Dinner in Yokohama with Alex & Miyu Pinkard 
Yokohama onsen 
Tokyo onsen w/Carrie & Jill 
Ichiran Ramen! Yummy! 
Dinner w/friends in Tokyo 
Yummy! 
Aftermath 
Fuji-San from Enoshima 
Amazing digital interactive show 
We walk in water at Team Lab Planets for one exhibit 
Fun in the garden 
Yayoi Kusama Museum 
NO can walk! 
No can walk! Haneda has these amazing wheelchairs 
Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima 
Miyajima Island 
Menbakaichidai 
John Hulaton 
Yum! 
Cliff took this while I was at the onsen.
Archive for the ‘travel’ Tag
2022 November Japan Trip 4 comments
First trip to Japan since Covid 14 comments
Our first Japan trip together
Japan finally opened to tourists on Oct 11, so Cliff & I left that very day to fly to Narita via SFO. (United still does not fly to Japan from Hawaii). We arrived in Narita on Thursday, Oct 13th. We exchanged our money at the airport and got very good rates for our yen. We stayed at Ikebukuro Toyoko Inn. We rested for a while and went out to have Kaiten Sushi dinner. Everything is on sale in Japan with the dollar so strong against a weak yen.
In Tokyo we met my friends Seiichi and Sharon Banno for lunch at a very special place, the Classic House at the Akasaka Prince. Cliff took me to Shibuya Sky building overlooking the city and the Shibuya crossing. We went to Ameyokocho to shop and then to Tsukiji. Yumi Ibaramoto took us to Tsukishima Monja street. Monja is similar to okonomiyaki except no pancake batter. Then we went to Kappabashi the kitchen street where Koji (Yumi’s husband) met us and we shopped there. Next to Ueno where we shopped at Matsuzakaya Department store followed by dinner at Ume No Hana, we had a fancy yuba dinner. Yuba is liquid tofu in a square pan that is heated and when the skin forms on the surface, we take turns lifting the skin and dipping it in a sauce to eat. They also served many small fancy dishes.
In Osaka, Cliff’s good friend John Hulaton and his son Michael took us to many wonderful izakayas to eat to our hearts content. One day, we took a train ride to Arashiyama in Kyoto to meet Cliff’s friend, Rod Aratani and his wife Satomi. We enjoyed walking through the bamboo forest and had lunch with them.
We enjoyed our short quick trip to Tokyo and Osaka mostly to eat lots of delicious Japanese food!
Croatia Cruise 4 comments
I found a wonderful cruise on Travel Zoo in Sept 2021. It was good for the whole 2022 season on a luxury yacht, that holds only 30-36 passengers, for one week sailing between Split and Dubrovnik. I had been to Croatia in 2005 and always wanted to return to the islands so this was perfect. Zantium Travel is a Croatian Travel company and their prices are great! Website: https://www.zantium-travel.com/en/cruises/
Cliff and I planned our cruise from Split to Dubrovnik on Sept 17-24. We flew to New York and stayed with Yvette, Erik and Marlowe for one night. (Noakai started college at UCI).
The next afternoon we flew from New York to Dubrovnik. We had a cab take us from the airport to Dubrovnik Old Town. We had a little apartment rented but it was up several stairs to get there and up on the 4th floor, so more stairs. We walked around the Old Town for 2 days and on the second day, we walked The Wall. Dubrovnik is an ancient walled city and one of the most popular things to do there is to walk around the old city high up on the wall. On Saturday, we took a 4-hour bus to Split and found our yacht. Our cabin was below deck at the front of the ship. We rested, and got ready for the Welcome Dinner. Ines, our cruise director, introduced the crew. We had a lovely dinner with 2 couples from Louisiana: Tony & Shannon and Minnesota: Paul&Sandi. We hung out in the dining room with Phil & Jan (Melbourne) joining us. The 8 of us hit it off and spent much time together. Every night after dinner we stayed up in the dining room chatting, laughing and drinking.
Two meals a day were included -every morning a buffet breakfast is served from 8am to 9:30am and lunch around 12:30 or 1pm. The cruise included 3 dinners and the rest were on our own to try at different ports. There was swimming almost every day in the clear, clean Adriatic Sea. The food was delicious and the service crew were excellent. Our waiter Neno was my favorite. At every port, there were many other yachts and many sailboats. On the island of Hvar, we had a lovely peka dinner at a farm with olive trees, lavender and wine grapes. The island of Vis had many military bunkers, tunnels all over the island. That evening we took a cab to Konoba Jastozera in Komiza for a fabulous lobster dinner. We also stopped on Hvar, Korcula, Mljet and Slano. Each island is unique and beautiful. Korcula has a walled city similar to Dubrovnik. Mljet was a national park and we walked around the little lake to ride a boat to Angel island in the big lake. One night we took a small ferry to an oyster farm and tasted fresh oysters and mussels. The Captain’s Dinner was special with 4 courses and a party with dancing after dinner.
The beautiful scenery, the friendly people and our cruise crew as well as our travel friends made this trip so wonderful. After the cruise, we spent 3 more days in Dubrovnik and signed up for two all-day tours… one to Montenegro and the other to Mostar, Bosnia and Kravice Falls. This time, we had a much better, more convenient apartment rental that was close to the Stradum (main street) and no stairs to climb except one floor up to our room. Sadly, I caught a cold and missed the last two tours that we had booked. Cliff got to go and enjoy them while I rested in bed. But we did go by ferry to the nearby island of Lokrum where we walked around and saw a salt water pool called the Dead Sea. The flight home was quick and easy, Dubrovnik to Newark. Overnight near the Newark airport and home to Honolulu on the nonstop the next morning.
Post cruise, Cliff worked on his photos and posted them on his Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ctkhi/albums/with/72177720302708185
He separated the photos into several albums for you to enjoy.
2022 June to New York City 1 comment
Cliff and I planned to fly to New York City to attend my grandson, Noakai Aronesty’s graduation from Stuyvesant High School. It was scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens. Cliff found a flight for us on Sunday June 19, which happened to be on Father’s Day. We got up very early to catch a morning flight to San Francisco, connecting to Newark, NJ. We arrived in New York on Monday morning. My daughter Yvette with husband Erik and 2 kids live in Battery Park City, across the West highway from the 9-11 Memorial and next to the Hudson River. They have a lovely view of New Jersey across the Hudson.
The first day, I was exhausted with jet lag and while Cliff went for a walk around the neighborhood, Yvette and I got a spa treatment near home and I took a nap after that. Noakai was at camp so we stayed in his bedroom. That evening, we took a leisurely walk along the Hudson south to the Wall Street area where we met Erik for wonderful taco and margarita dinner at Tacombi. On our walk back home, we enjoyed the sunset on the Hudson river.
The second day, Yvette, Cliff and I took a bus to Chinatown, where we walked around & bought some fresh fruit from the street vendors. We went for foot massage and Yvette and I got body massages. Yvette went home while Cliff and I had a dim sum lunch. When we got home, Noakai had returned from camp for his graduation the next day. Cliff took photos of Noakai and friends in front of his Stuyvesant building. Everyone left, and Cliff and I stopped for dinner at Seamore on the walk home. We moved over to a hotel for 2 nights while Noakai is home for his graduation.
On graduation day, we took a cab back to their house and Yvette had delicious smoked salmon breakfast all prepared. We packed up all the leis, some snacks and drinks and hired a car to take us to Queens for the Commencement. When we got there, my shoes broke apart, we threw them in the trash and I walked barefoot to the stadium. We met up with Erik’s Philadelphia family. We all went into the stadium and found our seats next to the family of Tomas, Noakai’s best friend. Tomas’s mom, Michelle, had a spare pair of shoes to lend me. Wah-la! what a miracle! The speeches and the recognizing of each of the 800 graduates took 4 hours long. We met at the fountain out front and Cliff took photos of everyone. I had leis for Noakai, Tomas, Michelle, Yvette and Marlowe. It was a festive and happy time together. Then we hired a car to take us to family dinner at House of Joy in Chinatown. Our group of 15 people had so much fun and ate a lot of delicious Chinese food. I gave massages all around. We took a cab back to our hotel.
The next morning the family met for breakfast at Hudson Eats, a food court next to their apartment. But Cliff and I overslept and missed saying goodbye to Noakai, who went back to camp in NH where he is a camp counselor. We walked to Hudson Yards and went up 100 stories to The Edge, where they built a triangular viewing spot over the city. You have a bird’s eye view of Manhattan from Central Park down to Battery Park and views of the East River and the Hudson River. Then we went down to experience The Vessel. We checked out of our hotel and returned to Yvette’s apartment where we stayed in Noakai’s room. That evening we took 8yo on an East Village crawl. First to Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant famous for pierogis. Then to Cafe Mogador, for middle eastern fare. She entertained us with games and she gave her thumbs up for each dinner item we tried. She was our official food critic! We had a lovely time with her. We didn’t have time for a 3rd place… we took her home because she had school the next day.
The next morning we got up in the wee hours to take the PATH back to Newark for our early morning flight to SFO. We connected to our flight home. We had a short but wonderful trip to enjoy family time in NYC.
Cliff & Lari to Arizona 2 comments
Trip to AZ
April 24 to May 2, 2022
Cliff & I have friends in Arizona and we had planned to visit them in Feb, but changed our plans and went to Tasmania instead. This time we actually did go to AZ. First to Prescott to visit my friends, Derrill & Sandy Fulkerson and then to Phoenix to visit Cliff’s friends Steve Hood & Alise. In all we were gone for a week.
Fulkerson’s live out in the countryside of Prescott, where the lots are large and neighbors are far apart. An ideal location with no light pollution, for Cliff to take evening photos of the milky way, which he did every night, just stepping out the front door. They had dinners reserved for every night at really great places with great food. First day, we went to downtown Prescott where we walked on Whiskey Row that has many historical saloons. The most famous is the Palace Saloon, where we sat at the bar and enjoyed a beer and crispy french fries. That evening they took us to a wonderful restaurant called Essence where they serve all kinds of fish.
The next day, we drove to Sedona and saw many views of the red rocks. We went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross on a hill surrounded with great views of red rocks. That evening we enjoyed a tapas dinner at El Gato Azul. On our last day in Prescott, Derrill took us around their neighborhood to visit friends with fancy cars, like Bentleys and Rolls. That evening we enjoyed Thai dinner with their son John, grandson Tyler and daughter Cindy.
They drove us to Phoenix where we met Steve & Alise at Mountauk restaurant in Scottsdale. We switched our luggage to Steve’s car and they drove us to Desert Botanical Garden to see Chihuly in the Desert. We loved the Chihuly sculptures all through the gardens and had dinner at Gertrudes with delicious offerings. We saw more Chihuly sculptures in a building and at dark we revisited the outdoor sculptures which were lit up and glorious to see. The next day we went to Tempe Marketplace mall to see Ken Koshio’s taiko group perform. We had a Japanese lunch and went to shop at Trader Joes before heading home to relax in the pool. Steve made huge margaritas along with guacamole & chips. The third day, we had a leisurely breakfast and drove out to Queen Olive Mill. We looked at all the various olive oils and flavored balsamic vinegars. We had lunch there and shopped.
We are so grateful for wonderful friends who hosted us and drove us around their areas. Cliff and I flew home via San Francisco and were lucky to participate in the United 75th Anniversary of flying to Hawaii. There were festivities at the SFO gate, on the plane and at the HNL gate. There was Hawaiian music and hulas, gifts for us, free beer to toast on the plane and much more!
LAX sunrise 
Fulkerson’s home 
Derrill showing Palace Saloon 
Sitting at Palace Saloon bar 
Delicious dinner here! 
Prescott sunset 
Sedona red rocks 
Sedona red rocks 
Sedona red rocks 
Sedona red rocks 
Stan’s antique Ford 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Dinner & drinks in the Garden’s restaurant, Gertrudes 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Chihuly in the Desert 
Taiko at Tempe Marketplace 
Taiko at Tempe Marketplace 
Ken Koshio, taiko sensei 
Relaxing by the pool 
Alise and I in their pool 
Steve makes margaritas 
Huge margaritas 
Cheers! 
Celebrations 
Celebrations 
Celebrations
2022 Trip to Australia 11 comments
As soon as Australia opened up for travelers on Feb 21, 2022, Cliff contacted his Tasmanian friend, Gillian and texted with her to make plans to visit her. He has known her over 20 years and has been there many times to visit her family. He has seen her sons grow up from little boys to big men. We already had plans to fly to Phoenix and Santa Rosa to visit friends but we had to cancel those plans when our Tasmania plans firmed up.
Since United does not fly to Australia from Hawaii, we had to fly to San Francisco and on to Sydney then to Hobart, Tasmania. Tasmania is about the size of Lake Huron or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Many drives were 2 hours long to get to places. The weather there is similar to the California coast… cool and comfortable.
Gill and hubby Ian met us at the airport and drove us everywhere this entire trip. They reserved 4 nights accommodations in Hobart and up the east coast where we enjoyed many wonderful sights. First they took us to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where we held a wombat, fed kangaroos and saw many species unique to Australia, like the Tasmanian Devil and koala bear. They drove us up Mount Wellington for views of Hobart below. They took us to Port Arthur, a former prison compound and many strange and unusual natural formations such as Tesselated rocks & blow hole. On Bruny Island we went on a hike and ran into a wild kangaroo on our trail and to chocolate house, honey shop, whiskey place and had lunch at a beer & cheese place. We went to a few wineries.
They drove us home to Launceston, in northern Tasmania where they have a huge home. We stayed in a guest cottage back of the main house. Gill has many fruit trees in her garden and I got to taste delicious plums, strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes and more. Every day they drove us far way to some caves, waterfalls, platypus in the wild, Platypus House to see them up close, Seahorse World, and Cataract Gorge right in Launceston. We met their grown children and grandchildren. Their son Adam owns a distillery making whiskey and gin and he took us riding on his 3-wheeled Harley Davidson. They cooked fabulous breakfasts and dinners and the wine, beer, or other spirits flowed freely. Australia is known for meat pies, sausage rolls that are found at bakeries everywhere. The delicious fish n chips are made with flaky shark meat.
After 2 weeks in Tasmania, we flew to Sydney where we stayed for 2 nights and had a full day to visit sites there. We were lucky to enjoy a wonderful Italian dinner right next door to our hotel and a delicious breakfast across the street. It was raining hard when we arrived, but the rain stopped on the one day we had to tour the city on our own. We walked to the Opera House and took a ferry ride to view the Opera House from Sydney Harbor with a good view of Harbor Bridge. The second night, we had a lovely dinner with the Lastro family, whom I had met in New York a few years ago when they lived in the same condo as my daughter Yvette. This was our first long, international trip together and we hope to travel to many more places in the coming months and years.
Please enjoy the slide show below by clicking on the right arrow:
Feeding the Roos 
Feeding the Roos 
Ferry to Bruny Island 
Wine tasting 
Amazing Tassie bacon 
Volcano sushi 
Photographer 
famous meat pies 
Gin made at Adam’s Distillery 
Flight of gin & whiskey 
home cooked dinner 
Wallaby 
Stalagtites 
Margarita night 
Ready to ride 
Pretending 
Ready to ride 
Adam Pinkard 
Tasman’s Arch 
Naturally formed rocks 
Gill’s delicious plums 
2021 November Trip to Big Island 1 comment
November 2021 Big Island
My nephew Kazu Hernandez reserved Kilauea Military Camp for 7 of us: Claudine & Chloe, Cliff & I and Kazu’s 2 younger daughters, Ailah & Aulia for Veteran’s Day weekend.
We left on the morning flight to Hilo and headed directly to Ken’s Pancake House for breakfast. We did some shopping in Hilo at 2 Ladies Kitchen for mochi and Sig Zane for some designer clothing. We shopped for our provisions at KTA and met cousin Elvis Kimura, who works there. We drove to Pahoa town and I was amazed at all the changes there. We drove to Volcano National Park and checked in at KMC. We found out that our 4-bedroom cottage had no kitchen, so we couldn’t cook spaghetti, ramen and other planned meals. We ate dinner at the bowling alley.
That evening we drove a short way to a parking lot at Devastation Trail and walked a mile on a paved road and a short way on a dirt path to the lookout area. We had an amazing view of the eruption from the lookout point. The moon and stars were shining and the red/orange lava was spewing. We got there around 9:30 pm and there were several people at the lookout, but we had no trouble getting a good view and taking photos there. Cliff was especially enjoying photographing his first in-person view of an eruption.
The next day was Friday and we decided to drive around the south point of the island to Kona. Our first stop was at Punaluu beach where we saw one sea turtle in the shallows. We stopped at the famous Punaluu Bakery and bought all kinds of goodies there to snack on. Onward to Captain Cook, Kona where we had lunch at the Manago Hotel, famous for their pork chops. Right next door we shopped at Kona Chips. We visited my cousins Brian and Winifred Kimura at H Kimura fabric shop in Kainaliu. Also visited cousin Rene at the Y Kimura lauhala shop in Holualoa. I have tons of Kimura cousins in Kona, which is where my Dad was born and raised. We drove to Hapuna beach to enjoy the Kona sunset, and we weren’t disappointed! We drove to Kamuela for dinner and found delicious Chinese food at Jade Palace. We drove back to KMC via the Saddle Road or Daniel K Inouye highway. That night we all went to sleep except for Cliff, who went by himself at midnight for another photo shoot of the eruption.
Saturday was a rainy day, so everyone stayed in to rest while Cliff and I drove to Hilo to purchase mochi from 2 Ladies Kitchen (Closed on Sundays) to take home on Sunday. I stood in a long line and waited a total of an hour before I got my orders of mochi. While we were gone, Kazu found a grill to make burgers for lunch. That evening, he made steaks on the grill. After dinner, we played games like charades and jun ken po.
Sunday we packed up, checked out and filled gas. Then we drove to Kalapana to visit my friends David Jones and Robert LaMont who have a lovely vacation home there. We drove to Hilo, shopped at Big Island Candies and returned our rental car and flew back to Honolulu. We had a most enjoyable and fun time together on the Big Island!
2021 Trip to New York City and Kansas City 1 comment
October 2021 NY & KC
Cliff wanted to see an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama in NY Botanical Garden. It was on for several months and ended in October. But circumstances with his rental units, prevented him from traveling in September and October. He encouraged me to go by myself, so I could visit my daughter in NYC. I decided to visit Marcus Dowty and Linda Burgher in Kansas City on my way home from New York.
It was my first time traveling alone on standby. Cliff chose flights for me that had ample open seats, so I didn’t have any problems getting on the flights. My first flight was a 10-hr non-stop to Newark. Luckily, I had a whole row to myself near the back of the plane, so I could sleep.
On Friday evening, Erik and Yvette left for a romantic weekend getaway in the Catskills. I took the 2 kids on an East Village Crawl. We ate small bites at 4 different restaurants, including Moroccan & Japanese.
On Saturday, I taught them how to sew by hand with a needle and thread. They sewed their journals to bind them and wrote in their journals. After lunch Noakai had to leave for a track meet and Marlowe and I had the whole afternoon to ourselves. She showed me how to make bracelets with colorful rubber bands. We got dressed and took a Lyft car to the theater to see Lion King. That evening after Noakai returned from his track meet, we ordered take-out for dinner and watched Avatar for movie night.
The family Sunday morning routine is to take the PATH train to NJ across the Hudson River and have a wonderful Indian brunch at Sapthagiri. That afternoon, Noakai had to study and I took Marlowe to a Halloween party sponsored by their building. Later, Erik and Yvette came home & we had pizza rolls for dinner.
Monday, Erik went to work & both kids went to school. Yvette and I had time to pamper ourselves by going to Chinatown for massages followed by lunch. My last day in NY, Yvette & I met her friends Anisha & Tara for tea next door at the Winter Garden.
Wednesday morning I took the PATH to Newark and a Lyft to the airport to catch my flight to Kansas City to visit my friends, Marcus & Linda. It was rainy in Kansas City. The next day, they took me to the Johnson County Museum. That evening Linda and I had dinner with my other KC friends, Anna & Lynn.
Friday was still rainy, so we went to 2 art museums. I loved both the Kemper & the Nelson Atkins museums. I learned the history of the N-A: Mary Atkins donated money to build an art museum and William Nelson donated money to purchase art from all over the world. The result is that N-A Museum has one of the most extensive Asian art in the country. That evening, after we enjoyed famous KC BBQ dinner at home, Marcus & Linda took me to the lovely KC Concert Hall for an amazing Symphony Concert featuring a gifted young violinist.
The sun finally came out on my last day there and we drove to some lovely parks in the neighborhood: Parkville, Kaw Point & Wyandotte Co Lake. We hunted fall colors & found a few trees here and there, but they said in a week, everything will be in full color, so I missed the full glory of fall colors by a week.
I am so fortunate to travel on standby thanks to Cliff’s generosity.
2021 Summer Trip to LA-Den Leave a comment
August 2021 Trip to LA & Denver
Cliff and I went on our first trip together on standby. He worked for United Airlines for 43 years starting part-time during college and retired in 2015. His last job was in Operations. Before we fly, he checks which flights have many open seats for us to have a better chance of getting on. All his adult life, he has flown standby and before covid, he traveled about 17 times a year, sometimes going to Japan twice a month. This was my first time flying standby, so I learned not to expect anything but to make it on the flights we chose.
Due to the pandemic, my daughter Yvette and her family, who live in NYC, had not traveled for almost 2 years. They decided to visit her hubby Erik’s parents in Manhattan Beach in LA for a few weeks in August. I asked Cliff if we could visit her while they were in LA. He agreed and we made plans to go. We rented a car from Turo and found a motel in Manhattan Beach. We also made plans to fly from LA to Denver to visit my sister Christine in Boulder.
We took a red-eye flight to LA and our friend, Elbert picked us up with his fancy Tesla and took us to breakfast in El Segundo. He dropped us off at the Aronesty’s home in Manhattan Beach and we got to see Yvette, Erik, Noakai & Marlowe along with Joe & Diane Aronesty, Erik’s parents. That night our whole gang went to FishBar for dinner.
The next day, Cliff drove me around LA to show me his old stomping grounds of when he lived in LA from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties. We drove to his friend Beverly McAllister’s home for Mexican lunch in her back yard. She is a wonderful gardener and a baker of cookies. She sent some cookies home with us. We had pizza & kale salad for take-out dinner at the Aronesty’s. The next day we all went to breakfast at Two Guns, where we sat outside to eat. We took the kids to Seaside Lagoon at Redondo Beach where they swam. We walked to the Manhattan Beach pier and checked out the small aquarium at the end of the pier. For dinner, Cliff and I took Noakai to Sushi Bei, which was Cliff’s hangout when he lived in LA.
Erik took us to the airport & we flew to Denver and took a bus from DIA to Boulder and Chris picked us up at the bus terminal. Chris cooked dinner for us and Desmonne, Brian & Coen joined us.
Chris drove us to Westminster Denver to take Shirley Stokoe for lunch at Cava where we enjoyed Mediterranean bowls. Back in Boulder, we shopped at Trader Joe’s. We met Tom & Tyke Wortman, who drove in from Ft Collins for dinner at Chez Thuy. After dinner, Chris drove us up to Flagstaff for the view of Boulder from the mountain.
The next day, Chris drove us to Red Rock. We hung out at the amphitheater and had lunch at Golden Diner. Back at home, we walked down to Boulder Creek from their house and watched all the picnickers and swimmers floating downriver. That evening, Chris cooked a delicious dinner and Desmonne, Brian & Coen joined us before we left the next morning.
On our non-stop flight back home to Honolulu, we were lucky to be upgraded to Polaris first class seats! Yay! It was a wonderful trip and I was glad that Cliff got to meet my mainland families and they all got to meet him.
2018 October “Roots” Trip to Japan 1 comment
Presenting the latest episode of
Hawaiians in Japan
Starring: Lari, Christine, Bruce, Kazu, Ailah, Aulia, Fred, Fumiko, Maya, Elvis
October 3-14, 2018
We planned a pilgrimage to our family’s roots in Japan. My mother’s Hokada family came from Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu. My father’s Kimura family came from Oshima Island, Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture. So Fred, Fumiko and Maya Hokada went to Kumamoto with us. Our cousin, Elvis Kimura, who lives in Hilo, went with us to Oshima Island. Kazu flew with Ailah and Aulia to Osaka and took the shinkansen to Kumamoto. Christine, Bruce and I met in Tokyo and flew to Kumamoto from Haneda.
Bruce and Chris did not like this hostel
Before flying to Kumamoto, we had dinner with Yumi, Asako and Koji. Yuba is liquid tofu and you eat the cooled “skin”.
My second cousin, Hiroshi Hokada took us to Kumamoto Castle, where we got to see some of the damage from the 2016 earthquake. They were having a festival at the castle, so we enjoyed entertainment with a picnic lunch and the kids got to play all kinds of games.
When we returned to their home in the late afternoon, we walked over to the Hokada grave site. When Chris, Bruce and I scattered our parents’ ashes it was an emotional experience to take Mom back to her ancestral roots. Cousin Fred’s wife, Fumiko comes from Nagoya, so she translated all of our conversations with our Japanese relatives throughout our visit. While we were at Osaka Castle, the ladies at home prepared a huge feast for dinner all spread out on a long table. All of us had a wonderful time getting to know each other and meeting all the relatives.
What a feast!
The next day, Hiroshi took us to Mount Aso National Park and we visited 3 active volcanic craters. Then we went to Takachiho Gorge, where we walked in the gorge and enjoyed the scenery and waterfalls there.
The next morning, we visited Suizenji Park, with miniature versions of the major sites in Japan, from Mt Fuji to Fushimi Inari Shrine. Then we drove to Nabegataki Falls, where we could walk behind the falls to the other side.
We stayed overnight at Ryokan Yamanoyu in Kurokawa Onsen village with Hiroshi and Takako, who left for home the next day. The next day, we did the “Onsen Hop”. We paid 1300 yen to visit 3 out of 25 onsens in Kurokawa, walking from one to the next. Then we drove to Yufuin, another onsen town. We stayed overnight, but didn’t get to see much of this town because we had a long drive to Iwakuni-Oshima Island to visit our Kimura relatives. 
When we arrived at Oshima Island, Hitoshi Okabatake was waiting for us with Tony, a translator, that stayed with us the entire visit so we could communicate with our relatives. We visited the Kimura grave, and scattered our parents ashes there. The Okabatake family took us to a fine dinner at a restaurant and the next morning, we picked tangerines at their orange grove.
After they served us a delicious home-cooked lunch, we drove to Iwakuni airport and flew back to Tokyo.
Chris & I bought new eyeglasses for $60 made in 30m minutes, including eye exam.
Before Bruce left for home.
Lari’s Top Ten:
10 Buying new glasses for cheap in Tokyo from Zoff & JINS
9 Kumamoto Castle
8 Yufuin onsen village shops
7 Meeting and “chatting” with Japan relatives. In Kumamoto, we had Fumiko to translate, and in Oshima, we had a professional translator, Tony, with us the entire visit with Okabatake’s
6 Scattering Sue/Kongo’s ashes at Hokada/Kimura graves
5 Nabegataki Falls -walking behind it!
4 Being with cousins and family traveling together
3 Takachiho Gorge
2 Delicious home-cooked lunch at Okabatake’s and home-cooked dinner at Hokada’s
1 Kurokawa Onsen Hopping
Fred’s Top Ten:
10. Convincing Lari to study conversational Japanese?
9. Witnessing Christine scatter the ashes of Uncle Kongo and Aunty Sue at the Hokada grave in Kumamoto.
8. Hotel Breakfast buffet with the Kimura’s 3x
7. Spotting Mt. Aso from the propeller airplane on the way to Kumamoto and the scary landing at Kumamoto Airport.
6. The clouds and the mountains of Kumamoto reminded me of Hawaii.
5. Maya tricked me. She took a nice photo of Kumamoto Castle but it was actually a picture of a picture of the Castle. I didn’t even notice that it was taken before the earthquake!
4. Aulia correcting me saying “I’m not Ailah, I’m Aulia!”
3. The 800 year old tree at Takachiho Jinja.
2. Buying some Kumamoto rice for Mochi Tsuki.
1. Visiting the Hokada home. They were so good to us. It was just like visiting our aunties, uncles, and cousins here at home.
Fumiko’s Top Ten:
10. Okonomiyaki Place.
9. Local super market.
8. Souvenir shops
7. Propeller airplane to Kumamoto.
6. Hotel breakfast buffet.
5. Kumamoto Castle.
4. Mt. Aso.
3. Takachiho Gorge.
2. Hokada ancestors’ Graveyard.
1.Dinner @Hokada San’s House.
Maya’s Top Ten:
10. Hotel breakfast buffet.
9. Singing in the car.
8. Free hotel smart phone.
7. Propeller airplane to Kumamoto.
6. Okonomiyaki Place.
5. Kumamoto Castle.
4. Graveyard.
3. Hokada San’s House.
2. Mt. Aso.
1. Takachiho Gorge.
Christine’s Top Ten:
10 Takachiho Gorge
9 YufuIn shopping area
8 Sleeping & playing with Ailah and Aulia
7 Freddie & Fumiko, Elvis, Kazu & Bruce’s company
6 Lunch at Otabatake’s
5 Oshima (Yashiro) Island narrow streets
4 sunrise at Sunshine Sazanseto Hotel
3 Onsen Hopping
2 IchiRan (Saimin) Ramen
1 Scattering Mom and Dad’s ashes
Bruce’s Top Ten:
10 Picking Mikan at Okabatake
9. Sunrise at Sunshine Sazanseto Hotel
8. Mount Aso
7. Suizenji Esuko Park
6. Kumanoto Castle
5. Toto and other Japanese toilets
4. Kimura Grave
3. Hokada Grave
2. Lunch at Okabatake’s
1. Dinner at Hokada’s
Elvis’s Top Ten:
10 Suizenji Jojuen Garden
9 Yufuin Street shopping
8 Eating Soba in Oguni
7 Visited Kimura Grave
6 Riding Shikansen
5 Picking Mikan at Okabatake’s
4 Museum of Emmigration
3 Dinner at Ryokan Yamanoyu -Family and food (especially the horse meat)
2 Kurokawa Onsens (3 extra ones)
1 Oshima family Dinner: cousins and food (sashimi was fantastic)
Kazu’s Top Ten:
Ailah’s Top Ten:
10 Going on long train rides while playing games (w/ daddy & Aulia)
9 Eating & drinking sweets (a lot)
8 Playing w/Maya(in the car)
7 Seeing and feeding the koi fish
6 Seeing waterfalls -fav.-nabegataki
5 Going to many Onsens -fav.-okunoyu
4 Staying @neat hotels -fav.-Yamanoyu
3 Going shopping -fav-Daiso
2 Sagamihara-favorite -seeing Mia
1 Kumamoto -favorite-seeing my family
Aulia’s Top Ten:
10 eating sushi (it tastes good)
9 going to Kumamoto zoo (seeing the giraffe)
8 seeing coyfish(taking pictures of them)
7 going to see Nabegataki water fall
6 going to the Takachiho gorge (seeing the nice green water)
5 going to the Okunoyu onsen (going in a lot of pools)
4 staying in Sunshine Suzan Seto (resting)
3 seeing our cousins (playing with them)
2 going in the trains (sitting and looking out)
1 playing balloon popping game
lariyasui 