Golden Week 2017

From April 29 - May 5 there are 4 national holidays in Japan.

April 29 is the previous emperor`s birthday.
May 3 is Constitution Day.
May 4 is Greenery Day.
And finally May 5 is Children`s Day (what day isn`t children`s day is what I`d like to know!).

So as I mentioned in my last post, a lot of people take off the days in between to make a long holiday and it`s called Golden Week.

We are taking advantage of the long holiday to go back to Kyushu to visit Koichi`s parents. We haven`t seen then since the New Year so they are very excited to see Noa. I`m very excited to be around the ocean again. We are hoping to take Noa on a dolphin watching boat, but we aren`t sure if she can ride yet or not.

During Golden Week there are lots of special events allover the country and no matter where you go it`s almost always crowded. This year we are lucky because May 1 & 2 are regular days, but Koichi is off from the 2nd which means hopefully we won`t hit too much traffic on our trip to his parents`. We originally planned to fly, but we weren`t able to get discount tickets, so this time it worked out cheaper to take the bullet train to Kumamoto and rent a car to drive to Amakusa. I personally like that plan better because I prefer to have our own vehicle to come and go as we wish.

Saturday, April 29

So our Golden Week has started out pretty good. On Saturday we spent the day near Kyoto Station and in the downtown shopping district. We accomplished a few of the things on my "want to do list," such as...

Trying the Starbucks limited time only American Cherry Pie frappuccino complete with a pie crust dome on top! When I got a bite with crush, frappuccino and cherry compote it really did taste like a cherry pie!

Visiting a hedgehog cafe! Noa loved it, but she wanted to pet them like she would a dog, which she couldn`t do, but she seemed to enjoy it anyway. I had no idea hedgehogs use the bathroom so much!

We also got to stop in a store I`d been wanting to go to called Flying Tiger. You can check it out here. It was everything I dreamed of and more! I got to walk around a bit by myself, but I`d like to go back when I`m really by myself so I don`t have to worry about Koichi and Noa being bored. After shopping we decided to have dinner before catching the bus home, so we ended up being out from around lunch time until after 10pm.

Sunday, April 30

Sunday was supposed to be a "cleaning party" day, but when I woke up Koichi told me he`d been watching TV and saw that there was a big race at the Kyoto horse race track and should we go?! I was happy to go and get out of the house, but if he comes home next week and makes a comment about whether we will get the place cleaned up in time for a dinner party on the 13th, I may have to slap him! Besides, we have next weekend to clean.

We had a great time at the horse races! I`d never been and of course it was also Noa`s first time. They have a huge park for kids to play as well so she was excited. She loved seeing the horses too. When we were watching the races they`d play music just before each race and everyone would stand up and after a couple of times she started standing up as soon as she heard the music so Koichi could put her on his shoulders! 

Checking out the horses before one of the races.

Noa likes anywhere she can have ice cream!

There they go!

Her favorite slide ever because it`s bumpy.

Playing in the sand with daddy.

He`s always good at getting her to laugh.

I still can`t figure out how she can squat flat footed like that.

Monday, May 1

Today our friends from Osaka came to see us here in Kyoto. It`s about a 30-40 minute train ride between the 2 cities depending where you`re coming from/going to. We decided to meet at one of the main parks in town today. Since it wasn`t a holiday for public schools it wasn`t too crowded and the kids could play a lot. We met their family for the first time at breakfast at a hotel in Okinawa last April. The son, who was 3 at the time, spoke to me in English. Upon questioning why he could do that I found out he attends an English immersion kindergarten and his mom speaks English. We were still living in Kagoshima at the time, but knew we`d be moved to this area at some point and when I told her she gave me her name and Facebook info so we could keep in touch. I`m so glad we did because after we moved she invited us to Osaka to play during spring vacation and this time they came here. Noa loves both of them and I enjoy being able to speak English with someone in person and not just on the phone. Here are some pics of the kids playing today. I really liked the park we went to and it`s right next to the aquarium, so I`m quite positive we will become regulars.

Kotaro thought this climbing contraption looked like a spider web. It`s a good thing he brought his Spider Man jacket!

I lost count of how many times she did this slide and she just climbed up there on her own and didn`t yell for me to come like she has been doing most of the time until just a few days ago.

They said they were napping.

Here you can just how tall that "spider web" was and he just climbed right to the top like it was nothing.

On a train statue. When I asked them where the train was going he said, "Tokyo!" Noa said, "Kaboshima!" (Kagoshima)

Even super heroes need a nap now and then.

And toddlers, believe it or not!

We left the park just after 4pm and they took a bus to their train station and Noa and I took a bus as close as we could get to home, but that still meant about a 10 minute walk. She passed out not long after we said goodbye to Kotaro and his mom, so thank goodness I had my Ergo baby carrier and didn`t have to use my arms to hold her. I`m glad she will still let me carry her in it now and then.

Ok, we leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning to head to Amakusa, so I have to feed and bathe this child so I can hopefully get her to bed early and pack. I will update again soon!