Nippon::Part Four::Bits & Pieces



here are a few more pictures of our trip to japan. just one more japan post until i'm done, promise!

 

^^a castle we visited. not an original but a pretty darn close replica.

^^the most beautiful day at the ocean!

^^we like to eat. a lot.

^^another shrine.



^^food. more glorious food.

^^a giant mall that i only had 45 min to explore.

^^of all the stores from america to have, this one?

^^the fam bam. my dad's face kills me haha.

 

^^my cousin's three year old girl. i wanted to put her in my suitcase and take her home with me! 

^^visiting family graves.  

 

 

^^the house my grandfather grew up in.



Nippon::Part Three::Christmas

i wrote earlier that our christmas would be a little different  than the "usual," western style one but even i was surprised at how un-christmasy it was.

christmas in japan is commonly celebrated with christmas cake and fried chicken. most people aren't christian and don't believe in its true meaning, but there are a few who do santa and presents. my family doesn't whatsoever but they believe in cake and fried chicken ;)

christmas day started off with waking up at 5:30 and going on a run with my dad and little brother. we sat at the kotatsu (a low table with a heater underneath) when we got back and it wasn't until 7:00 that i realized it was christmas day! we all looked at each other with wide eyes, sheepishly giggled, and shouted MERRY CHRISTMAS!! to each other. later that morning my aunt and uncle came to pick us up and we left for our mini vacation. the drive took about 3 1/2 hours but we broke it up.

we went to a shinto shrine called konpira. we had to climb 900 stairs to reach the top but there were shops on the way that kept it interesting. plus a creepy middle aged man with his friends who tried to say something to me in english but his accent was so thick, i thought he was saying something in japanese i didn't understand. then he thought my brother was my boyfriend. my mom asked me who it was and i said no idea. the man's friends heard and said don't worry, just a weird man! haha.

after we visited the shrine, we checked into our hotel and oh baby, it was nice. i've stayed at about three hotels in my entire life so i'm easily impressed but man, i liked that hotel (EXCEPT that the creepy man was there with his friends! the hotel was 2 hours away from the shrine and it was about 4 hours since we'd seen them. what are the odds?!)  our christmas dinner consisted of putting half the ocean on a table and i loved it. a lot of it was formal japanese food that i'm not used to but it was fun, tasty, and so pretty. if there was an award for beautiful presentation, that dinner would've gotten it hands down. i ate so much it hurt to move afterwards. i probably say this too much to make it valid but i've never eaten so much in my life.

after we ate, we headed upstairs to put on our yukata and went to the onsen. most people don't understand why anyone would ever want to go to a public bath so i won't try to explain it other than don't worry, boys and girls don't mix and it's fun.

then we said happy birthday Jesus and went to bed. and that was our christmas :)

Nippon::Part Two::Miyajima

apparently my goal of going on an eight mile bike ride today was too ambitious since i never changed out of my sweats or showered. woops.

anyways, while we were in japan, we took a day trip to miyajima, the shinto shrine. you wouldn't think going to a shrine would be exciting, but it was so much fun! after the ferry reached the island, we had to walk a ways to reach the red torii (gate). it turned out that the pathway was lined with little shops and food stands. i bought the cutest ceramic owls that are now perched on my window sill :) it makes me a little sad that they're going to sit in storage for a long time but oh well. we also saw the world's largest rice scooper, crazy number of deer that live on the island, and ate sweet potato ice cream.

Nippon :: Part One :: Picking Hassaku



this year we flew separately because of different schedules, money, etc. so i arrived second and for the first time, arrived in the morning. with the change in time zones, it was bizarre traveling for 23 hours (never again do i want a four segment trip!!) and then having another full day. i wasn't as tired as i thought i'd be so helping pick the hassaku was no problem.

in a way, this is what makes me feel most connected to my dad. he helped in the garden and fields after school when he was a kid and during the summers in college. his childhood was obviously a lot different than mine and much harder, but this gives me an idea of what part of his growing up was like. plus it makes me happy that we made the job go faster for my grandparents :)

 

^^pretty much a natural, amiright? (i like the farm stuff only when it's once in a while)

 ^^twinners. uncle yoshiki is older by 20 minutes though ;)

 

 ^^my mama looking good.

 

 ^^we pick them in december but they aren't ripe until april sooo...i've never eaten them. they ripen in the shed.

 

 ^^my 85 year old Ojiisan who still climbs trees. other than my dad, he's the hardest worker i know.

 

 ^^we actually really enjoy this. they did a lot of it before we got there but we were happy to pick the rest for them.