Kirsty in Japan: May 2006

Singing in the rain.. Jules, Hide and Bronwyn :-)

A typical Japanese garden...

Me at the Grand Budha shrine.... although you can't see it, there is actually a Giant Budha sitting in the temple... possibly the largest seated Budha in Japan...

Beautiful water lillies...

The crazeeee Japanese kids that wanted to stop and chat to us, ahhh bless them :-)

Suiyobi, Watashi wa Nara e ikimashita

Ok so this week I went to Nara, a beautiful small city about 40 mins oustide of Osaka in the Kansai region. It was a gorgeously hot day, but like everywhere in Japan at the moment, the heavens could open to a light "warm" rain.... hence the umbrellas. I had possibly the BEST day ever... Jules (aussie friend) and I spent the morning shopping in the small souvenir shops before heading to Nara koen, the park with deer wandering about amongst the various temples and shrines.

This is the five storey Pegoda in Nara, which unfortunately you can't climb but it's simply beautiful to look at...

Monday in the Park... atsui desu ne!

This is Nagai park... one of the largest in Osaka and luckily for me, it only takes about 25minutes to cycle too, so on Monday - Kate, Steve, Hide and I went for a picnic lunch and paddle in the pond, because it was a scorching 30 degrees :-)

Catalogue stylee pics... Hide, Kate and Steve

My new housemate & THE house party!

Our new housemate Bronwyn from New Zealand moved in about 2 weeks ago and to celebrate in true Brit/Nihongo style, we threw a house party.... only to discover when the Japanese say "keep it down after 10pm" they mean it!! ahhhhhh Gomen nasai!! The party has to be one of the best nights we've had here in Osaka because literally everyone we know came... and that's a fair few people :-)

So this is a pic of my best friends Kate & Bronie :-)

And not to forget the boys...Fabiene, John, Nick, Noah and Stuart xx

Sooo what have we been doing recently?

Well.... I've been a busy bee this week cramming in some over time at work whilst also having my private lessons - man oh man am I tired now! Today however, we all set off on a little day trip but it wasn't until we'd got on the train that I realised I'd left my camera at home; so you'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that today.... we climed a mountain, and, not just any mountain.... but part of the mountain range that surrounds Osaka (not sure of the name)!! Seriously you should be impressed because it was no easy feat let me tell you, no amount of choccie cookies or promises of a beer later, could make the journey less appealing, but the view from the top was spectacular..... for literally miles and miles - all you can see is the sprawling city of Osaka and the surrounding areas!