Food!! Glorious Food!! May!!

May

This month I ate lots of yum and amazing foods and some old favourites when I went to London!

Amazing Burger King (Hungry Jacks)


Huge cheese at Costco!


Roast beef wrapped in yorkshire pudding


Mexican Fajitas


Pasty


Me having English tea!


Steak and Mushroom Pie


Steak sandwich


Real fish and chips and mushy peas deep fried!


Hamburger and curly fries


Cooking lesson - vinegar anchovies and remen - cold noodle salad


Taube and I with our plum icecreams


Cool Japanese style esky!


Ume - plum that will eventually be pickled


Vats of soy sauce


Amazing soy sauce that tasted like vegemite

Wakayama – a weekend bus tour with nakedness and beaches!

16th - 17th May

Julian and my Japanese teacher, Yumi organised a bus tour to Wakayama. It was fantastic as we knew nearly everyone on the bus and it had karaoke! I had never been to that area so I was really looking forward to it. We left early on Saturday morning and stopped at Shirasaki Ocean Park (white rocky cape and the beach), Sandan Peki cliffs (where many people commit suicide off the 50 metre cliffs) and Hashi Kuiiwa (rock formations) before getting to the pier and catching the ferry across to the Urashima Hotel. We all stayed at a hotel on the island which has many natural onsen (mineral baths where you go naked). When we arrived we went to the most famous onsen which is cave like and you can see the sea as it opens out onto the sea. It was really amazing! We then had dinner and then visited 3 more onsen afterwards! The next morning we went to the other cave and sea onsen which was really good too. On the way home we stopped at a kamaboko factory, Kumanokodo (World Heritage Listed pilgrimage walk), Nachi taki (one of Japan's tallest waterfalls), a shrine, ume (pickled plum) factory and shouyu (soy sauce) factory. It was a great weekend and I am looking forward to visiting Shirahama beach in Wakayama in summer as it is meant to be really beautiful and it has sand from Australia! :-)

Panoramic of Shirasaki Ocean Park


At the beach with Jane


Sandan Peki Cliffs


Karaoke on the bus


Hashi Kuiiwa


Our hotel on an island!


The cute turtle ferry we caught


Kumanokodo


Nachi taki


Everyone on the bus tour

Matsue Beach!

10th May

Today our friends organised a beach BBQ. It was at Matsue beach but we had never been there before even though it is close to Himeji. As far as beaches go near Himeji I have been slightly disappointed as coming from Australia they just don't compare. However this beach was amazing – the water was clear, the sand clean and no seaweed! It was a beautiful day as it was 26 degrees and it was so great to just sit around and relax with friends at a wonderful beach. We all got very excited and decided during summer holidays every Friday we will pack a picnic and come down to the beach!

The beach!


Kyosuke and I at the beach - in the clean, seaweed free water!


Taube, Rachel and I


Just beautiful!


Kyosuke holding the sun in his hands!

Golden Week holidays in London!

29th April - 7th May

There is a special week in Japan called Golden week because there are 3 national holidays and another one in the week before. I was able to take only 4 days holidays and have an 8 day holiday in London! I had a great time seeing Dad and Lainey and catching up with Emma and Renee too! I spent a lot of time shopping and sightseeing and eating! I went on the London eye, walked around London, went up to Bath and Bristol, stayed in Tamworth with Emma, went to Hampton Court Palace, saw a musical and did more shopping! I am looking forward to visiting London again soon!

London Eye


View of Big Ben and Houses of Parliament from the London Eye


Me and Big Ben


Dad and Lainey's House


Renee and I in Piccadilly Circus


Dad and Lainey in Bath


Dad and I in Bath


The English Manor Hotel we stayed in in Bradford upon Avon


Emma and I in Lichfield


Hampton Court Palace - home of Henry 8th