shot framed up a person would step right into my shot. At one point I had focused in on the tori gate that was burning on the mountain and an old woman stood up right in front of my lens completely blocking my shot. She even ignored all of my excuse mes, sumimasens, and gruff clearing of my throat noises that I made. I had to find a new vantage point from which to shoot.

All in all, I must admit that we were a little let down. We were expecting more from this one. It was nice to see, and it will be something that I hope that I never forget, but still it was a bit of a let down. Just a tiny bit disappointment. I did manage to get a few beautiful shots of the lanterns, and one or two of the fire on the side of the mountain. But the actual holiday did not really live up to all the hype.

BBQ!!! or Salem Gets a Hair Trim

Last night was the welcome to Japan Bar-B-Que for all the new English teachers here in the area. A Gaijin Heights bar-b-que is an event in itself. Fun is had from early evening until the wee hours of the night. At least until the last train leaves Omihachiman, or later for the people who miss that train. Last night we dragged the grills out about six in the evening and lit the charcoal so that the coals would be hot around seven or so. The charcoal here is a bit different. (I know; I say those words a lot, but it never fails to amaze me how even the little details tend to be different here.) Charcoal is not in a bag, it comes in a box. And it is not in uniform little briquettes; it actually looks like the wood that it was made from. Lighter fluid is not a liquid, but a gel. And the best part about grilling here is that it pretty much can be a never ending process. You start by getting the coals nice and hot and then you start to cook small pieces of vegetables and meat, then you pretty much eat right off the grill. When the grill is empty you put on more food and continue until you are full. And all of the food is accompanied by lots of beer.

While the coals were heating up a guys named Salem, who lives a couple of cities to the south of here, was talking about how he wanted to cut his hair because it was so hot. So I volunteered to give him a quick buzz with the clippers. He took me up on my gracious offer and I went and grabbed the clippers and proceeded to shear him like a sheep. I had a great time cutting off his hair for him. And with temperatures hovering in the upper nineties with high humidity I know that his head will be much cooler. I think that the funniest part of the whole process was when Salem asked Logan what should he do with all of the hair that was trimmed off his head. Logan said that he should give it to Mr. Bryan. Now Bryan recently, much to his wife's dismay, shaved off his already thinning hair. Bryan received a lot of good natured ribbing about his lack of hair, and after shaving his head people still have much fun with him. It was well received when Logan said that Mr. Salem should give his hair to Mr. Bryan.

We had a great night. Our chicken kabobs were delicious. We even managed to bring out the marshmallow that we found at the foreign foods market and make s'mores around the grill. Lots of fun. We retired early. Jenny and Logan about 9:00 and me closer to 10:00, but the party went on until the wee hours.

Hot, Hot Day and Books

Yesterday we headed off to Kyoto. Yes; again. It does seem that we spend quite a bit of our lives in that city. We have been going there about once a week or so over the past month. But with the one year count down clicking away the days, we must be sure to see all the beautiful sights, and do all the exciting things that we want to do, or risk losing the opportunity forever. Yesterday was a big book fair. Lots of merchants were at the shrine where we went and wandered through the water selling their used books. It was a very hot day. I think that the thermometer may have climbed into the upper nineties with very high humidity. But we wandered back to the shrine. We did not get lost this time. We simply went back the opposite way that we went home last time. Smart, eh? We looked around at all the books for a while. Yes I will admit that We did purchase a few books while we were there. I found what appears to be an old script for a play, and we found some children's books. Then we headed north looking for some lunch. We decided not to go to the Falafel Garden again, this time we were off to find a department store. We figured we could wander around in air conditioned delight for a while before heading home. Well the department store ended up being more like the, "Dirt Mall." It was rather old and not much different than what we have here in Omihachiman. We did manage to find some food to eat for lunch. Logan was more into eating ice cream than his food. Jenny and I split a caramel sundae. The best part was the cornflakes that they put on the sundae as a topping. After lunch it was back to Kyoto station for some more wandering around in the climate controlled bliss. We spent time looking around the 12 floor department store that is next to the station. We got home kinda late and ate dinner and pretty much got ready for bed.

Tenbin Matsuri

I am not sure if this will be a welcome revelation or not but Sunday contained another first for me. Sunday was the day of the Tenbin Matsuri Festival here in Omihachiman. The festivities began around noon. We left the house, Me, Jenny, Logan and Mark, around 11:30 or so. It was a five minute walk from our apartment to the street where the street where the festivities were taking place. But before we went to watch the taiko drummers from my school and the other performers we made a pit stop at the local 7-11. Here is where we get to the first. Jenny got a bottle of water, Logan got a bottle of frozen sports drink and I got a beer. You must understand that here in Japan it is perfectly acceptable to walk down the street drinking a can of beer. So I did. I am pretty sure that it was my first time drinking a beer that early in the day. It was a lot of fun though.

The festival itself was pretty small. The taiko club from my school performed first thing in the morning. Next there was a karate demonstration from the local dojo. It was fun watching all the little kids run through their forms. the cool part was when the teachers showed off their abilities. They broke boards, baseball bats, and one guy even broke a cinder block with his fist. Then there was a junior high school brass band. The local Self Defense Force Brass Band also played. more Beer. Food. And most important; many, many students and teachers from school telling Logan how cute he is. The downtown part of the festival broke up around four in the afternoon. So we headed on home after making plans with our neighbors to all head off together later in the evening to watch the fireworks.

We ran over to the camera shop to purchase a tripod for our camera. I wanted to try and take pictures of the fireworks later in the evening. Then we headed home for some dinner. About 7:00 in the evening we started to gather up the neighbors to walk out near my school to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. Logan took a crazy stroller ride thanks to Miss. Diana. She pushed him all around, in circles and loop the loops, backward and forward. Those two always manage to have fun together. We walked the twenty minutes or so out to my school so that we would have a nice view over the rice fields. On the way I also managed another first. One thing that Jenny and I have always been wary of is falling into the rain gutters that run along the side of the streets here. The are about two feet deep and sometimes covered, and sometimes not. Well as it happens, in the dark of the night I managed to fall into one of the storm drains. I was walking along when all of a sudden the ground under my left foot just was not there. I fell to the ground. Not hurt, but a bit wounded in the pride. I felt awkward and silly. And my shin hurt a little bit from the scrape that ran a good length of the bottom half of my leg. But we managed to find a nice place to set down our tarps and watch the fireworks. I even managed to get a couple of great photos of the fireworks thanks to my new tripod. I was even able to snap a shot of the one that looked like a smiley face. It was a fun day and a great way to cap off a wonderful weekend.


花火
はなび
hanabi
(firework)

Chugga-Chugga, Choo-Choo

We have had another busy weekend here in Japan. It has been really hot here, but that has not stopped us from getting out and exploring all that this great country has to offer. Saturday we went to a museum that we have been wanting to take Logan to for a while now, The Kyoto Steam Locomotive Train Museum. Logan really loves to ride trains, he loves to play with his trains, and he also loves Thomas the Tank Engine. We thought that this would make the trip to a train museum a perfect fit for him. And we were correct. We rode the train down to Kyoto. Then it was a twenty minute walk from the station to the museum. The museum was a a bit tricky to find, but not nearly as difficult to find as our trip last weekend. We found the museum and went in. The museum really consisted of about fifteen old steam locomotives. It was really kinda neat to see and in some cases climb aboard and play engineer. The trains were all really neat and Logan had a great time. I think that his favorite part was the ride we took. We were able to take a ten minute trip on a real steam train. Logan was very excited and decided that we were going to ride in Annie. Now if you don't already know, Annie is the passenger car that is pulled by Thomas on his branch line. I will say that I am pretty sure that the sound of a real steam train's whistle came as quite a shock to Logan. As he is used to the quiet and musical, "peep-peep" from the Thomas videos. We really did have a nice morning at the museum.

Then it was off to do some shopping in the big city. I wanted to visit an outdoor sporting goods store that I had just read about, and I wanted to visit a camera shop to see if I could get a bargain on a tripod for our camera. I managed to find a new hat at the hiking shop, but the tripod was more expensive in the big city than at our little shop here in town. Next we decided to get some lunch. We decided on an Indian restaurant. We were very disappointed when we got there and they were closed. So we went to a different pace and had beef-bowls. Well to be truthful, I had an eel and beef bowl, logan had a beef bowl, and Jenny had a piece of salmon, some soup and a bowl of rice. I never thought that I would eat eel, much less say that I thought that it was rather delicious, but I have to admit that it is. Then we wandered around the shopping district for a while, and finally headed home. We made it home after a quick pit stop at Mickey D's for a McFlurry and a cheeseburger; but mostly to stay out of the rain that freakishly began to pour the moment we left the train station. It was a busy day, but that seems to have become our life in these past few months. It is quite a departure from our old life where hangin' out around the house was the status quo.