Our real Golden Week began on May 2 because Koichi had to work on the 1st. On the morning of the 2nd, we took a taxi around 7;30am to the train station and took a 40 minute local train from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka Station where we boarded the Shinkansen (bullet train) headed for Kumamoto. Since Tuesday wasn`t a holiday the local train was full of business men and women and kids commuting to high school. Luckily Noa and I were able to sit down. At Shin-Osaka Station we bought some "omiyage" (souvenirs) for Koichi`s parents and some relatives we always visit when we are there. We also picked up a couple of "eki-ben" which is a shortened term for "eki bento." "Eki" means station and "bento" means lunch box and "eki-ben" are famous allover Japan. I had a steak and rice bento and it was so delicious, even cold!
We had reserved seats on the train and since Noa rides for free that meant holding her most of the way. Luckily she was in a good mood and willing to sit on Koichi`s lap part of the way. About halfway there the seat across the aisle opened up so Koichi moved over and Noa went between the two of us. I try to take lots of things to keep her occupied while we are riding and thank goodness it usually works.
She kept going back and forth between us and giggling.
She asked me to stick her Anpanman doll in her top and then requested a picture. She`s such a nut sometimes!
We arrived at Kumamoto Station around 12:30 and headed for the car rental office. From there we drove 2 hours to Amakusa. For the last several years we always took a ferry from Kagoshima to Kumamoto, so it had been a long time since we drove on those roads. I`d forgotten how beautiful the scenery is on the way. We go over 5 bridges between the mainland and the islands of Amakusa and on a pretty day the views are amazing!
We finally got to the parents` house around 3:00. Noa was thrilled to see her grandparents for the first time since we visited for the New Year holiday. They were surprised at how much she`s talking and couldn`t stop laughing at her.
Here she`s showing her ji-chan (granddad) her Anpanman search book that we do almost every night before bed.
She smiles and laughs a lot, but nothing makes her smile like ice cream does! And her ba-chan (grandma) always makes sure there`s ice cream in the freezer when we visit. This was the first time that Noa could go to the kitchen and get it all by herself. She loved bringing everyone some before getting her own and asking me to open it. It`s amazing how much she`s grown since our last trip.
Koichi`s parents aren`t huge on taking pictures, but I always insist on snapping several anyway. I even got some good snaps of them posed this time. I know that Noa will appreciate having all of these pictures with them one day.
I will share more pictures and stories in my next post. Noa is taking a nap now so I had a few minutes to get this written, but I also need to get a little cleaning done. I have a friend from college coming to stay with us from Thursday! She`s currently exploring Tokyo on her own, which I`m amazed by! It took me years of living in Japan to feel like I was able to explore Tokyo on my own. Anyway, she`s headed down here in a couple of days so I have to make our apartment look presentable!
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