A Relaxing Weekend

16th June, 2007

We left Himeji early Saturday morning to head to Shiraishi Island which is a small island off of Okayama. Travel time was about 2 hours and consisted of 2 trains and a ferry. We eventually reached the island and were ready for some surf, sun and sand. Well not exactly sure about the surf but sun and sand were on my list!! ☺ Steve was still sick and so he stayed at home but I went with Marie, Lauren, Jono, Jodi, Jess, Liam, Taube, Julian, Chelsea and Karen.





There were some Villas which could be hired out that slept 10 people. It was a very cute little villa. There were 5 rooms a kitchen/dining room, a living room, 2 toilets, 1 shower and an outside patio area. It was a fantastic set up. We unloaded our belongings and lazed about outside on the patio until lunchtime. The view was amazing and I was enjoying sitting out on deck chairs admiring my surroundings. Everything on the island was within walking distance so when lunchtime came we walked along the beach which was 5 minutes away from our villa to a little café.

During lunch a magician came up to us and started showing us these amazing magic card tricks. I LOVE card tricks and so I was very impressed with his selection of 10 or so tricks. We all watched in amazement at his tricks. I wish he would show me how to do them.

After the magician finished we headed to the beach. The beach itself was beautiful but the sand was kind of grainy and it hurt my feet. That didn’t stop me from jumping in and going for a swim though. The weather was perfect – just the right temperature and I figured that I couldn’t go all the way to Shiraishi Island and not go for a swim. There was this little island that looked fairly close to the shore which had a little shrine sitting on it so Marie, Julian, Jono and I decided to swim out to it. Well the distance sure was further than we thought but we made it and I was glad because it was so cool.

Next on the agenda was kayaking. The kayaks were double ones so we paired up and took the kayaks out into the ocean. Marie and I were together and our first stop was a little island that we could see from the shore. It took us about 15 minutes to kayak to it. It was pretty cool. There was nothing much on it and the rocks hurt my feet so I couldn’t stand on it for too long. We then kayaked around the island when Marie had a suggestion of changing kayaks. So we all rafted up together and one by one we changed kayaks. This was a lot harder than I thought and not everyone ended up participating. I ended up partners with Karen in the end and pretty much rowed back to shore on my own. It was ok though – I was just laughing at her.





After we finished Kayaking we went for another swim. While we were in the water a couple of Japanese people came up to us in an old style Japanese boat and asked us if we wanted a ride in the boat. Of course we jumped at the chance and hopped in. This boat had no motor and looked like hard work getting it to move. We enjoyed just relaxing and being taken for a ride but the poor Japanese boy who rowed it looked like he was working hard. We didn’t go for very long but at least now I can say that I have experienced being in one. After the boat ride it was time to head back to the villa and shower. We relaxed out on the patio while everyone showered and got ready for dinner. The sunset was absolutely magnificent and so I took a million pictures.







When everyone was finally ready we headed back to the beach for a BBQ dinner. This was my second Japanese style BBQ and I enjoyed it equally as much as the first time. What could be better than eating BBQ and drinking beer on the beach in beautiful weather on an amazing island? It was perfect.

When we had finished stuffing our faces we headed back to the villa where we played Jenga and card games. This was the best Jenga game I had ever played. Some people were a little tipsy so I didn’t think that we would be able to get very far but for some reason we just kept the tower getting higher and higher and higher. As it got higher we got more nervous. We got it to the 33rd tier before it came tumbling down. Poor Jess was the one who set it off. How fantastic is the photo Marie took of her? She must have been waiting for this shot for a long time.

The next morning I woke up to scrambled eggs on toast already cooked for me. Jono and Lauren organised the breakfast. It was just what I needed. After we cleaned up the villa Marie, Taube, Julian and I headed for a hike up the mountain. The others went for a bike ride and headed for the beach. The hike was great. I felt a lot better than the last time I went for a hike. The view of the island from the top of the mountain was wonderful. We didn’t get to go all the way to the top because we ran out of time but we went a fair way and then on the way down we stumbled across a temple. I really enjoyed hiking and next time I come I will make sure I get the chance to hike for longer.





This weekend was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to be able to go back again. I hope that I get the chance to!! At least then Steve will be able to come.

Happy Birthday to Steve

14th June, 2007

Steve met me at the station after work so that we could go out for dinner for his birthday. We decided to go to a place that we go to quite regularly which is in the mall. I don't know the name of it but their main dish is ‘omerisu’ which is like a kind of omlet wrapped around rice. You can sometimes get a burger or shrimp on top and there is some kind of sauce as well. They also serve spaghetti and gratin (which is like some kind of bake – usually creamy!). Steve and I both decided to have the spaghetti with meat sauce – (Steve’s favourite!!!). We both ordered a melon soda too which is my favourite soft drink in Japan. After tea we headed to Starbuck’s for a coffee, then it was time for Steve to head to his Japanese class so I caught the bus home.

I had bought a chocolate cake so that when Steve arrived home from Japanese we could sing happy birthday to him. We rung mum and dad over the internet and Steve’s mum was there too so we all sung happy birthday together. It was good because we could see each other through the video. Even though we were in Japan we still managed to celebrate Steve’s birthday with the family back home which was nice.

Mountain Climb Number 2

10th June, 2007

As you all know I love outdoor activities so any opportunity I get to do it I definitely take it. I was very reluctant to wake up this morning though due to my BIG night the previous night but I forced myself to get out of bed at 7am to go and conquer this mountain. I tell you what I wasn’t feeling very ‘genki’ that’s for sure. For those of you wondering ‘genki’ means healthy/fine. We had to sprint to the train as we were running a little behind schedule and we just made it by 2 minutes. I definitely didn’t need to be using the little energy I had to sprint to the train. Anyway we got the Kobe station and got off and went to find Paul the guy we were meant to be hiking with. Anyway we couldn’t find him. Marie left her phone at home, I didn’t have his number so we were off to a very bad start. We eventually managed to ring Steve to give us his number and we rung him. We told him we were outside Mister Donut waiting for him. Well when 15minutes had passed and we still hadn’t heard from him we rang him again. He told us that he was at the wrong Mister Donut. So we waited a while longer. We then get a phone call from him saying that he was at Mister Donut and that we were not there…….we were both confused for a while until he finally asked us which station we were at and we figured out that we were at the wrong station. He told us where to go and we were on our way again. We finally made it to the right place and found Paul, but geez that was an effort. So much of an effort in fact that Paul had to stop and have a coffee before we started our climb.

We eventually got to the right place to start climbing by about 10am. It was only the 3 of us as everyone else bailed out for one reason or another. Just as well Marie and I were still able to make it. We bagan the climb up Mount Maya which is the other side of Mount Rokko. I am still yet to see Rokko by the way, but I will make it my business to see it. The climb started out steep as we had to walk up what seemed like a million steps. I couldn’t wait for them to finish but they just went on and on for ever and ever. Eventually they stopped when we got to a beautiful waterfall. I could have sat there for ages just looking at it. There were lots of things to look at along the way of the hike apart from the amazing scenery. Some of the things included a big lake and an awesome bridge. We then reached a Herb Garden which was filled with beautifully presented herbs and plants. There was also a fantastic view of Kobe from here. We had a wonder through the glass house and then realised that it was pouring with rain. It was such a shame because the morning was so fine. We decided to head to the cafeteria where we ordered scones and caramel lattes to while we waited for the rain to settle. Well it didn’t look like it was going to ease off. So Paul rang his friend who we were meant to be meeting at the top of the mountain to come and pick us up in the car. I was slightly disappointed that it started raining but at the same time I was kind of glad because I was feeling very tired.







It took a while to meet his friend but we eventually found him and he drove us to this place where we could eat our bento lunches. What is a bento lunch you may ask?? It is a Japanese style lunch box which includes rice, usually veggies or some sort, sometimes fish or meat – there are many types of bentos that you can buy in Japan. After we ate lunch Paul’s friend drove us to the train station and we called it a day as the rain was on off for the rest of day. I am really glad that I decided to go ahead with the climb – it was so beautiful. I definitely want to go back there again and have another go. It wasn’t actually too difficult but because I was tired to begin with I think anything would have been difficult! I can’t wait for my next climb.

Happy Birthday to Jodi

9th Jun, 2007

Jodi’s birthday is officially on the 18th of June but since June is so full on with exciting things happening she decided to take the opportunity of a free Saturday night and celebrated on the 9th. She had booked the beer garden on top of the Egret Centre.

What’s a beer garden you might ask?? It’s the roof of the Egret Centre which gets decked out with tables and chairs and a buffet which included an all you can drink bottomless stein which you could refill with Asahi Beer, Shochu, Chuhai and of course soft drink and orange juice all for ¥3000. You also get the privilege of an amazing view of the castle at night. It is so beautiful so of course I had to take a billion photos ☺







The buffet and all you can drink lasted from 6pm-9pm so you can imagine the state we were all in by the end. We had a lot of fun and ran a muck with people from our residence as well as new Japanese people that we met along the way.



After the beer garden kicked us out we headed for some traditional karaoke. Some people went bowling while others like me sung their lungs out to a mixture of songs. I never thought that I would love karaoke so much, but I LOVE it!! Look out people because when I come back I will be dragging you to karaoke bars so be prepared to sing sing sing!!!





After we had a blast at Karaoke we headed to our third party which took place in a little bar. It was so tiny but we certainly made it full when we entered. I’m sure the barman would have loved our business. We ended up staying there until 2:30 am which was WAY past the time I wanted to be out to as the next day I had a mountain to climb. What was I thinking??!! I had a blast though.

Wet, Wet, Wet

If you know me well you would know that I can’t stand being wet. I just hate the feeling of wet for some reason. After a shower I like to hurry up and get dry, I love swimming but I hate coming out and being wet. Anway, Lauren and I spent the day shopping in the city. We had various things to look at and buy. When it was time to go home it was slightly raining. None of us had umbrellas or raincoats or anything as there was no sign of rain when we left. The rain was very light when we left and we had to get home quickly as we were going out that night so we thought that we would just ride home quickly. So we had all of our shopping with us from the day and headed home. Well it didn’t take long for the tiny little light shower to turn into really heavy rain. It was absolutely pouring. We had ridden too far to do anything about it and our only option was to keep on going. We were getting absolutely soaked. The rain was so hard that it was hurting us. Our hair was wet, our clothes were wet out make up was running – it was out of control. I complained the whole way home.
Here is a picture of us in our wet state. I couldn’t wait to have a shower and get dry again!!

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Take 2

8th June, 2007

We headed into Osaka for a second attempt of seeing the Chili Peppers. Steve was sick this time so he couldn’t make it ☹. Once again we were on a rushed time schedule to make it to the dome on time. We arrived in Osaka at 5:45pm had a quick bite to eat at Maccas and made our way to the dome. The concert started at 7pm.

This time when we arrived at the dome, it was filled with people and the atmosphere was a little more livelier than the last time we went. PHEW!! The dome was just amazing, such an interesting design.

We finally made it to our seats which were pretty good really and about 2 minutes later the Chili’s entered the stage. It was amazing. The crowd of people cheered and roared. There were so many people packed into the dome it was unbelievable.

The set up of the stage was amazing. There were lights flashing and big screens going – it was all happening. Marie, Julian and I stood up for the entire concert. We just bopped, bounced, jumped and basically did all kinds of crazy dance actions the entire time. The Chili’s were also having a good old time bopping away on stage. They seemed to really get into it. It was a terrific concert. The concert went for almost 2 hours which was pretty good I thought. They had an awesome choice of songs mainly new ones but also some old. My favourite was Californication but I reckon the last 4 they played were the best ones. The drummer did an amazing solo on the drums and Flee did a small solo on the trumpet. We even had them singing SOS by ABBA. The concert was over very quickly but it was very enjoyable.

Koto

Koto – what is it you may ask? It’s a Japanese instrument. I was lucky enough to be able to have a go at playing one. I went to the Koto club activity after school and some of the students taught me how to play the Koto. It is a strange looking instrument but it sounds beautiful. It has 13 strings and it is about 2 metres long. You play the Koto with small picks on the thumb and first 2 fingers of the right hand. The music is not written in notes as we know it, it is written in numbers. Each string is numbered. The first tune I played on the Koto was called ‘Sakura’ which means ‘cherry blossoms’. It is quite a nice song, very oriental sounding. The piece I played was quite basic but the students and the teacher gave me a demonstration of some other songs and they got quite complicated. They just look so graceful when they play. I would like to have another turn at playing the Koto. Maybe I will get the chance to go again.







I actually did this back in February but i didn't get any photos until now so I didn't post it straight away. That's why I am wearing a big jacket!!