Japan: Three relaxing days

The last three days in Japan Baby O and I stayed in Osaka to spend more time with family and J headed up to Tokyo for a work. We spent these three days just doing regular things.

One afternoon my brother, Baby O and I picked up cousin S from daycare and then played at the park.

Baby O wanted to go everywhere that Cousin S went.

The next day was the 4th of July. Cousin S had a program at his daycare that we went to in the morning. It was so cute! The parents helped with an art project and they kids had a short concert as well. We went to lunch with friends and had good old fashioned burgers and fries for dinner. It was a great 4th of July with family.

Daycare program

Baby O keeping busy

He always wanted to do what his cousin was doing!

On our last day in Japan we got to see Cousin S do some swimming. Then we did some bubbling blowing/popping before heading to the airport.

Cousin S is in the far right lane.

I know I said this before but I really had such a great time in Japan, it felt like we had visited home, not a foreign country. It was comfortable, relaxing, easy to get around, good food and so much fun!

And one last picture that perfectly sums up our flight home:

Japan: Osaka Castle & Museum

Our next day in Osaka was just J, Baby O and I, everyone else was at work or school. We decided to have a nice relaxing morning before heading out for the day. Our first stop was back to the Ramen restaurant that we had been to before. J LOVED it, I'm sure he would have eaten just ramen from this one restaurant the entire trip if he could have. The people remembered us and were so nice and helpful.

Next stop was the Osaka Museum of History. I didn't take very many photos on this particular day. But it was a nice day and the museum was pretty good. It had information about the city of Osaka starting in ancient times through present day.

Osaka Castle

After the museum we went across the street to the Osaka Castle Park. Osaka Castle was originally constructed in 1583, but was destroyed or burned many times over the years. in 1931 the present concrete reconstruction of the Castle tower was built. The interior has a museum of the castles history. It was interesting to see this castle, but it was not as impressive as Hemiji.

And a picture of Baby O, just because :)

Japan: Osaka Aquarium

I thought that I posted this a while ago, but I must have forgotten to hit publish or our China internet was acting up. Anyway, here is more about or trip to Japan from June! eek! Sorry it has taken me SO long to get these written and published. I have one or two more about Japan AND we have been to Xi'an and Hong Kong too. I've got to get busy!

After spending a couple of days in the Hiroshima area we took the train back to Osaka to meet up with my brother and nephew. After getting a quick bit to eat we were headed to the Osaka Aquarium. This is the first time that Baby O had been to an Aquarium and oh man did he have a good time! There was a lot of running and pointing and squealing.


Waiting for our train back to Osaka.

There were a couple attempts to get these two in a picture. This is the only one with both of them looking at the camera.

The center of the aquarium had this huge tank with a whale shark, stingray, manta ray and many other fish.

At the end there was a place where you could feel the fish. I am pretty sure this is Cousin S' favorite part.

Later that day Baby O and his cousin played with the mini pool and toys that Grandma A got them. One of the boys was very excited about splashing and getting into the water. One wanted to play a game without his little cousin in the way.

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He had a lot of fun with his oatmeal today!

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Baby O loves a fruit snack and he knows he isn't supposed to walk around with them. As soon as he saw it in my hand he sat right down.

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A few pictures from last week.

At the doctor....this was before three shots.

At Gymboree, we learned a couple of Hawaiian songs.

On the plane to Xi'an, China.

Japan: Miyajima Island

Our second day in Hiroshima we headed out to Miyajima Island. Well, it is actually called, Itsukushima, but it is also known as Miyajima which means the Shrine Island. Miyajima is about forty-five minutes outside of Hiroshima. There are a few options on getting to the Island (train, tram or boat) we went with the tram. Then we had a short ferry ride to the island.

Miyajima is most famous for the huge torii gate that appears to float on the water at high tide. I wish that we had timed our visit to see the full affect of this. The torii gate is part of the Itsukushima shrine, which is also built over the water.

This is the main shrine building at low tide.

After we walked through the Itsukushima shrine we walked around the island a little bit. We saw a few deer that live and roam free on the island. We also stopped at the Municipal Museum of History and Folklore of Miyajima. I couldn't take any pictures inside so I got a picture of the building. It was an interesting museum, though it would have been more interesting if I could read Japanese as there wasn't a lot of English.

History and Folklore Museum

There were a lot of deer, they didn't seem to be afraid of people and they were apparently hungry.

We had lunch and then headed back to the ferry. On our way back the tide was all the way out and we were able to walk out to and under the torii. It was neat to see if from that angle.

These are the biggest koi I have ever seen!!

We had a great time exploring Miyajima Island. We didn't take the gondola up to the top of Mount Misen which I wish we had done. But it started raining so it was probably a good time for us to head back to the hotel.

Japan: Hiroshima

After our busy weekend in Kyoto and Himeji, J, Baby O and I were headed to Hiroshima for a couple of nights. I truly enjoyed our time in Hiroshima. Our first day in Hiroshima was a very good day, but also very emotional for me. I felt uncomfortable taking a lot of pictures so I only have a couple from our day.

This month marks the 70 anniversary of the Atomic Bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. The above picture is of the 'Hiroshima prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall'. The A-bomb exploded approximately 600 meters above and 160 meters southeast of this building. It is now known as the A-bomb dome.

After seeing the dome we walked though Peace Memorial Park. The park is a memorial to the memories of the bomb's victims. There are monuments, museums and lecture halls that draw over a million visitors each year. As we were walking though the park a group of school children walked past and they were so excited to see us and say 'hello' and wave to Baby O. It was so sweet, but hard at the same time knowing the history of our location.

As we were walking up to the museum we came across the above group singing and holding paper cranes. Even though I couldn't understand what they were singing it was a beautiful moment to witness.

The last part of the memorial that we visited was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The English pamphlet gave this introduction to the museum: "The Peace Memorial Museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombing and others that present the current status of the nuclear age. Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima's deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of the genuinely peaceful international community" (found here). This was an intense and somber part of our visit. Many of items we saw were from children as there was a school near the center. I cried then and when I told friends about it and now. It was a humbling experience to say the least.

One last thing from our day in Hiroshima, our lunch, yum! We got okonomiyaki, which is a savory Japanese pancake. The Hiroshima style okonomiyaki has layers of batter, cabbage, pork belly, noodles and a little sauce on top. You can also get additional items, I added corn to mine. I really liked it, but Baby O and J weren't as excited. J said it had too much cabbage.

Japan: Steak & Himeji Castle

J's favorite part of my of our vacations is centered around the food. So while we were in Japan he had a couple of requests of food he wanted to eat while we were there. We both really enjoyed everything that we tried on this vacation. One thing he really wanted to get was a Kobe steak. When I told my brother this he immediately said we would be taking a trip to Steakland and I am glad that we did!


On our way to the train station.

Steakland is not a very big place, but it is very busy. We had to wait in line for about 45 minutes. Once it was our turn we were brought to our table which was a Teppanyaki station so we got to watch our meal being cooked. There were some sides and a couple of dipping sauces. I was so excited (and hungry) that I started eating before I took a picture, the one below is about halfway through, oops!

Delicious! Steakland is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

This guy didn't get steak

After lunch we headed to Himeji Castle. Unlike most of Japans castles Himeji was never destroyed by wars, earthquakes or fires. It has survived in its original form which makes it a national treasure and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle was recently renovated over several years and re-opened fully to the public in March of this year. A fort was built on this site in the 14th century. Over time and with many different rulers the site gradually changed and enlarged to the complex that exists today. The castle, with wooden interior, was completed in 1609.

This is the only picture of all of us that we got and Baby O isn't even looking!