"Cherry Blossom River Boating"

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."

-St. Augustine

My family hosted a student

last October,

and I had an opportunity

to meet up with him and his family

in their natural element:

Osaka City.

To see the cherry blossoms,

we trekked

both on foot

and on a boat.

After the sakura cruise,

we wined and dined

{well, I just dined}

at a schmancy French restaurant

overlooking the river.

Our second course was golden soup.

No joke:

those are flakes of gold on top.

...

...

I know, right?

Though most foods around the world are exquisite,

I've adopted a rather good method

whenever something looks a little questionable:

Just eat, don't ask.

It's pretty much kept me alive so far.

*munch munch*

My extra stomach

{or, "dessert pocket", as Bryn's nephew would put it}

came to my rescue in the end.

The French may serve

everything in moderation,

but the plates just kept coming last night.

*phew*

No matter how much I deny it,

I'm a small-town gal,

so I was quite overwhelmed

by all the silver spoons on the table.

And, during the whole meal,

doubtlessly resembled this poor beastie:

{Music via Yoko Kanno & Daniel Hope}

{"Beast" via Disney}