Tango no Sekku - Boys Day 2017

Another fun Japanese celebration day for our kids. May the 5th is Children's Day in Japan. It is for both boys and girls but having had Girls Day on March the 3rd, May the 5th is considered Boys Day.

As Girls Day is celebrated with Hina kazari, the traditional Japanese dolls, on Boys Day the family carp shaped flags called koinobori are used. If you live in Japan you put up these great big ones in your property.

In the Rose residence we use these $2 carp flags from Daiso to decorate and I made some koinobori pancakes for the kids.

The biggest one being the father, then the mother and the little blue one is normally considered as the boy in the family. I really should have got one more blue and pink one to represent our family!

I forgot to bring Oliver's bigger size outfit from Japan. It looked awkward but at the same time it was kind of nice to see how much he has grown over the year. 

Mummy trying to get some sibling photos.

And more:

Finally they were allowed to sit and enjoy little presents and the breakfast. They each got a can of Japanese cookies and a toy.

Oliver got a finger soccer game set:

Ashley got a flamingo notepad:

Luca got some special straws that he used straight away!

We normally celebrate this special day at dinner time as well but there was an adult function we were going to attend so I had to make sure I made lots of their favourite sushis!!

Happy Children's Day our little beautiful amazing monkeys!! We love you so much xxx

Good bye Japan till next time

Sakura - lit up

Mako (my sister) and Yuzuki (my niece) went to check out the night sakura viewing and sent me some pictures. It was too cold for us Singapore Roses but next time if its warmer I really want to take the kids to see these beautiful flowers.

Sakura Full Bloom

Just to show you some pictures of fully bloomed cherry blossoms. Had enough of it?? 

Fun night in Tennoji

It was so nice to catch up with my old colleagues Yumiko and Chie once again. They are so easy going and we always make sure we get together when I am back in Osaka. This time we met up at our favourite shoe shop Himiko.

It didn't take long at all to decide on our new pairs. We pretty much tried on everything that was in the shop though... I was very happy with my purchases. Basic black and this years trend - pair of silver!

Then off to dinner and some drinks :) We had a delicious Korean dinner. 

Chie had to get home early unfortunately but Yumiko and I continued our catch up. This cafe at the train station was very popular. At 10pm we still had to queue up!

We thought we were very full from the Korean dinner but you know, we can always make space for some delicious Japanese dessert. YUM :)

I am hoping to see them again in June when I have my eye check up in Osaka. See you then!

Wakayama trip take 2

We had another chance to visit Wakayama during our stay. My besty Yukari now works at her partner's Takoyaki shop in a shopping arcade. Takoyaki is one of my favorite dishes from Osaka. It is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of flour based batter. It is typically filled with diced octopus (in Japanese Tako, hence the name) pickled ginger and spring onion - super yummy!

Her son Kyo who used to be Matthew's English student when he was 5 was there too. So nice to see him again.

They were just so delicious! Oliver doesn't like it much but Ashley and Luca were almost licking the plate!

I took this picture on the way to Wakayama when we were driving on the highway. It looked like so many more of the cherry blossoms were blooming since we were there 5 days ago with Matthew and Stefan. 

So sakura crazy Misuzu made her sister stop there on the way home to take more sakura pictures!

Lots more people and definitely they were close to full-bloom.

The kids had so much fun on the dinosaur slide again. Ashley was very happy to have her cousin Rua with her. 

At the end of the day I got the kids this ginormous candy floss! It was so funny to watch them demolish it!!

I really enjoy spending time near our place. Not wasting too much time for traveling and we get to see so much nature in Japan. 

Sakura at Hineno Shrine

I'm sorry for bombarding you with more cherry blossom photos but they were just so amazing.

We went for a walk to Hineno Shrine which is 15min from our house.
It is a Shinto shrine which was rebuilt (the original one was destroyed by a fire in a battle) by Hideyori Toyotomi in the 1600's. It is certainly a nice Japanesey spot for our kids.
When I was little this shrine and the park behind was where my family visited to enjoy the cherry blossoms and had picnic/BBQ each year.

Walking through the cherry blossom tunnel was very exciting for the kids.

We went through a number of Torii too. 

The little shrines were so beautiful surrounded by the tall trees. 

The biggest Torii of all before entering to the main shrine. Unfortunately it started to drizzle at this point. Everything was kind of rushed from here... 

Quick chanting to the god: 

People who don't live in the area think this is the final part of the shrine but there are more beautiful places not to be missed behind here. We walked around the side gate and came out to the first part of the sakura park which was covered with lots of festive lanterns.  

And we crossed the bridge to get to the other side of the park:

This part of the park looked so different. I guess what I remember is more than 30 years ago and all the trees have grown so much taller!

Oliver wanted to take photos of Luca and Ashley with my camera. 

These two pictures were taken by Oliver - not bad at all! 

I think the kids had enough of cherry blossoms... me? I wanted even more!