Japan trip 2014 - Portuguese reunion in Nara

Monday, the 11th of August

The day after spending 3 days away was obviously one to rest/spend time with the family so that's what we did. I took this opportunity to cut my daughter's hair a bit because it was too long especially in the front. I actually kinda cut a bit shorter than I had hoped but she's so damn cute that everything looks adorable on her and it ended up looking rather cute.

After that It was time to clean the room a bit. I always put away the futon etc but once in a while it needs to be aired and the room needs to be cleaned as well. Fortunately Mari loves helping out. I hope that will continue when she'd older. :P

And here's what I got on the third day:

1. stationary, i always buy too much of it
2. masks i have not used yet
3. toothbrush for Mari
4. two chairs for my blythe dolls
5. some fake flowers for hand made projects
6. I love these... decorations in metal for my dolls, aren't they beautiful?

Dolpal event goodies:
1. How to do faceups by volks
2. Faceup intro kit, basic tools for a first try
3. free catalogues/ event tickets/ cookies/choco

That day we also had a visit! My sister in law Yoko and her husband came over for a visit so my inlaws arrived with a ridiculous amount of food!

For those wondering, we were 6 + Mari
1. Sushi sushi and more sushi
2. salad
3. kentucky fried chicken
4. japanese stew Oden
+ Beer, always!

I loved it, and my father in law actually ordered an extra side salmon sushi because its my favorite.

After eating like a mad woman we actually decided to go to to a Karaoke place, me, my husband, his sister and her husband. It was my first time in a japanese karaoke... and it was fun and weird and unconfortable too. The place looked really super fancy. We got a box and then realised the air conditioner was not working, when we reported it they told us to use the fan (what?) so we were very unconfortable at some point haha, it was fresher in the corridors. Anyway the drink bar option made it easier to handle, i just got more and more ginger ale to get cool.

So I realised I no longer know any japanese songs by heart and since they do not offer the romaji subtitle option and I cannot read kanji i couldn't sing any.
I went for corny 80's stuff that I love like maddona, a-ha, Duran Duran.... my husband sang a couple Kamen Rider songs and that was funny (but he takes it seriously and does it so well we had so much fun!), my sister in law did some Shiina Ringo songs too which I love and is further proof that she rocks and her husband sang a bunch of songs that apparently I should know but do not which made me feel a bit embarrassed. I should research more and go back to listening to japanese music.
Now, there is a video of me singing like a virgin and it will not be posted (are you nuts? haha) but we forgot our camera home so there are no photos unfortunately.

My father in law dropped us home and we relaxed for the rest of the day. We might or not went jogging, I do not remember.

Mari at this point got addicted to listening to japanese baby songs and is now singing in her own version of japanese. She will randomly start singing the anpanman song for instance haha the guys at her kinder garden will go "what song is that?!".

Tuesday the 12th of August

We had rested one day and so we were going out again. I have a very dear friend living in Japan. He is Portuguese and we studied and lived together for a while too. I have known him for longer than that so you can imagine. We are sort of alike and get along well. I really like him and I hope we never lose touch because he really is important to us. His name is Pedro and he was living a bit far from us, you might remember him from last year's japan trip since we met in Fukuoka, but he recently moved a bit closer to us so we had to meet. 

Since it was around the time for holiday in Japan he was free to come over to Nara to meet.

Breakfasts this year were always tasty but a bit repetitive which is fine when the food is good! haha I love that ham too. The only thing I'm not a fan of here is the tomato, because i like tomato more when its hard and even green and sour haha (i know, i'm odd) and the jam because i'm not a big fan of jam in general so i probably used butter instead. I always miss american coffee when i'm home, we do expresso in Portugal, not so much american coffee but i guess i could always make an effort and get a machine to make some haha.

My breakfasts in Japan were super balanced. I should continue this here but i never seem to have time of inspiration.

These are the Jr railway machines, I really like that thing under the teddy bear, you can just drop the coins and it will automatically count the cash for you. I wish we could just drop coins in every machine here, its so much easier. haha

Mari took this bear with her, his name is Luisinho, my mother named him and she recognizes by that name so...

Almost every touristy place has a stamp thing going on which means you can just get a piece of paper stamped with something that reminds you of that place later on, i think its pretty cool so Mari did one.

Japanese people love stamps i guess..

This is a shot of the Nara train station. It's not the station used today, that would be the building appearing on the left but the old one. They wanted to take it down but apparently people were against it so now its used as an tourist and information post of some sort. I think its adorable.
The people in the blue shirts were singing or something when we arrived, apparently they are from some religious cult, there are a few in Japan, some are even very political.

Nara's former train station

I thought there was something odd about Nara being the town of the deer walking around and this store having a sort of embalmed deer at the door. I've got a dark sense of humor so it just seemed like an interesting contrast and therefore there's a photo and I am posting it.

might be a doll, same impact though.

To get to Nara park you have to go through a shopping street and then eventually go by this station, which is for the Kintetsu line. This is the line my friend would be taking to arrive and was therefore our meeting spot.
We arrived a bit early so there was time for coffee! Yay (plus in the summer waiting outside is not a good idea, its too hot.

I remembered going to Mr. Donuts when we were there last time and its nice because the items are not very pricey and for some reason there's always seats available and there's also a smoking area and I was feeling like having a smoke which I did very little of this trip, especially since in Japan its kinda hard to smoke outdoors, you have to stand in specific smoking areas which means you have to look for one if you feel like it. If you are addicted to the substance and need to smoke then you are a slave to this. As I only enjoy an occasional cig I only do it when there's a place next to me and if i feel like it. 

I had iced coffee and a donut, not any sort of donut, a Calpis donut. It tasted just like it, it was funky!

After being reunited with our friend (and all the hugs and the "YAY portuguese people!" comments) we started walking towards the park.
We had scheduled to meet here for two reasons: deer (Mari likes them and so do I, don't you?) and the Nara Tokae festival aka lantern festival.

I don't need to add a comment, everyone remembers this sign from last year. I always laugh when i see it. 

 When you are in the area deer are basically everywhere, so the first moment you arrive there you'll see them. Mari was actually quite cozy around them and people were saying "omg cute... she's kinda fierce" (aka doesn't she know that deer are a bit scary and might attack you?). I tried to keep her away from adult deer because those are the ones who usually are more agressive but one of us were always need just in case. 

There are also a lot of huge koi fish in the ponds there. I love them , they are beautiful but i heard they can chop your finger off if they bit, is that true?

We then reached the area with the lanterns. There were two types: the first ones in bamboo ornaments hanging above the floor, very traditional looking and a lot of these plastic sort of cup looking containers.

The plastic ones apparently are placed and removed every single day at this time of day for the entire duration of the festival which is of around a week? There are a lot of volunteers that help with this process. The containers are empty and then they need to be filled with water and later a candle is placed inside. At around the festival time the candles are then lit by the volunteers as well. There's a ridiculous amount of work and effort in order for the park to look nice and the festival to take place.

Since there was still time for the lanterns to be lit we decided to go to Todaiji for a stroll.

For those of you who do not know, Toidaiji is probably one of the most famous temples in Japan. It has the biggest bronze Buddha statue in the world and it is also one of the biggest wooden structures still present today. Its pretty awesome, I have grown a bit numb to temples because of how many I have seen I guess but I never fail to be amazed with Todaiji because of it, the entrance, the deer, everything, there's something special about it somehow. 

One of the temple entrance guardians.

We could not go in because it was closed (and you also need to pay to go in and we went in last year) but we took a familly photo in front of the gate, Pedro took this one for us, thank you.

Eventually it started getting darker and the lanterns were finally lit by the volunteers, it looked like it would take forever but they did it really fast actually.

What they look like inside

How stunning is this?

We then decided we should eat something. Someone had given up the flyer for a bar nearby and we thought about checking it out but we wandered forever and did not find it so we gave up.
We had a kebab but it was not like any kebab i had before, a fake kebab, it wasn't very good to be honest.
They had stall for food everywhere, even starbucks had a stall, i kid you not!

What japanese people see as being a Kebab. Someone behind me commented on how they loved italian food. Humm,, yes.  :X

Nara famous Kofuku-ji pagoda at night, beautiful, isn't it?

All along the way back there were lanterns here and there, it was beautiful, very romantic even.

So we just walked back, had a snack (Mari was starting to get hungry so we had to feed her of course) and then hanged out for a bit before saying goodbye to Pedro. I only get to see him every other year but now that he is closer it'll be easier to see him when we go to Japan.

Mari likes Pedro very much and he's quite good with children, not sure if because he teaches or has taught little kids or because he is a natural but either way he is good. I am impressed. 

It was kinda hard to say farewell but it cannot be helped. He was going on vacation alone after that and I know he had a blast. I miss you Pedro and I love you, thank you for being there for us all the time. <3

Then we just walked back to the station and went back home. It was late and everyone was a bit tired.
I also bought something, my nails had to be shortened and therefore i needed to remove the nail polish and re-do it so i got this shade at a convenience store.

ParaDo nail polish, its a tiny bottle but its enough for what i needed, i should have taken some with me but didn't. They are affordable so it was ok. I think they are around 360 yen or something which is 2.60 euro. 

And that was it. I hoped you enjoyed yet another post about my trip to Japan, please comment if you read it, I appreciate it.

I shall post very soon because I need to take my mind off some things.
Love,
Jo

Japan Trip - Day 3

So we woke up and decided to take a shot at the onsen. As I have a big "yakuza type" tattoo on my back (that is what my husband calls it and what average japanese people see it as) I cannot use most onsen but the hotel seemed rather calm and it was 6am so we just went with it. In the corridor we bumped into Yoko who came with me and explained how to behave in such places and how to use it properly. I discovered that I already knew everything i needed to know haha. I also do not feel comfortable undressing in front of other people but that couldn't be helped.
As expected nobody came in and i had a very relaxing time, it felt great!

After that, we went back and got ready for breakfast. Breakfast was japanese style so to some it might seem a bit odd. Again, the huge parade of plates.

This is actually not only traditionally japanese but also has a local feel to it.

We got in the car and started driving deeper into the japanese country side. There is almost nothing there and everything seems absolutely plain. The streets are mainly very narrow and the houses seem spacious and have that tradition japanese feel to them.
Finally we got to my husbands late grandmother's house. One of his uncles lives there now. We got in and everyone took their turn in the shrine to pray to her including myself. The house is pretty much what you see in the movies, sliding doors leading everywhere, cut wood carves and traditional paintings and photographs. It was very pretty, I really like it.

This is the room where the Buddhist altar is placed. I would call it a living room as well but japanese houses do not classify their rooms and divisions like we do. It's a room.

The entrance of the room. As you can see there's a ton of sliding doors everywhere.

These are a sort of doll collection. Every time a male boy is born someone buys a doll to celebrate this happy event. There are also some other items. The top right vase was a gift from my in laws wedding.

An indoor window with wooden carvings.

This is what the house looks like from the outside. You can see my husband's uncle carrying water that will be used to clean the grave later.

The small garden also has very pretty flowers. I'll just leave some photos.

Some pretty Kaede tree leaves, I love all the red trees you see in the scenery right now.

A gorgeous Tsubaki tree with a ton of flowers. We have these in portugal too, we call it "Camelia".

We then got out and left by foot, we were going to pay respect at the family grave. The place is filled with bamboo and its very clean and simple unlike what happens in cemeteries in Portugal. For instance if a grave is left abandoned here someone will still keep it clean so everything looks good altogether. I think that is amazing.

Everyone heading over to the family grave. My husband, mom and my beloved sister. Ah and dad in the back.

Bamboo, i just don't see it very often.

We left and spent some time indoors, sipping tea, eating snacks and just reminiscing over the "old days" while flipping over an album containing almost only my husband's childhood photos.

I really like that everyone has their name on the front door. I don't think anyone does that in my country other than country side villas sometimes being named after their owners like "Maria villa" or something.

Lovely tea cup with my favorite green tea and some adorable wrappings containing sweets.

It was now time to say goodbye and so we hit the road again. The area is really calm and all one can see are never ending fields. It is all also very flat, a lot flatter than at home.

Japanese country-side. Scenery after harvest season.

So... my father in law's hometown is special. It has got a very peculiar name. It has been called like this for a long long time, longer than the other place that goes by that name. My father in law was born in USA. Because they are quite aware of the funny factor there now is they made a stop at the local station.

Usa train station

We went to visit the Usa shrine which is actually one of the most famous Shinto shrines in Japan. On the way to the entrance I found this poster on one of the stalls that shows just how much they embrace the whole "thing".

Area map

Heading to it we had to cross a bridge, I came across a stall that had food for Koi fish and my husband got me a bag. One of the interesting things about it is that you can actually open the box take out a bag and just not put any money in there like you are supposed to... but this is Japan and its also a shrine and nobody will do such a thing. Isn't it amazing? I always think these things are amazing... anyway I looked down and GOSH what huge koi fish! I bet they would just detach your fingers from your hand in a couple of bites! So I just started throwing food. It was relaxing and fun.
Suddenly... an somewhat unexpected predator appeared... a duck. This duck just took off from its local group (which was pretty far away) and very quickly started stealing all the food we would throw at the fish!

We finally got over that moment and started going up through the gates and trees. I'll leave you with some photos.

Family portrait at the temple gate.

I love this photo.

Mom got a bit tired afterward since there were so many stairs.

Hyotan. You put in a paper with what you wish for inside and just hang it up there.

Ema hope plaques. It works just the same way. You buy one, write down what you wish for and hope that the deities will grant you your wish. There is often a drawing of the sign for that year on the other side, hence there being so many cute bunnies.

One of the altars at the shrine. Each one is dedicated to a specific deity. Dad made a monetary offer to the three and we praid at each one of them. Some bowing and clapping involved.

The tree of god. Touching it brings good fortune so I touched it like mad after taking this photo.

Very tall staircase a bit scary. Apparently it is often used as a training place /sports.

My fortune (Omikuji). Apparently I got a good one, yay!

I placed it next to the millions of papers placed there. I hope it works out.

O-sake, yes! Apparently sake makers send their sake as offerings ib those huge containers. There's also the name of money givers... some of them have given millions of yen.

Pretty random but I love the different designs on these depending on the area. I find them to be extremely pretty.

After this we got back in the car and headed over to Fukuoka. We went to visit my husbands grandmother (mother side) as she is currently ill. She hadn't seen him for a bit, living abroad seems quite painful for the whole family. She was adorable and she made me teary. I'm not going to go deeper into this.

We then left towards Fukuoka's main station, Hakata where we were meeting with a friend. Of course everyone else had to go back to Oji for work related reasons so we all went our separate way.
We still had a bit of time left so we put our bag in a locker and explored Hakama for a bit. The Christmas lights outside were rather pretty.

Main gate - Hakama city

Some christmas lights outside.

A closeup. So pretty!

Seriously all the stores look so amazing at Christmas time here, it makes me a bit sad because they're not even a mainly Christian country and they put my own country to shame in what concerns this.

We basically spent our spare time at the bookstore where i got a bit carried away and spent more on magazines than I ever did. I went to look for a magazine a girl in the pt doll communities asked for but couldn't find it.

And then we met with my dear friend, Pedro. I've known him for a long long time and then he came to study at my university and graduated in the same area as I did a year later. His goal was always to go and living in Japan so i'm really happy that he is currently living there.

haha this photo really captures his personality, I love it!

We had sushi at a pub. It was hard to pick a place to eat, geez. It was pretty average though. :P

I suppose i should be ashamed of myself but truth is I love awkwardness. They have a heart in their shop - scary. No amount of "" will make me think otherwise.

I missed him, you never know how much you miss someone until you see them again I suppose. I can't wait to see him again next time I'm here.

After that we just said goodbye with a lot of hugging involved of course and went to a nearby hotel to get some sleep. I also took a small shot of what i bought/got that day. I know you guys want to read about that too.

Mom gave me this,she knows i love school bags and since i can't buy a real one or do not have an actual use for one, she got me a mini version at the shrine.

Those are the magazines I got. I've got to admit that my favorite is the doll one. I know that it might not be good news for lolita but its true. Sorry lucy!

And that's it for day3, I hope you enjoyed reading about it. These take soooo long to write gosh. I'm already so far behind!
Love, J