Ohanami at Himeji Castle

Ohanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers. The flowers, in this case, are cherry blossoms. Yesterday Jen, Lamika, Aaron, Oli and I all met up and went to Himeji Castle to sit on the lawn and enjoy the sakura. We brought a picnic, and played soccer and volleyball with a friendly group of teenagers. It was a fantastic day, and the weather couldn't have been better! I'm definitely going to the castle again, and walk inside and take more photos. It will be better (photographically) early morning or later in the evening.

I ate takoyaki, which a chunk of octopus, put in batter, and then fried. It's hard to explain, but I love them. No one else does. One of Jen's friends, Yuki, said I'm more Japanese than some Japanese people she knows! I do love the food here...
Lamika and I decided to try them. 8 for 500 yen. She did not like them. No one else would try them. I ate the 7 left. Oishiiiiii! Here is Lamika modeling the takoyaki like Vanna White.

Himeji Castle

Foreign Teachers!
L to R: Lamika from NY, Jen from FL, Me from NC, Oli from UK, Aaron from Canada

Yuki and I


Picnic in front of the castle

Everyone else had pretty much left by then...