Bowling, Illegal Sparklers, Riverside BBQ and Wild Swimming
So Monday was a national holiday here in Japan, it was Respect the Aged day. The weekend was a nice long weekend, starting with the Enkai on Friday evening and stretching all the way through to Monday which was actually quite refreshing - but of course, I packed it full of activities.
Without further ado, the boys started setting up the BBQ and Amy and I immediately went to cross the river. Sadly, we had two casualties during this difficult and dangerous (😉😋) crossing. They were in the form of both of my flip flops - their journey with me was brief but I hope their journey down the river will take them a long way! It happened so fast that all we could do was stop and stand for a brief moment to contemplate our loss.
Despite that, we enjoyed ambling around the river until food was ready. Crossing back over was a bit arduous for me without my trusty flip flops, there were a lot of stones in the river bed but it wasn't long before I made it over and I could enjoy the fresh BBQ food which was already waiting for me.
The river was beautiful backdrop and provided some lovely background noise whilst we ate.
Amy started eating gummy sweets mid way through the meal, so I naturally had to document it. I also tried my first mushroom on her advice, and I actually quite liked it. We had brought fruit juice with us to accompany our meal - so we had to raise a glass to the occasion.
On Sunday, Amy and Nam had friends visiting and invited me to join them that evening for a brief round of bowling followed by some sparklers and fireworks by the lake. I arrived at bowling part way through, they had already wagered some ice cream - which would be bought by the loosing team so the stakes were high.
I am pleased to say (unfortunately no thanks to me) that Amy and Nam were the successful team, so their guests (Huyền and Hương) had to shell out for the ice cream. It was really nice to meet Nam's friends, they are both from Vietnam and were so friendly.
With ice cream bought, we headed for a nice spot by the lake to play with sparklers and fireworks. We found a few places but there were signs saying no fireworks, eventually we pulled over and gleefully ran down to the lake shore to get started. That was when we realised that there were only sparklers in these packs so no firework fun would be had but the sparklers were enjoyed by all.
It was only when we returned to the cars that we found another sign which forbid fireworks or sparklers at that location - oops! Having eaten our ice cream and exhausted all of our sparkler supplies, we left with plans to meet the next day - Monday - to go to the river for a bbq and swim.
On Monday morning, Amy and I headed to the shops for some last minute food and I wanted to grab some cheap flip flops, since I'd discovered mine had been left at home in England. This accomplished, I also meandered around the shop to see what was around - the shops are already stocked for Halloween and I found Pepsi with Halloween labels which celebrates some Japanese culture and tales:
{On the left is the fox bride - there are a lot of stories about fox weddings in Japanese folklore!}
I also found this on the sweets aisle:
{Yeah - I don't really know what this is or why it's there}
When I got bored of looking at all the novelty items, (to be honest, I didn't get bored but we did run out of time) we headed back to Amy's for the final prep of the food. We opted to go in my car to the river, since there is more room and with music on, we were on our way to Kiwada Camping Ground.
This is the site of the Echi River where we were going to spend the day. When we got there, we were greeted by the sounds of the rushing river and parked next to a well put together fire pit that someone had built with a lot of care and attention.
{We left it as we found it}
{We were quite excited to be there!}
Without further ado, the boys started setting up the BBQ and Amy and I immediately went to cross the river. Sadly, we had two casualties during this difficult and dangerous (😉😋) crossing. They were in the form of both of my flip flops - their journey with me was brief but I hope their journey down the river will take them a long way! It happened so fast that all we could do was stop and stand for a brief moment to contemplate our loss.
Despite that, we enjoyed ambling around the river until food was ready. Crossing back over was a bit arduous for me without my trusty flip flops, there were a lot of stones in the river bed but it wasn't long before I made it over and I could enjoy the fresh BBQ food which was already waiting for me.
The river was beautiful backdrop and provided some lovely background noise whilst we ate.
Amy started eating gummy sweets mid way through the meal, so I naturally had to document it. I also tried my first mushroom on her advice, and I actually quite liked it. We had brought fruit juice with us to accompany our meal - so we had to raise a glass to the occasion.
Then, we went down to the river for a proper swim. It wasn't as warm as it has been recently, but it was still hot enough that it would be a good summer day in England - but now, because of the highs of at least 36 degrees we'd had, it actually felt a bit cool. The river was of course cold, but I love wild swimming and before long I was swimming around. I convinced Amy and Nam to join me, but it was too cold for them and they couldn't stay in long.
All in all, a successful day - with lots of laughter, beautiful scenery and delicious food.
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