It was so hard to make her smile! This is Yuka and her new boyfriend, Conrad (I guess they have American names to make it easier for us to pronounce?) Yuka never smiles because she thinks her teeth look bad! Of course they don't, so I always try and make her smile! hehehe
This was some yummy dessert called "kuzu mochi" that we ate at this traditional building (I don't know the name of it, but apparently it's a famous sweets shop). You can find a recipe to make it here: http://justhungry.com/kuzumochi-a-cool-sweet-summer-dessert
although I don't have a clue where you'd find the kuzu powder in America!
Here are everyone's (except Masayo's) happy meals together! Everyone left me as you can see . . . they were buying omiyage! The one on the top right was zenzai, which is like red bean soup (sweet) with mochi in it. I think there was something else in it too, but I don't remember. This place seems to make a special kind of mochi that is clearer, sticker, and more refined than mochi I've tasted elsewhere. おいしい Oishi (Yummy)!
Here's the building! It's really big and open inside, with tatami. I couldn't take pictures because there were people eating and stuff, so it would probably have been rude to take pictures of them eating . . .
I love this color! You hardly see the dark pink cherry blossoms, mainly white or light pink.
There was a really big river, and a bridge that we crossed over.
Yuka on the left and Masayo on the right.
haha! I stole a picture :P Masayo on the left, and Yuka on the right. See? She has such a pretty smile!
It was really a beautiful day!
Halfway through our journey down the cherry blossom lane, we were met with an impediment. A samurai stood in the middle of the path . . . 怖い kowai (scary)!
Of course Yuka didn't smile again!
And we also met a ninja! He taught us how to do the ninja pose!
Don't we look so cool! haha :P I think Yuka looks the coolest!
All of the cherry blossom petals glittering the stone
There's just something about the country . . . Masayo commented on how nostalgic it made her feel. It was a little nostalgic for me, too because it reminded me of Totoro! But of course that isn't the same as being Japanese and seeing this. It was so beautiful, though.
I love this twisted trunk
Sunset is always magical, but especially in Japan!
I'm not sure what this was, it looked like a bunch of gravestones. I quickly snapped this picture as Yuka was blasting off! It was an hour and a half drive at the least . . .
This seemed to be in front of a TV station, I'm not exactly sure who he's supposed to be!
Well that concludes my adventures from Thursday, but I also went to Maizaru, which is just five minutes from my apartment, today (Sunday)! So, here are more cherry blossoms!
There were samurai! It was really cool, they came up on horses, but unfortunately, it was too crowded so I couldn't get any pictures. By the time I could, they'd already taken the horses away! :(
Here are the horses!
An older lady did a dance performance with a fan, but it was really crowded so this was the best shot I could get.
After the performances had ended, they all lined up for a picture!
Now for the "brandish our swords" picture!
A few more pictures later . . . they finally headed off stage.
Next were more dancers with baton-things. The lady singing was really good, too!
Posing for more pictures!
