The day we did not go to Yanai

On our way back from Nara, we saw posters of what seemed to be a very very impressive festival! The Gold Fish festival of Yanai! So the next day, we decided to head out that way. It was far about 3-4 hours from Osaka, but it really looked like it would be worth the trek. So we took a very early over packed Shinkansen... We had no seats, so we had to stand for close to 2 hours, with a baby in my boba.... Not fun.... but hey! We really wanted to go! 

We passed Hiroshima and kept on going towards Yamaguchi... and then... the rain... Not just a little bit of rain.... torrential down pour. So much rain that our connecting train stopped running because of severe track flooding. So we waited for close to 2 hours... just in hope they would reopen the seaside track. No luck... So we headed back towards Hiroshima unsure of what we would do next. Talk about a long trip for nothing.

 

In Hiroshima the weather was nicer, but by fear of getting stuck in an over crowded train in the evening, we kept on going toward Osaka... But once we got to Mihara station, a lot of people got out. We were curious... why would so many people, all stop in such a small place... so we got out as well. Turns out there was a Octopus festival on that day! So we joined in the fun and ate grill octopus arms for lunch...

Then we went back on the train and stopped in Fukuyama to take some pictures with the very nice castle...

And later that night we finally made it back to Osaka...


Not the day we had planned, but we had lots of fun still!

Nara

After our very emotion filled day in Hiroshima, we headed out to another one of my favorite city in Japan, the historical city of Nara. While planing for this trip, I was really excited by the prospect of bringing Hudson and Tristan to Nara... The city with the deers crossing at the intersection (while obeying the pedestrian signal...) But after our little mishap with the deers in Miyajima, I started to be a bit more concern about having to face hundreds if not thousands of deers in the city. So we headed out in mid-morning and got there right at lunch time.

We first grabbed lunch, and since Hudson decided she ONLY wanted to walk, it took us all afternoon to make the trek to the Daibustu temple. By the time we got there, it was closing but we managed to sneak in with the last few people. The place was so empty it gave us great opportunities to take lots of pictures. 

 

And that is pretty much the only think we saw in Nara... We had plan on temple hopping, but with an eight months old baby that only wanted to walk, it slowed us down tremendously. Still we had a blast as Hudson tried to catch deers, and even fed one.

Senbazuru for Hudson : Part III

Going to Hiroshima was a very important part of the trip. If you have been fallowing this blog for a while, you will without any doubts be familiar with the senbazuru  and Sadako’s story. Well, it was finally time for us to put a happy ending to our story. On the afternoon of August 10, we made our way to Hiroshima memorial park with not 1000 paper cranes but a suitcase full with 2500 paper cranes! With us, we had the paper crane for the baby I miscarried, but we also had 500 papercranes from the Tsunami relief fund’s fundraiser my sister organise, and another 1000 papercranes made by Ayumi’s kouhei for a Kyudou tournament. 

As it was time to say goodbye to our birds, I found myself overwhelmed by the whole situation. In a way, I was overcome with happiness, as I watched Hudson ring the bell of the monuments. But part of me was also devastated by what we had been through. We took many, many pictures. As it was finally time to hang the birds, I was having a hard time not crying. Leaving the birds behind was like saying goodbye. It was the end of a nightmare.  It was the last step I needed to come to term with the loss. 

 




There are still 2000 papercranes remaining in Hudson’s room. They are HER cranes. I hope one day, when she is older, she will make that same trip and go hang her birds. Until then, we do intend on making 1000 more for each of our kids.

I also hope, that in the future, we can, as a family, make a 1000 birds a year for the monuments, starting on October 24^th of each year. 

 

Afterall, Hudson was born at 12:53pm on October 24^th or 12:53 am on October 25^th Japanese time. October 25^th… the same day Sadako died in a Hiroshima hospital.

Please take a minute and watch this video.

A sunny morning in Miyajima!

We got up early on the morning of August 10 and took the shinkansen for Hiroshima. Upon arriving, we made our way to Miyajima first and for the first time ever, I was able to enjoy the sight, under a bright blue sky. No torrential rain, no mudslide… beautiful sunshine! We walked around for a bit and took lots of pictures. In front of the giant floating Tori, as we were taking pictures, we ran into a bunch of deer. (Yes deer just run amongst the tourists there).  What we were not expecting, was that Tristan was going to get attack by one of them… so let’s back track…

Early that morning, we got up and had breakfast (salmon, rice, miso soup)… but we were running a bit late and feared we might end up missing our train (and we did), so since Hudson was not done eating, I quickly wrapped a piece of the fish and threw it in Tristan’s pocket (without him even noticing).

Coincidentally, Tristan but both of our Japan rail pass in that same pocket and we made our way to the train station.

Fast forward back to Miyajima… The deer must have smelled the fish and dove into that pocket. I watched in horror, as the deer took a strong hold of our japan rail pass. Carrying Hudson in my Boba, I pounced on the deer and started pulling on the pass trying to get it out of its mouth. At the same time, a Chinese family from Minnesota (who were kind enough to take family pictures of us earlier) started trying to distract the deer away from the pass while two Japanese young man hold on to the back of the deer so it couldn’t take us in the mountain. A very awkward sight! Let me tell you! Tristan was just frozen there in complete surprise! He was still holding his camera and just could not even understand what had just happened! Then it struck him, if the deer suddenly let go of the pass, it could easily be flung by mistake in the ocean…  but before the deer could do anything, I finally got the pass back! What a relief!

After that incident, it was discovered that the fish was still in his pocket. We quickly got rid of it and went on visiting. We finished our morning, sitting around an okonomiyaki grill as we enjoyed a Hiroshima-fu oyster okonomiyaki!

FTO Osaka

During all of my pregnancy, I kept telling my baby! You have to come out strong and healthy! So I can show you Osaka. Well! We did! Sadly enough, Osaka has changed. It has changed a lot. It is no where near are Funky as it use to be. It made me sad. But what made me even sadder was the fact that Hudson slept most of the time and Tristan was totally not impress by MY favorite city in the whole world. But that being said, we still managed to have an amazing time!!







We had Takoyaki at Tsutenkaku Tower!

We had Okonomiyaki in Dotombori!

And we did lot's of sightseeing! We mad-dashed Osaka in two days! We saw and we did everything the city had to offer!

Japanese Roadtrip!

It's time for another post about our wonderful trip to Japan! After our first few days in the Japanese country side, we headed out for Tokyo! Having been there many time, we didn't do the touristic spots, we just hung out in our favorite neighborhood and did some shopping! Here are a few pictures taken that day!

View from the Shinjuku government offices.

And Hudson's first time in the train!

MATSURI!!!! Washoi! WASHOI!!!!

I could write about the two festivals we attended in Japan on august 4 and 5 (Sosa, and Tanabata in Asahi) but it just would be too hard to explain the sight and sound. So here it is instead! Enjoy!

 


In Sosa, Chiba! Hudson's very first Matsuri!

Oh Japan! How I missed thee!

It felt great to be back! Oh Japan! How I missed thee! It all started with a great flight with JAL. We got picked up at the airport by our host and headed out for the small town of Sosa.

Unfortunately by then, Hudson was exhausted and decided it would be appropriate to scream at the top of her lung for the whole 35 minutes it took to make it to our host's house. Tristan did his best to keep her occupy while I apologized non-stop in broken Japanese. Talk about a good first impression. lol But lucky for us, they did not seem to mind at all. We arrived at Ayumi's house, and I was so glad to find it just as it was when I left 2 years ago. I was so happy to see everyone! The greetings were short and after a delicious meal, we all headed out to bed.

The next morning, we all went to visit the Kyudo dojo with Ayumi and her grand-father. Tristan tried his hands at Japanese archery while Hudson watched very attentively. We then made our way to Shimamura! We shopped A LOT! We bought jimbei for the matsuri and a lot of cool Japanese houseware.

For lunch, we traveled to the next village, Asahi, and went to my favorite sushi place! I ate more Maguro than I should and even Tristan was able to enjoy himself!

We ended the day with a trip to the local park with the coolest slide ever! It is so long! I would have just LOVED to ride it as a kid!

Tristan and Ayumi both went down in it. I did not... Hudson was in my arms... asleep....

Seriously! How cool is this! But beware!!! It really hurts your bum! And for anyone who would be interested! In Ibaraki prefecture, there is one even longer! As a matter of fact, it is the longest in Japan. I believe it is about 150 meter long!
 

The long way to Manila

 

Here we are! In Manila! We made it... with an 8 months old! 18 hours on a plane, 3 countries, 3 airports, long car rides... 27 hours in total! 

 

We left home early to be dropped off to the airport. Check in was a breeze. Our carseat was packed in the original box and we were way under baggage allowance. We had no problem getting through security with the extra baby food. 

Our first flight to Tokyo was right on time. We had good seat with lots of leg room. Unfortunately for us, the seat belt sign was lit most of the way. Hudson did not seem to approve of it and 3 hours into the flight, Hudson had a huge melt down. She was angry and screaming at the top pf her lung. It lasted a while.... a very very long while.... 

 

She eventually settled and slept a little. I would like to take this time and mention the landing! It was the most amazing landing I had ever experienced! We did not even feel the touch down! Tristan and I were both amazed at that! By far the smoothed ride ever! 

We arrived in Tokyo at 3 am (our time) and quickly went to met up with Ayumi! We had just a few minutes to spare. Just enough time to take a picture and rush to our connecting flight! The second half of our trip was with ANA. I love ANA! The service on this airline is amazing! Hudson even got her own meal, and toys and bassinet. My limited kanji knowledge was enough to "know" that Hudson had yam and yogurt. She really seamed to enjoy Japanese baby food! As for me, I enjoyed watching her sleep in the bassinet while enjoying a complementary Asahi beer.

We arrived in Manila without a hitch. To our surprise, they are finally using the new airport! It is so much better this way! Lots of room to move! Tito and Juanita picked us up and off we went! Overall, the whole trip was a success! We finally got to the house at 1130am (our time). We went straight to bed. Hudson did not seem to be bothered by the time difference. She seemed however confused as to why it was so dark. But the good sport that she is... she accepted to sleep (at least a little)... and was up at 630 for business as usual!!! 

First day in Manila.....rain. Because of it the weather is a lot cooler than expected! Which is great! Actually, it is cooler here than it had been lately back home with the heat wave.

We stayed in. We worked on getting Hudson back on her regular schedule. (food, nursing, nap) So far it seem to work. Most of the day was spent with people visiting. Both side of the family came for lunch and an informal meet and greet.

Senbazuru for Hudson Part II

Hudson with Ayumi's bird.

I announced a few weeks back that we were going to Asia! And indeed we are! This will be extremely exciting for all of us. Hudson will get to meet her great-grandmother and many of her great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins. She will also get to spend some times with her grand-parents and aunt. The second part of the trip will be very different. My husband, my daughter and I will be flying over to Japan for a two weeks holiday (finally our honey moon) .

It will be my fourth time in Japan and the second time for my husband. I am so excited to be able to bring him to all the cool places (mostly restaurants) I have discovered through all my travel there. We will be staying with Ayumi for a week and then we are of to FTO (Osaka) for a week!

I am so thrilled to be bringing my daughter there! Through out the pregnancy, I use to bribe her in staying put with the likes of "I can't wait for you to come out so I can show you Osaka"

But more importantly, during this trip, we will be making our way to Hiroshima to deposit the 1000 paper cranes folded following my MC at the Children Peace Memorial. (We are keeping Ayumi's bird and the 1000 birds I folded during the pregnancy wishing for a healthy Hudson. When she is older, she can decide if she wants to bring them there).

Hudson with the birds that will be going to Hiroshima

Now who's up for a little anecdote? As some of you might be aware, the monument in Hiroshima was built in memory of Sadako (you can click on the link for the full story). Well I just recently found out that Sadako died on October 25th (yes! that was Hudson's due date) after spending 8 months fighting leukemia. It is during that time she folded her paper cranes. It hits close to home, as I remember spending my whole pregnancy (roughly 7-8 months) folding my paper cranes hoping with all my heart that Hudson would make it to term and be healthy. Sadako's prayer were not answered, but mine were. And it is with a very heavy heart that I will be going to her monument, to surrender the birds.

Off course, you will be able to follow all of our On the road adventure as I will up date through this blog. Also, don't forget to "like" my facebook page, to make sure you don't miss a beat.

Children Peace Memorial in Hiroshima