I had a nice relaxing Golden Week. I really wanted to travel, but it is too expensive to travel during Golden Week, so other than a trip to Shizuoka prefecture to visit some friends I didn't do much.
Shizuoka was really fun though. I went to Fujieda city to visit my friend Adam. Fujieda is famous for wisteria flowers. There was a small wisteria festival at a really beautiful park. It was nice.
Then, I went to Hamamatsu to visit some other friends. Before living in Gifu I lived near Hamamatsu for a year. Usually, Hamamatsu festival is held during Golden Week, but this year it was canceled. I was sad. But, I still went and had my own festival! Haha! My festival included drinks, dinner, and karaoke! it was fun!
After Shizuoka, I just relaxed here in Gifu. It was a nice week. I hope you all had a great week too.
The picture is of some wisteria in Fujieda.
This year for hanami I went to Nagoya castle park. It was really fun! I met some good friends, ate some delicious takoyaki, drank some delicious beverages, played some American football, and went on a few nice walks in the park. It weather was perfect! Everything was perfect. It was a perfect day.
Here is a picture of Nagoya castle with some cherry blossoms.
Hope everyone had a great hanami this year.
Two weeks ago I went on a weekend trip to Kyoto. It was amazing! The cherry blossoms were not quite full yet, but they were still very beautiful. I have been to Kyoto a lot. It might be my favorite place in Japan. This time I went to some places I haven't been before.
My favorite place was Daigoji. It is about 20 minutes from Kyoto station by subway. It was very crowded, but the cherry blossoms were the fullest of anywhere in Kyoto at that time. The garden there was quite possible the nicest garden I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the garden area.
The picture above is of Daigoji. I had to wait a long time to get a picture without people on the bridge! Haha! Fortunately, I am a patient person.
Spring is coming soon! I live near Bairin Park and at the moment the plum blossoms are blooming. They are really beautiful. I love spring time in Japan. It is the best time of the year. Hanami is my favorite Japanese custom. I am really looking forward to sitting under a cherry blossom tree with some good friends, and of course, with some beer and good food too. Haha!
This year I am hoping to go to Kyoto for a day or two. I went a few years ago for hanami and it was amazing! Very crowded though. Still, it was worth it. Also, every year my friends in Nagoya have a hanami party at Meijo park near the castle. It is always fun.
Here is a picture of some plum blossoms at Bairin Park.
Happy Spring everyone!!!
Last weekend I went to Shirakawago and Gokayama. It was my first time there. I stayed in a Japanese style hotel in Gokayama. Great food!
I really enjoyed Shirakawago, but I thought Gokayama was more beautiful. I liked how the old villages were separated from the town. In Shirakawago, old and new seemed mixed.
The best part of the weekend was that I got to go to one of the Gokayama villages at night. All of the old farm houses were lit up. BEAUTIFUL! Also, it was a special tour only for people staying in Gokayama, so there was only about 15 people there. It felt like no one! It was pretty special and very beautiful.
Did I mention that there was a lot of snow!!!
This picture is from the night view in Gokayama.
Every two months or so I volunteer at an orphanage in Hozumi through the Teragoya foundation. The last time I went was the end of January. I went with a student and a couple of friends. It was fun! There were about 15 kids. We played a lot of games, we learned about winter clothes (hat, scarf, gloves...), and we made rabbits (year of the rabbit) from tracing our hands. The kids had a great time and I think they learned a bit of English too.
The picture is from craft time. It's not the best picture, but I hope you can get the idea. Craft time is the best time... nice and calm :-)
Yes, another sports blog. Sorry. Haha!
The Superbowl is America's favorite sporting event. And, besides March Madness (college basketball tournament), it is mine too. The Superbowl is exciting because American football can be so unpredictable. Anyone can win on any day... "Any given Sunday".
This year's Superbowl is the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Green bay Packers. These two teams combine for 9 Superbowl victories (out of 45). This should be a fun game! Both teams are very strong.
Unfortunately, living in Japan means that if you want to watch the game live you have to call in sick to work on Monday (February 7th) because the game starts at 8am. I am lucky to have that day off. But I miss the traditions that go along with Superbowl Sunday in America... eating and drinking all day long with friends and/or family in front of the TV. Good times :-) But, I am excited that I am able to watch the game here in Japan.
My prediction? Hmmm... I think the Steelers are going to win, but I am rooting for the Packers.
This week we have a guest writer. Thanks Stuart!
Before I came to work in Gifu, I lived in Australia for a year. I spent 5 months in Perth, Western Australia and 7 months in Brisbane, Queensland.
I have many good friends in Brisbane. I lived there with two of my best friends and we had a great time. I worked as an English teacher there, so I got to meet many wonderful people from all over the world - and a lot of them stayed in Brisbane to start a new life. I still keep in touch with them now, and I think of them as my friends.
So it was a shock to me to see the city suffer terrible flooding last week. The River Brisbane, which runs through the centre of the city, burst it's banks and flooded large parts of the city. I used to spend lots of time walking along the river, in the Queensland State library and the Museum of Modern Art. All of those places were flooded, and lots of damage done to them.
It wasn't only Brisbane that was flooded. Large parts of Queensland were flooded after a huge, surprise storm hit the state. In the city Toowoomba, 2 hours west of Brisbane, the storm was so strong that 25cm of rain fell in just one hour.
Queensland is a beautiful place, with many great places to visit. It has great beaches for surfing, a lot of interesting museums, some great natural scenery and very friendly people. Queensland & Brisbane residents are strong people, and I'm sure they will do a good job of cleaning the area after the floods have gone. Hopefully Brisbane will just as vibrant, nice and cool as it was before the
floods.
I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday.
I had a fun New Years holiday. I went to Hakuba in Nagano for a bit of snowboarding. Every year I take a trip to either Nagano or Nigata for some good soft powdery snow. This year the snow conditions were great!
I was there for two nights. I snowboarded for three full days. It was very fun. I had a great time, but I was soooooo tired afterward. Haha! I couldn't even make it to Otto's New Years party... sorry Otto.
I want to go snowboarding at least one more time this year. Maybe in Gifu. Any recommendations?
The picture is of me after a nice long run at the bottom of the mountain. Please notice the very stylish rental suit. I loved the white pants! haha! Very 1980's.
Last weekend I went to Taiwan to celebrate my birthday in style. It was my first time in Taiwan. I was there for three nights, but really only two full days. I was in Taipei for one day and a a city called Kyufun for the other day.
I was really impressed with Taipei. It is a very modern and clean city. The subways and the architecture looked very new. People were very polite. The food was sooooooo good! I ate a lot of delicious seafood. I did not eat frog or snake though.
I went to the top of Taipei 101. It is the second tallest building in the world!
The markets in Taipei were the best part. Especially the night markets. Great food. And cheap!
Kyufun was a very beautiful scenic mountain town about an hour from Taipei. It had a lot of really nice tea houses (EXPENSIVE!!!). It was a lot of fun.
It was a great birthday. I might start a new tradition. maybe every year from now on I will travel on my birthday. I like this idea a lot.
The picture is of the main night market in Taipei. It was very crowded! But very fun :-)
Page 1/4
- First
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
- Next
- Last
TERAGOYA Gifu 
KUMA 
TERAGOYA Ichi 
TERAGOYA Ginan 
I had a nice relaxing Golden Week. I really wanted to travel, but it is too expensive to travel during Golden Week, so other than a trip to Shizuoka prefecture to visit some friends I didn't do much. 
