Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Summer Wind

It seems the one year mark has snuck by us quite stealthily and I guess we must have enjoyed it because we've signed on for one more year. Of course we miss home, the things there, and sometimes even some of the people... but this run has been given a great boost of endurance from our many guests over the course of the summer.

Last YOU (our faithful fans) saw, we were singing karaoke with Meaghan, then she left and we were wearing yukata (summer kimonos). Hmm.... well, that does skip one little sub-plot we call CLIMBING MOUNT FUJI!!! We still owe you a healthy dose of pictures from that excursion, and I promise they WILL come eventually!

Just a few weeks after Meaghan left, a little group known as "my family" popped in for a visit! Understandably, they are very eager to be featured here on the blog (Fictional magazine recently rated appearance on this blog 8.7 points Cooler - using the standard international system - than appearing on Saturday Night Live), so I'll use this space to introduce them:




Meet (from left): KEVIN - sporting a jinbe top for maximum summer comfort, DAD, MOM, myself and Tara, and my older sister YOUSHINA SHIMASHITA.
This is atop Kyoto station on just their 3rd night in Japan!


HEY LOOK!!! It's the GUPPY; my long-told-of-yet-never-shown-vehicle! Well, sadly this first time will also be the last that the Guppy is shown, as he met an unfortunate end (specifically the end of a blue car) a couple weeks ago when I missed a stop sign. I'm fine, and nobody was hurt badly, but Guppy is damaged beyond the point that he's worth repairing. For the time being I'm back to doing my job entirely by bicycle!



Back to the family visit... I had 10 days off work for summer holidays, during which we did a whirlwind tour of Kyoto, Nara, and Tokyo. Much of the rest of the time was spent enjoying the casual lifestyle in our little town, Ichinomiya.

Here are mom and I outside a coffee shop where we tried "morning service", which is a breakfast free with the purchase of any drink. Mmm...free breakfast.
We later tried a few other cafes but this one (just down the street from our house) proved to have the BEST free breakfast around. The "Canadian Coffee House" may have been the skimpiest breakfast, or maybe we were just disappointed because we expected special Canadian treatment.

Kevin had a chance to enjoy these stylish Japanese floor chairs. He enjoyed them so much that he decided to buy one and take it back to Canada.
He was also a big fan of the jinbe, which he wore for most of his time in Japan, at least until he found organic cotton hippy pants in Tokyo.

Everyone found Kyoto beautiful, and it was also unanimously agreed to be HOT. The heat combined with the huge crowds (during Japan's biggest summer holiday) meant that we couldn't walk far without seeking shade and drinks.
Despite the intense humidity, we managed to make our way around to some great spots.
Of course, the ever-convenient vendors of ice-cold drinks, proved to be one of the most popular sites with everyone.

Maybe it was partly due to the heat, but the summer feels like a blur! It was great to have so much family time this summer and now that the end of September is nearing it feels like not long at all before we will be coming back to Canada to celebrate Christmas and New Year's at home. We will be both be home for a little under one month, hopefully arriving in Canada in mid-December.

-IAN!

9 comments:

Meaghan said...

yeaaaah! Appearing on the blog is WAY cooler than appearing on SNL.
I'm clearly quite awesome.
I'm glad I got to be a part of your summer, and thanks again for letting me stay for so long. You guys were awesome :D and I had pretty much the time of my life. Can't wait to see you again!!!

Anonymous said...

Great to see a new posting. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time during your visit. Can't wait to see you both, only 3 months!!

Anonymous said...

EE-un
Why isn't my picture on your blog? It smacks of discrimination if you ask me! If it weren't for me, you'd probably still be taking little teeny bites of new food! If it weren't for me, you'd..
you'd..well, you wouldn't have a friend named Justin. I should be on your blog, doncha think? If your parents were really friends, they would have invited me to go with them to Japan and then I would be on your blog too! Crappy friends if you ask me (but I guess they looked good in the photos)! Glad you all had a great time!

Yasushi said...

Sorry to bother you, but I am just happy to see that Ian-san, Tara-san and their families can keep in touch through this web.
If I could help Ian-san and Tara-san have a great time in Japan

Anonymous said...

Sounds like all had an awesome time!

Anonymous said...

Poor Poor Guppy... :( Poor Poor Jetta is gone for good now too... sooo, Yay Biking!! haha

Also, yay for coming home for a bit, I have missed you Ian! Tara, I have also missed you, but I did get to see you for a bit when you were here... so.. well, I am sure when you guys are down I will have missed you as much again! It is still a ways away. Man, this probably seems very akward... but I am leaving it like this damnit! hehehe!

fressia_33 said...

Hey, I've messaged you guys a couple times before~ I am a friend of Tim's from college and he sent me your way since I was coming to Japan with Nova.

And ya, Nova is clearly dying, and I am really wanting to get out, so I was hoping to maybe talk to you guys about it since you both left Nova.

If you could email me at fressia_33@msn.com that would be great! I would really like to talk to you guys about some stuff.

Thanks a lot,
Rebecca

Anonymous said...

It was fantastic visiting Ian and Tara and getting to see where they live and meet some of their friends. The GUPPY sure was cute. Hopefully Ian can post a couple of the photos from one of the incredible temples or shrines we visited such as Koya-san: our Buddhist temply-stay.

your friends in Japan said...

Meaghan - glad you had such a great time! I hear rumour you're planning a sequel. COOL!

Debbie - thanks, we're a bit excited about the visit too. Only 2 and a half months to go!z

Arlene - pfft, coming all the way to Europe and not stopping by in Japan! It's not my fault you're not on the blog!

Yasushi - thanks for your continued help and support.

Anita - that's just because the violent parts are all censored out.

Derrick - too bad about ol' Jetta. As it turns out, Guppy may be salvaged. More on that later this week.
I appreciate being missed! I look forward to seeing you and your fancy new residence I've heard of.

Rebecca - Hi, that's really too bad Nova's gone down so quickly. I don't think you'll have any trouble finding a new job though, there are lots of companies around.

Mom - thanks for the subtle, hint, I think I got it.

ART - thanks for the comment on the previous post! I'm glad somebody appreciates our dental hygiene. ;)