2015-08-11, My weekend with Haruto and Naoko

After work on Thursday I rushed up to the river to see the Buddist Lantern ceremony for ancestors. Unfortunately it was almost over by the time I got there but I heard it was really beautiful.  I think in days gone by the lanterns must have floated down the river to the lake, I was hoping I could at least see them at the lake end (knowing I would be late).  But either becuase the river doesn't have much water, or because it would cause trash in the lake/river, they let the lanterns go at one bridge and caught them at the next.  So I only saw the last batch.  But it was nice.  There had also been singing and at the end there was some kind of big raffle for the people who had bought lanterns.

Friday night Naoko and her son Haruto from Tokushima arrived.  Those of you who read my blog from Tokushima will know them well.  Their bus got caught in traffic caused by an accident at their Kyoto exit and they ended up spending an extra hour and a half or two hours on the bus!

Welcome to Hikone

At my apartment.

With Hikonyan

Haruto will be 5 next week and is really a little boy now.  He still loves trucks but has also developed an interest in dinosaurs.  On Saturday morning we started on our trip north to the dinosaur museum in the neighboring prefecture of Fukui.  First stop though was at the Yanmar Musuem in Nagahama. Yanmar manufactures trucks, tractors, rice planting/harvesting machines and engines.  One of my adult students works for the company and her father, who happens to be in my Tai Chi class, is a volunteer at the museum.  Hewas there on Saturday and gave Haruto the VIP treatment.  It was really quite a museum - not too many girls there, but all the little boys were loving it.  They could actually get into most of the different tractors and steer, etc.

These are Yanmar's mascots/characters.

One ox (?) has the power of 6 men.

They had uniforms for the kids (and adults) to wear while driving the different vehicles.

A rice thresher.

This was the most fun for the kids - moving the balls from one area to the other.

There was even a shovel truck that they could operate and move balls from one section to the other.
There was a little machine with which they could make souvenier buttons, a boat with a Yanmar engine you could see, and which they could steer through a video game, interactive touch screens and a shovel truck simulator (for which there was a height requirment so Naoko did it instead of Haruto).

Outside on the second floor there was a small biotope garden and a foot bath.

Back onto the shuttle bus and then the train that would take us to Fukui.  But... there was an accident on the line and the express wasn't running.  So instead of a 1.5 hour trip with just one quick transfer we ended up on local trains with 20 minute waits on sunny, VERY hot platforms in stations so small (although with gigantic stairways) they didn't even have drink machines.  On the very last section we boarded an express train.  We made it only a little worse for the wear... me that is, Naoko was exhausted from the heat.

Fukui is known for rice, soba noodles, beautiful ocean (which you need a car to see) and dinosaurs. They have found more dinosaurs around Fukui than anywhere else in Japan.  So that's the big tourist draw.  And from the minute you get off the train you see dinosaurs everywhere.

On the train platform.

Outside the station on the wall - 3D!

Across the street from the station.

We checked into the hotel, took a little rest and then when out for a walk to see a garden.  On the way we walked through the former castle grounds.

It happened to be a free day at the town museum.

These are people's (shogun's ?) signature stamps.  Stamps are
still used on official documents instead of signatures here.

 The garden, small but nice.

A steam room, I've never seen that before.

We had a quick dinner and then went to our rooms where we showered - yeah - and enjoyed the airconditioning.  I think it used to be a very nice hotel, the lobby and restaurants still are, but the rooms themselves are quite rundown, but clean.  And with blackout curtains, a bed and airconditioning that goes all night I had a pretty good sleep.  My mission today is to get some darker curtains for my apartment - I think one reason I get up so early (besides noise) is the sun streaming in.

They hotel did have a wonderful buffet breakfast.  They had breads and individually prepared omelets which I skipped in favor of all the wonderful Japanese dishes.

Needless to say I made a couple of trips, a few trips up to the buffet....

OK, with our energy up we checked out of the hotel and went to catch the Dinosaur Express.  Naoko had made reservations - they only take as many people as can sit and there's only one of these trains a day.  It was a combo ticket with museum entrance, and return on a regular train.  On the train there were cars with different decorations and movie moniters like on a plane on which the kids could watch a film about dinosaurs.  There are many themed train rides in Japan - Thomas the Tank Engine, Anpanman (he and his friends are shaped and named after different breads), etc.

On the train.

Fukui is very pretty.

The museum was very crowded, and again not too many girls.  I was expecting more real bones, most were replicas some were combinations.

To me this looks like a skeleton of a turtle or something.  I wonder if it was designed that way.

Carefully removing fossils.

There was a special exhibit with dinosaurs from South Asia.  We had a guide and Haruto followed him and listened while making pictures of each dinosaur on his notepad.

After the museum we took a local train back to Fukui where we had a late lunch/early dinner and then boarded a nice express train to go home.  Taxi from the station, showers and shaved iced when we got home and early to bed.

On Monday we took a train to Kyoto and went to the aquarium.  It's pretty new - a few years old - and very nice.  It was also a good thing to do on another 100+ degree day.

penguins

Did they evolve from these dinosaurs???

Trying to keep them cool.

You can't tell in this picture but these crabs are gigantic!

We went back to Kyoto station, had some yummy ice cream and bought some gifts.  Then Haruto and Naoko boarded the bus back to Tokushima and I caught the train home.  Picked up some scallop sashimi for dinner, took a shower and turned on the airconditioner!

It was really nice to see them but it was an exhausting weekend - mostly because of the heat.  I will have a relaxing day tomorrow.