Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Heiwadai Peace Tower

Huh. This post is giving me issues, hence the nice black highlighting behind the text. Er...oh well.

Anyway, this post is a little late in coming, but I suppose at least it's coming sometime. :) Back in October (told ya!) we took a little family outing to Heiwadai Park, also known as Peace Tower Park, here in Miyazaki. The Peace Tower can be seen from many parts of Miyazaki, and I could often see it when I would go for bike rides along the Oyodo River. It's easily seen because the park is on top of a huge hill (er, maybe I should call it a mountain! We found that out the hard way by biking it on our mamachari bikes. :)) 

But anyway, the Peace Tower was built in 1940, which was to "celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the ascension of Emperor Jimmu, the mythical first emperor of Japan, on what is believed to be the original site of his capital." (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e8002.html) It was meant to "symbolize a united world." 

The Peace Tower is the main attraction and landmark for the park, but it's actually quite a large area with different things to see. Perhaps even cooler than the tower, at least in my opinion, were these ancient statues we found in Haniwa Garden. There were hundreds. They are burial statues in different forms including animals, warriors, ships, and buildings. "During the Kofun Period, these clay statues were placed around burial mounds in tribute to the deceased." (Japan Guide)

Fascinating, gorgeous area. A lot of locals seem to spend time up at the park just relaxing and taking in the scenery. The trip was well worth it. 














                             






                                           
Nasty, nasty, nasty spider of death

Turtle!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Remember That One Day I Drove in Japan?

About a week ago, Bridger was sick and needed to see a doctor. It seems like this little guy is constantly sick since we've been here, but I wonder if I feel that way because going to the doctor is such a chore. Of course, it's only difficult because of the language barrier. But difficult it is! Anyway, I generally go to an ENT just around the corner from our apartment when we have a cold or something because he speaks a bit of English. Bless that man! :) But this time, we needed a pediatrician, and I wasn't sure where to go.

So I called Dennis. Poor guy! But he's so sweet and said he would go with us to get Bridger all checked out. But then he decided to make me drive and nearly gave me a heart attack. You see, I have pretty much refused to drive since we got here, opting to let Casey chauffeur me around. Dennis decided I should give it a try, and my protests went unheard.

Now I'd say I'm usually a rather quiet person, but I jabbered the whole way to the doctor's office, rambling things like "Ah! I can't do this!" "Okay, I can do this." "Um, what if I wreck your car?" "Um, how do I park this thing?" And other things that likely had Dennis chuckling inwardly. Bridger was unusually quiet in his carseat too. I believe he was holding his breath, saying a silent prayer for our safe arrival and hoping we arrived in one piece. But guess what, folks? We made it. The car still has all its paint and no dents caused by trees, medians, or other cars. I even drove to the store the other day with Casey from this newfound confidence.

I had expected the whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-street thing to be rough, but the driving-on-the-right-side-of-the-car thing to be worse. I was surprised that I adjusted pretty easily though. 

But I'm still pretty sure this is what I looked like...


(Taken from: http://www.stevekirk.co.uk/nervous-drivers.html)


Saturday, January 25, 2014

Karaoke Stars!

One of the favorite pastimes here in Japan is karaoke. You can rent a room with a bunch of friends and sing your little heart out and dance around like a fool. We decided to give it a try! We have actually been "karaoking" twice now. Once with a group of gaijin friends including Hailey, Patrick, and some peeps they know from the JET program out here (which is a program of English teachers in the area) and the other was with our friends Kiyoko, John, our kiddos, and some of their friends.

Both times turned out to be a blast. They have a drink bar where you can go get drinks, and you can order food if you want. And thankfully, they have a ton of English songs that are popular in America. Singing in Japanese might have been just a bit too adventurous for us!





Kazuki was the star of the show!

Warming up to strangers. I'm liking his look right here.

Bridger realized just how good looking he was and decided he deserved a smooch.




Thursday, January 9, 2014

Udo Shrine

 Well, I'll try to keep my writing to a minimum, since I have 40-something pics to share. Sorry in advance.

A week or so ago, we got the opportunity to go to Udo Shrine with the Peterson family. They were so sweet to invite us to come along! We began the day by stopping by the beach. It was beautiful. It was also freeeeeeeeezing! So we only stopped there for about 10 minutes or so.



We then stopped at a bakery on the beach to grab some bread and drinks, which were seriously tasty. We also went outside and took a couple of pics. Below is a picture of "Devil's Washboard," but is called "Ogre's Washboard" 'round these parts. These are natural rock formations in the ocean, and looking at them, you can see where it gets its name. 




When we made it to the shrine, we opted to take the "scenic" route. This turned out to be the "not for the faint of heart" route as well. There were some serious stairs to climb. We chose to go this way because it is super old. Er, sorry I can't remember just how old at the moment. But thousands of years. Yeah...


Starting the hike

Still hiking

Made it to the top! And guess what? More stairs! :)

And back down...
No worries, we made it!

Entering the shrine area.


Heidi and Julie!

Bridger was being sweet and giving Daddy some gravel as a present.


Our seriously-attractive group.

On our way down to the shrine. Isn't it beautiful?!


The shrine is in a cave!


Heidi's candy, which was made by "sweet" water from the cave. 


After walking through the shrine area, we bought some good-luck charms. It's tradition to throw the charms and try to make them into the "hole" in that turtle-like rock's "shell." If you make it, you get good luck. I think it has to do specifically with marriage. I think. And Casey and I both made it twice. Ah yeah, baby!

Come on, Luck!


Splash! Yeah, we're lucky! Casey is a seriously awesome photographer to have gotten that splash!


Cute pic, but unfortunate "bubble" in middle. Meh.



And then Casey and I had this brilliant idea to race back up the steps, which really taught us just how old we are getting...-


But guess who won? Yeah, I do realize he had a bit of a disadvantage (aka "baby weight) but I'll take it!


After the shrine, we stopped to eat at a restaurant called Clover. The food was delicious. The fact that it had an all-you-can eat dessert bar made it pretty high on my list! However, Bridger decided it was time to be a sleepy monster, so it was a bit difficult. Noa and Shane got some good pics to document just how it went down.


Bridger and Noa hanging out

Bridger sliding off of my lap to escape.

Squirming and screaming and wanting Daddy.

Telling Daddy how mean Mommy was being, I believe. (But seriously, that is a cute pouty face right there.)

This picture says exactly how I was feeling right about now.

But no worries, cuz we survived. And then Bridger fell asleep. And then we saw this stunning view!

I sure enjoyed it.


Another pic of Ogre's washboard. Did I mention it's ridiculously beautiful here?

What an amazing day. We saw so many gorgeous sights. I'm going to miss how lush Japan is when I head back home. So grateful for our fun friends who showed us around!