Halloween

 These are almost a month late in coming but life gets busy around the holidays even if you are not in the USA. In Japan Halloween is not an official holiday. The Japanese love Halloween and do big parties on the weekends in October but there is no trick or treating and no parties at school on Halloween. The international school held a Halloween party on November 1st this year and Julia and Luke were allowed to wear their costumes to school on that day. At first they were disappointed that nothing was taking place on October 31st. However, I told them that since Japan is a day ahead due to time differences  Halloween doesn't take place in Japan until it is Halloween in the USA. That seemed to make sense to all and luckily to my relief everyone was on board with that plan!!

 

Just for a special treat though we did let the kids dress up on Oct. 31st and we met up with the Gepford family at a local bakery and ate some yummy desserts.

The bakery is next door to a floral shop and the owner of the floral shop and her family were so excited to see our children dressed up that they had to have their picture taken with the kids in their costumes. The owner also quickly put together little treat bags so that the kids would receive a treat when they said  "trick or treat" to her family.

 

 Of all the kids though, Cameron was the most excited about his costume. When I pulled out the costumes the day before Halloween he found the Batman costume and went crazy. He wore it straight for 3 days. He slept in it, ate in it, and went everywhere in it! By the end of the school party he was exhausted from all the excitement!

Kyoto Part 2

On Sunday after attending church in Kyoto we visited the fushimi inari-taisha shrine which is famous for its orange buildings and miles of orange torii gates. The first picture is not one we took but from Free Stock Photo's website, but it gives you an idea of what torii gates are and how beautiful they are. The day we visited it was sunny and the sun illuminated the pathway.

 

 

Luke thought it was cooler to walk on the outside of the torii gate pathway. Goofy kid!!

 

We also visited the Nishi-Hongwan-ji Temple which is an UNESCO world heritage site and is the headquarters  of the Shin Buddhism in Japan.  We arrived right at dusk and closing time which was a bonus since we didn't have to tell the kids to stop running and be quiet all the time!!

 

 In Kyoto we stayed at a Rakuten, a traditional Japanese guesthouse. You can rent individual rooms where there is a tatami mat floor and you are given futons for each individual. It is kind of like camping just indoors with heat and air conditioning. It is definitely the best way to travel with children in Japan. Here is a picture of the receptionist at the rakuten.

 

Kyoto: Part 1

At the end of October we rode the shinkansen, Japanese bullet train, to Kyoto. Mike had spent the week working in Tokyo and I took the 3 kids on the train and met Mike in Kyoto. Kyoto was once the imperial capital of Japan. Today the city is well-known as one of the best preserved Japanese heritage sites in all of the country. This is due in part to the 2000 religious places within the city (1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines) and the fact that Kyoto was sparred from the destruction of World War II. At one time Kyoto was at the top of the list for Atomic bomb target cities. However, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson personally removed it from the list due to it cultural significance to Japan. We only spent 2 1/2 days in Kyoto but could have spent weeks. The kids were great sports as we dragged them from site to site and rode on a million busses and trains. Even Cameron did okay missing his nap for 3 days! Here are a few things we saw Friday afternoon and Saturday.

 

Just an entrance way to someone's personal residence. So beautiful and so Japanese!

 



 

Pictures from the Nijo Castle. The entry gate into the palace areas was beautifully ornate. As you walked through the castle palace areas many of the rooms had displays of daily life inside the castle. The kids loved seeing the full samurai armor and shogun outfits. The Nijo castle is also unique in that the Ninomaru Palace  of the castle contains "nightingale floors" (uguisubari) in the corridors. To protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them.



Pictures of the castle grounds and gardens

 



 

Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden temple)



The Kinkaku-ji temple's gardens are famous and know for their representation of the muromachi period design representation. 

So if you don't particular for gold you can head to the Ginkaku-ji Temple, or silver temple. The sand garden is a highlight at the temple and the tall round sand hill is said to represent Mt Fuji.



It was hard for the kids to resist not playing in the sand-poor Julia!!! 

Japanese Cusine

A few weeks ago I attended a Japanese cooking class held by the Hiroshima International Women's Club. The menu consisted of Makizushi (rolled sushi), mushroom soup, Dashi (Japanese kelp soup stock), Japanese-style salad, and blanc-manger (cream and persimmon dessert). It is Kaki (persimmon) season here in Hiroshima and the ladies teaching the class used the fruit not only in our food, but also in decoration.

 

 

Everything was delicious. I had a feeling we made dishes that were more suited toward Western tastes. For example for the sushi we made California and Philadelphia rolls.

 

A friend of mine sent a comment on facebook that I should do a blog post about the cost of food here in Japan. The cost of living is very high, so as you can imagine food is expensive too! I went to the grocery store this morning and here are just a few examples of some of the staples you would find here compared to the USA.

Cost of items in yen/ U.S. dollar equivalent

1 liter of milk= 218 yen/ $2.20 (so......... $8.80 per gallon of milk!!!!!!!)

8 slices of white bread= 158 yen/ $1.60

4 small cups of yogurt (2.8 ounces or 80grams)= 238 yen/ $2.40

10 white eggs (no special organic or cage free anything!)= 188 yen= $1.90

 

 

Just for fun I took a picture of recent add for Pizza Hut: 3,680 yen for a large pizza (12 slices) = $37.16.

 

Sometimes even Japanese food staples are bit expensive. Rice is about the same cost as in the U.S., but seafood is just as expensive or a little bit more. Vegetables and fruits are super expensive too. Often bananas will run me 298 yen (around $3 for 4-5 bananas). Apples are range from 80 cents to $1.25 per apple. A watermelon in the summer time is about $25 and a cantaloupe is around $20. The two things that are cheap are kelp/seaweed and boneless chicken breasts. The Japanese prefer chicken thighs.

They are selling frozen butterball turkeys at Costco right now. A 15lb turkey will cost you about $45!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

 

Recent pictures- Warning last picture might gross you out!

Fall has finally arrived here!!! The temps are finally cooler with the daily temperature around 75-80 F and the lows at night are finally down into the low 60s. Today the high was only going to be 72F and rainy. That I would share some recent pictures:

 

Even though they do not celebrate Halloween in Japan by going trick or treating, they sure do love to decorate for it. Here are some Halloween warriors!

 When my Mom sends us packages from the USA we walk to the post office to pick them up and Cameron has a great time hanging out in the wagon with them.

 

 

It is harvest time here in Hiroshima. Here are some pictures of local fields with the rice bundles drying.

 

We went camping this past weekend up in the mountains. Even though Cameron turned 2 years old he still loves his pacifier ("nukky") and blanket, even camping. Soon he will have to say goodbye to them!

 

 

Ever heard of squat toilets? If not, count yourself lucky and don't go looking for one! All over Japan you will find these toilets. Usually at the mall, airports, or larger places you will find one squat toilet and 1 western style of toilet in a restroom. However, if you venture away from the main cities you are not always guaranteed a western style toilet. When we went camping this past weekend, this is what we encountered!!

Iwakuni

Last weekend we traveled to Iwakuni. Iwakuni is a town on the coast about 1 1/2 hours from Hiroshima. Iwakuni is known for its all wooden arched bridge, Kintai Bridge, the Iwakuni Castle, and the U.S. army base located there. The Kintai Brige and Castle were built around the turn of the 1600th century by Hiroie Kikkawa, the first Lord of the Iwakuni Domain. When visiting you start by walking the Kintai Bridge, meandering through the Lord Kikkawa's manor house at the base of Mt. Shiroyama, and conclude by taking a gondola ride up the mountain to the Castle on top of Mt. Shiroyama. Everything we saw was amazing and beautiful. The kids loved riding the gondola, running the bridge, and seeing the samurai weapons and armor on display in the castle.

 

 The Castle

 

 Replicas of house boats

 

 Part of the bridge.

 

 Luke climbing!

 

 Japanese lanterns lining the streets.

 

 View of the bridge

 

 Me trying to wrangle the children on the bridge and as usual lots of Japanese spectators looking at us. I often feel like we are an entertainment show here- loud, different looking, and crazy! The Gepford family came with us, so their two girls are pictured too!

 

 The view of the Kintai bridge from the Castle.

 

Ishigatani-kyo Gorge

A few weekends ago we decided to do some hiking. Since the daily temperature is still in the low 80s here we decided to head to the mountains to escape the heat. Ishigatani-kyo gorge is about 1 hour outside of Hiroshima. It is 7km gorge with waterfalls and streams and a nice wide walking trail next to it. The kids had a great time hiking, playing on the rocks, and wading in the river. When the leaves start to change colors, around early November, we will have to head back!