Fushimi Inari & The Golden Temple

Fushimi Inari is a shrine dedicated to the fertilization of rice and how plentiful it is in Japan. These hallways are adorned with beautiful torii (a Japanese gate). There are literally hundreds of them! Each one, donated by a family or a business. 

These are well-wishes or prayers from individual people. A very beautiful display of hope I think! 

This is the famous Golden Temple. It was founded in 1397 and is covered in gold leaf. Absolutely breathtaking! The Buddhist temple & surrounding gardens was a functioning villa to house emperors at one time. Kyla and I got to ring the gong (for a small price) before we entered the park. Pretty amazing!

We had mancha (cold green tea that's frothy like the texture of a cappuccino) and a a special red bean cake that had a gold leaf on it & a picture of the temple. You can tell Kyla wasn't crazy about the tea, but she loved the cake!

Nara & More Delicious Food!

Today we went to the city of Nara to see the Todaji Temple, the largest wooden structure in the world. It houses a Buddha that is the size of the building - made of cast bronze along with other beautiful statues. Amazing! Here, Naoto was teaching Kyla how to properly cleanse her hands before going into the temple. Too cool!

This temple is also known for the deer surrounding it. They are everywhere and not a shy bone in their bodies! You can pet them & feed them. Long ago, they were called the Messenger of the Gods. Kyla was a bit frightened at first, but really warned up to them quickly! Check out this next photo...

Funny, right?! They even sell "deer shit" (their words not mine) as a souvenir...of course it's not real, it's chocolate covered peanuts to look like the real thing! Hah!

When we got home, we got the pleasure of making homemade gyoza (potstickers) and Okonomiaki (a really yummy pancake like food with veggies & seafood in it)! I wrote down the recipes so I can practice at home too! Yay! 

Hard To Say Sayonara, So We Say Mata Nae (See You Later)!

Today we went to a kids water park that is pure spring water from the base of Mt. Fuji. It was really beautiful and super cold, but felt great on a hot day like this! Kyla and all her cousins had a great time - even the adults got in! :) We saw the source bubbling from the ground! Super cool! 

It was also the second day of the summer festival in Numazu. They had a big parade of the taiko drums that Kyla was absolutely mesmerized by! Everyone was waving fans, carrying shrines and dancing in the streets! It was great! 

Another great dinner and celebration together! Our cousin Hiromi just got engaged to her boyfriend Yuki so we had a big party and cake for them as well! We had 31 family members here in this photo (and that's not even everyone)...new connections for Kyla and precious memories we will never forget! Arigato Gosiamasu (thank you very much), everyone! 

Had to get a family shot in our yukatas, of course! And yes, amazing fireworks again! 2 nights in a row! What a treat! Our family here has been so welcoming and generous, the rest of all of this was icing on the cake! Obviously, there were many tears saying goodbye in Numazu (especially to Oba-chan and Oji-san), so instead of "sayonara," we say "mata nae" (see you later). Love you all! Off to Kyoto now!

Family Reunion!

This is Oba-chan (Taro's Grandma) from Numazu modeling the robe we got her! Man, I hope I look like that when I'm 94! She's amazing! From cooking delicious food to making all kinds of traditional Japanese art! Oji-chan (Grandpa) is doing well too at the ripe age of 97! Unfortunately, our Japanese iPad lessons we did for the past few months didn't pay off as we expected, you can still tell that they are such sweet people with tender hearts! Our understandings are much better than last time, although we only understand every 10-15 words or so. At least we know what they are talking about :) Love in any language, right?!

Here is an example of an everyday meal that is prepared at the house when family comes to visit. Amazing, right?! And oh so tasty!!! Kyla is doing really well with eating...she's trying it all!

These are Kyla's adorable Japanese cousins she met for the first time! They are so sweet in taking Kyla's hand and explaining everything to her in Japanese although Kyla doesn't understand a lick of it, she's soaking it up! I think by the end of the two weeks, she'll definitely pick some up! I think kids teaching kids another language is a great way to learn because it's not intimidating or overwhelming, it's in a very kind and gentle manner. 

Had to share this, it's an adorable shot of Kyla and Daddy enjoying the fireworks in their traditional yukatas for the summer festival! She was really frightened at first, but grew to love them by the end! You think America has great fireworks?! You've got another thing comin'! They lasted a full hour! For the finale, we all piled into our hotel room where we had the perfect spot, and this next shot is....

PRICELESS! :)

Konichiwa!

We made it to Japan and Kyla traveled great! This is the view from the Royal Park Shiodome in Tokyo. She loves our room and loves the city! We fell asleep at 8pm (earliest I've ever gone to bed) and we all were wide awake at 3:30am! Hah! Perfect time to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market and have the freshest sushi of our lives for breakfast! Oyi-shi (yummy)! 

I can't believe we missed the auction of the big tunas even though we were up so early! I really wanted Kyla to see it! Fish 6-8 feet long (yes I said FEET!) that go for tens of thousands of dollars! Taro and I saw it our first trip to Japan, but the pictures got lost in transferring them somehow. Ugh! It's really funny to see this little Japanese man standing on a wooden box, talking at the speed of light, and every once in a while you can catch a "Hai! Hai! Hai" (Yes)! I guess they do it earlier in the summertime so all of the sushi chefs from all over Tokyo can buy fish, cut it up and have it ready for breakfast first thing in the morning.

 I did, however, catch a (blurry) shot of one of the carts they drive around the market.They use ice picks with 2-3 strong Japanese guys to pick up the fish and put it on the cart and drive back to their restaurants. It's a really funny looking vehicle...like the motor of a lawn mower and a barrel as a gas tank with a massive steering wheel and pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way! Haha! 

So as we speak, we're on the bullet train going 300 miles an hour! We're on our way to Numazu to see Taro's family and the summer festival! Yay! Sayonara!

And We're Off!

Amazingly enough, we fit all of our luggage into 2 small bags, a backpack, a diaper bag, a stroller and my purse! I honestly don't know how we did it! Basically, we packed for 2 weeks and will wear everything 4 times! Whoa! That's a lot! We made it to the SFO safely and waiting to board the plane! "Oh, the places we'll go!" I can't wait! 

Just a few weeks away!

As some of you might know, my family and I are about to go on an amazing trip...the longest trip we've ever been on! 8 weeks. Yup, I said it...and it's going to be the trip of a lifetime! Thanks to Taro's 2nd Intel Sabbatical and a ton of airline miles we've accumulated, we will be traveling to Japan, South Korea, Dubai, Singapore, Australia & the Fiji Islands! We are SO excited! Now the challenge?! Packing. Taro says we have to pack light because we have to carry our bags everywhere, a stroller and our little angel, of course! Aye yai yai! For a girl who loves her shoes, bags and overall fashion, that's gonna be difficult, but definitely a challenge I'm up for! So follow along for all of our adventures in the next coming weeks! There's sure to be a lot of them! Pray for safe travels and loosing NONE of our luggage! ;0)