fender bender.....

I had the terrifying experience of my first fender bender. This was the first time I had ever hit another car (and I HOPE it will be the LAST!). I luckily was near my friend Troy's house and called him. He quickly came to be my translator with the police and the guy I hit. It was a tiny accident and (also luckily) no one was hurt.

My poor Stella....


Just a little dent, right?


and that happened to the other guys car was a broken tail light...

(and he was driving a company car and could not have cared less that I hit it. It was already covered in dents. He was so sweet about the whole situation as I broke down.)


My poor car...


I had to scream "STELLA" (how could I not?)

just like mom's home cooking...

on 7/1

Troy called and invited me to join what is usually his Japanese lesson but turned into a cooking class for him. They had made this "fancy" style of cooking that is used for parties and celebrations.

First-may a layer of salt on the tray
Second-set the fish onto the pile of salt
Third-place a bamboo leave over the fish
Fourth-cover EVERYTHING in salt (and draw a fish in the salt)
Fifth-bake for about an hour

When the hour is up the the salt will have hardened and the fish will be SUPER tender.

Brake the salt open with a knife to reveal the delicious dinner....

Troy working hard to get us our food...

Success!!!


Side dish...(eel and octopus with caramelized onions...)

The whole table...

Thank you to our WONDERFUL hostess...

Visit to the doctor (6/25)

On 6/25 I had my first visit to the doctor!

I had been sick for about 3 weeks and thought it was about time I take care of it. I bribed my friend Troy to come along as my translator in exchange for dinner. After taking my temp the doctor handed me a mask. (First time ever wearing one! )

4 different prescriptions later and I feel brand new!

End of May-family visit (part 6-Niigata)

Our time in Niigata was very uneventful. We arrived on Thursday night and since I only have 4 days of vacation...I had to head to work on Friday!

I brought my parents along to my elementary school for a short lessons with my 2nd graders.

My parents were warmly welcomed by a sign and comfy slippers at the door...


We had a short lesson about animals and played a few games....


After school we ended my on a short walk of the local lagoon...(pretty but windy!)


We joined Martin and Chigusa for dinner at "kappa sushi." Everyone tried lots of new things (including natto-good work family!).


And we loved watching the sushi being delivered on the Shinkansen!


lots of plates later...


On Saturday we drove down (about 2 hours south) to the prefectural museum. It was a great place!


After the museum we went to the beach to see the Sea of Japan.


On Saturday day night we had set up a tabi-nomi-hodai with some of my friends. (an all you can eat/all you can drink for 2 hours) at a yakiniku (grilled meat) place. We were brought LOTS of meat and were to grill it right there.


There were lots of fun people...


And after some WONDER food and drinks we were ready for another drink at a local bar...


(It too a handful of beers and we were all about the Japanese style peace sign in pictures!)

(Sunday was spent sleeping really late to get over the hangovers....)

End of May-family visit (part 5-Kyoto day 4)

Our final day in Kyoto....

We had a half day in Kyoto before 2 Shinkansen rides (and 4 hours) back home (well...home for me). With our half day we visited the last 2 temples on our list.

We went to Sanjusangen-do. This temples is know for the 1001 statues of Buddhist deity. There are 1000 smaller statues of the Kannon (Important Cultural Properties) and one large seated statue. There are statues of the Thunder God and Wind God which people used to pray to them for a good harvest. The grounds on the outside were lovely too. There used to be archery contests where people would shoot arrows for 24 straight hours!!

We weren't actually allowed to take pictures here so here's one from the Internet...


After Sanjusangen-do we went to Kiyomizu-dera. I was told by co-workers this is the most famous temple in Kyoto-a must see.

This temple had a large balcony with a beautiful outlook over HUGE gardens. The main balcony:


These springs are flowing holy water. It is believed that if you drink from each of the three streams you will be able to make a wish...


This was the explanation...three wishes...fulfillment, health and long-life...


and one last photo...


Then 4 hours on the Shinkansen....here we come....

End of May-family visit (part 4-Kyoto day 3)

Another full day in Kyoto ahead of us....

On day 3 we started with Toji temple. This is a 5 story pagoda and is the tallest in Japan.



Kevin and I....


Then we went to Fushimi-inari. This shrine is known for having thousands of tori (the red gates). This place was, without a doubt, my favorite. I now want to go back and hike
This was the main shrine but we were unable to enter because there was some sort of ceremony happening.



Behind this main shrine were thousands of tori. You are able to walk through them. There is a 4km hike all through tori too.



There were other little shrines along the way too...


After our morning of two temples we headed off to spend the afternoon at "Movie Village." This was so fun! It is a village where they have set up an old edo style towns where many old dramas and movies are filmed. We were able to walk threw old style houses, the pleasure district, edo style shops and watch part of a filming for a drama.

The 4 of us sitting in front of a samurai house.


The streets of movie land...


Walking is just so tiring....


Kevin and a cute Japanese gal...



Awesome ninja and movie affects....would have been fun to try this!


And for our last night in Kyoto we stayed at a ryokan (a Japanese style inn).

Here is our room. The 4 futons were prepared and set out on the floor for us. The sweet inn taker brought us green tea and sweets. It was wonderful!



The garden off the back of our room...

End of May-family visit (part 3-Kyoto day 2)

Kyoto day 2 (the marathon!)

We started the day at Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) It was beautiful...


and family Christmas picture time...


Then we also went to Ryoanji Temple. This temple is known for it's famous garden. This garden is a very simple Zen garden. There are no trees, white pebbles and 15 large rocks. You are able to sit at the edge of the garden and are supposed to find something as you stare at it.


The whole temple had lovely gardens as well....


Our 3rd and last temple of the day was Ginkaku-ji (Silver pavilion). Though unlike the Golden pavilion, which is gold, there is no silver to be found. We actually found a temple under construction! The grounds were lovely and there was a small zen rock garden too.


Zen rock garden:



Japanese style garden: