Weekend wrap

Hello all, and here is the news.
Ruby has mid-term exams coming up and has assigned herself a gruelling study schedule over the next couple of weeks, including regular breaks for tapping furiously on the iPod and downloading new episodes of Glee. So on account of the revision regime she and Eleni stayed home on Saturday morning while I took Felix to soccer practice. The soccer ground they use on Saturdays is a little way out of town in the countryside and surrounded by fields. While Felix is busy at practice Eleni and I normally take the opportunity to go for a highly convivial walk in the fields. It really is a lovely spot out there.

This week I noticed, in a city slicker sort of way, that it must be planting season — the planting machines and the trays of seedlings sort of gave it away.

On Saturday afternoon we found out by chance about the Satsuki festival on at the local arts and culture center (called Poporo; who on earth thought of that name?) so we headed down to have a look. It wasn’t an ancient traditional culture type festival so much as a string of performances by local band/music/choir/rock groups, plus a flea market, together with the regulation line of food and drink stalls. At the flea market Felix and I spotted an enormous remote control Mothra toy [Mothra is a classic Japanese monster from the same stable as Godzilla. Check out the 1961 trailer below. Fast forward to 1:30 for views of Mothra.]

Tragically the Mothra toy cost about $200 so we had to pass, but it was in any case a lovely day for the festival: low 20s and sunny. Before too long it will be low 30s and oppressively humid so we have to make the most of the good weather. I took a photo of the main stage, although it looks a bit small and pathetic from so far back. But I’ve included it here just to show off that Poporo roof, which looks as if a giant metal Mothra might burst out at any moment.

This morning (Sunday) we headed down to Onomichi, a small town about half an hour down the road, to witness Eleni’s debut peformance of wadaiko (Japanese drumming). She’s been practicing every Wednesday with her new best friends down at the local community center and today was their first hitout with Eleni in the group. Here they are in full flight:

The performance was for a volunteer organisation which hosts exchange students in Japan. Afterwards they gave all the students a go and invited our two to join in as well. Felix was up there like a shot but Ruby was unable to take part, being too cool for that sort of thing.

At lunchtime we went for a walk through picturesque Onomichi. In a couple of weeks my two sisters and mother are coming to town, so we’re busy checking out interesting places to take them. We’d actually been to Onomichi a few months ago and wandered along the seaside section of town, and I remembered being singularly unimpressed. But it turns out that all the picturesque stuff is up in the hills BEHIND the town, silly me. You catch the cable car up the hill and wander around these cute little winding paths in the hillside admiring the trees scenery temples cherry blossoms sea views etc etc. There are even a couple of little cafes tucked in amongst the culture, and near the cable car station at the top of the hill is a shop selling ice-creams with flavours such as green tea and black sesame (sounds weird but actually delicious). So now I rate Onomichi quite highly; the black sesame ice-cream in particular  is worth bringing the family for.

When we got home I did a bit of mowing with our shiny new push-along lawn mower:

I’m not quite sure why but I’ve always wanted one of these. Now, finally, I have realised my life’s ambition: a push-along lawn mower. Just like Dave Sullivan.

And finally, Felix and I finished off the weekend in style with a visit to the local onsen. That’s our third visit now, but our first time on the left-hand side. Men and women are segregated (obviously) and they swap the sides daily; our last two visits were on odd days so we were on the right-hand side, but today was an even day so we got to try the left-hand side. Verdict: more massage spots, better views, but smaller selection of baths. On balance, we prefer the right-hand side.