A piece of heaven

On Sunday I went on another beach adventure with my ladies Ashlee and Anne. We had directions to a beach via Anne's student and were destined to set out early at 9 am. More like 10 am but oh well. It turned out that the directions didn't really direct, and we stopped once to ask a family fishing where to go, then a conbini, then another conbini, then another conbini. AIIE! We finally made it though "Turn at the shell gas station" should be "turn at the 3rd shell gas station" haha. At least the drive through Yamaguchi is beautiful green mountains the whole way. But all in all it was a pretty straight shot with few turns, just poor ques! When we reached Ohama beach we made a spot in the sand with our umbrella and blankets, slathered on the sun screen and ran into the water. Our little set up :)It was the perfect temperature. Refreshing but not too cold. I bought goggles this time and I swam out to sea! Don't you just want to jump in? Yes you do, in fact! Who could resist that crystal clear salty ocean water?

There were beautiful cliff/rocks and dark spots under the water which proved to be rocks with seaweed and things living on them! Not quite a reef but definitely little fishes! I even saw puffer fish! Nothing was more than a few inches big but it was amazing and awe striking to swim down to see a school of sparkling blue fish glinting in the sunlight and changing directions, or the puffers try and evade me! I think I spent more time under the water than above it! I even lucked out and found a snorkel mask --P. SHERMAN 42 WALLABY WAY!!! Ah, it was good :)

We picnicked on the sand and finally after many hours we had to go back. Still salty and kinda crispy, we drove back to Onoda and changed cars. Then I drove us to a shop called Manga Soko which is like the epitome of things Japanese. Books, Gundams, pokemon, games, movies, arcade, pachinko, etc. We were wasting time before dinner with Anne's friend Keigo. To my happy surprise, I found 2 Nemo figurines--one with Mr Ray and one with Nemo and Marlin poking out of the enemene. I fell in love and spent ten dollars. YAY!

Then it was dinner time and we were all starving to say the least. We met Keigo at an Indian restaurant that was delicious and I will absolutely go back! He is a young musician and works at a bakery! What a blast :) Ashlee made him crack up so many times I think he'll be happy to eat with us again. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. Well, maybe showering was :)

Fireworks in Ube: FIREFLOWERS!

On Saturday I was invited by Tomoko, a friend of Anne's who was an old student of hers, to go see fireworks in Ube. I didn't have plans so I said of course! I want to see them! She told me to meet her at Yamada Denki (think a giant canary yellow Best Buy) and she would drive to Ube, the next town over. At 7:10 she arrived on time and we drove to her friend's house to park the car. It is the biggest fireworks show in Yamaguchi prefecture so there is a lot of traffic. I don't mind walking anyway. It took about 20 minutes but I knew right where we were--on the way to UMG Co. where I teach English at a company. We had the perfect location in my opinion, smack in the middle of the bridge so we could see them over the water. For an hour we got to watch a pretty cool show! They had smiley ones, flower ones (stem and leaves in all!!) and even Kitty-chan (Hello Kitty) ones! I didn't get a proper 4th of July celebration so this was much over due! What a great time! I'm so glad Tomoko invited me, otherwise I wouldn't have known about them! Thanks Tomoko :)

Tsunoshima Beach

I got my first taste of the salty sea last week on Marine Day! Monday was a holiday and Marine Day is the first say of 'summer' (yeah right) and tradition is to go swimming. Ashlee and Kristen and I got ready and then drove the hour and a half to the other side of Yamaguchi prefecture.

After a stint at a viewing place (goregous!) we met Naoko and then finally to the beach. It took my breath away--bright blue, green and white sand. The water was perfect, cool and not too hot.

The water was just paradise--clear and clean.

When we swam out, we were able to dunk down and see little fish swimming around rocks. I could stay forever.

Takin' pictures!

Our dead friend the squid! Kiss Kiss!

And tada! Ashlee found a live scallop.

This is a milk popcicle--I've been looking for one every where. I fell in love with strawberry milk ones last summer but I haven't found them yet! This was a close second though! As soon as I bit into it all the condensed milk basically melted faster than you can say "AH!" so I had to run back into the ocean to clean myself off afterwards. What a summer moment!

And finally, after a little bit of sunburn, our gang packed up and went home (after we had a picnic of course!!!!) I can't wait to go back here one day!

Karaoke!

After the festival, that night we went out for dinner and karaoke. It was interesting to start, and fun to finish. First we met at Sunpark and decided on a restaurant. Ashlee wanted Italian but, it was closed so we went to a Chinese restaurant. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When the food finally came we were all happy, enjoying the dumplings, spring rolls and such, until Ashlee screams when a little black beetle decides to join us. She trapped him under a dish and yelled "SU-MI-MA-SEN" to the waiter. He came over, looked pretty embarassed and cleaned it up. We joked about the bug some more and of course it was all fun and games until Kristen goes, "Oh God, IS THAT A BUG?" on her plate. Anne yelps and tosses her giant dumpling sandwhich onto the table towards the carcass sitting on the dish. I can't stop laughing. We yelled for the waiter again, and were a bit nervous to finish the dinner. But then, we did pick Chinese--and it was a little too authentic. YIKES! Can you say discounted bill??

Before the disaster began....

Then we went to sing karaoke. Anne went home so it was me, Ashlee, Kristen, and Naoko and Kenya, two Japanese friends of Ashlee's. I'd never gone before and it was a blast!

You get your own room and then get to go through a telephone book of every song ever made. Good times! Even AC and beer if you so desire, but we snuck in ice cream instead. Sounds good to me :)

Naoko and Kenya! Adorable! :)

Aizan Festival!!

The beach! Complete with boats out to sea, windsurfers, rocks and sandy beach! Today was a festival at Kirara Beach! Wow! Fun times! :)

I went with Anne and her friend Benisha, and we were running late but we still made it for most of the festival. There was lots of food, a beautiful beach that I definitely approve of, and dancing to watch! It was super clear skies and I had two kakikori (aka snow cones).

Ashlee, Benisha, and Anne!

Then the Benda teachers watched the shows! Not to mention this adorable boy with a Japanese Bobtail kitten, that's one way to pick up the ladies--baby animals!

There was a girls' dance school which danced "hip hop" and was kind of cute and then a little embarrassing for the group of 5 foreigners, who speak the language of the rappers (Snoop Dog, among others) and can hear some inappropriate things. Yikes!

First there was the youngest dancers, adorable elementary school girls! And a little boy!

They must have been middle school, with a little more sass as they danced!

These are the older dancers, maybe high schoolers. With MC Hammer Pants.

This was the end when all the dancers and three singers did a song about Sanyoonoda. Interesting. But the whole thing was fun and I'm glad we made it! I hope I can go back soon. Monday is a holiday "Marine Day" which is supposed to signal the start of summer. However, seeing as it's been high eighties for the last three weeks I've been here, I declare summer started months ago. I plan to take full opportunity of my 'yasumi' --oh you betcha. :)

Crazy Things

I was wondering how much it has been raining lately. It feels like the rain will never stop, I even find myself wondering how that much water can come from the sky. So, to see, I left my garbage can out on my balcony to 1. clean it a little and 2. see how much rain! Well, this was 24 hours of rain or so. It might be hard to tell but there must be at least 6 inches in it. My suspicions were confirmed when I got to the intersection before Benda. Cars had to be submarines to make it through. I just stared. All my dreams of my car diving into water and being a car-marine came true! SCARY! Rainy season, please end asap.

Now, here are some of the crazy foods I have found! This is Tuna and Tomato Pizza (Tsuna to tomato piza). I haven't tried it yet (lunchtime!) but can't be too bad, right? There is a grocery store at the mall (Fuji Grand) that is much bigger than the one down the street. I think I will be going there from now on!

And here we have some snacks. Nori chips. What is nori? It's that green seaweed wrapping on your sushi. I don't like the sheets of it like on a rice ball onigiri snack, but sprinkled like sour cream and onion? Yes! It's like a salty rice cake/chip. Yum yum actually. Oh look! Me with wet hair and my snacks!

It's a little tricky cooking because I have extremely limited counter top room but oh well. I'm getting by!

I have also given up on looking nice for work. The humidity destroys my hair unless I leave it or pony tail it (talk about a girl's worst nightmare) and it also makes wearing any makeup kind of pointless. I don't work in heavy AC so I just can't pull it off. Oh well, not really looking to attract anybody anyways. It's so hot for my cold blooded MN body that I have to shower twice a day or I am a stinker. Stopped using conditioner too so ladies, if you have severely damaged dry hair, move to the most humid place on earth and I guarantee you will have no problems gaining it back. Seriously!!!! Lunchtime calls!

Fashion

When I realized the money I was saving for rent was redundant (work already took money out of paycheck coming for it), I knew what I would do. Shop. I brought all these nice work clothes to Japan only to discover they are way too hot and uncomfortable because it's just gross.

My purse also broke. Just broke. Strap snapped off, so I bought a new one :) It was necessary.

Dresses: cool and cute. Thankfully.

Awesome Electronics :)

I held out this long, and my first big electronic purchase in Japan was Friday morning. Kristen, my new Aussie friend showed me where the grocery store was and then, Yamada Denki. I bought a very nice (so spendyyyy, ow!) electronic dictionary aka "denshi jisho." It's all in Japanese so it's crazy to play around in. There's so much stuff in it I haven't even discovered yet. But my favorite and most coveted part was the screen to write kanji on! Now I won't feel so illiterate and I can look up words when I don't know them! Take that Japanese!

My new phone from the mall and bubble peach tea!!!!

Then after my Shimonoseki "adventure" (ugh) it was time to get a cell phone. I picked Au over Softbank and Docomo and now have a cooler than I thought 'keitai denwa." First, it is water proof. Something I really was looking forward to since it rains so much over here (rainy season bites). It also has a camera, pedometer, sports & calorie calculator, TV and radio, internet, email, and infrared, which means I can touch my phone to someone else's infrared spot and swap digits! NIFTY RIGHT? I picked white since my usually favorite color pink looked cheap, so hopefully I will find a cute case soon! Everyone puts charms on their phones, it's like flair--the more the better. So now I found the perfect piece--Pikachu!!!!!

After a Sunday out with Anne, I got my charm and instantly gave into a Japanese Finding Nemo game for my Nintendo DS. I'm a sucker for that movie...

Why Driving In Japan Stinks Like A Skunk

So, in a country so developed, so similar to the US, why would it be hard to drive in Japan you ask? It's not that the driving it styled after the British, not that the cars are flipped inside, but the simple fact that hardly any roads are marked. Unless it's a freeway or highway, it really doesn't get a name. Things like Google maps and Mapquest.com are useless here. I can't even imagine how people get somewhere knew! You have to "drive like a female" you could say, and go off of landmarks because the streets just don't have names!

Anyway, I have a family in Shimonoseki that has lessons on Fridays. It is an hour drive to the south and very tricky. My boss offered to let me follow her there and even she got lost the last 5 miles of the drive or so, twice! I know how to get there now! After the lesson, I was able to follow one of the mothers who drives her son to the house for lessons onto the freeway. We parted ways until Kanmon Tunnel. I was in the correct lane until a sign that was misleading (haha) pointed to the left, bringing me to a toll booth and a tunnel with a fugu (blowfish). I had to pay and turn around, but was never able to get back to my starting point. Being lost in a foreign city, in a foreign country, with no phone is one of the most stressful situations I've ever experienced. So yes, that foreigner crying in her car at the stoplight was me :) Finally I found a place after 45 minutes of almost, and maybes, to ask for directions. The old man at this sketch gov center/convenience store/whatever it was made a photo copy of a map. Whew. I called my boss too and said "I don't think I'm going to make it for my last class, I'm lost!!!" Luckily, a way home was right around the corner (literally) and I got on another freeway route right back home. I never want to do it again so hopefully I will never goof it again! My boss wanted me to drive the route again but since I know what screwed me up, I'm going to say I'm alright. So here are my souvenir maps :D One from the Takizawa family and one from the Ojiisan (grandpa).

Kokura(kita)

Last weekend I traveled with my new friends and co-workers, Jenny and Anne. Anne had the agenda--shop, walk, and see her tattoo artist so she invite Jenny and me to come with. We took her Benda car to the next city over (in and out of the rain) and finally the city! It was great to get out of my hotel so here are some photos!

A pachinko place, and the mall we went to, half outdoors half in!