I’m one of those people who thinks, “If you see one, you’ve seen it all”. For example, I was basically DONE with ruins when I went to Playa Del Carmen. After I saw the ruins in Tulum, I had no desire to go to any other. The same goes with the shines in Japan. After I saw the shrines in Osaka and Kyoto, I didn’t care to see any more. SOOOO, when my great aunt told me that she wanted to take Jimmy and me to Nikko, I wasn’t really excited. After all, how different can it be?
Apparently, there is a BIG difference…especially in color. I *heart* insanely saturated colors.
LOVE this door.
My grandpa, great aunt, and great uncle.
Sleeping buddha
We finished our day strolling around in a REAL Japanese garden. Haha
FYI: Nikko is a small city at the entrance to Nikko National Park. It is most famous for the Toshogu, Japan’s most lavishly decorated shrine complex and mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
When it comes to planning, I;m a genius. I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at my calendar and writing and rewriting my to-do list. I believe I have trained myself to work and rework dates in order to fit my schedule. Because of that, I was able to fit 3 festivals during the 19 days in Japan. This, BY FAR, was the festival I was looking forward to…the one in my grandparent’s city. Why? Scroll down and you’ll see…
The guys pulling the mikoshi in the river to thank the god of water…or something like that.
They then started to climb the mikoshi to see who can get to the top. Pretty dangerous in my opinion. Thanks to my hilarious grandpa, Jimmy and I were lucky enough to watch this from a boat.
Serious business
This went on for about 30 minutes. We were laughing our butts off
We had lunch with my family and then came the part I was waiting for… Jimmy was going to join the festival and carry the 2 ton mikoshi! (It’s the third heaviest in Japan)
All ready to go!
I sensed a little nervousness…
P.E.A.C.E!
Since we were thanking the god of water, Jimmy was drenched by the time he was done.
Looks like he’s having fun
Marching down the narrow city streets
My cousin’s son Riku came out to cheer Jimmy on!
Until next time…
So, remember when I told you that Jimmy and I were going to a festival with gazillions of fireworks? And that we were going to try to take awesome photos? Well, we tried…and didn’t quite succeed. What we didn’t know was that Japan does not let you sit and view the fireworks. Yes, you view as you walk. Hard working and very polite police men were stationed around each bridge and allowed only a certain number of people to view the show at a time. Nevertheless, Jimmy and I enjoyed one of the best firework shows.
Shaved ice!
This is the best I got…
All smiles =)
When I first joined FaceBook, my intention was to use it to ‘stalk’ people. Really, I enjoy looking at photos of my friends and often times I bookmark their blogs to find out what they are up to. I feel that it’s a great way to see a glimpse of their lives. With that said, I was surprised when I was contacted by my friend from almost 17 years ago. What are the odds of her finding me?
We met at Ikebukuro and after some hard-core shopping, eating, and drinking, I found out that she went to the same Middle School as Jimmy! WHHAAAT??
Here we are =) *My favorite is the second one with the wig and hat…*
…and just in case you are wondering, the sticker picture machine thingy in Japan is SOOO advanced now. You practically walk into a studio with insanely bright lights and endless options. Then, you go to another booth to basically graffiti your photo with stamps, stars, quotes, wigs, etc. It’s quite addicting for $4.
Tokyo is to Tokyo Tower as Paris is to Eiffel Tower. We knew we couldn’t leave Tokyo without seeing / going on this magnificent giant. Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world’s tallest self-supporting steel tower.
View from the observation deck.
Our first Print Club sticker picture =)
Good night!
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