Obon Week - Day Three - Himeiji Castle & Jam Session

On Monday, we went to Minatogawakoen to visit my apartment, and really see how small it is. Believe me, it's tiny. Then we stopped by my work in Myodani, and peered in the windows. Then it was off to Himeiji Castle via the Sanyo Line!

Mom and I in my apartment.

Mom and I outside my school!

Mom and Dad outside my school.

Lunch. I had Shaka Shaka chicken! Delicious. Also, you can see an advertisment for the Tamago Double Mac! Wooo!!! It's just a double quarter pounder with an egg on it (tamago = egg).

I thought Mom was taking a photo of Dad and I looking at the map, but she wanted a photo of the train attendants behind us out the window. Clever girl...

Mom and Dad on the way to Himeiji.

Dad

Mom was startled every time a train would pass us going the opposite direction. I did the same thing when I first moved here. You get used to it after a while.

Himeiji manhole cover. Very pretty.

Mom and Dad in front of the castle.

Dad and I in front of the castle.

Me climbing the castle wall. I almost pulled a loose rock out and destroyed the wall. It is pretty old...

Dad going up the forever-long staircase to get to the castle. It is a pretty good fortress.

Mom and Dad, halfway up.

Tall Dad had to duck. Me and Mom? Not so much.

Please check out his weak-ass peace sign. *sigh* Americans.... ;)

Taking a breather. It was super steep! But Dad kept assuring us, "It's all downhill from here". Technically, yes. It's also many stairs downhill from here.

View from the very top.

View from the very top. Ther's a sterrrrm brewing! (That's for you, BeccaFace!)

Mom makes it under the gate with ease!

As we were leaving, the blue sky started to show through!

Mom and Dad enjoying some well deserved beers on the train ride home.

We went to eat at another izakaiya. Unfortunately, I ordered chicken cartilage instead of fried chicken. Whoops... Mom tried it. Dad didn't need to after he saw our faces hahaha.

Mom - "COW-PIE!"

Dad getting ready to jam on Gordon's guitar at Trinity.

Dad and Paul making some music.

Dad, Paul, and Gordon.

Dad.

Obon Week - Day Two - Kobe Harborland & Chinatown

Sunday was a really overcast and rainy day. We decided to venture out anyway. We bought an all day pass for the Kobe City Loop bus line. We rode down to Harborland, and visited the Earthquake Memorial, the Port Tower, and happened upon a street festival.

Mom and I in the rain at the Earthquake Memorial.

Mom & Dad in front of the Port Tower.

At the top of the tower at a gift shop. These cats danced. To a Shania Twain song.

View of Kobe in the fog. My parents stayed at the Shin Kobe Crowne Plaza, which is the tall building furthest left.

Dad looking at the skyline.

Mom liked the pink pirate ship.

Dad liked the spaceship ride.

We had beers on the street and they tried takoyaki (octopus in fried doughballs). They didn't like it.

They did like the beer.

Drinking in front of police on the street.

Ladies dancing.

Dad really wanted to ride the shinkansen train.

This statue had gum in its mouth.

Can you spot the gross dish?

Waiting in the rain for the bus.

Nankin Machi (Chinatown).

Dad is super pumped to be hanging out in the rain.

We ate dinner at my favorite 280 izakaiya. My parents thought the food was really good. I taught my parents how to say "cheers!" in Japanese (kampai! ["com-pie"]). My mom said, "Cowpie!". How southern of her.... It was a good joke though, and Dad and I almost spit beer out of our noses.

Obon Week - Day One - Sannomiya

My parents arrived in Japan around 4pm on Saturday. I was still at work. I hadn't received a call from them, and around 6pm I started to worry. However, they safely made it to their hotel in Shin Kobe with no problems!
We ate dinner at a ramen restaurant in Sannomiya. Then we went to Papa's Bistro to listen to some music. Jeremy's son was having SO MUCH FUN playing the drums. That kid is cute.

Obon Week with my parents!

We have done SO MUCH TRAVELING this week! I have a bazillion photos (no joke) to edit and upload, so please bear with me while I do that. My parents leave tomorrow, and I'm going to miss them :(

Photos and descriptions within the week. Promise.

Wise Owl Glasses

I'm really excited to see my parents in a few days! Then I can stop taking photos of myself, and take photos of them.

They're going to be really jealous of my glasses, though....

This morning, I walked my bike over a few blocks to a neighborhood bike shop to see if they could fix the flat tire I incurred late Sunday evening. This is the conversation we had:

Shop Owner: おはようございます! (Good morning!)
Me: Good morning!
SO: 何かお困りですか？ (How can I help you?)
Me: *points to flat tire* Kore wa... (This....) ppppffffffffffttt *air escaping tire sound effect*
SO & Wife: hahahahaha. 私はあなたのために修正することができます。(I can fix that for you).

I love Japan for the simple fact that most language-barrier-induced situations can easily be remedy through a subtle application of pantomime and sound effects.

Thowing Ninja Stars

On Sunday, Jen and I met up with Lamika in Osaka to check out a photo exhibition. The photographer, Gary McLeod, is a British man who took hundreds of portraits of English teachers living in Japan. (More info here) It was pretty awesome! There was a young guy manning an information table, so I asked him a few questions. Turns out, he was Gary McLeod. Nice guy.

We ate lunch at a mall in Osaka-ko, and Jen showed up where you can throw ninja stars. In the mall. It was AWESOME. We all did. Lamika took a video on her camera.





Then, Jen and I came back to Kobe and went to the beach. It was nice! We stayed there for quite a bit, and had a lot of fun watching fireworks.

Here are some photos of toys I've gotten recently.

Ninja Hello Kitty from Osaka-ko. She has a sword on her back too.

Bert and Ernie!!! In yukatas! Toys from green tea at Lawson's. I love Bert and Ernie. Four eyes, one eyebrow....

Hello Kitty (again) as a baseball player from the movie "The Rookies".

Snoopy on a salmon and rice sushi piece.

One of my favorite toys! I got this gem in Nagoya when I visited Ken and Heather. It's got the parts of the chicken labeled (in Japanese, of course).