More words, more sights, more treats.

The past few days flew right by! The weekend was consumed with bike rides to Trial, the best store in the world. Samantha and I decided to dedicate Saturday (yes, the whole day) to spend looking through the entire store. It did take us about 3.5 hours to complete the trip...plus a very interesting bike ride home. Turns out I had WAY too much stuff to carry back on my bike. Samantha had to take some and I had to balance a bag on each handle, feeling like a tight rope walker desperately trying not to break my eggs. The very tight roads didn't make it easier getting back.
Today's note to self - make more trips instead of a single very risky trip. Yikes!

We went back Sunday for other small things we forgot. The great thing about Trial is that you always leave with something you didn't intend on getting...and you're very happy. :)

Unfortunately Saint Patrick's Day isn't celebrated in Japan. I wore my green shirt anyways! :)



This weekend I also worked on my origami skills. I chose a very difficult one that required 6 pieces of paper. It was initially a cube, but opened up into what I am proud to say does actually look like a rose. I then made a butterfly to sit on it. I showed a few people and got a shocked face and a "sugoi!" "Amazing!" for it. :)

I also took this opportunity to fire up the rice cooker. I managed to figure it out without much trouble considering all the buttons and options in Japanese. The rice turned out a little gooey though; too much water, oops!

 Today, our Japanese lesson was about identifying objects in different places. E.g. "The pencil is in the desk drawer", or, "Who is on the 3rd floor? Mr. Takahashi is!" It's much more complicated than it sounds. I'm sure our teachers were bored out of their minds at the simplicity, haha. Gomennasai!

For our afternoon trip, we went to the Yakult yogurt factory! I really enjoy watching the manufacturing process, plus we got free samples weee! :)

 After the factory, we took a short trip to a small shopping area close to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine that is famous for a small grilled desert called Daifukumochi. It's a small rice cake (mochi) filled with sweetened red bean paste (anko). And wasn't it DELICIOUS! They make them in sets of four and grill them to be served fresh and still warm.

Also, check out the amazing Starbucks! It's one of the most famous Starbucks location in Japan because of it's exterior decor. Cool!

Also - I love Zen gardens. This is my first experience with a true Zen garden, not one of the miniature ones people decorate their office space with hehe.
It was so beautiful, and very calming.

Japanese words for these past few days:
Sou desu ne! (Sooh day-su neh) = the equivalent of "I know, right?"
Otoko no ko = "boy"