Huh? Episode 7

Hello. I have been searching for "Huh?" and I have found a few funny ones. So here they are.......

Dad has just randomly got into someone's wedding photo!

There are many dogs dressed up strangly here....check these out!

Oh so pretty....

Anyone for a hug?

Kyosuke with some glow balls. What's he trying to do here hey???

This is meant to be happy hour but somehow they have upped the price!

Trash only hey?? Hmmm what else would you put in the "Trash Can"??!!

Hiroshima- with Mum and Dad

4th -7th August, 2007

We headed to Hiroshima for the second time. This time our purpose was to see the “Peace Ceremony” which was held on August 6th – the day of the bombing 62 years ago. It was quite a moving ceremony and I am glad that I was able to see it. There were thousands of people who attended the ceremony which was good to see. We all made a paper crane to donate for peace.





All day there were different things happening in the “Peace Park” and at night there was a lantern ceremony which was held in the river in front of the A-Bomb Dome. It was amazing to see this ceremony take place. People gathered at the river to watch thousands of lanterns being placed in the water and then peacefully float down the stream. The lanterns were there to represent “peace”. It was very peaceful and relaxing watching the lanterns float down the river. Once it got dark the lanterns lit up and it just looked amazing. The photos definitely didn’t do this justice. It is fascinating that Hiroshima has managed to fully rebuild itself in just 62 years.





During our stay in Hiroshima we took Mum and Dad to Miyajima the small island off of Hiroshima. I absolutely love Miyajima and would say that it is up there with my favourite places in Japan.



Here is Dad eating his favourite dish in Japan Pipinpa - he definitely got stuck into this. He loved it!!

We went to Mitaki-ji on the last day of our trip which is where there are water falls and temples. It was so beautiful and so many things to see up there.



We had a full on trip but it was well worth it.

Anyone for Meat?

I had a little disaster with my freezer. I woke up in the morning to find my freezer door wide open. I didn’t really take much notice so I told Steve and just shut the door. Afterwards Steve checked the stuff in the freezer and told me that it was all defrosted. I couldn’t believe it. I had all this meat, vegetables, pizza and all sorts of stuff in there. It was all defrosted!! Well that day we were off to Okayama and then for the next 4 days we were away in Hiroshima. Now what?? I thought! Well that night Mum, Marie, Lauren and I cooked up a storm. All the stuff that I had in my freezer was cooked. We made chicken schnitzels, meat balls, roast, vegies, rice, pizza and a salad. The funniest thing was that I tried to ask all these people from my building to come over to help us eat it all and no-one was home. Usually everyone is home but when I needed people to be there no-one was there. Don’t worry though between the 6 of us we managed to make a good dent in the food. Everyone got stuck into it. We had a bit left over which we took with us to Hiroshima and made sandwiches out of for the next day. Steve and Dad really enjoyed all the food and I bet were secretly glad that this little disaster happened.

chicken

meatballs

roast

our feast

Sightseeing- with Mum and Dad

Since Mum and Dad have been here we have done a few day trips to different places. We went to Osaka, Kyoto and Okayama. Time seems to get away from you when you only have a day to visit these places but we showed them some of our favourite places in each area. They seemed to have really enjoyed the places we have taken them too. It's also good for us because even though we have seen these places before it's a different time of year so it all looks different. By the way since Mum has come here I managed to get her to cut and colour my hair. I now have a fringe again!

Me with my new fringe.


OSAKA
Just outside the Osaka Castle.

Our favourtie street in Osaka - we always visit this area when we head to Osaka.

A cool photo!


KYOTO
The beautiful 'Golden Palace' - i just can't get enough of this place.

The red gates which go forever!



OKAYAMA
The beautiful gardens. A totally different look to the last time I saw them. So green and lush!

Hanabi

28th July, 2007

Hanabi means fireworks festival. Mum, Lauren and I dressed up in our Yukatas and headed to Himeji Port with Dad and Yoko to view the fireworks. As everything in Japan – this was spectacular!! We watched the sky light up over the water with the moon in the perfect position. The firework display lasted about an hour. We ate festival food and drank Chu-hi as we watched the display. After the festival Lauren and I met up with some mates at the Tiger Pub dressed in our Yukatas.

Lunch with my University Students

27th July, 2007

The students from my university had spent a long time organising to take Mum, Dad, Marie and I out to lunch. They wanted it to be perfect for us. They carefully selected a restaurant and food to take us to so that Mum and Dad received the best welcome to Himeji as they could. It was fantastic!! Mum and Dad experienced eating a traditional Japanese style meal whilst sitting on the floor. It was fabulous. The students were very friendly and each one of them made a speech introducing themselves and welcoming mum and dad to Japan. It was lovely. We all felt like kings and queens.





After lunch one of the students took us to her mothers house for coffee and cake. Once again we were made very welcome into their home. She had a beautiful traditional Japanese style home with a pristine Japanese style garden out the back. It was immaculate. I think we were all very lucky to be able to experience a Japanese style home. We had a very relaxing day today which was nice after the last few being jam packed!!