"Welcome to the Mansion"

"Wanna swing from a star in the big blue sky,

don't wanna watch it all go by,

so I'm gonna fly."

-Sydney Forest (Kiki's Delivery Service)

Friday came

and I boarded the train,

bound for Amagasaki.

I went to sleep over at the mansion,

my family-away-from-family's house.

They cooked me delicious nabe for dinner.

Tanuki sighting!

Whenever I see a tanuki, I have to snap a picture.

I blame Ghibli for my fettish.

Saturday brought with it

an adventure in Arima,

a little mountain town

that's famous for its hot spring.

I love trying tasty, new foods...

...so I know I'm in the right country!

Japanese treats may look/sound/seem suspicious,

but they're delicious.

A rhyme. Ha!

Friends, meet dango.

Dango, meet friends' tummies.

This is a snack you'll definitely want to try sometime.

I asked Akemi

{my Japanese mama}

if this was a hot spring monkey.

The answer was no,

thank goodness.

But farther up in the mountains,

monkeys and people alike soak in the water together.

I want a picture of that.

{An appropriate one, of course.}

Wandering up the little road,

we came across a basket weaver in action.

His shoppe was filled with

baskets, chopsticks, clocks...

everything woven by his own two hands.

So, uh, my talent is playing the piano...

No comparison.

Venturing on to HarborLand

{a place to view all of Kobe}

we found a tiny Ghibli shoppe.

"Totoro, Totoro..."

And for dinner,

we stopped at a kaiten zushi.

And they had corn sushi.

AWESOME.

And here's some... uh... Engrish?

Japan never ceases to surprise me.