JAPAN cherry blossoms!!!!!! hanami! 花見！

I took my granma to the TSURUMI RYOKUCHI park 鶴見緑地公園　in Osaka which is only about 20-25 min. away from

Osaka station.

 Hanami  (pinic under the cherry blossom trees)

        

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to meet at Noon and spend all day together

My granma is over 80 years old but she is very good in health (although she has a pace maker inplated in her heart so she has trouble breathing sometimes) and pretty happy.

we talked about different things over lunch and we headed to the park- @ this park, flower expo was held back in 1990 and she kept talking about her memories of the expo how crawded it was, and we found out that the park was almost empty since it was just a regular week day. We saw some young people or families but it was sooo quiet!

We walked around a lot and took a lot of pictures, granma tried taking my pictures but she gave up after one or two. ( she recently got a mobile phone which she complains every time she uses it- "its so sad to be too convinient")

anyways, we took this bench and just sat around and watched the sakura... it was such a beautiful time!!

Then we met this BEAUTIFUL dog

BOSTON TERRIER!!!!! I used to take care of this kind of dog with my host sister danielle back in Indiana, and so every time i see Boston here in JAPAN, i ALWAYS talk to the owners, no matter what. hahaha

and sine there arent so many of them they normally appriciate my interest in their dogs and we talk about their personalities and stuff   his name was JOY and he was such a cute dog, he posed for me when I said "joy, look at me!!"

well, since my granma has "disabled certificate" she can get into the places for free or less charge like public transportation, museums, movies, and all that, and luckily? I also can get discount @　 a lot of places when im with her as i am her "helper".

So normally, they charge us 500yen for adult @ the "sakuya konohana Museum"

 

And i saw a LOT of interesting flowers and plants!!

banana trees!

 

Orange hibiscus

Can you guess the name of this tree?       " Bottle tree"

 

cottons on trees! they let me touch them and it was soooooooooo soft. very different texture from

the cottons you get from the stores!!! they said that these are mainly used for stuffings like pillows and cusions!! it was soooo fluffy and soft!!!

 

Itwas a great day

 

 

 

 

 

 

桜 Cherry Blossom

やっぱり４月はこうでなくっちゃね！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！

JAPAN=Beautiful in Spring=Cherry Blossom!!!!!!!!!

I went to teach a a day care today, and even made it to the library to study for good 2hours ;>Around the library there are a lot of cherry blossom trees and it was just so beautiful!!!!

 

This is when I arrived ( around 430pm, still bright outside)

 

And this is when i left the lirbary ( before 7pm-dark, but very pretty with the outside light lighting the sakuras)

Its gonna be so nice to bring my degital camera with me every time i go out!!!!

A Happy New Year!!!

A Happy New Year to you ALL I spent my New years with my dad and granma... as usual! But i felt this was the best new years in many years since NOTHING BAD happened, and everyone was healthy, happy, and peaceful. Normal every day life maybe the happiest thing in life..... i DO MISS traveling though, and of course my love one in Taiwan... but spending a new year with my dad and granma is not replacebale :>

 

my dad and granma

 

   

New Year's dishes (osechi)

What's inside?  Can you guess?

Salmon eggs! which i hate. hahaha i hate the jelly thing inside... but its considered "valuable" food- its expensive!!

Tai- This fish is "pleasant" and often prepared for celebration- New years, New born, Marriage, Graduation etc..  So yum!

 

Let the Lobster opening ceremony begin!

                             　　　　↑ head off

                               YAY!!!

 

 

Popuar Names 2010

BOYS                     GIRLS

1. Haruto        1. Mei

2.Yuto                         2. Yui

3.Yuma                     3.Rio5.Taiga                      5.Sara

6.Souta                     6.Riko8.Riku                       8.Saki

7.Soma                    7.Haruka

 

9.Haruki                    9.Hina

10.Kotaro                 10.Momoka

 

This is the popular name ranking by Phoneticly (The sounds of the name is popular)

Here are the ranking for the Kanji(charactors) and the meaning.

BOYS

1位　大翔  ヒロト、ハルト、ヤマト、タイガ、ソラなど
2位　悠真　ユウマ、ハルマ、ユウシンなど
3位　翔　　　ショウ、カケル、ソラ
4位　颯太　　ソウタ
4位　歩夢　　アユム
6位　颯真　　　ソウマ、フウマ
6位　蒼空　　　ソラ、ソア
6位　優斗　　　ユウト、ヒロト
9位　大雅　　　タイガ
9位　颯　　　　ハヤテ、ソウ、ソラ

I notice there are a lot of Kanji charactors to do with nature, like

 風=wind 羽=wing, fly　空=sky 蒼= blue  and

                          大=big 歩＝steap forward, walk 優＝generous, kind

GIRLS

1位　さくら      サクラ
2位　陽菜      ヒナ、ハルナ、ヒナタ、ヒナノ
2位　結愛      ユア、ユナ、ユメ
2位　莉子      リコ
5位　美桜      ミオ、ミオウ、ミユ
6位　美羽      ミウ、ミハネ、ミユ
7位　葵         アオイ
7位　結衣       ユイ

9位　美咲       ミサキ
9位　結菜       ユナ、ユイナ、ユウナ

for girls, popular kanjis and meanings are...

美(prononced "Mi")＝beautiful

結（pronunced "yu")＝join, connect

陽（”hi")=sun

but im realy surprised the hiragana name is ranked NO.1!!!!! HOORAY! for Hiragana!

my name is あずさ　hiragana! hehehehe!! i feel kinda proud :>

 

 

 

 

4.Yuki                        4.Yuna

 

Snack time on my day off- Aomori Apple Denish from 神戸屋 KOBEYA- Bakery

Kobeya is one of my favorite bakery  神戸屋（梅田駅前店）

I have worked in bakery called "Henzel" which is also in Umeda (hanshin Department Store) the scale of the company is nothing compared to Kobeya...but i love their bread and coziness-and the price is awesome!!!-  this one, Kobeya- its a little pricer .... but but but but they have the best denish!! In Umeda station they always give you free tasting of different flavored pastories and bread, cake, etc... and Im not a big fan of sweets- but, when it smells SO good - plus you are just waiting for someone, cause, its in the station, you have a good excuse to get a piece of bread! OK, enough of my stupid excuse, so I tried tasting

青森りんごのデニッシュ　　

Aomori Apple Denish

YUMMY-!!!!! :)

Now off to the Post Office :>

 

 

 

I love Christmas

Osaka Bay- Kaiyukan (Osaka aquarium)

LED lights are so popular for the past couple of years!!!

blue and white... i do like the colorful lights better... for me blue is.... not .... christmas at all, but since its the biggest aquarium in Japan (i think.. maybe not, im not sure) ocean color, blue, is okay. i forgive it. hehe

 

farris wheels in the background

it changes colors!!!!!!!!!!!! PINK is only seen like every 15 min or something, its random, but we were lucky we got to see it three times!!!! only for like few seconds!!!!! every time it changed to pink, crowds went "ohhhhh!" and photos, photos, photos...

 

and dolphines in the back!!!!! so pretty!

実は、ピンクに変わるのを見れるのはたまにだけなので

じっとそこにステイしてカメラをかまえている必要がある！！

それができた瞬間みんなから歓声がおこります！！！！！！

すごい感激した★

 

 

 

 

そして、ランチに食べたトルコ料理！

Turkish lunch!!! It was delicious!! everything was sooooo good!!

1500yen and ALL YOU CAN EAT! my favorite was the HOT SAUCE. i could eat it all day everyday.

Bab-ul Hayat というお店です♪　天保山マーケットプレイスの中。

Looooooooooooove this kind of food!!

Japan is a convinient place, you can get a very very good food even at the convinient store, (some of the bentos are so delicious), of course the great sushi and sashimi, Yummy yakitori chickens, fresh vegitables, and

even the foregin fooooooood!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nagoya & Osaka (friends get together)

It was last month i went to Nagoya to visit my Best friends :)
One came from Tokyo and i came from Osaka (well, Amagasaki to be exact)
and we decided to hang out all day together in Nagoya - of course, for lunch we wanted to have
kishimen- special noodle from nagoya , its a bit like Fetecinni

It's ebi tempura on top- its cold noodle, but you can eat it all season:)

We always climb to the top of this building for a great view :) it was cloudy- but who cares? it doesnt matter how we met, when we are together- we have so much fun!!
we hadnt seen each other (i mean, three of us together) since... 2007 or 8?
we really havent changed, but for sure we got a little older... hahaha

After lots of talk, we decided to go for a coffee, but ended up having this.

its like coffee but with lots of milk, and its kinda buddly^^
Humongus cake is also special here, everyone loves it
has a BIG ice cream on top- if you love sweets, it is so worth trying :)

it wasnt long before we went into "Izakaya"- Drinking bar with great varieties of food- especially
friend chicken wings!!!!!!!!!! i just looooooooooove those chickens in Nagoya, they are THE BEST!
sorry i dont have the pictures from drinking-cause we were too busy talking, and drinking!

after leaving nagoya on the late Kintetsu Train- Toru came with me to my home
Although it was late, my mom and he enjoyed talking about lots of things it was somewhat like
a "family reunion" hehehe

Next day, i took him to kuromon ichiba, a fish market in Osaka.
I had done a quick check on the net and i wanted to ...
eat maguro don (tuna don)
but we had trouble finding the market... after asking around, we got to...

                            Real fresh WASABI!!!!!  1980 yen!
Im so curious how it tastes, wether it tastes different from the tube one.

after eating some sushi at the fish market, (we couldnt find maguro don for a decent price, so we decided to have sushi instead, then we bought some snacks like takoyaki, fried chicken here and there- we were full..;;)

after some shopping and walking around..
we were running out of things to do, and just as we decided to go back to Umeda, we saw there was a
"Hokkaido fair" - we ended up trying out some samples and free tasting :)

before his night bus to Tokyo leaves at 10pm, we thought killing time in Spanish Bar was a great idea :)
nibbled on Tapas- which were amazingly delicious and couple glasses of Sangria !!


those 2 days was a great holiday for me, surrounded by my friends, great conversation, lots of lots of food, and few drinks- awesome time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Things i don't tolerate!

people who put make up on the train!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Can you?

i mean, isnt "putting make up on your face" is something you do in the bathroom, a private area?????
Its not like it smells (someone eating on the train), or distracts my concentration ( someone talking so loud or their music soooo loud), but somehow
those girls who do that.... really, annoy me.

i understand, i try, to understand, if they are still young like high school girls, they are still self conscious, always cant stop checking themslevs out- i just feel, ok, they are still kids but

a lady i saw today- was at least my age -

she basically started with NO MAKEUP to a full "scary mask" hahaha
obviously too much makeup, and it was rather scary than pretty, whats the point really- how can you apply mascara on a moving vihecle, oh my goodness, its unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!


i remember taking little Shion (my former student) with me once, and he asked me
what the "Priority seat" meant. so i explained that the people in the picture would be the priority people for those seats. and i added, even if you arent sitting in those seats, you should always care about other people who might need help.

Then he looked at the priority seat and out loud, " BUT ALL THESE PEOPLE dont look OLD, they dont have any kids!! and men dont have babies, so why are they sitting?"
lol i was so embarassed, and told him, "sheeeeee, people might be really tired from work, so they are sitting"

and he was like
"hmmm. ok"


i know, its hard to understand!! hehehe!
even these days if i try to give seats to elderly, they sometimes refuse rather than accepting the offer and you are suddenly in the center of attention in a crowd
" WOW, yah, so you are like, superhero?" look.....


well... for me its very natural, and i would expect people to do the same, so i do.

family registration- 戸籍

A koseki (戸籍) is a Japanese family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households (ie) to report births, acknowledgements of paternity, adoptions, disruptions of adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces of Japanese citizens to their local authority, which compiles such records encompassing all Japanese citizens within their jurisdiction. Marriages, adoptions and acknowledgements of paternity become legally effective only when such events are recorded in the koseki. Births and deaths became legally effective as they happen, but such events must be filed by family members.


(this lady is only 76 years old, 100 years old... still has 24 more years!!)




I was watching the news today and it said that in Osaka city there were over 100 people who were registered to be 100 years old or more... one lady was registered as 127 years old!!!!!! did they find them alive!?!?! no- most of them were not found at all, either their houses were not there anymore and any related papers with the information of their kids or grandkids, residents, dont exist..... it is a problem - this means the city, doesnt recognize the existant of citizen!!!!!

OKAYAMA- Takebe no Mori 岡山県 たけべのもり

From Amagasaki-Himeji-Okayama-Fukuwatari
尼崎からは姫路、岡山を通り越し　福渡駅
へ。
ローカル線で、ローカル駅。
乗客も少なくて見渡す山ー山ーきれいな景色でなんか空気も澄んでる！


Took us about... 3 hours
! But it wasnt bad at all! nice chat, awesome view from our train, funny Bento box!!

because okayaka is famous for an old japanese foal tales MOMOTARO 8 the peachboy)
the lunch box is shaped like a peach!




we were so lucky to have a beautiful weather!


私たちはチェックインよりも早くついたので・・・
荷物を預けてプールへ！！
森を通って歩いて10分程。
この歩くのが、超暑いんだけど　トトロの世界にいるようですごい楽しかった！



景色が本当にきれい！！　空気もすんでて、暑いけど気持ちい！！




playing in a pool for about 2 hours, i got so tanned!! and we were so ready to take a shower, and ready for dinner!!!!!!!!!!

プールは、波のでるプール、子ども用のプール、丸いプール、スライダーなどあって
ファミリーでにぎわってた。波プールは、子どもにまじってかなりはしゃいで楽しんだ♪



初めてお部屋に案内されると
私たちの予約していたお部屋は
「絶景プラン」
その名のとおり　お部屋から見える景色は


Such a wonderful view!!!!!!!!!

Dinnerは洋食で　So Delicious!!!!
しかもレストランからのまた眺めが最高にきれい。
ビールも飲んで、すごいリラックスして満足度が大大大ありの食事ができました

部屋に戻ったらまだ　楽しみが残っていますー☆それはワイン風呂！アメニティーのシャンプーとかも超いいにおいで、アメニティコーナーでかりれる（無料）キャンドルとかをかなり使って超リラックスなバスタイム　ママも大喜び、私も最高の気分でした♪
after the greatest dinner, we still saved our fun in our room!!!! which is......

WINE BATH
of course for my mom and me it was the first time!!! it was so good!!! i felt "mottainai" to pout all the wine in the tub.. wanted to drink it! haha but it made our skin so smooth- and we felt so rich





お風呂がおわって、ラウンジにGO　ラウンジは自由に入ってよくてDVDなんかもおいてあります☆私のねらいは　


オセロなんかカントリー調なオセロがあってっ十分遊びました


ホテルはあらゆるところがきれいで、きもちよかったです。みんなていねいだし、すごくいいステイができた！ありがとう！








たけべのもり

住所 岡山県岡山市北区建部町田地子1569-24

アクセス 山陽自動車道岡山ＩＣより車で３０分、岡山空港より車で４０分、ＪＲ津山線福渡・建部駅より車で１０分。
大阪：
車以外／JR津岡山駅乗換え、津山線福渡駅下車、タクシー約8分
車／山陽自動車道を岡山方面へ～山陽自動車道岡山IC～国道53号線を津山方面へ約30分

広島：
車以外／JR津山線、福渡駅下車、タクシー8分
車／山陽自動車道岡山方面～山陽道岡山IC～国道53号線を津山方面へ30分



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