Scousers reunited!

After months of planning, Laura finally made her way to Japan, and after some lone adventures in Tokyo and Kyoto, she finally made her way to me. I actually felt like a proud mum when I met her at Kumamoto station, because she’d managed to navigate alone for 3 days prior without my help. It was like we’d never spent any time apart, and I’m proud to report that within hours my Scouse accent had returned to its full glory. Kohei asked me on the phone what the hell had happened to my voice... Poor boy is going to get a shock if he comes to England this Christmas!

Laura is my sort of home away from home. She always reminded me of Liverpool when I was at uni, and reminded me of Keele when I was at home. She was my first real visitor besides my parents, and it was nice to see how easily she took Japan in her stride and seemed to fit into my new life here.  Evenings were spent having girly catch ups, and the days were filled with adventures. 

We visited Suizenji Park and got kakigori (shave ice) on her first day, and that evening, with it being Kohei’s birthday, had an all-night shindig that involved all of the karaoke, candid Polaroid pictures and a raging hangover the next day. I introduced her to many food firsts too: gyoza, okonomiyaki, Ichiran and basashi. I’ll admit, she took to basashi better than I did. I’m happy to say it’s taken me one whole year to eat raw horse, and I’ll happily live in Kumamoto for many more years and never have it again.

Being the amazing teacher I am, I promised my junior high school’s rugby team I’d watch them play their prefectural semi-final the next morning. I’ll admit, I was full of regret upon waking up, but it was all made worthwhile when the student who invited me (and admittedly my favourite kid in the entire school) finished the game and did our handshake with me pitch-side in front of everyone. If that doesn’t mean I’m cool, I don’t know what does.

 We made a quick little jaunt to Yuge Shrine, a fertility shrine which made for some fabulous photo opportunities. Although we had planned to visit Kurokawa Onsen in the afternoon, there were a few bumps in the road (aka landslide closures) that made us reconsider, so we turned back to spend a chill afternoon watching my boys play in the final.

 

Although work came around hard and fast, I’m so happy Laura spent as much time as she could with me during her whirlwind tour of Japan. I’m sure she’ll write her own blog about it shortly, which you can find at laurameetsworld13@blogspot.co.uk . It’s worth a read purely for the little adventure my neighbour who I’ve never met took her on, after obviously working up the courage to strike up a conversation thinking she was me!

Drip drip drop, little (by that I mean relentless) April showers.

My parents recently visited Japan for the first time, and I was able to join them for all but one part (Tokyo) of their whirlwind journey. We visited Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Miyazaki prefectures, all in the space of 9 days. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

The only place I hadn’t been to before was Hiroshima, and what a beautiful place. My parents had timed their visit to coincide with the cherry blossom, and once we arrived in Hiroshima, the sakura were in full bloom.  Hiroshima itself was somewhere I’ll definitely be returning to soon. It had such a relaxed vibe, and that, along with hundreds of people enjoying hanami (cherry blossom viewing) along the riverbanks, made it utterly beautiful despite the greyness.

Visiting the Atomic Bomb Museum was a solemn one, as you’d expect, however I’d recommend anyone to go to the museum in Nagasaki instead. While Hiroshima is still the more well-known of the two atomic bomb targets, that is seemingly its downfall, as I felt like I was being hurried through the museum without any time to reflect.

The day we took a trip to Miyajima was the only day we weren’t soaked. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a while to see the Great Torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine, and it didn’t disappoint. We also took the cable car to the top of the moutain, and the view was just stunning. Momiji manjyu is now one of my favourite local delicacies, and the fried version, age momiji, is something else.  

I also had the most hilarious food experience after going to a recommended ‘hole in the wall’ Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki restaurant. After explaining to the elderly woman working (doing everything alone might I add), that my mum wasn’t a particularly adventurous foodie, she proceeded to practically shove things in my mum’s mouth to prove it was okay and cook away at 100 mph.

Never did I see the day I’d be taking my parents to purikura, but we took some hilarious photos there. The one I chose in Hiroshima apparently gave my dad a sensory overload, much like the pachinko parlour I told my mum to just pop her head into.

My parents have vouched to return to Japan again, and I can only hope they decide to take things easier. Here’s me, over a week later, still catching up on sleep after Japanese-ing to within an inch of my life. 

All in all though, I’m happy they actually got to see what my life over here is like, especially after meeting Sheridan and Clare, and spending a few evenings in cute little Kumamoto. 

They got to meet Kohei too! Even if I did have to spend a day nursing him to recovery, I’ll give him credit where credit’s due… he attempted to keep up with my dad’s bourbon drinking, not a feat many would take on. 

So here's to next time, when their new found love for Kumamon and fancy Japanese toilets will have hopefully blossomed even more. またね！