A day out with Kyoko

Today Kyoko and I finally went to an Onsen in the mountains. It was fairly far out in the country, surrounded by mountains. Unfortunately this photo was taken with the most unsightly background that we could possibly have found but them's the chances you take when you hand over your camera - at least it's in focus! No-one much seems to be able to handle my camera. We spent most of the day going from pool to pool to spa to sauna. If only one could spend all one's days in such leisure - how swimmingly life would go along!　For obvious reasons I don't have any photos of the inside of the onsen! \(＞皿＜)/　Though for the most part you wore bathers . . . rather unusual for a Japanese onsen. This was us after our second dip which followed a 10 minute nap in the rest room which turned into a 2 hour afternoon nap . . . that 2am bedtime caught up with me it seems!
Just a random point but this morning amazingly I did make the 1 minute train change this morning!! It was like a continuance of Button Luck!!




















On the way home we went to see a whole collection of Jizou statues . . . we all got stung by insects! There were all sorts of jizou for different reasons . . . I think my favourites were those for obtaining happiness and the '出会い' Jizou who will help you to find a special someone . . there were also Jizou for aborted foetus . . . nice mix. Guess where Kyoko and I made our 'negai'~~ o(＞ヘ＜)o
















I found the relationship between Kyoko and her mum hilarious. It'd be a bit harder to pick if you didn't understand the language but the way Kyoko speaks to her mum you'd think their roles were reversed ~ using the colloquial imperative form, telling her what to do all the time or telling her off. It was pretty funny and had me laughing all afternoon. She also did this thing of translating what I was saying . . repeating what'd I'd just said as if her mum was hard of hearing or had mild dementia. It was rather odd but fun none-the-less.
Her Dad also seemed pretty nice when we all went out for sushi at a 100 yen sushi train restaurant which belongs to a chain, one store of which Kyoko works. I liked his face and thought this was a really great photo of her parents together. Kyoko looks quite like her Dad. She is such an out-going, pratical, organisational person. She wants to go on exchange but can't really fit it in now that she's part way through her nursing degree. She'd have to pay a lot of money just to be allowed to take a year off. I'm trying to encourage her to come and visit even just for a week if she gets time sometime. She's been such a great friend. I've been a lot of place and done a lot of things that I might not have thanks to her!