Time Travel

My last post from the Land of the Rising Sun. I'll leave off my closing thoughts until I'm back on Terra Canadiana.

A few points of interest, particularly regarding my cousin's daughters' names. First, no, Ulala is not named after the Space Channel 5 character, but a Japanese word, meaning warmth. Same, actually, with Honoka. Both names are meant to evoke feelings of spring-time warmth and sunshine. Beautiful names for beautiful kids. As an aside, Ulala, or can also be spelled Urara, Ulara, Urala.

A final day of hectic shopping left me tired mentally and physically. There was some shopping for other people (cough)Fran(cough). Mostly though, it was following my mom and her cousin through crowded shops looking for gifts for home.

After an early lunch with my mom's aunt and uncle, I had a chance encounter with a Buddhist Priest-in-training. He was standing there, chanting, and after a small donation, he blessed me. Actually, it was quite a to-do, as he stood behind me warding off evil spirits. My mom took this to be a very good omen.


While the shopping was long and by now very routine, I was fortunate enough to stumble across a small shop, called Unda Ground. It's one of those store which carries all those trendy fashion items that seem famous for those with an eye on the Asian beat. Sadly, with a price tag to boot. I did end up buying a wallet there.

On the way to meeting up with the mom, I stumbled across a display of Shinto ritual. Its a ritual performed in thanks to the Japanese pantheon. I do not know what is going on.



After most of our shopping, we ended up at a stylish cafe. Cheesecake and espresso, and on the way out, an store with an Engrish name:


We returned home after some 6 hours of walking the streets, exhausted and wondering how we were going to bring all these gifts home. Luckily enough, my cousin Miwa is a pro at packing.

Dinner was a rowdy affair at home, as the whole family showed up for a teppan-yaki dinner.


Here are some pics of the family.

From left to right: my cousin Miwa, my aunt Toshiko, my mother, Ulala, my cousin's wife Hiroe, Honoka, my cousin Makoto, and my uncle Kenji.

Pictured here is my grandma, one of the progenitors of my family tree.

And now, finally, we get to the point of this entry's title. I leave for Kansai International from Fukuoka at 2:15 pm on Friday, February 18th. After I arrive in Kansai and make the arduous trip to Vancouver, we leave Vancouver International at 2:15 , pm on Friday, February 18th. Thanks to astrophysics and timezones, I get to fly from Fukuoka to Toronto in 7 hours and 18 minutes.

It's going to be a long 7 hours...