Life in Fukuoka, Japan

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Birthday Weekend

This weekend I celebrated my birthday. It was such a nice treat to have two days to celebrate it. I was able to celebrate April 6th in Japan, and then the following day in the U.S. I didn't do anything extra special this weekend, but it was a great weekend.

Yesterday, April 6th (in Japan) I went to my Japanese class and then came home to wait for Mark to get home from putting together the playhouse we bought for the school. (We, the elementary student council, not Mark and myself.)

It rained all morning and once I got home from my class I thought it would clear up a bit so Mark and I could get out and do a few things. No such luck. We decided just to cook our own lunch. We were hoping to go to my favorite restaurant, Il Forno, but no luck. I wasn't up for walking in the rain.

I did have a surprise when my friend, Corina, had her husband deliver beautiful tulips and a birthday cake to my house. George was such a trooper to ride his scooter in the pouring down rain to brighten up my birthday. The tulips were so beautiful, and the cake was chocolate heaven!!!

Mark and I had our massages in the evening. We then watched Grimm. How I just love that show. If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out. Very clever...

Today, April 6th in the U.S. I received a ton of birthday wishes. Mark and I went to Tenjin to watch Leon Keer work on his D art. He is very famous for all of the 3D art he paints around the world. I was looking forward to seeing one in person. He is still working on it so I didn't get to see the finished painting. I am hoping to go tomorrow after work. Luckily, it is right out one of the exits at the Tenjin Station.

We also went to Starbucks and had a nice, warm and delicious drink. Mine of course, was a soy chai latte. Yum. After we visited Starbucks we walked around the flower festival that is also being held in Tenjin. The festival runs from April 6th through April 14th. They have flower planter/yard designs set up all around a park. The flowers are so colorful and beautiful. They have over 100,000 tulips in the displays. We are hoping that the weather is nicer next weekend so we can go and walk around longer.

We stopped back by Leon Keer's painting to see how much progress he has made. It was getting there.....more to see tomorrow or Tuesday.

We left and headed home. We were going to go to Il Forno for lunch, but I decided I didn't want to go that far out of my way. I then choose to go to Freshness Burger to have lunch. No one could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. I went up to order my bean burger (which may sound terrible, but it was so soooo delicious) and was told that they no longer carried it. I had just been there a couple weeks earlier. It was such a sad and disappointing trip. I will never be able to go there again, or at least not until they change their menu again. Boo hooooo.

Mark and I then went to Mr. Kebab. I do love the food at Mr. Kebab, too. It was just sad since I was really looking forward to my Freshness Burger. I guess I will never "be nature" again. My favorite restaurants are now Il Forno, Mr. Kebab and Suraj.

I have posted some photos from today. There are also a few other photos from this week.

More to come this week,

Mindi

My birthday cake from Corina and her family.

FIS (my school) with the Fukuoka Tower in the background.

Girls being interviewed in Tenjin. I don't know who they are....could be famous....

FIS (my school) is the one with the green roof. The level that has vertical windows all over it is the ELL suite.

Hanging flower displays

Leon Keer

Leon Keer flirting with a young girl who was waiting to meet him.

Leon Keer

Flower display

Making progress

Sunset on Thursday evening from my balcony.

My birthday tulips from Corina and her family.

Flower displays

Flower display

Tulips

Flower display

Tulips

Famous girls???

Flower display

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Miyajidake Shrine and Hanami

Fukutsu City and the Miyajidake Shrine

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to join some friends from school to visit the shrine. Corina and her family had previously visited the shrine and the surrounding area. They were our expert guides and we had a wonderful day. The weather could not have been any better. It was sunny with a slight breeze and the temperature was in the mid to upper 60s.

Right now is prime time for the cherry blossoms (sakura). Many people go and have a picnic under the cherry tress and celebrate with family and friends (Hanami). I took so many pictures, but I honestly could not believe how beautiful it was outside. There is a large area where we found people having their hanami. There were young couples as well as many old couples. It was simply beautiful to witness.

The Miyajidake Shrine has three gods of Jingu Empress, Katsumura Okami ad Katsuyori Okami that are enshrine there. Many people gather at this shrine to pray for business success, transportation safety and their family’s safety. The oshimenawa, or giant straw rope, that decorates the main building of the shrine, is the largest in Japan weighing 5 tons. Yes, 5 tons. It is just huge and massive. There is a giant bell and a giant Japanese drum exhibited in the shrine area, which are also the largest in Japan.

We walked all around the shrine, the petting zoo area, down by the lake and near the traditional Japanese houses. I have took over 260 photos, and even thought you won’t believe it, they are not all attached to my blog. I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone. There are many of the sukura (cherry blossoms) because I was just in awe of their beauty.

Irene and Zach are children of our friends. It was fun to watch them on our trip. They are in the same classroom (PK3) at school. Many people were entertained at one point or another by them. They are very sweet children.

Some of the photos I took of the people enjoying their hanami were taken with my zoom lens. I wasn’t trying to spy on them, I just wanted to share the hanami with all of you. I hope you do enjoy the photos.