Bingo, Kobe, & Osaka

Hey Friends and Family, I adjusted the blog to allow for comments.

May 27th (Friday)...Who would have thought the universal language was Bingo. Matthew and I attended "Japan-American Women of Kansai's Bingo Fundraiser for  Sendai"

Our hostess (Tanigawa-san) and landlord (Tashima-san) are members of the group.

No photos, just fun day.

May 28th (Happy Birthday Mom!)

Kanteibyo (Chinese Temple) Built in 1887, but destroyed in 1945 during World War II, 1977 by fire, and 1995 by earthquake. Each time the Chinese community rebuilds.

Sorakuen Garden-It used to be the mayor's home, now open to the public to view a traditional Japanese garden.

 One end of Chinatown. The kids are troopers sightseeing in the rain.

Awesome lunch in Chinatown!

 May 29th Typhoon Songda was making its way to Kobe....time to slide out the metal storm shutters.

We hunkered down and made camp for 24 hours while the storm passed.

Matt and I couldn't believe it...typhoon? really?



 May 30th (Monday) Rise 'n Shine

We made our way to Osaka today.

 Osaka's Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the world.

 The dolphins were just playing.

 Gigantic crabs.

 Whale Shark

 I could sit and watch 10,000 sardines swim together for hours. How beautiful!

When I finish with sardines, I could move to jellyfish.

I just loved the way this sculpture moved in the breeze.

 May 24 (Tuesday) Kobe Kachoen

Amy and the kids for a day of birds, flowers, penguins, and fish.

 Japanese buffet under the flowers!

March of the Penguins.

The big owl was heavy!

 How about this for a foot treatment? Fish who love to nibble on  your dead skin. What you can't see are the 20 of them going to town on the bottom side of my feet. They are having there own buffet under the flowers.

 Spencer was the first in.

 It's not yet summer vacation in Japan. On weekdays there aren't crowds yet. So we sat for 45 minutes.

 These college kids were watching their yen closely, so we splurged and had them join us in the fish tank (no picture, too busy trying to communicate.)

Needed to take one more lap to feed some toucans!

Great Day!!!



Just catching you up to speed

May 19 (Thursday) Finally met face to face with David Satterwhite.

He's been part of our life for over a year now.

Spencer and David made friends with Japanese students on the train. The students were headed out on a field trip.

Matt hit the ground running with a conference in Kyoto on May 19th.

David escorted us since we were still a bit jet lagged.

 Matt headed into his conference, while the kids and I hit the Kyoto Zoo.

 It totally felt like this guy had something to tell us.

 Here's the background of the zoo.

 Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day)

May 5th had been Children's Day (a borrowed Chinese holiday). The black carp swims upstream (and according to legend, becomes a dragon). So the fish symbolizes strength.

Spencer loves to take this path home from the station.

May 20 (Friday) Matt's new office at Kobe University.

May 23 (Monday) Out and about to open a checking account and to visit the Canadian Academy (where the kids will take 2 weeks of summer school).

Typical restaurant. Narrow spot, stuck in a nook. Seats a total of 10.

Spencer chose this one because of the picture.

We're Heeeere!!!!

Home Sweet Home @

Tashima-san is our landlord and host.

Tashima-san's father was the founder of Minolta. (The "ta" stands for Tashima.)

This is Tashima-san's uncle's home. He has passed away and his aunt is in a nursing home. We are fortunate to be in this lovely space.

Shoes Off.....slippers on.

Washer, spinner, bath/shower

Traditional Japanese sleeping room.

The O'Brien nest.

We turned our second sleeping space into a walk-in closet, changing space, dressing room, and storage.