Last Thursday we went down to Kamigamo jinja to see the fireflies. Much like the sakura trees they only live for a few days and as I had never seen a firefly before in my life I hurried down there in the dusk to find them.
When I got to the darker part of the temple, by the bridge over the small stream, I saw something glowing in the hand of a small Japanese child, coming closer I saw he had caught one of the fireflies that by this point had started to glow all around us. Some of us sat down and stared at these fairy-like creatures that glowed in the dark, swooping down at us every now and then, while others tried to catch them in their palm.
One of the most magical nights of Kyoto....


This weekend me, Hanne and Olga went to Emi's house in Okayama, a 3 hour bus ride from Kyoto. She lives with her parents and little brother in the country side, in a huge Japanese house that we all fell in love with. We were greeted by her mother who dropped us off at a cozy jazz bar where we all had very nice drinks and a huge bowl of ice cream. When we were leaving we were informed that we didn't have to pay, Emi knew people who make cakes for the restaurant and that did it.Feeling like V.I.P. we went home to sleep on soft futons on the floor.

The next morning after a breakfast of cakes we drove to the beach 2 hours away, where we found a desert complete with horses and camels. Thrilled, we ran around and played in the sand, ending up wading in the ocean. The view was amazing and the sand felt so nice. After going to another beach we drove back and stopped by at an onsen for 2 hours or so. They had massage baths, a hot pool, outside hot spring, a sauna and a cold bath. After lying around we went back and forth from the sauna to the cold bath until we felt completely detoxed and relaxed. That evening Emi's family had a bbq in the garden and we feasted on all kinds of meat including tongues and intestine, grilled vegetables and onigiri. Soooo delicious!
We had plenty of refreshments as well, Emi's father offered us umeshu, Japanese liqueur, and various other drinks. We had some beers and watched the world cup, where Japan lost to the Netherlands.
The morning after we had to go home even though we would really rather have stayed longer. Emi's mother made crepes, we cut bananas and strawberries, whipped cream, and feasted on this amazing breakfast.


The weekends just keep getting better. :)