Our girls had a great time with the other kids and people. (Evie is such a traitor!...she just crawls to every tom dick and harry whom she has never even met, sits on their laps, eats their food, moves on to the next one. :-) We're proud of her for being so independent and friendly.)
Well, we had to make 4 train changes to get there (each station only has one, maybe two lines going from it. So to get to the RIGHT line, we had to go through 3 other train stations. Do you know what I mean?)
Anyway, it was interesting that the Shibuya station has 4 million people passing through it EVERY day. Imagine that!! Like a smoked out ant hill!
Here's my little family (Evie in second pic as she was invisible behind Michael's back in first one):
On our way home going through one of the stations, we heard some music and singing and so we poked our noses out. Right outside the train station, there were loads of Japanese men and women in their traditional clothes. They were singing and doing a kind of line-dance. It was a wonderful atmosphere. Even the kids had their little kimanos (?) on. So cute! And we bumped into our new Japanese dentist (such a nice chap!) - what are the chances of that! He introduced us to his 39-week-pregnant wife (also a lovely person) and we had a lekker chat for a while. Anyway, there were lots of pretty lanterns and the music was great and a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone was just enjoying themselves. Once home, I had a look on the internet what they were celebrating and here it is:
"Obon Festival - marks the beginning of Obon week across Japan and also known as the Festival of Lights. Lanterns are lit in order to aid spirits of past ancestors on their journey home. Floating lanterns are set free on rivers, traditional Obon dances are performed, graves are visited and offerings are made at temples throughout the city"
Ok, so we don't have to visit the graves or even believe what they do, but we can enjoy the lights and the atmosphere, for it was truly nice. Here are some of my iPhone uploads....
Besides that? Jozie found a dead moth today. That thing is a MONSTER moth!! Michael says in Germany there are NO "Goggas" that big!! I don't think I've seen such a big one either? Jozie has carried this thing around with her all day like it was a cute cuddly pet. Fortunately it is dead as I think I'd scream if that thing flew towards me. Anyway, Jozie got some strange looks on the train as she was almost *showing it off*.... not the kind of thing you want to brag about with petitite, frilly, lacey ladies around who look almost porcelein themselves! :-) Well, here's a photo of her sleeping with her new "pet", the monster moth.
