Azusa’s 30th Birthday!
11 Feb 2009 | Comments (1)Today was Azusa’s 30th birthday! Happy birthday baby!!!
Since Azusa’s birthday is also a national holiday, we try to get out and do something special every year. We usually go on a trip, but this year it was off to neighboring Kyoto for some shopping and entertainment! It’s funny, but we hardly ever go to Kyoto together even though I work there!
Our big plan for the evening was to go to Kento’s for dinner and dancing. I’ve been promising to take Azusa there for a while now, but I’m glad we waited until her birthday. It made it so much more special!
Kento’s is a 1950’s style night club located in the heart of the Gion district in Kyoto. They have good food and outstanding live music. Maybe some of the best in Japan the world if you like oldies, but goodies! Gion is a really traditional area which is famous for Japanese style bars, restaurants and Geisha, but when you enter Kento’s you find yourself transported back in time in American pop culture! The juxtaposition is disorienting!!! Now we know how Marty McFly must have felt!!!
We had a really great time at Kento’s and I think Azusa will remember this birthday for a long time to come! Especially the part when they made her get up on stage and everybody sang happy birthday to her!!! We even got our picture taken with the band! It was a pretty rockin’ evening!
Azusa’s Hina Dolls
09 Feb 2009 | Comments OffIt’s still a ways off, but March 3rd is a famous festival in Japan known as the Hina-Matsuri. I guess that would be called “Girls’ Day” in English. Since the late 1600’s, families with young daughters have celebrated Hina-Matsuri by displaying Hina dolls in the nicest room of the house. Azusa said that the celebration is to ensure their daughter’s future happiness, but not to leave the dolls up too long or marriage would be delayed! I guess Azusa doesn’t have to worry about that anymore!
Anyways, Azusa’s grandparents had this set of dolls specially made over 25 years ago! They are a one of a kind set and to be quite honest, breathtaking to behold. I’ve seen elaborate Hina dolls before, but the subtle differences and craftsmanship of Azusa’s dolls are just amazing. We’ve been trying to look up more information on the arrangement of the dolls and accessories, but it’s hard to find a simple answer since the tradition is so old and has changed over time. It seems that each piece is symbolic and their arrangement is important and meaningful. We’ll do our best until Azusa’s mom can come over and check the display.
The dolls are really quite large and the tatami platform takes up almost as much space as our Christmas tree! I’ll see if I can take a full shot of the living room just to give a sense of scale. For now, you’ll just have to settle for these close-ups. I should say though, these pictures just don’t do the dolls justice!
Published!
08 Feb 2009 | Comments OffIt was months in the making, but my school’s book has finally been published and is on sale as we speak! The English department, including yours truly, wrote a series of essays and it came out really great! I’m also happy because they used lot’s of pictures that my friend Shaheed and I took over the past 3 years! Heck, he’s even on the cover!!! It really looks great!
