That Goodbye to Grandpa in Okinawa

My sweet handsome grandpa.
I can still hear his voice saying
“Ah Kaori-chan?”
every time I would call.
We knew he wasn’t doing well
but it still came as a surprise to me.
I flew to Okinawa
to say goodbye to my grandpa.
Grandpa’s family grave had a beautiful view from above the hill.
My grandma said that he’ll rest peacefully here.
I agree.

The yard that grandpa always took good care of
was lush with green leaves.
As if he were still there.

Grandma looked so lonely.
And strong at the same time.
She told us over and over again
“thank you for coming.”
That night
we all gathered around the table for dinner.
Grandma sat there quietly eating,
listening to everyone still reminiscing about grandpa.
So many stories.
So much love.
My eyes went to my grandma.
Still quietly eating, still listening.
But every once in awhile
her face would relax into a soft smile.

That Wedding in Kagoshima in Other Photos

I know, I know.
I already posted photos of my BFF’s wedding.
But I had these too and I love them so
on the grounds that this is in fact my blog,
I am going to post away!

Someone is excited to be married!
Weddings really are a sort of reunion.
Loved seeing old friends, too!
The guys did great.
And I love how the stage looks so 50s.

Smiles at the table after I finished my speech!

The bouquet toss was done out on the terrace.
N caught it with just one hand!

How classy is this rose-shaped sugar?
After the after party
some of us went to eat ramen!
Kagoshima ramen is especially delicious around midnight.
We had a great time celebrating the whole day!

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 Day Before the Wedding in Kagoshima

Can I tell you how excited I am to be in Kagoshima?
It’s been years since I was last here.
But back again for the same reason as before.
My bestie is getting married!!!

Here they are…
no wedding jitters here!
I love these two together.
So glad that they found each other. x

Here are the boys practicing their song
for the wedding reception.

Their voices are so loud
I was sure the windows would crack.

This is what happens when your classmates
go on to study music in university.

And you know you’re in Kagoshima
when there’s a garbage pile specifically for volcano ash.

That Wedding in Kagoshima

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

The special day is finally here!
My BFF’s wedding!
S was so beautiful.
Everyone saw how she shined
especially her husband. Aw.

The wedding reception was fabulous, too!

S had asked me to do the speech at the reception.
Ended up taking over a month
writing it, fixing it, and practicing it.
Somehow I got through it.
My speech instructor in college used to always tell me
“Speak slowly, don’t cry.”
Well, I tried to speak slowly
but couldn’t help crying here and there.
I mean, it was my best friend
and this was my first ever wedding speech!
(Cut me some slack here…haha)
But I made S cry, too, so it wasn’t just me 😉

Happiest of marriages to this amazing couple!

That Weekend at the Tennis Tournament

Back at the tournament again this year!
I always think it’s going to be my last year
but then they invite me and I can’t seem to say no.
I really love my peeps.

My sister Y was here again this year, too.
So much fun seeing old friends back here every year.

This was the finals match.
A beautiful Sunday afternoon.
A full house always gets us all pumped up.

The final match was between
Nadal and Murray.
Somewhere along the way
I started rooting for the Spaniard.
Maybe because he smells so good even
right after finishing his match?
But he lost 36 62 60.

Aw.
Hope he comes again next year.
And I really hope our team
can get together again net year, too!

That Afternoon in Hiroshima

After spending time with our sister at her high school
we hopped on a train to head downtown.
I still can’t believe we did all this in a day.
The rural train takes forever to get to the city
but I loved watching the scene pass us by.
My sister opted to take a nap 🙂
Once we were in the city
we took a walk around the Hiroshima peace park.
I adore the architecture of the museum.
Tange is a genius.
We also saw the genbaku dome at dusk.
The only building left standing in the area
after the first atomic bomb on August 6th, 1945.
I will forever pray for peace.
We caught the bus out of the city
and head to the airport to catch our flights.
But before we left, we bought momiji manju
which is a must souvenir in Hiroshima.
And we might have eaten onomichi ramen, too.

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.