Summer Bloom: Flowers of Kyoto Botanical Garden

Happy Saturday everyone :)

Here's the flower post from the botanical gardens in Kyoto!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Kyoto Botanical Garden

Happy Monday everyone! :)

I've been meaning to go to the botanical garden in Kyoto for awhile so my friend and I went a couple weeks ago. It was a nice way to escape the hot sun and even though it was a Sunday, the garden wasn't extremely crowded.

Bumped into this wedding couple while we were walking around. All those layers in the humidity! 

Some HUGE leaves...

Many photographer enthusiasts were also there :)

Thank you so much for reading! I'll include pictures of the many flowers that we saw in the next post :) Have a wonderful week! 

Anmitsugori: Beating the Summer Heat

Happy Friday everyone! :)

I went to Kyoto this past weekend for one of their handicraft markets and to visit the Botanical Gardens (will have a post on this soon). The last time I was in Kyoto was during early April when the weather was still nice and cool. Come summer time and all I could feel was the heat and humidity, so my friend and I decided to cool off by going to a little cafe called Sabo Isehan. Located a few minutes from Demachiyanagi Station, this cafe specializes in their anmitsu and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try their summer special: anmitsugori. The matcha kakigori (shave ice) was extremely refreshing with the vanilla ice cream and the An wasn't overly sweet and soft, but firm and slightly bitter which balanced out the sweetness of the kakigori and ice cream. The jelly and mochi also gave the dessert a variety of textures and for 900 yen, this was definitely worth it! :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! :) 

Sports Day Part 3

Happy Monday everyone :) I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day this weekend!

Here's the last part to Sports Day ^^ A majority of the pictures will be from 組体操（くみたいそう-kumitaisou）where the 5th and 6th graders did a variety of formations using their bodies. In contrast to JHS kumitaisou, both girls and boys participate in ES kumitaisou for Sports Day. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for reading! :) My next Sports Day post will hopefully be in September when my JHS has theirs! Have a wonderful week ^^

Sports Day Part 2

Happy Friday everyone!

Here's part 2 from the Sports Day at one of my elementary schools :)

The start of 騎馬戦(きばせん-kibassen) which is a popular Sports Day competition. It's similar to "chicken" but, in my opinion, is a lot more exciting :)

The kiddies (5th and 6th grade) were in teams of four with one student being held up by the others and walked around, finding other teams of the opposite color to challenge. 

The object of the game is for one student to remove the hat off of the other student the fastest. It got a little competitive..

...so the teachers stayed close to many groups just in case.

After lunch was 応援合戦（おうえんかっせん-ouenkassen）which is a cheering battle between the white and red teams.

The 6th graders held colorful pom poms while the younger grades participated in the various cheers that they had created.

One 6th grader boy from each team was designated as the cheer captain and led his team in the cheers. They even had mikes attached to their clothing! Talk about being legit.

Thank you so much for reading! Next post will be the last part which will definitely include kumitaiso which is always a highlight of Sports Day for everyone :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Sports Day Part 1

Happy Monday everyone! :)

Here's the first part of my Sports Day post from one of my elementary schools. For privacy purposes, none of these photos will show the students' faces, but I'll try my best to find a variety for you guys! Sports Days are always a highlight of the year for me and I was very fortunate to be able to make it to my school's one this year! It started at nine o'clock and ended a little after three in the afternoon with a lunch break in between. The students are split into two teams: red team and white team and they compete against each other in a variety of events and competitions although some programs were not competitive. Gotta give the kids, parents and teachers so much credit for being outside in the hot sun for the entire day!

Taken from the third floor. The students bring out their chairs and set them up around the track for the day. 

Because of the numerous programs that take place throughout the day, a schedule of the events was taped to the back of their chairs :)

After the students marched in, listened to a couple of speeches and did their stretches, it was time for 綱引き（つなひき）or tug-of-war between various grade levels. 

The students weren't the only ones who participated! Parents and spectators were also given a chance to compete against each other.

Nothing like having a kind, elderly man going up against a much younger guy! 

Next was 紅白対抗リレー (red and white competition relay) between the two teams.

Jogging back to their seats after the event was done.

Trophies to be handed out at the end of the day. I thought it was nice that both teams would get something :)

Most schools hire a photographer to capture the entire day for them and my school was no different :]

One of the 3rd and 4th graders' event was ステイック　ワルド　(stake world??) and they had some fancy poses to show :)

Part 2 will be up next! :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week ^^