Category: Familia

That Day Exploring Kagoshima

The day after the wedding, after our morning coffee,
we all met at the hotel’s breakfast buffet.

Yum!

We also had a great view of Sakurajima,
Kagoshima’s famous active volcano.
You can see it was quite active this day, too.
Then we were off on our way to Ibusuki.
This place is famous for Ibusuki onsen,
where they bury you in the sand!
It’s a must in Kagoshima!
We all changed into yukatas and got these adorable umbrellas
before heading out to the shore to be buried.
They bury you in a place with a tent above you
so you don’t get burned from the sun.
But we had a great view of the sky
while in the sand.

Here we are after sweating it out in the sand!
Of course, after that we went inside and
got to wash off and relax in the onsen.
Next we went to eat Nagashi Somen (flowing noodles) for lunch,
which is apparently a Kagoshima standard.
They said that 9/10 families have a
nagashi somen kit at home.
How crazy is that?

Tosenkyo (唐船峡)

鹿児島県指宿市開聞十町5967番地
5967 Kaimon-juccho, Ibusuki-shi, Kagoshima JAPAN

TEL: 0993-32-2143
OPEN: 10:00am-5:00pm

I know, it’s just regular somen
being flung round and around by the water.
But you have to admit
it’s a lot of fun to eat together like this!

We also stopped by Lake Ikeda,
the largest lake in Kyushu.

We then drove back to the city
and all too soon headed back to the airport.
I was holding the little bouquet of flowers I received
and little R decided she wanted to do the same.
Too stinkin’ cute!

So sad to have this weekend over.
Including getting to eat this purple yam soft serve.

I’ll be back! x

That Hiroshima Nostalgia

My sister Y and I went to Hiroshima for a day
to see our other sister in high school.
It’s been a while since we’ve been back at our school.
(We all went to the same high school, in case you couldn’t tell.)

Walking through the campus,
down the Cinderella stairs (below).
It all brought back old memories of my time there.
It was odd in the sense that
nothing seems to have changed.
And yet everything has.
How every one seems to be a stranger
but familiar at the same time.

More than anything though
it was great to see our sister enjoying her school life.

That Birthday Climb Up Mount Fuji

Turning 29 is pretty big.
That last year in my twenties.
So when I looked at the calendar
and saw that my birthday was on a Sunday
I decided it was now or never…
to welcoming my birthday on top of Mt. Fuji.
My sister drove out from Ibaraki in her tiny car
and she picked me up and our amazing friends, K and T.
We set the car navigation and we were off!
Our plan was to start climbing from the fifth station
(which is where most people start their climb).
It’s said that it takes about 6 to 8 hours
for an average person to climb to the top of Mt Fuji.
So we started our climb at 9pm
to make it in time to see the sunrise at 4am.

Group picture at the start of the trail 😀

Here we are resting at the sixth station…still excited and full of energy!

We stopped often to rest
throughout our climb in the dark.

But truthfully it wasn’t dark at all
because we had a full moon (or nearly).

And thank goodness it didn’t rain
because we weren’t prepared for it at all.

But I was extremely prepared for the cold
(because I HATE being cold).

Unfortunately my pals weren’t as prepared.

By the time we got to the eighth station, it was extremely cold.
So we huddled together every time we took a break.

*Do Not Underestimate How Cold Mt Fuji Gets (even in the summer)!

We took a break and slept a bit under that torii.
From the ninth station, there was a HUGE traffic jam.
Apparently this is due to people, who were staying in the lodges
in the ninth station (there are two), that start their climb
in addition the the others already climbing.
Also the path gets quite narrow.
There was a lot of waiting around in line
as the sky turns lighter and lighter.
Perfect time to take photos, am I right?
That torii marks the peak of Mr Fuji.
We made it to the top with a million other people to see the sunrise!

My birthday sunrise was gorgeous…GORGEOUS!!!
Here we are after almost eight hours of climbing the tallest mountain in Japan!

The morning sunlight in my hands!

The sunrise was amazing.
It never occurred to any of us but
apparently depending on the weather
there are times when you can’t see the sunrise.
Thank goodness this wasn’t one of those days.
There were so many of us up there.
All looking towards the sunrise.
It felt amazing.

Hurrah!

So happy we invested in climbing shoes.

There is an Asama Shrine at the top of Mt Fuji.
We were all pretty tired
but our eyes were on the prize.
Akai Kitsune udon!
This instant noodle is usually about 100 yen
BUT… here it’s a whopping 800 yen!
Although to be fair, it includes the boiling water, too.
And no one hesitates because we’re all too cold and hungry.
It was money well spent.

We were at the top of Mt Fuji for awhile.
I even got birthday presents!

I do realize I’m super lucky to have friends
who are willing to climb this mountain with me.

Not everyone would.


We had all gotten climbing sticks at the sixth station.

You can get it stamped at every station
but we were too intent on climbing to stop.

So we all decided to get a stamp at the very top, which we did!


We couldn’t really tell in the dark.

But when the sun came out…
it was clear that Mt Fuji is a volcano.

Look at that mountain side!

The moths up here are so bright and colorful!

You wouldn’t believe it but
I got altitude sickness…on the way down!
I felt awful.
I wanted to throw up but I couldn’t.
The headache was raging something fierce.
I pretty much cried my way down the mountain.
And my dear sister and friends
were cool with it.
You know you have friends for life
when they stick with you even when you’re gagging.
It was quite the experience.


You’ll notice I didn’t stop taking photos.
Even when I was feeling my worst
I knew that I would want photos of everything later.
Also, the process of taking a photo
kind of took my mind off of feeling like shit.
It was gorgeous though.
Seriously breathtaking views.
I loved everything.
Especially since the more we descended
the more I started feeling better.
Whew!

Here we are on the same bench we started out
the night before at the sixth station.

So so tired.

But also super excited
that we actually made it up there!

And also made it back down!
Whoop!

Despite the cold, exhaustion and all the gagging
this was DEFINITELY the best birthday ever!

Happy Twenty Ninth Birthday To Me!

That Afternoon at Heian Shrine in Kyoto

*Throwback Thursday: I’m slowly (very slowly) going to be bringing my old posts to this blog.

Went to Kyoto.
Everywhere you look
there’s a picture waiting to be taken.
We went to Heian Shrine (平安神宮).
The grounds were vast,
gorgeous gardens.
How lucky are we to live so close to Kyoto?
(well, at least my parents do!)

That New Years Family Photo

January 1st, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
It’s the year of rabbit and
our family is finally all together for new years.
Yay!
Of course, we once again took our nengajo photos on the first day of the year
when most people’s nengajo are already delivered to our post box.
So…you’ve been warned.
They will get there around the 5th…hopefully. haha.
Wishing you a great year in 2011 😀

That Family Dinner in Okinawa

I love dinner with the family!
Especially when they include the whole extended family.
Not that anyone is sexist
but when the family gets together
we all naturally divide into women and men.
The men will sit in the living room
discussing various issues.
The women gather in the kitchen
preparing dinner and chatting.
I kind of like this tradition though.
This time with grandma, mom, aunts and cousins
the kitchen was pretty crowded.
But grandma look happy
saying, “it’s nice and lively.”
It’s been awhile since my mom and her brothers
were all under one roof so dinner was definitely a lively affair.
It was so much fun.
We were missing my sister, since she’s in Michigan
but it was great halving most of the family together like this.


That Sister Time in Osaka

The church in Osaka is beautiful.
Apparently it was built around the pipe organ.
I love the wood and lights!
After church, I took pictures with my baby sister.
She’s still into her fake glasses 😉

Because we only get to see each other once or twice a year
I try to soak up sister time when I have it.
She’ll be going to boarding school next year
which means even less sister time.
She’s growing up so fast.
Being so many years apart has its perks,
I can give her advice and of course buy her things.
But I wish we were all still living together.
I miss having everyone together.
I don’t get bonding time with her
as much as I did with my other sister growing up.
Hope she knows that I love her dearly
even though we’re miles apart most of the time.