What I've been up to in the last month

What I have been doing the last few weeks

The picture that has the same number as a name is the picture that goes with that name.

Over the last few weeks I have been to

1. Nijo Castle,

2. The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji),

3. The Imperial Palace & Park,

4. The Temple of the heavenly dragon (Tenryu-ji),

5. Iwatayama Monkey Park,

6. Silver temple (Ginkanku-ji),

7. Nanzen-ji,

8. Inari shrine,

9. Toji temple,

10. Tofuku-ji,

11. Heien jingu shrine,

12. Kawagawa shrine,

13. The Philosophers path,

14. Kurodani temple,

15. Kyoto Handicraft center,

16. the Kyoto Zoo,

17. Hamamatsu science Museum,

18. the beach,

19. Kawa river

20. Shizuoka prefectural park,

21. The Hamamatsu Kite Museum.
22. The Hamamatsu Flower park

In the next few sentences I will tell you at least 1 fact about each of them.

1.    Nomomura Palace has floors that sound like nightingales when someone steps on them.

Nijo Castle

2.    The Golden pavilion as its name suggests, is coated in pure gold leaf.

The Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji

   3. The imperial palace park is a good place for people watching.

3. Imperial Palace Park, The Imperial Palace is behind. 

4. Tenryu-Ji is a Buddhist temple.

4. Tenryu-ji entrance

      

5. The Monkey Park was a long climb up the hills

5. Monkey Park

5. Monkey Park

6. Ginkaku-ji is called the Silver Temple, but it isn't silver

6. Ginkanku-ji- the silver temple.  This cone of rocks is to reflect the moonlight.

6. a painted screen at Ginkanku-ji

7. Nanzen-ji is really beautiful. 

7. Fish at Nanzen-ji

7. In the garden of Nanzen-ji

8. The Inari Shrini has lots of torri and the go forever up the hill.

8. The Fushimi-Inari Shrine

9. Toji Temple was fun because we had a surprise because there was a festival going on. 

9. Toji Temple

10 We came to Tofuku-ji at the height of the maple season. They were really beautiful. 

10. Tofuku-ji

11. Heien Jingu Shrine was very brightly colored. It was right near out apartment.

11. Heien jingu Shrine gardens

11. Heien jingu Shrine

12. At the Kawagawa Shrine,  we walked along the stream, and had ice cream

12 Kawagama Shrine

13. The Philosopher's path is a path along a canal.

13. The Philosopher's Path

14. Kurodani Temple was right behnd out apartment. It had lots of Buddha statues. 

14.Kurodani Temple

15 At the Kyoto Handicrafts Center, I made Japanese Incense bags

15. Kyoto Handicraft center

16. We visited the Kyoto Zoo. There were baboons.

16. Kyoto Zoo

17. We went to the Hamamatsu Science Museum twice. 

17 The Hamamatsu Science Museum

18. I LOVE playing in the Pacific Ocean

18.The Beach

19. The Kawa River flows right through Kyoto. There are places along the river where there are stepping stones across. None of us even got wet. 

19. The Kawa River

20. The Prefectural Park had a very scary wobbly bridge, and some fun places to play. 

. 

20. Shizuoka Prefectural park

20 Shizuoka Prefectural park 

20. Shizuoka Prefectural park nature center

21. There were HUGE kites at the Kite Pavilion. The the Kite Festival in may, they have Kite Battles

21 The Hamamatsu Kite Pavilion

22. The Flower Park had the most marvelous flowers.

22. Hamamatsu Flower Park

I have one more week of school here in Hamamatsu, then we will go to Tokyo for a few days on the bullet train.

22. Hamamatsu Flower Park

Ryugashi-do Cave

On Sunday, we went to Ryugashi-do cave. It took us about one hour to walk through the whole thing.  Inside the cave there was a place called the Grand Golden Waterfall.  It was 30 meters high and was not like a regular waterfall. Instead, the waterfall was rapid dribbles of water coming from the celling. Past the waterfall, there was a little tunnel into Phoenix hall. It was sooooooo cool. there were stalactites and stalagmites that had fused together. There were stalactites that formed a rim that looked like teeth. There was a very small pool. Outside of the cave, in the entrance way, there was an exhibit with bats in it and a turtle. Later, we saw a bat flying in the cave! What was really sad about the whole cave was that people had thrown money everywhere, especially in the pools, and had broken the stalactites and stalagmites and curtains, even though it takes about 100 years for it to grow a centimeter. Afterwards we went to the museum and gift shop. At the gift shop, we bough chocolate rocks! Chocolate rocks are hard candy on the outside, but chocolate on the inside and they look like rocks of all different sizes, colors and shapes. But the biggest were only about an inch. I love weekends because we explore new places.

The leaf dragon who breaths mist guarding the entrance to the cave.

A bat in the bat exhibit.  

Jane and I in the cave.

A passageway to a underground pond.  

curtains. 

phoenix hall. I think the stone that makes stalagmites and stalactites looks like drippy nacho cheese. 

Looking at stuff in the museum. 

Rubber band shooter Will, Jane and I each got. They are sooooooooooooo awesome!

Nakatajima Sand Dunes

Will and I at The Pacific Ocean!  

On the rocky beach of The Pacific Ocean. 

                                                      

A picture of me and if you look closely to the right kind of in the background Jane is holding up her skirt so the whole  World can see her underpants!

Me huddled in my coat because I was cold.

Hamamatsu Castle Park

Some armor for the 1500's !

Hamamatsu Castle

My dad and Will in the big field under
 the castle.

Big fish

Leg/ squid

On Saturday, we went to Hamamatsu Castle Park. A giant model of a castle that is so big you can go inside it. Inside, there was a whole bunch of armor and pictures of the castle before they rebuilt it. Before we went up to the castle, we played in a big field and we found Totoro acorns in the woods! We got some drinks from a vending machine and I got sparkling grape juice. Earlier I saw a big turtle in the pond. At a different pond in the park, we saw 4 huge fish. In the park there was a statue of a leg mixed with a squid, with its tentacles all tied up.

My Neighbor Totoro is a movie about a two girls and their father who move to a new place with a big forest. Their mother is in the hospital. One day the little girl Mei goes into the forest and meets O Totoro. Later, they meet the Catbus, O Totoros bus. Near the end, O Totoro helps the older sister find Mei who is missing.  My Neighbor Totoro is a great movie, you should all watch it. It is even dubbed in English. We have some stuffed animal Totoros!

Me looking at the big fish from
a bridge.

I miss you all soooooooooooooo much!

Different things

In this post I will tell you 11 things that are different in Japan from Connecticut.

Me at the end of the school day

Part of the playground      
equipment

Another climbing thing at
school

1. Here in Japan we have to walk to school. 
2. We have a special hat we have to wear to school and another hat for gym.
3. Some schools have uniforms.
4. Inside the building you have to wear rubber shoes that you never wear outside. 
5. Everyday about 6 children have to go and get the food for everyone else for lunch. 
6. We don't lockers, we have hanger to hang up our hats and cubbies for our backpacks.
7. There are two different school buildings that you can walk between on a little bridge like thing.
8. The school's playground is like a huge ropes course that the no one has to wear a harness on!
9. Dollar stores have only new things that in the U.S.A would cost about 4 or 5 dollars.
10. Japan is really clean!
11. In Japan Elementary school is first through sixth grade.