Kyoto Part 1.

Kiyomizudera Temple:

Entrance gates.

A monk.

Koyasu Pagoda.

Beautiful kimonos.

Since Bob is a dragon.

Temple.

In the Edo Period, if you jumped from the wooden platform (13 meters above ground) and survived your wish was granted. 

Otowa Waterfall.  Three streams of pure water.  Drinking from the stream promises you longevity, wisdom or a fortunate love life depending on which stream you drink from.

Sanjusangendo Temple:

The main hall houses 1001 statues of Kannon (Goddess of Mercy).  Each statue is 5.5 feet tall and some are carved entirely out of one piece of wood.  No pictures are allowed of the sacred statues so this is just outside the main hall.

Gion:

The houses near Gion Corner are so pretty.  But then if you touch one you realize it's made of plastic not real stone or stucco.

A temple.

A geisha.

Gion Corner.

All you can eat shabu shabu.  Yum!

Tokyo

We only spent half a day in Tokyo before taking the bullet train to Kyoto.  We woke up early at 5 AM (Ethan has us trained well!) to go to the Tsukiji fish market and then we walked the streets from Shinjuku to Shibuya to visit the Meiji Shinto Shrine.

We went too late to actually see the tuna auction in action but was able to snap a few pictures at the closing of the auction.

Carting the fish around.

Different seafood for sale.

Cutting of a flash frozen tuna.

A mural at the Shinjuku station.

Entrance to Yoyogi Park.

Stone wash basin at the Meiji Shrine.  As part of the purification rites you are supposed to rinse your left then right hand and then rinse your mouth with water from your left hand.

This rope has something to do with marriage blessings but I don't remember what.

One of the entrances to the shrine is lined with sake and wine barrels.

Bridge as we exited the shrine area.

The Prada store in the Aoyama district as seen from our taxi.  The stores on this street all have really cool architecture.

The bullet train was surprisingly uncomfortable because of the high backed seats.  But it didn't matter since we were on our way to Kyoto!

Fix-it-friday's #57

This week's challenge was cute little baby feet.  I used Lightroom only: rotate/crop, decreased redness, adjusted curves, increased exposure.

Orginal:

Color Edit:

B&W Edit:

Cutisms

Over Memorial Weekend Bob and I took a short trip to Japan to celebrate our anniversary (pictures to follow later).  Side story:  Bob left for Japan early for work and I was to meet up with him over the weekend.  He calls me on the morning of the 24th (he usually calls after work) and wished me a happy anniversary.  I thought I had a very sweet husband until I realized the date.  It wasn't the 28th!  =P  Apparently my husband does not remember when we got married...every year he thinks it's on the 24th.  I suppose I should just happy he remembers it at all. 

So we have been married for four years!  Okay, that doesn't seem very long, but so many things have happened the last few years - marriage, baby, a few job changes, and a move to a different country.  Whew.  This was also the first time we have ever left Ethan since one of us is always at home with him.  Luckily we had my mom to help us out and take care of Ethan so we knew we left him in good hands!

I had an amazing time in Japan - Kyoto has been on my must travel to list for a long time so I was super excited to get to visit the city.  But we did miss Ethan a lot.  I think he would have loved the bullet train and also running around the pretty gardens.  Since I can't have a post without mentioning Ethan, here are some cute things that he has been doing recently:

-He will ask himself 'Can he do it?' as he tries to climb up something especially high.
-He has an array of faces he makes on demand.  An angry face, his scrunchie face, his cheese face for pictures.  When you ask him to wiggle his nose or eyebrows he just squeezes his eyes shut several times since he thinks they control the other parts of his face.
-He somehow picked up the phrase 'oh my goodness' and 'oh my god'
-He will run up to his lovey and say 'Yaya, I mizzz you!' and shower it with kisses.  He also likes to make YaYa clap it's hands when we sing a song.
-When Bob works from home, he will open the door to the office, peek in and say 'Hello Hellooo' and then duck back out.
-He tries valiantly to jump but so far has not managed to get off the ground.

Sanya

Our vacation to Sanya in pictures. We stayed for two days after Mike's wedding and basically did only three things - swim, play, and eat! It was lots of fun.

The view from our balcony.

So peaceful and relaxing to swing from a hammock. We stayed there for an hour!

Ethan's 'cheese' face when we tell him to smile.

More funny faces.

My cutie patootie!

Artsy editing.

Rare is a day that goes by without chomping down a banana or two.

If Ethan likes a stuffed animal he totally cuddles with it and showers it with kisses. He actually purrs. For the parents though, we have to beg for a kiss and the most he will do is offer us one cheek to peck if we are lucky!

Piano lessons starts early!

Ethan was scared to go down the slide at first. But after the first ride he was hooked and we ended up going down a gazillion times each visit to the pool.

My parents having fun relaxing in the hammock!

Monkeying around at the kid's club. Ethan did his first slam dunk. =P