kai, first time on a train in tokyo.

カイ、初の電車。

on the way to get on a train.

駅までとことこ。

kai walk around tokyo.

東京歩く。

this is the end of japan trip pictures and will go back to everyday pictures from tomorrow.

これで日本での写真は終わり。明日からまたアメリカでの写真に戻りまーす！

we went to tokyo to do some shopping and stuff and it was kai's first time! this is the real old steam train near the shinbashi train station. looks like kai is being the guide ;)

東京にちょっと用事と買い物があったので行ってきました。ちなみにカイは東京初めて！これは山の手線新橋駅のそばにある昔のSLトレイン。なんだかカイがガイドさんやってるみたい。笑

we ate the very best tonkatsu (deep fried pork) for lunch near the shinbashi train station.

新橋駅の近くにあるすごくおいしいトンカツ屋さんでお昼。また食べたい！＾＾

cont. tomorrow...

my very long time friend (i've know her since pre-school) came over with her family to hang out while we were in japan. her daughter is about a bit over 1 year old and she is such a doll! every time we see each other, we say how amazing to see our own kids play together like once we were! (it probably means we are getting old...ha ha) thanks for coming over guys! hope we can do this again when we go back next time :)

私の保育園からの幼なじみの友達が家に遊びにきてくれました。娘ちゃんは1歳２ヶ月でお人形さんみたいに可愛いらしい子♥　毎回、会う度に言ってしまうけど自分達の子供が一緒に遊んでいるのってなんか信じられないねー！って。（っていうか、年をとったんだね、笑）これからもずっと仲良くしてね！わざわざ遊びに来てくれてありがとう！また遊ぼうね！＾＾

having a break with snacks on the couch ;)

遊び疲れてベビースタースナックでソファーで休憩中。笑

kai and i got ready to play in the snow in the next morning. i think he is still a bit sleepy here... ;)

次の朝はカイと一緒に庭で雪遊び。まだちょっと眠いみたい...　^_-

first, we made a snow man...

最初はスノーマンを作ったけど...

but he wasn't very thrilled.

なんかちょっと物足りなそうな表情。

so i made him a snow bunny!

だからスノーバニーを作ってあげました。

but still, he wasn't very happy about it!

だけど、なに、その嬉しくなさそうな顔は！？！？

then, tada-! i made him his favorite totoro!

じゃじゃーん、大好きなトトロを作ってあげました！

i think this time, he was happy ;) (or i'm tired so can't make it anymore anyways!) actually, he saw snow bunny's ears and said "totoro!" so that's where i got the idea to make him a totoro! i would never thought of making one if he didn't say anything, i guess kid's imagination is endless!

これで満足だったみたい！（っていうか、もう疲れたからこれ以上作れない〜　笑）実はカイがスノーバニーの耳をみて「トトロ！」っていったから「あっ、なるほど！作れる！」と思ってトトロを作りました。子供の想像力はすごいな〜　私だったら思いつかなかった！笑

belle was checking us out too :)

ベルちゃんもちゃんと見てくれてました。　＾＾

we made s'mores for snack with the fire place after playing in the snow.

ゲレンデから帰ってきた後はおやつにスモアー（マシュマロ、板チョコ、グラハムクラッカー）を作りました。

right out of the fireplace, super hot marshmallow!

焼きたてマシュマロ、熱いからフーフー！

he loved it but got marshmallow all over the mouth ;P

すごくべちゃべちゃの口になりながら食べてました。＾＾；

his favorite cars.

息子君とカーズ。

3 of them together, so cute! well, kotori san family, thank you for coming over, we had a very good time! can't wait to do it again sometime soon :)

３人で記念ショット！ことりさんファミリー、わざわざ遠い所から来てくれてありがとうございました。とっても楽しくていい思いでができました！また帰国したときは一緒に遊んでくださいね！＾＾

we went to ski resort the next day.

次の日はみんなでゲレンデに行ってきました。

the wind was chilly but it was nice weather!

風は冷たかったけど、晴れていてグットウェザーでした。＾＾

she was having a blast with sled!

ことりさんの娘さんはそりをすごく楽しんでました！

kai tried sledding with me few times but he cried and wasn't ok with it. he just wanted to watch people slide :P

カイは１、２回一緒にそりで滑ったけど泣いたりでダメ。見てるだけの方が良かったみたい。＾＾；

he tried sledding also but he was having more fun eating the snow!

ことりさんの息子君もそりしたけど雪を食べる方が好きだったみたい。＾＾

when we got home, she taught kai how to ride the scooter.

ゲレンデから帰ってきたら娘さんがお気に入りのスクーターをカイにどうやるか教えてくれました。

she is just so cute!

かわいー！＾＾

yes, we are back in california again. we are both jet lagged (kai woke up at 3 am!) but we got home safe.

カリフォルニアに帰ってきました。時差ぼけがかなりあるけど（カイは夜中の３時に起きちゃったし！）無事に家につきました！

kai did mostly okay in the 8.5 hr plane ride. i just tried to keep him busy by watching movies, play with iphone, coloring, and take pictures. these are some of the pictures (like out of a hundred!) that he took. most of them were blurry but some came out okay. i'll be back on blogging rest of japan trip from tomorrow.

今回の帰りの８時間半の飛行機もまぁなんとかいい子でいました。＾＾；とにかくいろいろやらせてればいいやと思って、映画、 iphone、ぬりえ、コンデジで写真撮らせたり... で、これはカイが１００枚くらい撮った写真のなかからの数枚、もちろんほとんどはすごい手ぶれだけど何枚かまともなのがありました。＾＾；明日からは続きの日本でのブログに戻りま〜す。

after playing outside the house and lunch, we went to seisenryou (one of the touristy spot by the house). on the way there, we stopped at the view point.

家の周りで雪遊びして、お昼を食べた後は清泉寮に行ってきました。その途中での写真スポット。

pointing at the yellow bridge :)

黄色の橋をチェック中　＾＾

it was really cold (was snowing and all) but we managed to eat famous frozen yogurt and she found yummy icicle there too.

清泉寮は雪も降っていてすごく寒かった！でもちゃんと有名なソフトクリームは食べました！　娘さんはつららも美味しそうに舐めてました。＾＾

after coming back home, three of them were playing together all night long!

清泉寮から帰ってきたから寝るまでは３人とも仲良く遊んでました。

we are flying back to san francisco tomorrow so i will continue this in a few days!

明日、サンフランシスコに帰るので続きは帰ってからアップします。

kotori family came over to second house this past weekend to visit us from kyoto. she is in a middle of making a snow angel in the backyard!

ことりさんファミリーがわざわざ京都からセカンドハウスに遊びに来てくれました！娘さんはスノーエンジェル作りの真っ最中！

this is kai's first time playing in the snow and i guess he didn't know what exactly so he was crying with this miserable face for a while...

カイは初めての雪遊び、なんだか分からなくて、冷たくて、情けない顔して最初の方はかなり泣いてました。

he loved snow and was eating lots of snow. ;)

息子君は美味しそうに雪をたくさん食べて...＾＾

she was having a blast with snow.

娘さんは最後まで楽しそうにずっーと雪遊び。＾＾

after a while he was getting used to snow a little...

カイもちょっとずつ雪に慣れていって...

when he got used to it, he was throwing the snow around...

でもちょっと慣れたら雪をなげたりも... ＾＾；

brother and sister snow fight!

姉弟のスノーファイト！

continue tomorrow...

we arrived japan safely! it was a 10 hour flight but kai did amazingly well (watched up like 5 times!) and we are doing okay on jet lag too. i'm going to taiwan tomorrow for 3 days with my dad so probably won't be able to blog much this week. but i'm gonna take lots of pictures for later ;)

日本に無事に着きましたー。フライトは１０時間ちょっとかかったけど、カイは思ったよりも良い子にしててくれたので助かりました。＾＾　時差もそんなに影響ないし、カイも絶好調！明日は父と台湾に３日間行くので今週はブログのアップが少なくなってしまいます。でも写真はたくさん撮って帰ってくるので後ほどお楽しみに！

yes, all of a sudden, i'm going back again to japan on sat. but this time is only for 2 weeks with kai. i probably won't be able to post any new pictures over the weekend, just to let you know... stay tuned for new pics from japan next week! :)

そうなんです、実はまた日本に帰ってくるんです。＾＾；ちょっぴり父の仕事のお手伝いとミニバケーションって感じで、今回はカイと一緒に２週間、土曜日にサンフランシスコを出発します。という事で週末は新しい記事がアップできないと思うので、一応お知らせしときまーす。来週は日本からの写真をお楽しみに！＾＾

he picked daikon radish for the first time in the veggie field. :)

カイは大根抜きにも挑戦しました！

being a such a little helper.

一応お手伝いがんばり中＾＾

the longest daikon radish!

一番長くて大きかった大根。

picked about 100 of them...so we washed, dried, and pickled them so they last longer.

１００本位収穫。サラダで食べたりしましたがあり過ぎなので洗って、干して、たくわんにしちゃいます。

explored veggie field around the second house.

セカンドハウスの畑の周りを探検、八ヶ岳がバックです。

rice field before harvest.

収穫前のお米。

this is after　(at the different field), they dry the stock afterword like a little hut.

違う畑ではもう刈ってあったりも。

we made kai ride the tractor...but of course when i started taking pictures, he cried! :P

トラクターに乗せてみました。もちろん写真を撮りはじめたら泣きはじめてくれたのでこんな写真です。＾＾；

kai loves japanese tangerines (mikan ↓) so we went to pick some when we were still in japan!

又、日本の写真に戻ります...まだ整理が100%出来ていないのですいません...＾＾；　カイがあまりにもみかんが好きなので会社の農園でみかん狩りもしてきました。＾＾

daniel picked a really big one and a tiny one.

ダニエルがやたら大きいのと小さいのを見つけました。＾＾

kai was "helping" too.

一応、カイもお手伝い。

we got tons of tangerines! there were just way to many and almost discouraging to keep picking ;)

たくさん採って帰ってきました。でもこれだけみかんがなっていると採るのも大変ですね！笑

sorry for the lack of posts lately...but now that kai's b-day party is over, i can really get back on it now!

最近新しい記事がアップされてません...でも今日カイのバースデーパーティが無事に終わったのでこれからまた開始しま〜す！とりあえずお知らせまで！

i did a few quick shots (just kinda snapped without looking at the view finder) of kai while i run with him backwards.

ノーファインダーで何枚か撮ってみました。マパさんの素敵なのノーファインダーショットを見てちょっとトライしたくなったのでやってみました。＾＾

it is actually fun to see what kind of pictures you get when you look at them on the view finder. of course, i had lots of blurry ones and his face all cut off too ;)

やっぱりシャッターを押してからどんな写真が撮れていたかな？というドキドキ感があったけど、ピントがあわずにボケボケのとか顔がフレームから切れているやつもたくさんありました。＾＾；　まあそれもそれなりに面白くていいのかな？

he loves japanese tangerines (mikan) and he was able to peel and eat by himself by the end, amazing!

we are back home in california now! kai is still jetlag-y and his sleeping schedule is messed up! this week is pretty busy, i have to get back to my normal life stuff and i have to get ready for kai's b-day party on sunday. so i might not have as much post this week, sorry! but i'm trying to organize all the pictures from japan and slowly upload them this week.

カイは日本に来てからみかんが大好き！最初は自分ではむいて食べれなったけど、帰る前には一人で食べれるようになりました。

カリフォルニアに帰ってきました！カイはまだ時差ボケでまだ寝る時間がちょっと変です。＾＾；　帰ってきた当日はダニエルの会社のクリスマスパーティ、日曜日はスーツケースの片付け、に大掃除（一ヶ月半の私とカイが作っていない汚れを全部掃除しました。笑）。今週もいつもやる事プラス、カイのバースデーバーティーが日曜日にあるのでその準備でかなり忙しくなっちゃいそうです。なので今週ブログの更新はぼちぼち、みなさんの所にもあんまり訪問できないと思います。すいません！＾＾；　でもまだ日本で撮った写真がたくさんあるので、それをちょっと整理しながらアップしていこうと思います。

it started getting dark　so kai and ellyssa were playing inside and sitting around on the couch far away from each other or...

外も暗くなってきて二人は家の中で遊ぶ事に。ソファーの上で離れて座ってみたり...

sit right next to each other. so silly kids! ;)

くっついて座ってみたり、おかしな二人でした。＾＾
yukiさんファミリー、遠くからわざわざ来てくれてありがとう！とっても楽しかったよ！来年もまた遊びましましょうね★

the next day after breakfast, ellyssa + kai played together in the backyard with leaves.

次の日の朝食後、エリサちゃんとカイは庭で一緒に落ち葉で遊びました。＾＾

they went crazy!

もう落ち葉だらけで凄い事になっちゃいました。

↑click to enlarge pics / クリックで拡大

looks like they are little lewis + clark ;)

二人で探検、何を探しているのかな？

a little break with apple juice, they both are in same position and made me laugh!

遊び終わった後はリンゴジュースをで一杯, 同じ格好しながら飲んでる！＾＾

think they had a really good time with each other today! :)

今日はエリサちゃんと一緒に遊べてよかったね！　良い思いで作れたかな？　＾＾

i asked BabeEllycious family all of a sudden "do you wanna come over this weekend?" and they said " yes!" so they came over to second house after work from mie prefecture and arrived around 10 pm. we went to our favorite pub and had few pints of guiness to start! ;)

家の得意な突然プランでBabeEllyciousファミリーに「週末、来る？」と聞いたら「うん、行く！」という事になりました。＾＾ 仕事が終わってから四日市から着てくれたので到着したのは１０時頃。とりあえず行きつけのパブにギネスを一杯飲みにいってきました。

this is the irish pub called bull & bear near second house.

八ヶ岳にあるIrish Pub, Bull & Bear, 12時過ぎまで飲みながら話しちゃいました。＾＾

my dad made us cheese risotto with steamed broccoli for dinner tonight and it was yummy! since it's so dark at dinner time, i had to bring up ISO to 6400 to take this picture!

今晩父がチーズリゾットのスティームブロッコリー付けを作ってくれました。おいしかったです。＾＾　さすが夕飯の時は暗いのでISOを6400まであげて撮ってみました！だからやっぱりちょっとノイズが出てますね。

almost end of fall time with lots of leaves and acorns on the ground.

茶色葉っぱとどんぐりが地面にいっぱいで秋ももうそろそろ終わり。

kai was busy collecting acorns on the ground ;)

カイはどんぐり集めで忙しかったみたい　＾＾

on the way home from the aquarium, we walked by a newly re-built shrine so we stopped by to check it out.

科学館の帰りに９月に出来上がった立派な近所の神社をちょっと探検してきました。

it used to be a very small ran down shrine so i was just amazed by how big and nice it became!

前に見た時はちょつと寂しげな古い神社だったのでこんなに変わってびっくり！

i was just impressed by the wood work and this shrine was built in a very traditional way so they didn't use any nails at all!

この彫刻の細かさが凄かったので思わず写真を撮ってしまいました。神社も仕口工法でできているし、かなりすごいなぁ〜！

started sprinkling so we hurried back home!

途中でちょっと雨が降り出したから急いで帰りました。

wet on a walk by the river bank in front of the house. there were tons of pretty colored fallen leaves.

家の目の前にある河原の土手へお散歩。綺麗な落ち葉がたくさん！

kai's leave collection ;)

海の落ち葉コレクション。

actually we walked to a neighborhood aquarium by our house (there were a little festival going on) and watched peach colored pelicans walk around!

家のそばに小さな科学館があってそこで桃色ペリカンさんがお散歩にくる（どうやらこの日は特別に八景島シーパラダイスからきたみたいです＾＾）っというので見に行ってきました。

there were lots of bright red crawfish too!

真っ赤なアメリカンザリガニもたくさんいました。海は怖かったみたいです。＾＾；

it's actually a little bit ago but we went to yokohama zoo for a day! it was kai's first time at the zoo.

先日横浜動物園、ズーラシア に行ってきました。海にとっては初めての動物園でした。＾＾

even tho there was a glass　in front of us, it was still pretty scary to see a big tiger come up right next to you.

ガラス越しでも、やっぱりジロって見られながら近寄られる虎さんはやっぱりちょっと怖かったです。＾＾；

he was checking out animals like this!

海はこんな感じでしっかりと動物みてました。＾＾

japanese maple was pretty at the zoo too. :) overall, yokohama zoo was great, really big and tons of different animals to see (over a hundred, you can see a list here) with very low entrance fee (about $6 per adult, kids under 5 is free). i totally recommend this zoo!

the only thing i regret is that i couldn't take a good picture of okapi... it was towards the end of day and getting dark out and on top of that, he was inside　through the glass window :( i guess i have to save that until next time ;)

もみじの紅葉はここでも綺麗でした。＾＾　ズーラシアはかなり良かったです！すごく大きい場所で、１００種類以上の動物がいて（動物リストはこちら）おまけに入場料も安い！（大人６００円、５歳以下フリー）　かなりのおすすめスポットです　＾＾　

今回一番残念だったのがオカピの良い写真が撮れなかった事... ちょうどオカピの展示場は順番でいくと最後から２番目、日が暮れてしまいはじめて、室内のガラス越しにいたんです！（←かなり言い訳かも　＾＾；）次回は逆回りして最初にオカピを見ちゃおうかな？まあそれは次回までのお楽しみにしておきます。

birds on electric wire in tokyo.

電線で...何の鳥かは分かりません。＾＾；

after tokyo tower, we took few trains and walked around akihabara and shinjyuku in tokyo.

東京タワーの後は秋葉と新宿へ電車に乗って行ってきました。

yamanote line train in the middle of tokyo.

山手線。

shinjyuku station in tokyo.

the xmas lights next to the shinjyuku station was so pretty!

this is the JR (Japan Railway) train fare chart in english at the akihabara station. i think it looks pretty cool, all color coordinated for the different train lines. i like how the type is all diagonal to fit the name of each train stations. you can click to see it bigger :)

秋葉原でJRの英語の運賃表を発見！ちゃんと綺麗に電車の線で色が違うのがなかなかシンプルでGOOD！あとローマ字の駅の名前が斜めに書いてあってそれもデザイン的に好きだったから思わずパチリと撮ってしまいました。　＾＾　クリックで拡大できます。

daniel + i went to see the tokyo tower. it was super crowded to go up to the top so we decided to walk around tokyo that day.

ダニエルと東京タワー見学に行ってきました。展望台に行こうと思ったけどかなり混んでいたのでやめてそのかわり東京をちょっとウロチョロしてきました。

zoujyouji temple was right in front of tokyo tower so we decided to look around. it was such a huge temple! we didn't know anything about the history of this temple when we went but now we know! ;) they were getting ready for the candle light event for the night.

増上寺は東京タワーの目の前にあったので行ってみました。かなり立派な建物！このお寺の歴史なんか全然知らずにいってあとから徳川家の菩提寺という事を知りました。＾＾；　今晩はキャンドルのライトアップイベントの準備していたみたいでした。

more info on zoujyouji temple here.

増上寺のインフォメーションはこちら。

kai's first time at conveyor belt sushi. this sushi restaurant bring the special order on the shinkansen (japanese bullet train) right by your table so kai was too busy looking at that than eating!

初めてカイをかっぱ寿司に連れて行きました。カイは思った通り新幹線と目の前を通って行くいろんな種類のお寿司の皿に夢中すぎてなかなかご飯はたべてくれませんでした。＾＾；

daniel took a little movie with his iphone.

ダニエルがiphoneで動画を撮りました。

after the nara trip we went to see another new blog friend from bebellycious. this is ellyssa who is same age as kai and they got a long pretty well!

奈良観光の後は三重県四日市に行きまた新しいブログのお友達に会ってきました! bebellyciousのブログのエリサちゃん、ユキコさんと旦那さんのマイクさんにお目にかかりました！

yukikoさんとは何度もメイルしたり、チャットで話していたのでやっぱり初めて会ってもすごく話しやすくて素敵な人でした。＾＾旦那さんのマイクさんもすごくいい人でほんとに会えてよかったと思っています。

we went to ise grand shrine but lack of my preparation (forgetting camera bag with lens + charger), my camera's battery was running out and i was too busy eating and talking, i didn't take many pictures :(

みんなで伊勢神宮観光に行ってきました。でも私がカメラバック(レンズやチャージャー)を忘れてカメラの電池はもうなくて、話す、食べる、海を追いかけるのに忙しくてあんまり写真を撮る事が出来ませんでした。＾＾；

thank you to yukiko-san and her family for inviting us! we had a great time there and i can't wait to see you again!

yukikosさん、週末はいろいろとありがとうございました！　すごく良い思いでが出来ましたよ！次回また会えるのを楽しみにしています。＾＾

P.S. ケイちゃんとカズさんも一緒に観光、運転してくれてありがとうございました！今度はサンフランシスコに遊びにきてね！＾＾

nara's fall time was really pretty and tons of deer roaming around everywhere was fun too. (according to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred and divine, more info here)

やっぱり奈良の紅葉は綺麗！あと鹿もいっぱいいて面白かったです。＾＾

kai had so much fun feeding the deer crackers and wasn't scared at all.

海は鹿せんべいをあげるのが楽しくて全然怖くなかってみたいです。

muti-use parking lot ;)

パーキングなんでもOK! 笑

kotori's daughter played and watched kai like a big sister! ;)

ことりさんの娘さんは海とたくさん遊んでくれて面倒も見てくれました。やっぱりお姉ちゃん！＾＾

deer holding omikuji (fortune), cute!

鹿のおみくじ、かわいい〜　＾＾

we went to nara for a little day trip but the best part was meeting a blog friend, kotori family for the first time! :)

土曜日に奈良観光に行ってきました。でも一番楽しかったのが初めてことりさんファミリーに会えた事です。＾＾

ことりさんとは初対面だったけど、なんか昔から知っているような友達みたいな感じですごく話やすくて時間があっという間に過ぎてしまいました　♪　ことりさんは思っていた通りの素敵な方で一緒に奈良観光できたのがすごく嬉しかったです。また是非お会いしたいと思います。今回は奈良まで来てもらってありがとうございました！

todai-ji

東大寺

this is the great buddha hall (大仏殿), the largest wooden building in the world and houses the world's largest statue of the buddh.

agyo, one of two great nio gate guardians within nandaimon, was created by unkei in 1203.

initial work started in 743 and completed in 751. weighs 500 tonnes.

* Height: 14.98 m / 49.1 ft
* Face: 5.33 m / 17.5 ft
* Eyes: 1.02 m / 3.3 ft
* Nose: 0.5 m / 1.6 ft
* Ears: 2.54 m / 8.3 ft

since it's been getting cold, i got him a new stripped + panda bear (kinda hidden by his fingers) hat the other day. so i had to made him try it on! ;)

最近寒くなってきたのでストライプとパンダの毛糸の帽子をかってあげました。さっそく被せてみました。＾＾

my parents' friend makes these pretty moss balls and teaches classes　in tokyo. we went by his studio to check out these beautiful moss balls! i totally wanna make some now :) one on the picture is with a pink pearl tree.

父の友人の鳥居さんは苔玉の先生です。あまりにも素敵なので見に行ってきました！　私も一つ作るのにトライしたくなりました。＾＾　これはピンクの真珠の木苔玉です。鳥居先生のウェブサイトはこちらです。

orange orchid moss ball.

オレンジの欄の苔玉も洋と和のコンビネーションがいい感じ！　＾＾

belle + kai in the little hut again in the veggie field. the hut has been weathered + now crooked from the typhoon etc. but they can still sit in it ;) probably kai's gonna be too heavy to sit in there next year.

ベルと海が畑の「ベル小屋」にまた一緒に座ってくれました。ベル小屋は去年と比べるとちょっと曲がったりしているけど、なんとか座れました。でも来年は無理かも... ＾＾；

this is last year's pic, wow kai is double the size now.

ちなみにこれは去年の写真。海がかなり大きくなったな〜　＾＾

japanese maples are turning color, such a beautiful deep red color, simply amazing!

今年のもみじの紅葉はかなりビューティフル！

we went on a very short walk in front of the second house. leaves are turning colors and pretty.

セカウンドハウスの前のあたりをちょっと散歩しました。紅葉がきれいです。

he found a branch on a ground and playing with it for a while.

枝を見つけて落ち葉の中にしゃがみながら遊んでしました。

went to a field where my parents grow some veggies. kai found edible japanese lantern and he found...

この間畑に行ってきました。海は食用ホオズキを見っけ！あとは何を見つけたでしょうか...

a huuuuuuuge zucchini! the length is about 16 inches long and 6 inch diameter!

巨大ズッキーニを発見！長さは40cm位（海の胴体よりも長いかも)で直径は１６cm位かな？　（正確には計りませんでした。＾＾；）

kai liked the zucchini a lot but he was having a hard carrying it around! ;)

海は巨大ズッキーニがお気に入りでがんばって持ってました。でもちょっと大変だったみたい。笑

kai loves to push his toy cart or car around but obviously we didn't bring that, so grandpa brought out this huge rubbermaid cart that he uses for the yard work. he is very content pushing this around the backyard and think we'll put him to work next time ;)

海はおもちゃのカートで押して遊ぶのが大好き。でももちろんそれは日本には持ってこられなかったから、じぃーじが庭作業用のカートを出してきてくれました。もう海は大喜びで一人で庭で押し回ってます。今度はちゃんと中身もいれて仕事させちゃう予定です。＾＾

kai was a superman for halloween but i don't think he knows who "superman" is... ;) it's actually a pj but used it as costume also for the trip and worked out pretty well!

今年のハロウィーンはスーパーマンに変身しました。＾＾でも本人はスーパーマンが誰なのか全然分かってないです。笑　実はこれパジャマなんですけど、コスチュームとしてダブルで使っちゃいました。

just love how it comes with a cape that he can sleep with :)

ちゃんと付けながら寝られるマント付きで可愛かったです。

since he was a superman, he was helping people by pushing the car! ha ha.

スーパーマンだったので、困っている人の車を押してあげてます。笑

went to shibuya and kai took a picture with famous hachiko dog. hachiko was actually a real dog lived 1925-35. the story about this loyal dog is that after his master's death, he still waited for him to return from work at the shibuya train station, at the same time, every day for 10 years. now around this bronze statue is a famous meeting spot for people.

this is the crazy cross walk that goes every direction right in front of sibuya station.

next stop was asakusa. here is pretty much old part of tokyo and very traditional japanese atmosphere, a complete 180 from shibuya!

the smoke near the temple is known to bring good fortune, longevity, and health we all got covered by smoke intentionally. this was my first time visiting asakusa and i think it was really cool to see the area personally (i've always seen it on tv!). one of the side street had lots of traditional souvenirs and toys. one of the amazing and very interesting thing was to watch the actual masters do their work by hand (wood block prints and paper lantern writing). now i know why lots of tourists go there, i totally recommend seeing asakusa area. on the other hand, kai was being good as usual, hanging out in his stroller.

last stop of the day was akihabara which is known for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods, including new and used items. it's interesting to see what they have and how much they sell for. of course we did few shopping here (you know daniel with gadgets) :)

first place we went in kyoto was golden pavilion temple. it was beautiful and obviously very gold!

we had traditional macha tea and treats with gold leaf on it at the tea house. also picked up some japanese charms for our family members.

then we went to nijo castle. we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside but there were amazing paintings everywhere on the sliding doors especially shogun's rooms. you can kinda seem some on the link. the most amazing feature was the "nightingale floors" in the corridors. it was to protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, so the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them. we actually took a pictures of the "mechanism" which was a clamp underneath the floor that moves up and down to cause friction between the nail to produce sounds continuously. how did they think about that back in the day?

very ornate gate, again it's amazing how they did that all by hand back in the day. the main palace has a really big yard with pond there. and you can see the nightingale floor "mechanism" on the picture. it doesn't look like much but sure they work pretty well. there were chrysanthemum flower competition right before the gate and of course, you see the moat all the way around the castle outside.

after that was kiyomizu temple. this temple was built in 1633. the location for this temple is very pretty since it sits right next to the mountain and you have to go up a hill to get to this temple.

walking up hill to get to the temple, tons of people! this temple is known for it's beautiful scenery and location but the other well know thing is the otowa waterfall which has 3 streams of natural spring water and drinking this water brings wisdom, health, and longevity (yes, we had to wait in line to drink the water!). so we got a little cup to make kai drink some too.

next stop was fushimi inari shrine. this is the largest inari shine in japan and torii (red gates) tunnel goes forever to the top of inari mountain. this shrine has foxes everywhere and they use them as god of harvest (rice and cereals).

it was getting dark when we got here but we got to walk around for a while. the numbers of torii is amazing, it just never ends!! it was definitely pretty place and i would like to come back here when the sun is still out.

next and the final stop was kyoto station, the second largest train station in japan. this 15-story train station is huuuuuge! it has department stores, shopping malls, nice hotel, movie theater, and has underground "restaurant street" that has more than 100 restaurant. the xmas tree was huuuuge also and was pretty.

just really cool modern architecture to look at. in front of kyoto station is the kyoto tower which is the tallest structure in kyoto and has hotel and stores underneath the tower. this was our trip to kyoto, very long and exciting day for sure. thanks for reading on my super long post this time. :)

we went hiking on meshimori mountain. it was nice clear sky and took us about 1 hr to get to the top (1,643 m above sea level). it was pretty rough to go up the hill with lots of big rocks with kai in our arms (we all took turns carrying him tho). you can see the mt. fuji when we are almost at the top from the trail.

this is another place around the second house. the amazing thing about this waterfall is that water naturally comes out of the mountain, no river or lake up there. the amount of water comes out is amazing! it was very pretty scenery and calming there.

so we came back from japan today. the 8.5 hr plane ride wasn't too bad, kai was doing good and not too crowded. sorry, i haven't posted any new pics recently...we've been busy going places and doing stuff (as you can imagine). now, we are back home, i'll post more pictures of our trip as i go thru them this week!

we were at second house and we just got a little bored and decided to open up the bird houses on the trees. plus we had to clean them out for the next renters. we were expecting a cute little round nest, but to our supprise it was more like a bird bed than a birds nest.

this sagami river fireworks festival happens once a year right infront of our house. it's usually at the end of july but due to the bad weather, it was postponed until nov. 1st., lucky us! i haven't gone to this festival in i dunno how long, so i was totally excited to see it! i was afraid that kai was gonna get scared of the loud noise but he was totally fine and watched fireworks with us until the end. he was such a good boy!

there are lots of yatai (rows of shops, most of them are food) and tons of people (really, tons! you can't walk straight!!) walking around and eating food. this picture kinda has a scientific feel...doesn't it?

again, you see how many people are there walking around? crazy, right? here are pics of some real japanese food that they sell in those shops.

this is the fireworks finale. it was so great and so beautiful.

after transferring 3 different trains, 1.5 hrs, and 740 yen (per person, one way) later, we got to kamakura around 1:30 pm (we did have a bit late start today). kamakura has lots of temples (it was japan's capital back in 1192) and places to see but we went to 3 main locations that are the most famous.

the great buddha of kamakura, he is the second biggest in japan. casted in 1252. he used to be in a temple but the tidal wave came in late 15th century and washed away the wooden structure therefore, he's been outside ever since. more info here.

his zouri (slippers) and pic of inside of buddha. the brown stuff was added in late 60's to have more support on his neck.

hase temple's main building, home of a giant statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. we really wanted to take pictures of kannon statue but we weren't allowed to take pictures :P but you can see the pics and more info here.

view of kamakura was beautiful from hase temple, looking down is sagami bay. very nice japanese garden and on one side of the temple, has about 50,000 jizo statues.

tsurugaoka hachimangu shrine has very intricate architectures and amazing detail in decorations. the shrine was built by yoritomo in the 12th century and dedicated to Hachiman, the Shinto god of war and patron of the Minamoto family. more info here.

went to a hotel resort area called risonare designed by famous italian architect mario bellini. it is very modern and looked really cool. it has a little town with a main street with shops, huge indoor pool & spa, hotels, activity center etc. when we went, it was all lit up in halloween theme lighting and kids were walking around all dressed up!

happy halloween everyone!

we went to misogi shrine near second house. it's a pretty big and nice shrine than most of them around. it has lots of sectors and meaning to each building, they do certain events in certain ones (if you can read japanese, please look at the shrine map and descriptions). we went there towards the end of day so it was pretty cold and not many people were around.

flowers for lena, just 5 min. walk from the second house. they grow their own flowers in the field near by. also make lots of different kinds of dried flowers in the back, love the vivid colors!

called Gomphrena Globos, they come in white, red, light pink, purple. very cute circular flower (?), i don't think i've seen them back home, but i could be wrong...

looks kinda like a foxy-dog? her name is rose.

second house is located in a rural area so people do lots of farming around and my parents grow some veggies also. we can see mt. fuji from here when there's clear sky (i haven't got a chance to take a pic yet...), nice clean air, pretty scenery, you know all the good stuff you get to enjoy living in that kind of environment.

the water is so clean that people wash dishes sometimes in that little creek next to farming field. that's belle's her own little "dog house" when my parents are in the field working, and she knows to stay there, such a good girl!

we saw these crazy colorful fish at the pet shop, there's bunch of colors and different pattern on them. we asked how they got their interesting color, i guess some people color fish like that?!?! isn't that crazy?

we'll be here until tuesday at my parents second house in yatsugatake to relax, look around, and have my friend's over.

my parents dog, belle likes to be in the sun.

since our departure time got changed to 9 am, we got up at 4:30 and went to the SF airport, but our crazy plane situation wasn't the end today...here was quick list of what happened.

6:30 am arrive at SF airport, got in line for the ticket counter to re-check-in
7:30 am go to the gate, found out that plane is actually leaving @ 8:50 am, feeling lucky :)
8:20 am suppose to start pre-boarding but doesn't happen
8:40 am NW attendant announce that they are still working on the plane, more info in 30 min.
8:55 am change the pre-bording time to 9:00 am
9:15 am tell us that captain and mechanics are discussing if this plane should fly todday over the engine report from the maintenace
9:45 am announce that the this plane and all NW flights are cancelled today, we all pacnic!
10:30 am found out that only 60 people can ride JAL airline to go to tokyo today but suitcases are still in NW flight and not gonna have enough time to transfer suitcase to JAL flight
10:45 am i managed to put us on the list to take JAL to go to tokyo, yes finally...
11:20 am checked-in to JAL flight that leaves at 1:20 pm without any suitcases
11:25 am JAL attendant tell us that thiere might be a chance for us to get suitcases out of NW flight but we have to wait for a while to find out for more info
12:00 pm we went to go get our suitcases from baggage claim and re-check in to JAL flihgt
12:15 pm go thru the security for the 3rd time and go to the gate
1:00 pm pre-board to JAL flihgt to take off to tokyo
4:30 pm the next day arrive to narita airport!!!

i swear, this was the most crazy crazy plane situations like the movie or something and i never paniced that early in the morning before either. i hope this will never happen to us again, seriously! we were so happy when we finally arrived in tokyo.

when we were waiting around, kai was having fun pushing his stroller around at SF airport.

so we went and sat in the airplane to go to japan for about 1.5 hrs and they told us that there's leak in the right fuel tank and they need 8 hrs to fix the airplane, so that new departure time is 9 am the next day!?!?! so we came back home for the night and get to do that again tomorrow, great! the whole day is wasted and one less day to enjoy japan!! we were soooo mad...but i guess it's better plane crashing, huh? anyhoo, i thought i'll share that this is the stupid airplane that got delayed and screwed our schedule (when i was actually taking this picture, i was like"oh, this is kai's very first airplane" but forget that now)!