MONDAY day trip

In order to have money for this trip, I looked for ways to cut corners at the wedding - cutting corners on food or flowers would have been tragic! So instead of renting 2 dresses for a total of 6000 dollars at a Japanese rental place, I bought 2 from China for a grand total of 500 dollars. Instant money for our day trip to treat all the guests! If there is a will, there is a way.

On Monday we chartered a bus to take around all of our guests (my family, family friends from abroad and Hiro's immediate family)...all the way up to Tsukuba mountain. This would have been an ideal plan, with the exception of the uncooperative weather. It was windy and slightly rainy as well.

We went to a very established (140 year old!) sake brewery called MINNA NO GAWA. (see picture) They described the sake making process and allowed us to have some samples. I served as the translator to his explanations - a little bit scary but a great experience.

After that we headed further up the mountain to a soba, buckwheat noodle-making workshop place. We had about 7 teams make 70%soba 30%wheat flour noodles. Two experts assisted us in the process. On the way back to the bus we got a glimpse of Japanese cloth dying...some older ladies were cooking leaves and flowers to produce dye for fabrics. We could even see some finished products!

Everyone soaked in a hot spring we chose. For some it was their first experience doing that. After that leg of the trip, most people were pooped out and ready to return to the hotel to retire. The Dughis, Hiro, mom and I went on to the kimono shop where we could try on kimonos and have our photos semi^professionally taken. What a fun experience it was. I just have to remember not to show grandma Lee those photos - she would be soooo furious. Not to lie or anything but some things are best left unsaid!