Yesterday was my mom’s birthday and we had a lot of fun. My mom woke up to a nice card and a clay cake that me, my dad, and Denise made the night before. We had muesli and mint tea for breakfast and then we took the subway to Tennoji Station. We went to Tennoji because Tennoji is right under Japan’s tallest building: Abeno Harukas. Although the tallest structure is the Tokyo SkyTree at 634m tall, the tallest building is Abeno Harukas at 300m. This photo shows me and Denise with a stuffed gorilla on the 16th floor observation deck of Abeno.  This is the view of Osaka from the 16th floor of Abeno, the 16th floor was free but you had to pay to go to the observation deck at the top. We decided to just go to the 16th floor for free. Unfortunately it was a little bit cloudy when we went so it was not as beautiful as it would have been if it was sunny but still a pretty nice view of the city.This is another photo of the view of Osaka, Osaka is a pretty big city, it has 2.691 million people and is 223km2. Next we went to a temple called Shitennoji. It was really pretty, there were a lot of cherry blossom trees there. We climbed up the 5-story pagoda in the temple complex. The temple grounds were nice to walk around.Here is me and Denise in front of the pagoda. We really liked it there.After Shitennoji we went to a temple called Isshin-ji. The main attractions in Isshin-ji are 8 big Buddha statues made from ashes of the dead, it took 200 000 people’s ashes to make the eight statues. This photo shows me and Denise in Isshin-ji.After Isshin-ji we walked to Tsutenkaku. Tsutenkaku is a famous tower built for the 1970 Osaka World Expo. At that time it was the tallest tower in Osaka but after being at Abeno it seemed pretty small. Right beside Tsutenkaku there was a Kushikatsu restaurant called Kushikatsu Daruma. Kushikatsu is fried skewers that have meat, fish, other seafood, and vegetables. It was really good!For my mom’s birthday we went to a big ferris wheel on the outskirts of town. It was so big, in fact it was 112.5 metres high and 100 metres in diameter.  The ferris wheel was so fun! You could line up for a glass floor instead of a regular floor. But the line was so long so we just went regular. It was also pretty scary being up so high.We saw a lot of cool sights at the top of the wheel. We practically saw all of Osaka from the top of the wheel, it was awesome!After the ferris wheel we got on the subway and went to Namba Station, from there we walked to an Okonomiyaki restaurant called Okura. Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake with meat, seafood, and vegetables. They top it with a sauce that is kind of like teriyaki and they also make designs on top with mayonnaise. The Okonomiyaki on the left (below) has Tsutenkaku on it. The one on the right has Doraemon on it. Doraemon is a Japanese cartoon character. The Okonomiyaki was so so so good. It was such a fun day that we ended up going to bed at midnight. I hope mom liked it as much as I did. I hope that mom will have a great time being 41. Also, Happy Birthday Cleo!!!

Earlier today we went to the Nagoya Aquarium. We had breakfast at a restaurant near our friends Dan and Sayaka’s house. After breakfast we drove to the aquarium in their car. When we got to the aquarium there was a big line but it went pretty fast. When we went in we saw beluga whales and dolphins (seen above and below), they were really cute. The photo below shows Denise, Kiku, Raiden, and I watching the dolphins. At 12:30pm there was a dolphin show. The dolphins did really cool tricks like jumping up to balls and spinning around. The dolphin below is jumping so high! One of the dolphins was named Ai which means love in Japanese.The show was really really really cool. Every time a dolphin did a trick a trainer gave them a little fish. The Nagoya Aquarium has about 500 species of underwater animals. The Nagoya Aquarium opened in October 1992.This is a sea turtle we saw, I really like sea turtles. But I did not think the tank they were in was a big enough tank. It is sad to see that they are being held in captivity in such a small enclosure.This is Dan, Dad, Denise, Sayaka, Kiku, and I at the dolphin show. We got good seats and we drank tea, warm lemonade, and hot cocoa. We ate a lot of fries. The warm lemonade was really good.This is a Giant Pacific Octopus, I think it is in too small of a tank.These are 2 grouper fish in the tropical fish zone, they are really big.These are some penguins, the Nagoya Aquarium had Adelie, Chinstrap, Emperor, and Gentoo penguins.This is all of us outside the aquarium. After the aquarium we took a bus to Osaka, Japan, right now I am writing from our Airbnb in Osaka. We had a great time in Nagoya staying with our friends. Bye!

Today, our second day in Nagoya, we went to the main park to see the cherry blossoms and the Nagoya Castle. It’s a tiny bit before peak cherry blossom time but the blossoms are still very beautiful. We had scones and donuts for breakfast and then we got on the subway and walked to the park from there. Everyone has picnics under the cherry blossom trees in the park. All around the park there are locals on picnic blankets eating and chatting. The park is called Meijo Koen which translates to Nagoya Castle Park . The Nagoya Castle was destroyed after World War II, they rebuilt it but it is not as ancient as most castles in Japan. The symbol of Nagoya is a mythical dolphin. Link. If you go to the park on a sunny day on the weekend you will not be able to find a picnic spot, luckily today it was overcast so it was not so busy.This is a beautiful tulip garden in the park. Do you have a favourite tulip in this picture? I like the yellow ones.This is me under a cherry tree. I think this tree is really pulchritudinous. Before we took this photo there was a man that took a photo of his four pugs by bribing them with a dog biscuit. The photo was really funny. This tree is the one with the most blossoms that I saw in Meijo Koen.Here is a close up shot on a few blossoms. The river was very beautiful.Many of the trees bent over the river creating beautiful reflections.  In the middle of the river there is a fountain that adds a nice element to the river. From the bridge you can get very good views of the cherry blossoms. In Nagoya at this time of year it is usually about 15 degrees Celsius. We have been in 30 degree weather so it feels pretty cold.This is the Nagoya Castle, there is a big moat around the front side of the castle. At the top there are 2 of the golden mythical dolphins that I talked about earlier.This is me and Denise with the Nagoya sign. This is kind of like the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square.

After the cherry blossoms we went to a ramen restaurant called Ippudo, it was really good :).  I got a basic tonkotsu based ramen. It was a great day today.

Finally we have arrived in Japan! At 11:40 am yesterday we took a minivan from Koh Chang to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. We arrived at Suvarnabhumi at 8 pm, then we took a shuttle bus from Suvarnabhumi to the airport we were flying out of called Don Mueang. We had smoothies for dinner at the airport. Unfortunately, our flight was at 2 am so we had a long time to wait. We boarded our flight on time and we took off. I slept for most of the flight. When we arrived it was 9:30 am Japanese time. Our flight landed in Nagoya, a city in southern Japan. We decided to come to Nagoya first because my Dad’s friend Dan Archambault lives there and he invited us stay at his house. When we got to the airport, Dan Archambault drove us to his house but on the way we stopped for sushi. We went to a place called Kappa Sushi. It was really cool there because the sushi came around on a conveyor belt. You could order and they would send it to you on the conveyor or you could just pick up any sushi that looked good from the belt and eat it. Unfortunately we did not get any photos to show you.When we got to Dan’s house we met his wife Sayaka, and his two kids Kiku and Raiden. After we settled in we went for a walk to a shrine near Dan’s house, it was very pretty because of all the cherry blossoms.These are the stairs at the shrine. Dan Archambault taught us how to pray at a Japanese shrine. Bow twice, clap twice, then bow deeply and wish something. We were basically the only people at the shrine which made it very peaceful.  This is Kiku, Denise, and I. Kiku is very nice, she lets us do origami and play with her toys. I made a carrot, a dog, and a ninja star out of origami. Dan, Sakaya, Kiku, and Raiden live in a traditional Japanese house on the edge of Nagoya.

Their family has two cats, one black one and one white one. The white one (shown above) is named Hachi. Hachi is a Persian cat and she isn’t always fond of strangers in her house.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that specialises in Yakiniku: Here is a link to what Yakiniku is. There is a grill in the middle of your table and you order from an iPad and they bring you what ever you ordered and you grill it. We ordered so much because it was an all you can eat restaurant. I really liked their beef steak, salad, grilled squid, edamame beans, fried chicken, sweet corn, octopus balls, and ice cream. I am really excited to explore more of Japan.

This is me on the net, at the end I got a little jumbled up. Going on the net was fun, there was also a sled in the air that I went on but I do not have a photo or video of it. It sure was a fun day. Also, as a birthday present, on April 3rd we are going to Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan! We will go on a Harry Potter ride, a Minions ride, and a ride of my choice. What could be better?

We are having a great stay at Hide and Seek Hometel in Bangkok. We are staying here 10 nights, our longest stay in one accommodation. We are staying here so long because we got a great deal. Hide and Seek only opened one month ago so it is very new which means everything is clean and pristine. It is right beside the BTS SkyTrain, we are at Phra Kanong station. We practically use the BTS every day. We got BTS cards, they are kind of like Presto cards. The bed situation here is one bunk bed, I sleep on the top, Denise sleeps on the bottom. For my Mom and Dad there is a Queen bed. Here there is free laundry (much to my Mom’s delight :). There is a shared kitchen for the 8 rooms in the hometel. There is breakfast included and the food is good. There are 2 desks situated in our room which makes it a good place for doing schoolwork. In the lobby there is games and we found a really really really fun game called Exploding Kittens . We sure are having a good time at Hide and Seek. Now I have to go to bed so I’m signing off until next post. Bye!!