A Gum Massage...

I went to the dentist today for a last cleaning and as a going away 'gift' the hygenist gave me a gum massage.  I've never heard of that but it was very nice and relaxing!  Which I need now, since I'm getting rather nervous about all that needs to be done before I leave.

Katsurahama Matsuri, 5-6-2013

 

We went to a small festival in a nearby town. 

We missed the boat rides but had fun on land. 

 

This is a tanuki (a Japanese animal) bounce house.

Bubbles!

Pony rides - Haruto's first.

Most of the kids opted for the much smaller white pony...

Komatsushima's samurai tanuki character.

Haruto's first bounce house!

Naoko and Haruto (and I) enjoyed
making bubbles.

We stopped for udon.

I had some fried octopus with mine.

 

Then we went to the rose festival
in Aizumi.

unusual

A place to sit and relax.

The next day I went to Chuo Koen in Tokushima



There was a field trip.  All students below Jr. High wear
some kind of hat, either with a uniform or not, when they
are out.  Kinder and nursery school kids also wear them in
the playgrounds of their schools.

And the 'last' everything has begun.  Only 2 weeks left...  The goodbye lunches and dinners have started too and I really hope I can fit in my pants by the time I leave!  And, I'm very happy to report, the frogs are in the rice paddies.  I was afraid I'd miss them this year as it's been cooler than usual.  Not all the fields are filled yet but I pass a few with croaking frogs on my way home from work (they only croak at night). I've been leaving my bedroom window open as well so they can sing me to sleep.  The jasmine is blooming too so my trips home after work are well perfumed.  I love spring/summer!

The Miracle Planet Museum of Plants on Awaji Island, 5-4-2013

What an incredible place!!!!  Kozaburosan and I were on our way to Kobe (since I've never been) and he handed me a magazine of the island we had to pass over to get there and asked if I wanted to stop anywhere.  I pointed out 2 flower places and he choose this one.  Good choice!  We thought we'd spend an hour of two but it ended up being about 5 - and there were still quite a few places we didn't see!  (We didn't get to Kobe, not really a problem for me...)  If there are too many flower pictures for your taste, scroll down and check out the interesting (even to me, a person who hates concrete and steel) buildings and water features.  This whole place was finished in 2000 on a site that was a small mountain until much of the mountain was used to build Kansai International Airport in Osaka - across the water - and there was the big earthquake (the 'Kobe' earthquake) which destroyed the rest of it.  There is a Westin Hotel and an International Conference Center.  The place is huge.  I can't imagine how many people work here to keep everything looking so beautiful.

(I just did a little research and found out the buildings were designed by Tadao Ando.  Here is a link to a blog that has better pictures than I do - and of many of the places I didn't get to - and now wish I had!  http://yamadaarchiblog.blogspot.jp/2012/08/tadao-ando-on-awaji-island.html )

The first pictures are of the indoor 'Miracle Planet Museum of Plants'
 

There were a lot of 'plants on walls'.

An indoor area.  Looks like it would be great

for a wedding.  Today was a holiday and there

were opera singers performing here.

 

A cactus area.



Lots of wall plants on the insides of matresses.
What a great idea!

This is a natural color!
It's from the Philipines.





I love the plants in the tonsu (dresser).



A tropical area.

 

Now, heading to the outdoor areas.  I guess it's actually separate since there is a separate entrance fee...

 





We were a week or two too early for the roses.  Although I think

normally they bloom the first week in May since they were holding

the rose festival.  It's been a cool spring.  It will be gorgeous.

Now, as if this wasn't all beautiful enough we then entered a 'magical land of flowers'.

Until recently these flowers were surrounding tulips of all sorts.

 





A pheonix.

A play area.  There were 3 or 4 giant play areas, some with water features.

 Snack / lunch time.  Something different for a change.



A 'bee' tram.

Hard to believe these neon colors
are all natural!

This looked like an azeala from afar, but it's actually the leaves of the bush that are yellow.

 Ok, and what could make all this beauty even better? 

The ocean!  And the salty sea smell!

A pine garden (the only Japanese type garden here).

After I took this children started playing in here,

getting soaked and having a great time.

 

Very cute, a flower made out of other flowers.

 

Open space for playing.

 I think this jump house was here because of the holiday.

 

Will this day of wonderfulness never end??!!!  LILACS!!! That smell!!!!

(They aren't pink, don't know what happened with this pic.)

Even the non-nature lover was having a good time!





 

Swan boats.



 This is a carving of Awajishima  The island this place is on and the island we must cross to get from Shikoku (my island) to Honshu (the main island of Japan).

 

I love these fields of blue.

They also hide the stems and leaves of the tulips that have finished blooming.

 

 



Rose soft cream!!!!!  We'd been waiting all day for this - saw it when we entered.

 

 



Moving on...  even I, hater of all things concrete, was duly impressed and I actually felt comfortable and happy here - I usually want to rush away from concrete places....somehow it blended well with all the water features, ocean and plants.  I was very impressed and I'll be looking researching Tadao Ando's work.

 

 

 

One millions manufactured shells were used.





 

 

This area was interesting.  The plants were arranged in 'boxes'.

Take an elevator up and walk down through the boxes and along side a waterfall.

 

Ever seen a flying ship before?

 

The water feature starts here and just morphs into different things on the way down.

And there are paths and different areas for following and viewing.  Like the

flower areas, it just went on and on...

 

Koi nobori (carp flags) for boys (children's) day tomorrow.

 

We are behind a waterfall.  Very loud.

 

A quite interesting use of concrete.



UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

 

We stopped at a michi no eki (roadside station) on the way home and

this is a little of what they had there.

 

Dried octopus.  I especially like the picture behind it.

Ginger and dried daikon.

 These people are preparing and then 'pressing' and cooking octopus.

Looked and smelled delicious but the line was too long...

 

 

Home and then out to an izakaya (an eating and drinking, or really, a drinking and eating) place.  I had a delicious yuzu cocktail - sweet and evidently strong.  We ate sashimi, simmered pork belly, fried chicken cartlidge, and fried octopus in ponzu with wakame (seaweed).  Another great vacation day.