Friendtrip: A Short Walk & Nanzoin Temple

Our last day in Fukuoka was nice! We took a walk through, what we thought was, a produce market. Once we got there we decided that it was more like a wholesale market. It was in a cute area and a beautiful day so it all worked out. Afterwards, we headed to Nanzoin Temple to see the world's largest bronze statue!

Wanderlust Wednesday

 Cherry blossoms and beautiful kimonos, a photo from our time spent in Fukuoka.

"Friendtrip" - Miyajima

Miyajima, or Itsukushima if you want to get technical, was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I had been looking forward to seeing the "floating" torii for ages and was super excited to get there! Some may say that I was obsessing over low and high tide... *cough*cough* Kacey. Maybe I was, but who can blame me when this view was at stake!

"Friendtrip" to Hiroshima and Fukuoka: Travel Times

At the end of March, while Mark was out of town and before Vickie PCSed, we took a girls trip to Hiroshima and Fukuoka. The plan was to Space-A to Iwakuni and take a short bullet train ride to Hiroshima. That was all turned upside down when the Patriot had a door malfunction, which knocked us off the flight and back to square one.

Friendtrip

As I type this, I'm sitting on the bullet train with two of my closest friends! We're on our way to Hiroshima after a Space-A adventure, scrambling to make our trip happen, and lots of hustling to make it to our Air BnB before the last ferry (TBD whether or not that's going to happen). I'm so excited! 

The past week has been full trip prep, last minute plans, & house cleaning (in preparation for Mark's return - yay!!). That's why I've missed a few blogging days... Life took over for a second!

I'll be back soon, I promise, and I'll have so many fun stories to share with you. Thanks for being patient. 

** I've never posted from the Blogged App so I apologize for any formatting issues. Hopefully, there aren't many!! **

Holiday Trip to Mainland Japan: Kyoto

Our final destination, Kyoto, had finally arrived and we were early. Our initial plan was to go to Hiroshima and end in Kyoto. However, we were both pretty tired of traveling so we made some changes and welcomed the new plan with wide open arms. 

Holiday Trip to Mainland Japan: Seki City, Gifu Prefecture

Holiday Trip to Mainland Japan: Tsukiji Fish Market & Tokyo Imperial Palace

 

After we checked into the Oak Hostel, it was after dark and we were starving. So, we grabbed some food and spent the evening relaxing. It was a welcomed environment after a day full of traveling. We called it an early night with plans to start early the next day.

Wanderlust Wednesday

This photo didn't make it into my blog post about Jigokudani Yaen-koen, but it's so "National Geographic" that I couldn't leave it out! One word... Ouch!!

Holiday Trip to Mainland Japan: Jigokudani Yaen-koen (aka Snow Monkey Park)

On Christmas morning, Mark and I woke up early to pack our gear and head to Nagano to see the snow monkeys! This was a HUGE "Japan Bucket List" item of mine... so you can imagine my excitement!! We decided against a tour for two reasons (1) it was expensive and (2) the tour brought us back to Hakuba and we wanted to continue on towards Tokyo, instead.

Wanderlust Wednesday

The cutest little key chains, ever.

Wanderlust Wednesday

I'm almost embarrassed by the amount of hot chocolate that I had on vacation. I even found it in vending machines! Since I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, you can imagine my excitement to be included in the hot drink club in the mornings.

 

Holiday Trip to Mainland Japan: Route and Travel Info

We just returned from a long trip through mainland Japan! I'm excited to start the recaps, but I've already had people ask me for quick details. So, I'm going to start with a map and some information regarding travel from one spot to another. Let me tell ya, there's a lot of transportation involved in this itinerary!

Ikesuno Ginji

There are quite a few good looking restaurants down the street from our house and we finally found the time to try one! Ikesuno Ginji is a tempura, maki (a small segment cut from a long roll of cold rice and various other ingredients wrapped in a sheet of seaweed), and sumibi (grilled meats over charcoal) restaurant... and it's delicious!! 

Strawberry Picking at Ginoza Strawberry Farms

Something that I've wanted to do since we've moved on island is go strawberry picking. I love the local strawberries and I heard that the picking experience was different here. When Mark's brother and niece were in town it was the perfect excuse to figure out how to make a reservations, which wasn't too hard once I found someone that spoke English!

 

Okinawa Soba Factory Tour

Clearly, I'm a little behind in my blogging. However, I'm back and excited to talk the Soba Factory Tour that we took through NIOSC and Kadena ITT! It was perfect timing, too, because Mark's brother and niece were in town. Lastly, Mark got the day off making it a family fun event!

Cafe Natura

Today, Mark was able to take a day off from work to celebrate my birthday (a day early). My only "requirement" was that we ate lunch and dinner at places that we'd never been before. So, I picked up my Okinawa Cafe 2013-14 Book and found a restaurant that was only listed in Japanese. I called to make sure they were open and was happily told, "Hai!" ... and we were off!

Kiyochika Kanehama, the Okinawan Swordsmith

While Mark's brother, Matt, was visiting he mentioned that he wanted to check out the swordsmith on island. Um, the what?! I'm not sure how my husband overlooked the fact that there was a guy making legit swords on island, but he had. With a little digging, I got in touch with Kiyochika's wife, Jyunko, and we had an appointment to check out the shop!

Okinawa City Industry Fair

Some very fun things have been happening around the O'Driscoll household! First of all, Mark's brother and niece arrived last Thursday. Secondly, we've been doing all kinds of exciting activities since they've been here! First up: Okinawa City Industry Fair!