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