Japanese bath house - onsen

Dear class,
I have been to a number of onsen and here is what happens in an onsen.

You go into a change area wearing your yukata which is like a kimono but for summer.
Then you strip off, put your clothes in a locker, then you go to special low taps to wash yourself all over so that you're very clean.
The reason why you strip off is that there might be germs in your bathers. They think it's just normal and you get used to being named.  Girls are in one area and boys in the other and you go in pools that are very hot and have sulphur in them which smells alot.

Tuna market and factory in Kii-Katsuura

 Dear class,
This is a picture of some tuna that they are making and they're also making sushi out of fish.
They catch it, bring it in to there, they weigh to see how heavy. Then they cut the head off and fin.
Then they put it in a box of water.

Staying in a temple with the Shingon Buddhists in Koyasan.

Hi guys!

I'm with some monks!

We went and stayed in a temple and had to take our shoes off and put special slippers on and special gowns.

We sat on the floor and ate delicious food on trays including lots of bean dishes!

 We got up early at 6 am and prayed with the monks in the temple

 After breakfast we walked to the musoleum past lots of graves. There were cup things that you hold out and you do two things.
You get some water and first put water on your right hand and then your left hand. Then you get more water and drink it and this is to clean yourself before the temple.

There are also stone statues and you put water in the cup and throw water at the statue then after that you make a wish.

 This is us and there are paper walls and you each have a private dining room and you can hear the monks purposely go around and prey to each room. You can hear because they are paper walls.
It's very hard to be quiet!
But it's very fun

Kanazawa Samarui festival and Nara deers

I had ice cream with gold leaf on it in Kanazawa because in this area they make nearly all the gold leaf in japan. 

 At the samurai festival there was this guy who rode a horse and there was also girls and boys pretend fighting the dragon.
There was a boy boy and girl pretending to be a prince and Princess because about 600 years ago they wanted peace and happiness so they married the young children to unite the two areas of japan.

 This is us in Nara and we're patting a real live deer!
There were more than 100 deer walking around the temple and they were wild!

Kyoto and Osaka

Dear class,

This is me in a two roomed home. And I'm sitting on the floor that is made out of bamboo. And these are the mats we sleep on. I sleep on the floor in Japan. 

This is me in front of a temple. At temples you pray and ring a bell and then bow. 

This is me walking down an old fashioned street. It is outside. And also I went to a museum that had old fashioned houses and saw pretend fireworks. And also I saw pretend lightning. 

This is me with my family too. I'm writing down my wishes in Japanese by copying a piece of paper. 

This is me walking down a path with wooden squares over it and we saw another pathway that Henry and Victoria and Dad went down. 

This is me and my sister Victoria sitting on a seat with Hello Kitty and I'm hugging her. 

This is me up in a very tall building. One of the tallest buildings in Japan. It is the 12 th tallest in Japan and I'm standing on the roof of it and I'm at the bottom of a floor and I'm sitting in the two chairs with my brother. My sister is poking  out at the back and my mum is taking a picture of us in a love heart. And she could fit all of us in. 

In the museum where they had the olden days stuff, there was a model of boats with lots of lanterns showing what it was like during festival time in Osaka. 

Bonsai and a wedding

Dear class,

This is me at a shop with a giant teddy bear. It's in a shop and I got to buy something and I'm having a photo to show you guys. 

This is me at a playground. In Japan, you don't get to go to playgrounds a lot because there aren't many in their country. 

I saw a wedding in Japan and it was at a temple in a park. 

This is a puppet man and he was showing some grown ups and children an angry puppet show. There was a angry puppet and an angry dragon. 

This is a flower called a Bonsai. I picked it because it looked beautiful and it spread out. Bonsai is all about making tiny little big trees. 

Dear class,

I'm at a cafe right now and I'm going to have a drink and next I'm going to go to a sushi train.

Where we are staying here in Tokyo we sleep on mats that you roll out on the floor which is covered in tatami mats (we think are made of bamboo).

This morning we went to a Samurai museum.

Philippa

Dear class, here are some sumo wrestlers. 

They are a bit big and they do pretend fights.

this is me having some noodles in a ramen restaurant.  And the polite thing is to slurp your noodles because it shows that you like it.

This is how to say some stuff in japanese.

A tired day

It was very tiring getting the plane and 

Here is what you say in Japanese 

Japan express

Dear friends,

I'm stating at the qantas lounge before I go to japan and then I'm going on the aeroplane to japan. I hope I come back soon.

Love Philippa 

and thid is me eating Wasabi peas before the flight. Very hot!

Croissant Heaven

Rome