Friday Night Lights - Back to Koshien

Tonight we went to Koshien to see the hometown Hanshin Tigers take on the Hiroshima Carp. Thanks to the Ford and Atchison families, who gave us their unused tickets, we were sitting in the fourth row behind the Tigers dugout. We had an extra ticket, so Mike was able to bring a friend from work.

We had not been to Koshien for a while, and it was nice to get back there. It is always such a good time. And tonight was no exception.

Unfortunately, tonight was not a good night on the field, as the Tigers got blanked 4-0. But coming down the stretch, Hanshin is still in first place, with a six game lead over the rival Giants.

They threatened in only one inning, when they loaded the bases with one out for clean-up hitter and fan favorite Tomoaki Kanemoto. We love this guy too. (Think Paul O'Neill, without the temper.) He hit a rocket, but right at the Carp second baseman, who quickly turned the inning ending double play.

Offensively, they could really use their slugging first baseman Arai back. He was a dependable RBI machine (who we had compared to Andres Galaragga in his prime) before getting hurt at this year's Olympics.

After the game, we (along with EVERYONE else) hit the Tiger's store to grab some merchandise. Although Mike still can't find a jersey in a size comfortable enough to fit him (huge bummer), the whole family managed to walk out with matching Hanshin Tigers Hats.

A Ladies Hike

Now that the kids are back to school, Ilena has begun to settle into a comfortable routine again. Morning walks, workouts at the gym, coffee with the other moms, and quiet hours at home spent catching up with friends online, laundry and other mundane "home tasks". Today, was not going to be one of those task-laden days.

Several of the women Ilena has become friendly with are avid hikers. Today, the plan was to train out to Ashiya, a couple towns away, head up to the mountain, and hike back towards Rokko Island along the mountain. It was a beautiful day, blue sky, hot sun and seven ladies ready to hit the mountains.

Along our hike, we encountered many locals getting their daily exercise. Hiking is very common among the older adults who live here. The hiking trails are numerous, quaint little temples are everywhere and everyone is smiling. Today was no exception. Ilena wasn't quite sure what to expect as this was her first mountain hike in Japan.

The first hour was uphill - climbing rocks with the help of ropes, wires and even a ladder. Some steep climbing, but it was truly beautiful. Looking out from atop the mountain at Rokko Island and Kobe down below was just breathtaking. Once we started out descent, out of nowhere appeared a wild boar. We had seen signs with lots of Japanese characters and a picture of a boar, but hadn't really heeded the warning. It felt much like we were in a Lost episode, not quite sure what would appear next (though we didn't encounter any polar bears).


Nonetheless, we made our way down the mountain and ended up in the Okamoto shopping area - we were hungry. Our initial plan to have Thai food for lunch was changed when the intended restaurant was closed. We ended up going to a Brats restaurant instead - not exactly what you would call a "healthy" post-hike lunch, but it was delicious. And with a Haagen Dazs chaser, what could be bad?

All in all, a great day! We've decided that we will try and coordinate at least one hike a month while the kids are in school. Not sure if Fuji is in the cards (as it is only open for climbing in July and August), but it's a good thing that Japan is 80% mountainous - leaves plenty of options for quality hiking.

Bay Cruise, Maiko Beach and The Yosakoi Dance Festival

We just finished off a terrific weekend. On Saturday night, Mike and Ilena got a night out and took an excellent dinner cruise in Kobe Bay aboard The Concerto. On Sunday, we took a family trip to the a great little nearby beach in Maiko, and we also checked out the outlet stores one town over in Tarumi. Tarumi was highlighted by a trip to the Lego Store, where the kids cashed out weeks of allowance savings for some pretty cool Lego sets.

But the best part of our weekend, and the theme that ran through all of the above activities was the Yosakoi Dance Festival. At each of our weekend activities, we randomly ran into groups of high energy dancers in beautiful colorful costumes. From what we were able to figure out after the fact, Yosakoi is a unique summer dance style that was started in Shikoku in the 1950's. It is varied, youthful, and totally fun. It also has a bit of an ESPN Cheerleading Festival vibe to it. Anyway, we ran across several different branches of the local Kansai dance festival throughout our weekend.

Ilena and Mike first noticed ornately clad groups of young people dressed in purple robes walking around the Kobe Bay area on Saturday night. When we got down to the boardwalk where we were embark on our dinner cruise, we saw 100s of different groups, all wearing different costumes, all practicing their moves before getting on the stage, which was backdropped by the Kobe Port Tower landmark. The cruise itself was really nice, but the unexpected highlight was definitely the dance festival.

Here are some videos of the Saturday night dance action down at Kobe Bay. It was really cool, and we sort of felt bad that the kids had missed it:

On Sunday, we decided to check out Maiko Beach. We had heard that Maiko is one of the nicest and cleanest of the nearby beaches. We had also previously got a peek of Maiko on our way to Awaji Island, a couple of weeks ago. It is set right next to the Akashi Bridge. Maiko Beach did not disappoint. It is a peaceful little gem, with calm waters and a nice setting. All within a half hour of Rokko Island. On this blazing hot day, it felt great to get away, take a dip and play at the beach.

Of course, this weekend, unbenowest to us, the park immediately next to the Akashi Bridge, which you pass through to get to Maiko Beach, was hosting its own Yasokoi Festival. The dancing was so colorful and high energy and happy! Every group had their own emcee, and most had flag-bearers whipping flags around behind the dancers. The dancing mixed in some traditional elements, but was mostly very fast-paced. And it was all set in a beautiful spot, backdropped by the Akashi Bridge.

Here are some videos of the dancing at Maiko:

After Maiko, we walked along the seaside promenade to the Marine Pia Kobe Outlets in Tarumi. We had heard there was a cool Lego Store there, and indeed there was. There was also a Nike Store, Eddie Bauer, Adidas, Levi, and a bunch of other good shopping and restaurants. Set by a pier, overlooking the water, it is a nice place to walk around too.

And of course, this weekend, they also had their own Yasokoi Festival!

Here the dancers warmed up by dance-parading down a short block, before heading to a stage overlooking the pier. Here are some videos from the parade:

What a fun thing to encounter completely randomly! The kids were totally entranced. (And we were too!) We all felt very lucky to have this fun musical theme running through our weekend.

Train Photos Collage

Going Shopping

We are not sure if it is just us getting old or the experience of living abroad, or some combination of the two, but sometimes it seems that simply going shopping can be a fun family activity. The other day, Mike and Ilena were discussing how much fun we had going shopping at Price Club, one of the handful of local foreign buyer's markets. (Reminds us of that scene in Old School where Will Ferrell is talking about having "a big day" of trips to Home Depot and Bed Bath and Beyond!) That place is actually great - awesome beer and wine selection. And its fun to get those items you miss from home. We had chili and corn bread on Sunday night. This is one of our Football Sunday standard meals from home. (Of course there was no football, but it was damned good.)

(Speak of cooking items from home, we have a funny side-story from the weekend. Ilena decided to bake a banana bread. But it did not come out right. At all. Oh, it tasted super-sweet and delicious, but it was more like banana creamy pudding than banana bread. It did not breadify. As to why, it was a mystery. It was only later that she realized that she had used powdered sugar instead of flour. Ah the difficulties when you cannot read the Japanese labels very well and you confuse your white powdered substances.)

This past weekend, a rainy one, we went exploring with some friend near Hanshin Mikage to a mall that we had seen, which had some great stores, including a book store with a tiny but nice English book selection, a Build a Bear, and a very cool specialty coffee store that kept giving us free iced coffee. What?! We're from New Jersey!

Afterwards, we went to Midori, which is sort of like a combination of Home Depot and Best Buy. Home appliances, outdoor stuff, electronics. You name it. And they also sell electronic bulls, apparently for home use. Which is strange. But anyway, we had a good time.

Rokko Island Matsuri

In what was likely the last matsuri of the summer festival season, this Saturday was our local neighborhood festival - Rokko Island Matsuri.

This was our favorite of them all! Only a five minute walk from our house. Lauren got to wear "her kimono" for the first time. (As did many of Jacob and Lauren's little friends.)

We got to hang out with all of our friends from Rokko Island. There were games for the kids. There was great food and drink (local pub Macsy's makes a mean chu-hai!). And there was great musical entertainment throughout the day and into the night. It was basically a huge block party.

The best part was that it was a true multi-cultural affair. Towards the end of the night, after much traditional Japanese music and dancing and some more modern Japanese acts, the gaijin got to take over the main stage, with hilarious performances that included Avril Lavigne (Skater Girl), Michael Jackson, the YMCA and Macarena. OK, well then again, it maybe not be fair to call it "culture," but it was hilarious and a lot of fun. And there was also a rousing performance by a local Belly Dancing group. Not the stuff of your standard matsuri, but the whole crowd, including all the local Japanese were really into all of the music. Or maybe everyone was just really drunk by then.

Here are some more videos to give you more of a flavor of the evening:

The Modern

Footloose

Belly Dancing