Nokonoshima Island

Noko Island and the cosmos

Yesterday my mom and I took the ferry over to Nokonoshima Island to walk around the park. When we arrived at the ferry station the line was out the building in a double loop. I knew that we wouldn’t make the first ferry, but was hopeful we would catch the second one. While we were in line waiting for the ferry there was a couple who had their own speed boat and were offering to get people to the island quicker for a price. We decided that we did not need to be there earlier just to end up at the same place everyone would be going.

Normally the ferry runs once per house after 9:00 AM.  When it is peak season for the comos the ferry runs continually back and forth. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before the ferry returned and we all boarded.

Upon arriving on the island we caught a taxi to drive us to the park. They have buses that you can ride to the park, but there was a huge line so we figured it would be faster to get a ride.

When we arrived at the park we entered and headed to see the autumn blooms. The park had a lot of visitors. There is an area where children can use stilts, slide down a hill, swing and run around. There is also an area where families can play noko noko ball.

The cosmos were in full bloom. The weather was just beautiful which added to the bright and brilliant colors of the flowers. The coral trees, salvia, cockscomb, dahlia’s and cosmos were the main attractions for this season.

We spent a lot of time admiring the beauty of the park. We stopped and had a small ice cream cone, and sat looking out at the cosmos in the field. 

Once we walked around the whole park we headed for home. We were able to board the bus right as we arrived at the exit. Upon arriving back at the ferry we were able to board within 5 minutes.

As we were leaving the ferry station on the “our” side we decided to walk home. It is not a long way, but as we were walking we began to get very hot and tired. Luckily, we arrived in time to relax and rehydrate.

After an hour of relaxing, I took my mom to the Mr. Max shopping area. We walked throughout the shops. It was nice to get out to see what was there since I normally only go for what I need on my shopping list.

We returned home to relax and watch a few shows, but we had internet connection problems so I did my mom’s and my nails in “Mindi’s Nail Salon”. It was the first time I had done shellac on someone else. They were not perfect, but they did look good.

More adventures to come.

Beautiful butterfly

red salvia

butterfly

clear day

red cockscomb

coral trees

coral trees

coral tree blossoms

view of cosmos

vibrant colors

cosmos

cosmos

looking up the hill

A sea of flowers.

purple

Looking out across the park.

Japanese couple enjoying lunch in the shade of a tree.

huge morning glories

Mindi and the cosmos.

Mindi and the trees.

My mom and the cosmos.

Posing with the flowers,

My mom and a TALL tree.

Posing like a tourist.

My mom standing next to huge bushes.

Noko noko ball

red salvia

red salvia

A spider couple wrapping up breakfast.

Three Billy Goats Gruff

A display of tops.

tops

Interesting tree trunks

Morning glories.

Halloween fun at the community center

Well, today was my  mom's first day out and about in Japan. She was so fortunate because we were going to be the presenters at the community center's Halloween celebration. There is a group of kids that participate in different events and presentations throughout the year. They had not been exposed to Halloween yet, so it was fun that we were going to be a part of that.

I had agreed to go to the community center and present and then I realized it was the first weekend that my mom would be in Japan. Luckily, she agreed to go with me. Once I told the person in charge at the center that my mom was coming with me she quickly incorporated my mother into the presentation. How lucky was that for my mom???

We arrived at the center around 9:10 AM, and then we went into a meeting. During the meeting we went over what the agenda and found out what the game plan was going to be. Once the meeting ended we went upstairs to put the decorate. We had some different Halloween garland and a couple of spider webs. It looked nice for what all they had.

There was one board that had posters that I had made which showed different Halloween traditions or activities. The other board had a map of the world on it so the students would be able to see where my mom and I were from.

There were over 70 people expected, 50 of them being children and the rest adults. We began on time and were introduced by someone at the community center. All of this was taking place in Japanese. Now, the plan was that the children would try to guess where we were from, but as the lady was introducing us she said we were from America. All of us who were involved knew that she wasn't supposed to say this so we all began to laugh. Luckily, I had a clever idea for them to guess where in America we were from. The first guess was California. At least it is located near Arizona.

Once the introduction was over I was to explain the origin of Halloween. You might be wondering how my Japanese became so good...it didn't. I did this in English and then Mariko would translate what I said into Japanese. I have to admit that before this presentation I never looked up the history of Halloween. I had found one that was kid friendly. It really does have an interesting history. Now a days I feel that Halloween is more of a commercial holiday just to sell more candy, cards and costumes.

I was to read my book first. I read In the Haunted House written by Eve Bunting. It has great pictures and the story rhymes. It is a short read which was perfect for this situation. Once I finished the story I was to preform a magic trick. Yes, that is right....a magic trick.

The magic trick was thought up and prepared by the woman in charge. I have to say that it was a neat idea. It didn't happen as easily as it was supposed to though. She had put white paint on the bottom of a water bottle cap and let it dry. She put orange paint on another bottle cap bottom for my mom to use. I told the kids that I was so thirsty. When the lady gave me the bottle of water I had to tell the kids that I did not want water that I wanted milk or Calpis, which is  a popular drink here in Japan. If you know me at all you know I would never drink milk. YUCK! I got the bottle and began shaking the bottle. This was supposed to make the water turn into the milk looking drink. Well, I shook it and shook it and shook, and nothing happened. I kept shaking and shaking it and finally it began to change color. At this point we decided to give my mother her water. Luckily for us, her water turned orange must quicker than my bottle changed.

It was then my mother's turn to read her book. She read the  book Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting. The students enjoyed the book. At this point, we were able to have a break from being the presenters.

Now, it was time for the mummy activity. We divided up the kids into three groups and we had three volunteers to become a mummy. I still do not know if the students really know what a mummy is, but it was fun for them all the same.  The kids did a great job taking turns wrapping  the toilet around the women. In the end the mummies were completed wrapped up!

The kids then put the rest of their costumes on and began the fashion show. The kids were so precious. I just can't get over how adorable some of them were. Some of the costumes were simple, but they added just the right touch.

My mom and I were then directed back to the chairs where the kids were lining up. It was time for them to practice saying "Trick-or-Treat". Some kids were so shy that they weren't even able to say the words. Many of the kids could pronounce it quite easily.

After the trick-or-treating it was time for closing words. We all said thank you to the kids and they said thank you to us. Once that was done we cleaned up and had a debriefing meeting. All in all it went rather well. My mom and I finally headed home shortly after 12:00 PM.

We went to the apartment and met up with Mark. We headed out to Marinoa City and had a delicious lunch at Il Forno. Yum!!! We walked around and looked at some of the shops and then headed home.

We have been relaxing every since then. Tomorrow we are going to Noko Island. I am looking forward to sharing the beauty with my mother.

More to come!

A daughter pumpkin and her mummy.

Closing comments

How adorable is she?

Fashion show

Fashion show

My mom preparing to read.

Pretty in pink.

This was my favorite from today.

She was enjoying the activities.

My mother handing out candy.

Getting ready for the closing.

Before the mummy process began.

I think she has the pose down.

My mom helping to mummify the woman.

They got the hang of it.

The making of a mummy.

She's not my mummy....

Too cute in her pink bow she was given to wear.

Kids waiting in line to trick or treat.

Waiting patiently.

Happy Halloween to all.

Muromi Lantern Festival and a funny facial story

 Saturday, September 28, 2013

Yesterday was the Muromi Lantern Festival. This event was cancelled last year due to a typhoon in the area. I headed out on my bike around 6:15 PM. The sun was setting and there was a beautiful pink sunset. 

It only took me about 15 minutes on my bike to reach the festival. I was surprised at how quickly it got dark. There were a lot of people who were going to the festival. Had I not of known where it was I could have just followed the crown heading south.

The view was spectacular. The river was lined with lanterns in all different designs. There were smaller designs and then others that were so large it made it almost impossible to capture the entire design in one photo.

One thing that was a nice surprise was that I had not used the camera on my iphone since I updated to ios 7. Wow! The update made my phone camera be able to take better photos of the lanterns that my Coolpix camera. It even now allows me to take panoramic shots. I was so happy about this.

I ran into some of the teachers at my school. Many went together, but I decided just to go and then see if I ran into anyone. There was a large area where they were selling food and drinks.

It was a nice night and the weather was pleasant enough. It was still humid out, but each day it getting a little better.

OK, now to tell you the story about my first facial in Japan. This was an interesting experience. I live across the street from the Meinohama station. There are many shops and services offered in the station. I get my massages there as well as get my haircut there. I finally decided that I would try to get a facial. I made the appointment two weeks ago, which was an adventure in itself. My appointment was scheduled for 4:00. I arrived on time and was taken to a little two-seat consultation area. Obviously, I could not understand Japanese and the woman only knew a little English. I filled out a few basic areas of information on the form. After that, she was asking me questions using my itranslate app on my phone. She must have decided this was too much work because she finally just said, “Oh, never mind. Let’s start.”

She took me back to the changing room and had me slip on something in place of my shirt. The reclining chair she had me sit in is a massage chairs. That was relaxing.

She cleaned my face with some very foamy potion. Then she put a bunch of some type of cream and gave me a face, neck and upper back massage. This was incredible. I would go back just for that.

After the massage she cleaned my face again, applied moisturizer and then said, “OK, you are all done.” Well, it was just about 60 minutes from when I walked in, did the consultation and then had the “mini, partial facial”.

I had no idea how much the facial would be because their “menu” had so many different things listed. She gave me the bill and it was only 2,500 yen. I asked her several times if that was correct because that is so inexpensive for anything in Japan. She took my money and was showing me out.

I asked her if I could just call to schedule another appointment, and she basically made it feel like I couldn’t. I asked for more clarification and she said that they do not do just one facial. That normally the sell “courses of 10, 20 or 30” facials. I asked about the 10 courses and she told me that you have to pay up front and that it would be 52,000 yen. That is around $520. That is crazy!!!!

I told her to write it down in Japanese so I could have a friend explain it to me. I had to do this so it would look like I was interested, but there is NO WAY that I am paying that all up front. Crazy!!

Now my mission is to see where I can go to have just one facial every couple of months.

Do you want the funniest part of the story? I am sure I should not even say because you will probably feel as embarrassed for me as I was feeling. OK, here goes….

They have a changing area that they keep the door closed, but you change in one area. I had remembered that my shirt was inside out when I went to hang it on a hanger. Well, when I went to get dressed I threw my shirt on quickly because I do not like getting dressed around other people.

So, I had talked with the lady for a good 10 minutes before heading across the street to go home. Luckily, I walked on the outside of the shops and not through the building because when I got into the elevator I realized my shirt was inside out!!! I almost died of laughter. I thought that she must have thought I was some crazy gaijiin. So, there you have it. Don’t laugh too hard.

OK, that is all for now. I know I have a lot of back logging to do since I have not posted anything about my summer or the beginning of school. I will try to do that in the next couple of weeks.