Thanks Love

Each year, there is an English speech contest which is open to all Junior High School students in Himeji. One girl from my school was really keen to participate, so after she had written her speech - about her dream of volunteering in Africa - I became her speech coach.

She didn't win, but she said it was a really positive experience. And she gave me a gorgeous thank you present.

The sweet letter


Hmm, could this be ...?


home-made cake.

Geez, I could really get used to this "thank you" culture. It's all so new to me!

Until next time,
Monica

Wedding Wow: B&W

The black dress makes another comeback in this week's Wedding Wow. But even cooler is the Groom. Check out his leather and bling statement. Uh, is that a hat?

Introducing Mr and Mrs Cool

Accessorise and accessorise!

But anyhoo, back to tradition (of sorts).

A mix of bling and tradition


The dress is strapless...


...with the mandatory frill - ooh- and bow

As I posted before, these dresses are on display in a window of a bridal salon in Otemaedori, the main street of Himeji and I love catching up with the latest wow on my way home from work. Aww, Japan!

Until next time,
Monica x

A KFC Christmas

Over the past month, KFCs in Japan have been gearing up for their busiest season - Christmas. For some reason, it's become somewhat of a tradition for Japanese families to eat KFC at Christmas - go figure.

Japanese KFC


The Colonel gets into the Christmas spirit


The Christmas meal deal

And all the bakeries are taking orders for cake. Yes, Christmas cake - but not the kind you and I are thinking of. These cakes are elaborate cream sponge cakes and the choices are seemingly endless. Oh Japan, you never cease to amaze.

Until Christmas,
Monica x

Kobe Luminarie 2009

After taking the proficiency test, some friends and I stayed in Kobe to check out the Luminarie light display.

We bypassed the tunnel walk - it was packed - and walked the short cut to the finale. It was an impressive light structure with the lighting architecture (donated by the Italian government) taking on the feel of a cathedral and the look of stained glass. Take a look.

From a distance


A light palace

Woo! So good

The Luminarie is now an annual event, lighting up Kobe for about two weeks in December. It is displayed in commemoration of the victims and devastation of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in January 1995. And it's a reminder of just how much Kobe has florished since. Amazing.

Each light is individually hand painted


I couldn't stop taking photos! It's impressive.
Each year is a different design.


This was the light tunnel we bypassed

And I couldn't help taking video too! Maybe it captures some of the atmosphere of standing inside the lights. Check it out.

Inside the Kobe Luminarie (30 seconds)

And to top off a really great day, we found a Vietnamese restaurant in the San Plaza in Sannomiya's center gai to have dinner. Yum.

Steamed rolls with the best sauce ever!

A selection of good Vietnamese food

By the way, results of the proficiency test will be posted late February. I can't wait to find out my score. I studied a lot, so I found parts of the test quite easy, but the listening ... oow - it could be my undoing!

Until then,
Monica x

Christmas inspired Ikebana

Our Ikebana this week took a Christmas theme. And Eiko told us it was to be our own freestyle creation. Hmm, what to do?

This was Eiko's example - double beauty

We had green pine branches, white-spraypainted bamboo, deep red berries and red flowers to work with. The options seemed endless...

The white bamboo had some bling sprinkled on it!

Berries

Red flowers

The arrangement taking shape

The final arrangement had a wind-swept theme! Can you see it?

I had quite a bit of help from Eiko, who showed me how to bend the branches into shape (although some of them were naturally windswept - which inspired the piece in the first place!)

I think this freestyle arrangement has a really nice balance.

Until next Ikebana creation,

Monica

Amazing on day three

Our third day in Matsue was by far the best for me because we got to see autumn awesomeness. I love autumn colours so much.

But first we checked out an former samurai residence called Buke Yashiki that was built in 1730 and inhabited by a military family of a middle ranking.

This was the kitchen area


An entrance hall


This was a bedroom - some artifacts displayed


This, believe it or not, is a sleeping headrest

Then we walked around the grounds of Matsue castle. An impressive castle, but Himeji's castle is still the grandest of them all.

Matsue castle

And now onto autumn scenery. We visited a garden called Yuushien which was simply stunning. I'll let the photos explain...

Traffic light trees


Sweet view


Through yellow leaves


Orange among the yellow


A perfect balance of colours


Me and Bev on the bridge


In the indoor peony garden


Peony close up


Red in the sky


More yellow


Red momiji is my favourite


Gotta have the red bridge shot


Me on the bridge (in purple, can you see?)


Amongst the waterfall


Woo!


Me and autumn

After our fantastic time in the garden, we headed home along the coast and couldn't resist stopping at the beach. Yes, an actual beach with sand. Take a look.

Pretty decent, hey!


Me and Mount Daisen - can you see it?

Phew. A three day sightseeing extravaganza around Shimane prefecture. Glad I could show you some of it.

Until next time,
Monica xo

Day two in Matsue

On the second day of our trip, we made our way to Izumo Shrine. It's Japan's second most important shrine.

In the grounds of the shrine


The entrance to one of the shrines

Izumo shrine is characterised by the large sacred straw ropes, called shimenawa, hanging at the entrances.

This is Kagura Hall
The straw rope here is about 13 metres long


People were attempting to throw coins into the straw barrel


Not an easy feat because they kept bouncing off

Izumo shrine is also the home of the deity of marriage. And sure enough, we could see a ceremony taking place in the hall.

I snuck a picture!

There were trees of unwanted fortunes-
tied in the hope of a better one


Fortunes and wishes


People wrote their wishes on these wooden plaques

After visiting the shrine, we headed to the coast to see the Hinomisaki lighthouse.

The sea view was great - a bit chilly, though


Another view


And this is it.

According to the tourist brochures it is thought to be one of the top 100 historic lighthouses in the world. And the tallest in East Asia.

They sold all sorts of barbequed sea-delights at the lighthouse


Anyone for shark?

Next stop was the Shimane Winery and BBQ house. At the "winery" there were some pay-by-the-glass tastings, then a whole section of free-help-yourself tastings. And if wine wasn't your thing (it wasn't mine), you could buy a whole range of wine-flavoured goodies. I bought cakes.

At the BBQ house.
As you can see, fatty meat is mandatory in Japan

We finished the day at a boutique coffee shop called "Libido". Japan is so funny.

This was Bev's delight


And I chose apple pie

More on day three in Matsue in my next post.

Until then,
Monica xxo