Kirara Beach きらら浜

This beach is beautiful and is just 20 minutes drive from my house. There is onsen (hot springs) on the beach where you can sit in the hot natural spring baths and watch the sunset!

The beach is lined with palm trees. It's hard to believe it's November. The water was really warm.

I cant go anywhere without bumping into people I know.... Normally it's students!

When I can afford it I will eat this restaurant that looks amazing..

For now I have to make do with the small coffee shop next door. The atmosphere is great. The coffee beans are ground in front of you and the selection of cakes and ice deserts is impressive.

Friendly staff too!

Best Karaoke Moments

Hugh and Enzo in Tokyo... This was my best night of karaoke in Japan - these guys are great fun. I love the impromptu look at each other in the middle... Class!!



Baggins sings from his heart..... After this song he knocked over the beer that had just been served! I love the way he bops to the beat!

Onoda Festival 小野田

This was really good fun and the weather was perfect.

The mochi* throwing ceremony at the end. I havent a clue why this is done, but it's very amusing and a lot of fun. Basically a ton of these small sweets are thrown at the crowd and the idea is to bag as many as you can. I couldnt believe how competive this was. Old ladies push and fight their way to the front and snatch any mochi you had out of your hands!! I managed to catch just one before giving up. At this festival there was over 800 kilos of mochi thrown into the crowd. This is a dangerous sport... trust me - if you get hit on the head by a flying mochi it hurts!! Its like throwing small rocks... Crazy Japanese people!!!

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* Mochi are small rice cake sweets - usually filled with bean paste. They are normally soft and doughy but taste really good.

さんねんねたろう

There is a great story behind this character. His name is Sannen Netarou. The story goes something like this:

Sannen Netarou is said to have slept for 3 years and many people considered him to be very lazy. When he awoke from his sleep he travelled to Nagato northern Japan to buy straw sandals for all the workers in the gold mines. On his return he gave the sandals to all the workers in exchange for their old shoes. From these old shoes Sannen Netarou extracted gold particles and suddenly became very rich. With his new found wealth Sannen Netarou invested in the local area and became a legendary character. He is now the official mascot of Sanyo Onoda City.

Special thanks to Koezuka Sensei for relaying the story to me.

Ejio Park 公園

This beautiful park is 30 minutes bike ride from my apartment. Unfortunately buses are infrequent... roll on getting a car! These pictures were taken at dusk. The water was so still. Occasionally you could see big fish jumping out of the water.

This is my favourite place to relax locally. In the summer you can hire boats and row on the lake. There is also free bike hire.

It's so peaceful to sit by the river with a book.

This huge suspension bridge is in the middle of the park.

Like most public parks in Japan, the lake is teeming with koi carp....