This final Saturday in August, I FINALLY made it out to the fruit and flower park!!! I've been wanting to go since I found out about it in December. And I didn't even have to go alone--a friend came together with me!
So, basically, at this place, the main purpose to go there is to go fruit picking and eat ridiculous amounts of fruit. As much as possible without getting sick, is what I would say is a good measure.
When I had been looking into the kinds of fruits that we could pick, the options for August were supposed to be grapes, peaches or (Asian) pears. I think we were originally talking about peaches, but when we got there, we found out that was finished already. Oh! And you can do apples in September!! We decided we want to go do that next month! Mmmmm.....apples....
In order to get out there, we took a bus from Sannomiya (there is a bus that goes directly there, but it only runs on weekends and holiday days). It was really convenient (especially because we could use our IC cards) and it only cost 610¥ and it took about 35 minutes to get there! (Which is much cheaper and faster than the other non-direct bus or train options).
It was kind of funny though, because when the bus arrived there and we started to get off the bus, the driver seemed rather surprised and wanted to check to make sure we were getting off at the right place. Not really sure why...maybe foreigners don't go out there often? We didn't really see any when we were there.
Anyway, when we arrived there, there weren't so many people, and we took a leisurely walk around the grounds to explore and check out what there was, and what we could possibly do after. Turns out there was a nice cafe, a big bbq area, some open spaces that would be good for events or picnics, a kind of amusement park, some small, shallow pools with these giant inflated jumping/slide things, and even a hotel. Interesting. Then we headed out to the fruit picking area, and on the way there, they also have mini-golf and go-karts.
Pretty flowers!
View from the parking entrance
Yes, we are still in Japan (if you saw it out of context, you'd never guess that though!)
When we got to the fruit area (did I mention we decided to go with pears?), we paid our 1000¥ to get in and go do our picking and all we could eat (食べ放題)!
Yum! Yes please!
They gave us a couple plastic knives and plastic bags to put our waste in, and we collected a bucket for water for washing.
Japanese Engish kills me sometimes..."a bucket of ME"....what does that even mean??!
Then we went in and found a nice spot with lots of pears to pick, and sat down and started our feast.
Let's EAT!!
I want to eat you!! *evil laughter*
They were delicious! But, just so you know, we weren't total gluttons--there were still pears left on the trees when we left. Hehehe.
See?! Still on the tree!
But seriously though, we spent a lot of time talking. And taking pictures. And watching the dragonflies. It was a pretty good morning!! (Although we did get really full, and our stomachs hurt a bit afterwards...but it was worth it!)
You could also take some fruit out with you, but you have to pay extra for that, and as it was more expensive than buying them normally, we decided against that option.
The pear grove
Looks good, right?!
There were actually a few blossoms still. Strange.
After that, we took a bit more of a walk and then eventually ended up at a cafe for lunch (we were surprisingly a little hungry). More talking!
The grapes....
Nice view
Then we wanted to go eat gelato, although before that, we got distracted by these animal things that you could ride. My friend went for a ride on a dragon. It was funny to watch and she tried to chase me down, but it was too slow. Hehehe.
"Take my picture!!!!"
"It's fun...really!"
And that was pretty much our day at the park! Next time: apples!!!
:::UNRELATED:::
And really quickly--Other things of interest that have happened in the past week since Obon:
This week I had a volunteer grade 7 student in my classroom, and he was really interesting to watch because he was so awkward with the kids, although he did get better as time went on. The first day I asked him if he was scared of the kids, and he answered 'yes' straight up. I swear, they really aren't that bad!! During the pool days, we told our kids that they couldn't splash us, but our volunteer was fair game. He got soaked. ;) And there were some epic water battles between him and the 4 year olds. Really fun to watch. By the end of the week all of the 4 year old girls were in love with him and were constantly hanging off him, touching and doing their very best to get as much of his attention as they could. It was kind of surprising, but also funny to watch because he had no idea what to do with them.
Wednesday night after my class, ヨシダさん had another live at Pinot, and so I went. This time though I had a book or two and my notebook with me, so he made some comment about how I really looked like a teacher that night (it was my student version though....). Yet again, a fun night. This time I ended up talking with another girl who had come in in her own. She was nice enough, and said next time, we should talk again.
And finally, Saturday evening, Colors to Cooks had a street live in Sannomiya, and so I went and listened for a while. Good fun! And the weather was much cooler and endurable than it has been.
Oh no! August is already almost over! Time is going by far too quickly!!
This year's Obon holiday was nice and long for me!!
The first day was actually on a Thursday. (Although we had to work the next day before our longer holiday began...but who will complain about a random day off in the middle of the week? Not me!)
On that Thursday, I went with a friend into Osaka because she wanted someone to accompany her on her shopping trip, and I happened to be the one who was elected. After getting there, we went out for lunch to a pancake restaurant and ate wonderfully delicious apple cinnamon pancakes! After gaining that energy, we went off on her actual mission--book shopping. We ended up in a couple different book stores before she was able to find one she wanted. The last one we went in was really big and had a nice atmosphere. Before heading home, we stopped and listened to a little bit of a street live. This street live was a joint live by a couple of musicians I hadn't listened to in a rather long time (Tyotti and 馬道まさたか). Anyway, while 馬道さん was playing, the Tyotti came and handed out flyers. And shockingly came and gave some to us (I say shockingly because very often they're really shy about coming up to foreigners and giving us flyers). When he did that, I talked with him for a little bit and mentioned that it wasn't my first time to hear him sing. At first he was surprised (because we didn't talk before), but when I mentioned that I had seen him a while back at one of ヨシダさん's lives, he remembered and then we ended up talking a little bit more, and he had the typical Japanese reaction about commenting on how good my Japanese was.
Friday was work, but it was a relaxed kind of day.
Then, the real holiday began on Saturday. However, I'm going to tell you right now, that it was relaxing for me, but maybe boring for you to read. Most of it was spent at the beach because the weather was beautiful---not really any rain, and it was so hot! (Actually that's probably part of why I didn't do any traveling--too hot to move, well that and I had been really exhausted from work and all of the other things that have been going on in my life).
That first day, I ended up talking with a lot of different people. One was kind of interesting. Apparently this person had studied English for a while and (unrelated) had lived in Italy for about 5 years. Anyway, where that conversation ended up going was about foreigner's feelings in regards to speaking their native language or the local language while living abroad, and how it feels kind of sad when you can't talk in the local language with people because they want to (or think you can only) talk in your native language. And did I mention this entire conversation was in Japanese? It was really interesting!! And very different from the typical beach conversation.
That afternoon, ヨシダヒロキ uploaded a teaser video of his new album that is coming out in September. It's a only quick preview of the songs that will be on his new album, but it sounds really good!! I'm really looking forward to hearing it!
If you want to listen, and the video isn't working on my blog, click here.
Saturday night, I went into Osaka to listen to a street live by Colors to Cooks (who I may have mentioned in a previous blog post). Their music is quite nice, and recently, I've really been enjoying it! In the middle of this live though, there were a couple of German guys who sat down next to me, and they were so noisy! Talking too much. So with that in combination with the cockroach I saw, I found myself a new place to sit and listen. Then it was much better. When they were finished, and I was ready to leave, I started walking towards my station, but they kind of cut me off and thanked me for coming and then talked with me for quite a while, even though they had been talking with other people before that. I found out lots of interesting things, including that they are so young! Only 22! Anyway, I was happy to have that conversation.
Colors to Cooks
If you're feeling curious about what their music sounds like, I found a video of one of their songs....
Sunday, I went to the beach again. Nothing too exciting to talk about for that day, although I did see a person doing this jet thing. Ironman wannabe? It looked kind of fun, although he seemed to be losing balance and crashing into the water a lot. That would probably be me if I tried something like that...
The next day, nothing overly exciting happened, and I didn't really go anywhere, just took some time to myself. And did some of my Japanese homework. And I suppose I also did something else by writing this interesting story...
Such an awesome story, right?! ^_~
Tuesday, I went to, (you'll never guess!) the beach! Yet again. What can I say? It's a compulsion. And it was hot. Really hot. I didn't really want to move. Therefore, the beach. It was another very relaxing day.
Random waves...(for someone who likes them...)
Well, it was a relaxing day. Up until I got home. You see, what happened was, when I got home, I really wanted to take a shower. After a long, hot day at the beach, it's understandable, right? But....the problem was...I had no water! So for a couple minutes I just wandered around my apartment being stunned, wondering what I should do. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was to phone the water company, but it was too late, they would have already been finished for the day, not to mention it was a holiday. Next thought was to check with the neighbors to see if their water was out too or not. But that idea was rejected very quickly. So, my next idea was to wonder about who I could call or message to get some suggestions about what I should do. Mind you, that happened in conjuction with another thought exploring the possibility of going to pick up some big water bottles from the convenience store to sustain me until calling the water company in the morning. But I really didn't want to do that unless I absolutely had to. I went with the messaging option. And, I did get a reply! Yay! But...it was from 山口さん, and so everything was in Japanese. Of course, his first question was about if it was just one thing of water or everything, and he wanted to check to make sure that I had indeed paid my water bill. Well, I may be kind of silly sometimes, but not quite that silly! Of course I paid it! So, we ended up having a kind of long conversation (that was kind of difficult for me, because he used a lot of kanji that I don't know -- I remember thinking at one point, "am I Japanese?!"). Eventually we figured out that the water valve had been turned off, and from there it was a simple matter of me turning it back on by myself. With the help of some pictures back and forth, that was easily done, and the problem was solved! Miraculously, my water returned!! I was so happy! Oh, and at the end of that conversation he let me know that ヨシダさん was going to be at his bar in a couple of days to do a live! I was surprised, because I knew he was doing one there the next week, but I guess that one had just suddenly been decided. So, I also got to be thankful for that information as well!
Wednesday, I had to do some running around, and some figuring out, and that took up a lot of my day, and in the evening, I had my Japanese class.
Thursday, I decided to go to a different beach, which I had heard nothing but good about from a few different people. It was slightly further away than the beach I usually go to, but it turned out to definitely be worth it! It was a little smaller than the other beach I had gone to, but had much nicer water and sand, and it seemed friendlier. Not to mention, the people there were younger, and there was less partying. More family style. Much better for me. That day, a few people came and talked with me, and they were all really nice! I was happy!
Asagiri Beach
Also that afternoon, ヨシダさん released a music video of a song (この町で) off of his new album! I was excited to hear/watch it! It sounds wonderful, and he arranged it with piano, which kind of made me want to play my piano too.... In the video, at some points he looks really embarrassed, but it also looks like he had a lot of fun with it!
That night, I went to Pinot to listen to ヨシダヒロキ, and of course say thank you one more time to 山口さん. When he heard about how 山口さん helped me, ヨシダさん made fun of me. Not very nice! :P Actually though, it was a really fun night! And!!! Guess what, guess what, guess what!?!?!? That night, ヨシダさん gave 山口さん his iPad for a little bit, and so 山口さん played ヨシダさん's ENTIRE new album through his sound system while ヨシダさん was taking a rest from singing!!! Wow!!! It really sounds great!! Even though it was a little bit difficult to hear because of the low volume and people talking there...I was so lucky to be there to hear it that night!!!
Friday, I went out to my new beach again, although this time I found a spot on an end, rather than in the middle, and it was much quieter, although people still came and talked with me. It wasn't really hugely exciting, and I ended up being a little bit annoyed because somehow my Kobo's screen had frozen (probably the day before), and it was that way when I got to the beach, and as a result of that the battery was killed. So all I could do was enjoy my music, talk with people and enjoy the scenery. Not that there's anything wrong with that mind you, I just wanted to be able to read a book too.
At the end of that afternoon, ヨシダさん uploaded another music video from his new album!! This one was for the song ゆらゆら! Exciting!! Oh, and did I mention before, these songs aren't actually new to me, as he has been playing them at his lives for some time now, but the arrangements are new, and it sounds a little bit different with his studio voice instead of his live voice (if you know what I mean...)
On Saturday, I went to the beach again, but on my way to the station, I did a 'good deed'! While I was walking there, I saw someone who was walking in the opposite direction drop their keys on the ground, but they didn't realize, so when they got close enough that they could hear me, I pointed it out to them. They were happy that I had noticed. Also, Saturday night, when I was taking a walk, I almost ran into another boar! This one was hanging out in a park near a river.
More random waves from a different beach...
Sunday was unfortunately the final day of my holiday, and the weather was yet again, hot and sunny, so of course, I headed out to the beach one last time. It was particularly nice this day! Random conversations, as usual, happened. At one point a young boy (maybe junior high age) came up to me and asked (in English) if I could speak any Japanese, so I told him I could (in Japanese), and he asked me a couple more questions before tearing off super excitedly back to his friends to let them know what he found out.
The water was a very nice shade of blue this day!
And that, concludes my post about this year's Obon holiday. Maybe not so exciting, but it was definitely enjoyable for me, and gave me a much needed chance to recharge my batteries!
If all goes as planned, there will be another post coming up in short order about another adventure I'm planning to do very soon! Look forward to it~~!
Many things happened this weekend, and I had lots of fun and some good experiences!
It started on Friday...
So, I knew that there was going to be a live on Friday night, and I had asked a friend to join me, but she said no because she wanted to spend money on other things that weekend. Fair enough, although it was the type of live where you only pay for your drink (and a tip later if you choose), no set entrance fee. But anyway, all of Friday I couldn't decide if I should go or not. Of course, I wanted to go, but I was waffling about it. Not entirely sure why though...maybe because it as in a new place for me?
Anyway, at the end of the day, I was talking with one of the Japanese teachers about weekend plans, and I happened to mention that I couldn't decide if I was going to this live or not, and I said I probably wasn't going to go after all. But, right after that she said to me, "If it's okay with you, can I join you in going to the live?" I was very surprised, as it was kind of out of the blue, but still, it made me really happy! Then later, when I got home, she texted me and asked if was ok if she asked another teacher (my teaching partner) to come as well. So of course, I said of course!
Oh! As a random interjection--on Friday night, there was all kinds of crazy lightning! It's the first time I've seen lightning since I've started living in Japan!! And there was some insanely strong rain that happened while I was on the train, but luckily it had mostly stopped by the time I got off the train.
Back to my story-- so I met them at the train station closest to where we had to go (they ended up getting there a train or so after me) and we headed out. Turned out to only be a 3 or 4 minute walk. It was still raining a little, so they shared umbrellas with me! So kind! Once we got there and walked in -- there was the normal mutterings that happen the first time I go to a new place from the bartenders -- basically asking ヨシダさん if I'm his girlfriend. I don't know why they always jump to that conclusion and think I can't hear them, but no. My accompaniment ordered themselves some food in addition to their drinks (and later forced me to try some of it). Then we listened to music, talked and laughed a lot. It was a really good night, and so much more fun than either staying at home or going on my own! Somewhere in the course of the night, one of them wanted to take a picture with me (see below) and they really seemed to enjoy the music (possibly because it was a cover night so they already knew many of the songs).
Oh! And I found out something about my partner! Apparently she really likes my voice and from what I understand, I'm the only one who didn't know that. When I asked her why she liked it, she said she likes high tone voices and is always listening to people's voices. (I don't think my voice is high though) Then she said that she has a voice fetish. My reaction was just, "oh..." Awkward!! Did she have to say it like that?? It was funny though. And then, the other teacher told me I should go to karaoke with my partner because it would make her very happy. Ah...karaoke...hahaha....
When he was finished singing for the night, the two of them headed out and I stayed for a bit to talk with ヨシダさん, as I hadn't really talked with him at all (and I needed to make fun of him about something). He told me he was glad that I had brought friends and was happy for me that I have Japanese friends out here.
Saturday, I headed out to the beach for a while, and although I had things I should do, I spent the time getting some well-needed relaxation time. Later in the afternoon, I headed back to get changed for the evening's event. I was meeting up with some friends to go to a big fireworks event down at Harborland.
We met up an hour before they started so we'd have enough time to find somewhere to sit and get food and things like that. Well that was the plan. Unfortunately, we had to wait about 45 minutes for one person. So, as a result when we got there, the fireworks were starting already, and they wanted to stop for food, and took forever to find somewhere to watch, and even then, kept getting up to look for new spots because we couldn't see well. I was kind of annoyed. Eventually, they settled on a spot, but we could only see the edge of the fireworks. And I didn't mention, there was a group of maybe 12-14 of us--about a 50-50 mix of foreigners and Japanese people.
Then, when there was only about 15 minutes left to the fireworks, they decided they wanted to move AGAIN. At this point, I dare say you can imagine how I felt. Since I wasn't so keen about it, I ended up at the back of the group. Then, as I stopped to look at the fireworks for a second while we walked, next thing I know, everyone, except for one of the Japanese boys, was gone!! So the two of us found our own nice spot and watched the finale while sending messages to the others asking where they ended up. The finale was pretty awesome...lots of big and very vividly colourful fireworks. And we could see them really well. I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures of the finale though. I was too frustrated. When it ended, Hikaru and I waited out the masses of people leaving the area, and waited for replies to out messages...which eventually did come. While we waited we talked. Well...tried anyway. It seems however that neither of us was particularly skilled at talking with new people though. It went something like this: question, answer, reply to answer, looooong silence, and repeat. Oh my....hahaha....
Once we met up again with the others, there was of course some requisite teasing, and then we headed out to a convenience store to pick up some ice cream and drinks before we headed back to an area where we could sit and chat.
Our girls are feeling hot! (Both ways!)
Then we sat and talked for a couple hours or so. (May have been interrupted temporarily by a cockroach though -_^)
One of the girls asked me to take this photo of the boat coming in because her battery was dead...
Throughout this whole time, I talked with the other people I know (the foreigners) and a some with the new-to-me Japanese people. But the entire time, Hikaru basically stuck with me, and didn't really talk with anyone else. Kind of puppyish--but I also understand really well, because he didn't really know anyone else--and that's probably what I do (or used to)...stick with the people I know I can talk to. Interesting for me though--I was thinking to myself, "is that what I look like in these situations?" It was all good though. What started out as an extremely frustrating night turned out to be rather fun! We all ended up walking back to the station together and dispersed from there to our various trains.
Sunday, I got up early again (apparently, I just don't sleep much at all anymore). Everyday, burning both ends of the candle. Anyway, I went out and picked up my fruits and veggies (and got some pretty awesome prices) before heading out to the beach again. It was hot. It was so hot...what else can you really do other than the beach?
Feels like 41?!
This time however, I got down to business at the beach and got a good amount of my homework done. I was really sad and kind of grumpy though, because I forgot my fruit in the fridge at home. While I was there, a friend messaged me to come to another beach for lunch, but I had to say no, because I was already at a beach, and if I went there, there's no way I could've done my homework. This particular day, there was a group of guys sitting somewhat behind me on the beach, and they were kind of amusing. At one point one of them came and talked for a little, was quite nice, and expressed his concern that as it was quite hot, I should make sure to drink lots of water. Not to worry--I had nearly 2L with me. (Didn't forget that at home!)
Then, Monday morning at work, so many people commented about how tanned I was -- although they were all looking at my legs when they said it. I guess that's what I get for not wearing full length jeans for once. Because they didn't really get that much darker this weekend than they had been last week. And this evening, as I'm writing out this blog post, I'm sitting in Osaka, enjoying the nice cooling breeze and listening to a street live from オカダユータ.
Good times these past few days!! I hope it keeps up! ^_^
