CHECK OUT THE NEW BLOG!

I have started a food diary that will show photos of our family meals and recipes. Here it is:

http://reneeshibuyarecipes.blogspot.com/

Sad Farewells....

The sunset over Kansai airport as we were waiting for Dad's plane to take off.

The really really last day...

Tuesday was the last day for Dad and Ludeen. Dad enjoyed a freezing day in the park with the boys helping them fly their kites. Then it was off to the airport....

The last day. Recording in the Studio...

My dance teacher is also a Karaoke teacher so we asked her if she would let Ludeen make a Cd in the studio she uses. She made the time for us, and it was a lot of fun listening to Ludeen record. After the recording she said, 'So, wanna make another one?'...! At first we said No, but I ended up saying, 'What the heck, let's make a silly one with all of us!'. So we did!! The dance teacher can't speak a word of English so we tried to pick songs she knew and ended up singing a couple of the Beatles songs. We had no time to practice and just winged the whole thing, but it was a lot of fun. For the album we took some photos in the garden and I have posted them below:

Sunday Lunch

On Sunday after church we went to a Chinese restaurant with some new Kiwi friends from church.

After lunch we headed up to Kobe to meet Vincent. Vincent is the one who bought our car for us...so it was nice to finally meet him!

Dance Class Dinner

We wanted to show Dad our dance, so we all dressed up and performed the dance for him, then went out to dinner. The name of the restaurant was 'Joyful'. Everytime we passed it Dad would say, 'Why is it called 'Joyful'?'. We said it was because it was so cheap that after you ate there you felt really joyful! So we finally took him there...and joyful we were!

Universal Studios Japan

On Monday we went to USJ for some fun. We had some JAL points accumulated and decided to use them to stay in the JAL Hotel in the Universal Studios Park. The one year pass was on special, so we all bought one. If you are coming to Japan this year let me take you there and you will get a discount! Ken and Jo had been looking forward to this day for months!!Staying in the hotel was a lot of fun. It meant we could go to the park for 2 days, and relax in the hotel in the evening.
We had enough coupons to afford a free dinner at the hotel's restaurant. The food was superb!





We also had a free buffet breakfast in the morning, which was great to get us fueled for another long day at USJ. The we picked to go was the first day for the kids back at school, so it was empty! We didn't have to wait long for any rides, and some of them we just walked on!
I think we got to go on every ride! Ludeen got to see the mini version of the musical Wicked. It was very impressive and moving. I rode on the new roller coaster with Dad, Shibby and Ken...but I HATE that first drop! really really really....but love the thrill after it!

Visiting the car yards

New Year's is the time to visit the car yards and collect your 'Fukubukuro' (Lucky Bag). They send out invitations with the New Year's cards and often have fun events going for the kids too. We had two places to visit, Yanase (the luxury used car-yard) and Honda. (They are actually next door to each other). We took two cars because the Yanase salesman wanted to see the car we ended up buying, even though we didn't get it through him.Dad and I about to 'take off'...

Here we are at the car yard. Waiting for our treats...looking at the cars afterwards is fun too. Ludeen fell in love with the new BMW hatchback.

Ludeen holding her red bean and mochi soup. I love it, but it is an acquired taste...

Time for a lottery...

Dad, 'Oh, look what I got!'...what was it again??


January 6th 2008

On the 6th we went to church. After church we went to an Italian Restaurant in Sakai.
Here we are on the bridge at central Sakai.

Ken and I decided to walk to the top of the observation tower....it was 21 floors! Looking a little puffed???

New Year's Traditions

On the fourth we went to ABC Housing. It's a huge park full of brand new model homes. New Year's is the time to go around the businesses and give a New Year's greeting. It is traditional to give out 'Fukubukuro' - special bags containing goodies, translated as, 'Lucky Bags'. We love to go around and collect these bags at different places that we have done business with during the year. Ludeen loved looking at the new houses too.

A Day at Mt Koya

On the third we took the train up to Mt Koya. It's a famous Buddhist town about 40 minutes in the mountains from our house. Mt Koya is the oldest Buddhist settlement in Japan, and was established in 819, and is a World Heritage Site. It is now the home of many temples that train Buddhist Monks, and a popular place for Japanese followers to come and worship. The charm of Mt Koya? It is high in the mountains so has the most beautiful scenery and is about 10 degrees colder than the valley. This means it is cool in summer and snowy in winter. The whole town functions for the Buddhist temple, so it feels like you are going back hundreds of years. There are no people on the streets after 6 pm because they are all in the temples having dinner. It reflects a deep part of Japanese culture.

Mt Koya WebsiteOn the train enjoying the scenery.

This is the cable car taking us to the top of the mountain.

What a slope!

Some of the trees there are a thousand years old. Dad was impressed with the size of them.

Icicles forming on the temple roof. We were so lucky to have snow the day we went, it had just snowed 3 days before we went there. It was a perfect day.

The water had frozen on the fountain as it came out.

Jo enjoying a snow fight.

The best thing about Japan, is finding a vending machine in even the most remote places. There is nothing more perfect than having a warm drink in your freezing hands on a cold winters day!

The corn soup is just what you need! Yep, that's corn soup in a can HOT! Yum!

Ken and Jo making snow angels in the snow.

The water on the lake had frozen over.

Jo and Shibby drove up together in the BMW. The road is very windy and tricky in places, Shibby had a ball racing the car up there without Renee throwing up beside him!

Yeah, there is nothing like snow to make the kids happy.

Ken enjoying a BBQ sweet potato....ouch ouch.hot!