Me again. Sorry about the long absence. You know, travel, multiple time zones, eating, pooping, sleeping -- this baby's got a busy schedule. Anyway, I apologize for taking so long to get this post up. I've been extra busy this month -- I went to Japan! My mom and I took the loooooooongest plane ride ever (who knew planes could fly for 14 hours straight?), met my obaachan (my mom's mom, I call her Baachan for short) in the Tokyo airport, and we, the fearless threesome, set off on our Japan adventure. My mom has been telling everyone how great I was on the trip -- I mean, give me some milk, nap time, and snuggles, I'm good to go. Jet lag? No biggie when I'm up every couple of hours to eat anyway! Heavy luggage? Nah, I let my mom drag all that stuff. Love and attention? Hells yeah! With my brownish-goldilocks and blue eyes, I was a gaijin sensation! My relatives couldn't keep their hands off me. It was so much fun to meet all my aunties, uncles, and cousins! Turns out I've got a lot of cousins!
Anyway, my mom took a gajillion pictures of me (eye roll), but I picked out the best to show you what a great time I had! Here goes!
Traveling to Japan: My First Intercontinental Flight!
My mom was super excited on the flight because they gave me a bassinet to sleep in that hooked to the wall. But my motto is, why sleep anywhere else if I can sleep in my mama's arms? Faces like this (left) ensured that I got to sleep just where I wanted. Once in mama's arms, though, I didn't make a peep (I slept like a baby, if you will), and the other passengers congratulated my mom at the end of the flight!
I also like sitting up in seats and pretending like I'm a paying customer (right). BTW, thanks Uncle UC and Aunt Laura for the cute PJs!
In Tokyo: Our First Day in Japan!
This is just hours off the plane in the fatty Tokyo apartment that my mom's cousin, Miki-obachan, scored for us. That's Miki-obachan with my mom and me in the pic!
At three months, I wasn't smiling all the time like I am now, but I had to show off my pearly gums for Miki-obachan!
My mom's friend, Yuriko, took time out of her busy schedule (which includes all sorts of high-stakes diplomacy and world travel) to come to the apartment to hang with us, which was awesome!
Traveling west...
Here is my mama and me on my first shinkansen ride! What I didn't understand is if we were going so fast, how come I didn't feel that on the inside of the car? I tried to ask my mom to explain the physics of it, but she didn't understand my gurgles.
Stopping by Okayama on our way to Hiroshima
On our way to Hiroshima, we stopped by Okayama to see my Baachan's cousin, Etsuko-obaasan. She took us to a delicious tofu restaurant where I had my own bassinet! See below.
From left to right: my Baachan, my mom, Etsuko, her daughter Yuko, and Yuko's daughter Ayaka.
Practicing my Japanese literacy skills with Etsuko-obaasan and her granddaughter, Ayaka-chan.
Who can resist these baby blues? (Thanks, Yuriko, for the cool pillow!)
Here I am with Etsuko-obaasan, practicing my stare down.
Now this is the way to dine!
Private room with a view, check. Snuggly bassinet, check.
At the Yamanes in Mihara, Hiroshima
This is the village where my Baachan grew up and where my mom spent summers growing up. (Our house is the one with the red roof and the fields in front are rice paddies.)
And this is the house where my Baachan grew up! Now Katsumi-ojiichan (my great uncle) lives here with his wife, Michie-obaachan, and they work the farm together, growing rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, and some other specialty Japanese vegetables. My hi-obaachan (great-grandmother) and hi-ojiichan (great-grandfather) and all my ancestors on my Baachan's side for the last 500 years grew up right here on this land. Crazy, huh?
This is my mom and me in front of the family's Buddhist shrine (left) and in front of the family mon (gate) (right).
In front of all my recent ancestors.
From right to left: my mom's great-great-grandparents, my mom's great-grandfather, my mom's great-grandmother, my mom's grandfather, and my mom's grandmother. Sadly, my mom's grandparents passed away a few years ago, so I never got a chance to meet them, but my mom says they're looking after me.
Baachan and me, sitting on the engawa (exterior hallway) of the Yamane house.
It's pretty much a tradition to take group photos in my hi-ojiichan's (great-grandfather's) beautiful yard. Here we are with my mom's cousins and their kids.
From top left: Rika, Shizuka, Yuko, Hibiki, me, mom
From bottom left: Kokoro, Koki, Nagisa
Shizuka, Yuko, and Rika are my mom's cousins. Nagisa, Kokoro, and Hibiki are Yuko's kids, and Koki is Shizuka's son. In Japanese, my mom's cousin's kids and I are considered hatoko (second cousins). It's fun to have so many hatoko to play with in Japan!
At the Yamanes, we all slept on futons in basically the same room with the families just separated by paper sliding doors. Sleep difficulty: Extreme (I mean, 10 people sleeping in the same room, PLUS jet lag? Fuggeaboutit!). Nonetheless... Execution: Flawless. No crying at all, just a few little whimpers when I was hungry. My mama was so proud of me!
At Harumi-ojiisan's House
Here we are in front of Harumi-ojiisan's house in his beautiful garden. Harumi-ojiisan is my mom's great uncle (my great-grandfather's brother)... does that make him my great-great uncle? We're here with Chizuko-obaachan (my great aunt), her mother-in-law, and Toru-ojiisan (my great uncle).
Tokura, Hiroshima
Here's Baachan and me enjoying the beautiful views of the Inland Sea on our way to Tokura.
Toru-ojiisan's mom invited us to stay with her in Tokura where the adults ate delicious handmade mochi and hiked in the mountains to pick fern to eat (also delicious, or so my mom tells me).
Chizuko-obaachan and Toru-ojiisan had a way of making me smile. They're hilarious!
Chizuko-obaachan got me this awesome magic bunny suit -- isn't it the cutest? She's famous the world over for her shopping skills!
In Hiroshima with the Fujitanis (My Great Aunt's House)
I had a lot of fun with Chizuko-obaachan and Toru-ojiisan at their house. I kept trying to sneak peaks at the baseball game on TV, which was tough because my mom kept turning me away -- she says no screens!
I reeeeeeeally liked the sleeping situation in Japan -- I got to sleep right next to my mama every night, everywhere we went. My dad says I liked it *too* much, and it's a habit I'll have to break, but I'm not going to stop without a fight!
The bath situation was also fun. Most times I just went into the furo (bath) with my mama, but sometimes I went for the easy sink bath.
Onsen in Yamaguchi: My Vacation within the Vacation!
On about the fifth day of the trip, my mom, Baachan, my two great aunts, and my great-great uncle went on an onsen (hot springs) trip. Although there are no pics of me getting my onsen on, trust me, it was niiiiiiice.
From left: Yoko-obaachan (my great aunt), me, Baachan, Chizuko-obaachan (my great aunt).
Sometimes my Baachan is so silly!
Yup, still love the panda toy (Thanks Mindy and Nils)! And love playing with Chizuko-obaachan and being snuggled by my Yoko-obaachan.
Harumi-ojiisan, my great aunts, my mom, and me on a walk along the beach just steps from the ryokan (Japanese-style hotel). Beautiful!
Hiking with my mama with my indispensable floppy white hat. (I wear it everywhere... you know I gotta protect that delicate white skin I inherited from my daddy!)
Pink pleated ruffles and a hard stare.
Here are the adults at dinner in their yukatas. Unfortunately, they didn't have baby-sized yukatas (what? seriously?), so I just rocked my sleep sack.
Oh, big achievement while in Japan -- my right hand found my right foot! Yes, it was pretty exciting. My left foot was still elusive at this point (but spoiler alert: My left hand has since found my left foot, and I am rocking the happy baby yoga pose all the time now!)
Also, is it just me or is a shadow about to eat my head in this picture?
Me and Chizuko-obaachan. She helped my Baachan take care of my mom when she was a baby. That's crazy to think my mom was once a baby. I just can't wrap my head around that one quite yet.
My great-aunties and me on the train. They liked playing with me -- look!
They're so silly!
On our drive back, we stopped at a look out. What a gorgeous day!
In Kure at the Sugioka's (My Great Aunt's House)
Yes, I am captivating! Takae-obaachan (my mom's cousin) and Hinako-chan (her daughter) can't get over my goldilocks and blue eyes.
This is me playing with Hiroko-obachan (my mom's cousin) and Hinako-chan. Whee!
I haven't quite figured out what you're supposed to do with these long things that come out of my shoulders (my arms?) during pictures, so please excuse the awkward pose. This is me with my Sachi-neechan.
I love a good rendition of guu-choki-pa (one of my favorite songs!) Sachi-neechan (the youngest of this bunch) sang it for me a ton, which was so fun! The boys even chimed in. I learned lots of new verses, which I made my mom sing to me later.
Playing with all the cousins -- so fun to have so many! And I loved that my boy cousins (here, Katsunari-kun) also took turns holding me!
Here's one of my other boy cousins, Yasufumi-kun, taking his turn holding me.
Me and Hirotaka-ojichan (my mom's cousin).
Takae-obachan (my mom's cousin), Shuuichi-kun (her son), and Seiji-ojisan (her husband in the background)
Sorry, Seiji-ojisan, I didn't mean to cry in your arms, but you just don't have the touch that my obachans have!
I had some giggles with Reiko-obasan!
I have to say, I love being the center of attention!
From left to right: Yasufumi, Takayoshi-ojiichan, Hinako, Shuuichi, Ryuuichi, Sachi
Two of my girl cousins, Hinako-chan and Sachi-chan. I can't wait to get older and be just like them!
Takae-obachan and Seiji-ojisan took us on a drive to see some pretty sights. I love me some flowers, and the rhododendrons were still blooming up here in the mountains.
I respect a man who can rock his pink, and Takayoshi-ojiisan sure knows how!
Yoko-obaachan and Takayoshi-ojiisan took us all out for a mother's day multi-course dinner at a fancy hotel in downtown Hiroshima. My mom says it was really yummy!
From left to right: Reiko-obasan, Ryuuichi, Sachi, Hirotaka-ojichan, Takayoshi-ojiisan, Yoko-obaachan, Katsunari, Baachan, me, mama
Back in Tokyo, on Our Way Home...
We went back to the fatty apartment in Tokyo for two more nights before heading back stateside. On one of those days, we got to hang out with my mom's friend Yuka, who was eight months pregnant! I baby telepathied with Yuka's baby boy, and he says he's getting ready to come out!
Nothing like relaxing on a faux-leather couch in a chic Tokyo apartment with views of the city.
I like to spend my mornings by the floor to ceiling windows. Pretty dope.
We met up with Miki-obachan for lunch one last time before heading out. Although it looks like I bleached my hair, I promise I was not trying to rock a Harajuku look... I think it's just the flash.
And that was Japan! Phew! (Are any of you still reading this???) From Japan, we flew to Seattle to meet my uncle Charlie, auntie Eddie, and my cousins, Kaya and Mika, which was also a ton of fun. Be on the lookout next for a post with pics soon!
Minami-chan out.
That bunny suit is RIDIC. Love it!!!
ReplyDeleteHey, this is Yuka. On June 12, a boy joined our family!!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't named him yet, and he is just adorable!!